ESP CSR provides automated task management for the communication and administration involved in gathering, entering and validating activity data in the system.

Tasks are created and defined by their associated processes

Processes define:

  • Data collection process start date, i.e., July 2016.
  • The type of process the tasks are for, i.e., data collection, commentary, administrative tasks.
  • The data collection frequency of a task, i.e., Every 3 months.
  • The Data Source Owner (DSO), Data Submitter (DS) and Data Overseer (DO) of a task. 
    The DSO and DO roles are mandatory.
  • The role the DSO and DS will perform for the task, i.e., upload data via Smart Form, upload data file, send data to data submitter.
  • Instructions that will be sent in the email body to the DSO, DS and DO.
    This includes any example documents required to complete the task. These need to be added to the process when editing it.

Before a task can be created, the associated process must be set up and configured correctly. To learn how to set up a process, follow the steps found in the knowledge base article linked here.

To find this feature, on the menu bar, select Data Collection > Tasks.


Table of Contents:


Add and Edit a Task

Add a New Task

Once a process is set up, users can than create data collection tasks.

Users can get to the add a new task page by following the below 3 steps:

  • On the top menu, select the + icon and select Task in the drop down

  • On the top menu, go to Data Collection > Tasks and select the Add a new task button on the right of the page.
  • On the top menu, go to Data Collection > Processes, search for and select the Process you want to add tasks to. Then select the add tasks to this process button on the right of the Process page.

Once one of the above steps is done, you will be on the add a new task page. This page allows you to create one or more tasks against the process chosen. 

At first, only some of the menu options will appear. To view the rest, select the Data collection process in the drop down.

See below for more details on what each of the above menu items are:

  • Data collection process: Select the data collection process this task is related to.
    Only processes that are enabled and have been approved will appear in this list.
    If you entered the add a new task page via the processes page, this field will already have the chosen process entered.

    Once the process is chosen, The DSO, DS and DO associated with the process configuration will appear below the What period of time... field.
  • Task Name: This is the name you will give to the task.
    This name is what appears on the task, process and data review grids. 
    This is also the name that will appear in the automated emails subject line sent out on notifications and reminders. 
    This is also the name that will appear in the automated emails subject line sent out on notifications and reminders.
  • Is This an Open Task: Selecting this box will mean the task status is not updated when data is uploaded into quarantine and accepted by the data overseer.
    This allows the data submitter to upload as much data as they need to against the same task without it closing.
    This task will need to be closed manually if it no longer needs to be open.
  • Default Import Action: The default import action is applied in the file upload page and controls what the default action you want to occur in line items where data already exists.
    You can choose to set this to overwrite existing data, add to existing data or ignore the uploaded data. This defaults to overwrite existing data if no option is selected.
  • What period of time are you collecting data for: Select the period you are uploading the data for, i.e., 3 month(s) starting 1 Jan 2022

Once the above menu options are completed, you will then need to setup the below configurations for DSO, DS and DO.

See below for more details on what each of the above menu items are:

  • Include the DSO, DS or DO in this task: This tick box allows you to include or disable any of these roles involved in the task automatic notification set up.
    If a process has a DSO, DS or DO, these boxes would be ticked.
  • DSO, DS, DO Task Start/Notification Date: An email notification is sent out on the selected date here informing the user this task is active.
    This email will also include any instructions written in the process.
  • DSO, DS, DO Task Due Date: The date the task is due to be completed by.
    An email notification will be sent out to the user on this date telling them the task is due.
  • DSO, DS, DO Reminder Date: Sets up reminders to be sent out at a selected frequency from the date chosen
    If the 'Every' box is empty, no reminders will be sent out.

Once all of the above fields have been created, you can select the number of tasks to create for this process by typing the number in the space provided in the Number of tasks to create box. 

We recommend creating the number of tasks you will need for you reporting year, i.e., if your task is collecting data every 3 months starting 1st Jan 2022, you will set up 4 tasks, one for each quarter.

The final step is to select the save button if you want to create the tasks or select the cancel button if you want to cancel creating the tasks.
These buttons are located at the bottom of the page.


Task Grid

The tasks grid is the main grid used in CSR for finding and viewing their tasks.
This grid can be found on the Process page, Tasks Page and Data Reviews.

The grid contains key information for every task in the system as shown above. 

You can filter on any of the information in the tasks grid using the filters as follows:

  1. In the box, type what you are searching for, i.e., for task name, type Fleet Fuel, for period beginning, select 1 Sep 2021 from the calendar etc.
  2. In the filter button, select the option you need, i.e., contains Fleet Fuel, Greater than or equal to 1 Sep 2021 etc.

Above the task grid, there is a date filter that allows you to filter for all tasks within a certain period.

To use this filter

  • Select the number of months in the Within ___ Months box, i.e., 12 months.
  • Choose the last date you want task up until in the date field provided, i.e., July 2022.
  • Select the Refresh table... button for these changes to take effect.

 

Good to Know

  • The Data Review task grid only shows tasks associated with the Data Review.
  • The Process tasks grid only shows tasks associated with the Process.
  • Active and archived tasks are split out into tabs. To see archived tasks, select the archived tab at the top of the task grid.
    A task becomes inactive and is archived when the associated process is archived.
    The task grid on the Process page does not contain the tabs, but a message highlighting if the tasks are archived or not.
  • The date filter only applies to one tab. The steps will need to be followed when selecting the archived tab as well.
  • The task grid contains the status of the related tasks and the DSO and DO status. 
    A grid for the available status for each can be seen below

    Task Status
    DSO Status
    DS Status
    DO Status 
    Not Started Pending Pending  Pending
    With DSO Active Active  Active
    With DS Not Used Not Used  Not Used
    With DO Complete Complete  Complete
    Complete      
    Archive      

     


View a Task

Users can view a task from multiple locations in CSR.

  • On the top menu, go to Data Collection > Processes, select the process and search for your task in the tasks grid.
  • On the top menu, go to Data Collection > Tasks and search for your task in the tasks grid.
  • On the top menu, go to Review & Approve > Data Reviews, select the related tasks tab and search for your task in the tasks grid.
    Click here for more information on the Data Reviews.
  • In the search bar, change the search area dropdown to Tasks and search for the Task Name or Task ID. 
    Click here for more information on the search bar. 

Good to Know:

  • To go to the task, you can click on the tasks name in the task grid or select the task from the search dropdown.

View a Task

Once a user has landed on the View Task page, you will see a more detailed breakdown of the information associated with the task such as:

  • Task name, i.e., Fleet Fuel Data - BP Fuel Card.
  • Task status, i.e., With DSO.
  • Collection period, i.e., 2 Months starting 1 July 2021.
  • Task reference.
  • Associated process.
  • Data collection group.
  • Default data import action.
  • DSO, DS, and DO names.
  • DSO, DS, and DO's actions and statuses.

The History, Notes and Document associated with the task can be found below the detailed breakdown shown below.

These record all actions against the task as well as any other notes or documents added by a user.
Every action also contains a timestamp (In NZT) of when that action was done.

The Notes show:

  • Any automated email notification sent out to users.
  • All DSO, DS and DO actions associated with uploading files into CSR.
  • Any Comments made by the above roles during this process.
  • All Quarantine related actions associated with the task, including the batch reference.
  • All data uploaded against a smart form or smart excel template.

The Documents shows:

  • All documents attached to the task.
  • All files uploaded against the task in file uploads.
  • All files attached to the associated smart form.

Good to know:

  • You can download a document associated with the task by selecting Download this document next to the name on the right side.

The History records all actions and information against the task and provides a time stamp on WHEN this was done.

This includes records such as:

  • Task status changes.
  • Reminder emails sent out.
  • Batch ID.
  • Task updates.
  • etc.

Good to Know

  • These tables are useful when GHG Inventory audits occur as they keep a detailed record of all associated data uploads for Inventory in the system.

Edit a Task

To edit a data collection task, click on the Edit this task button at the top the View Task page.

On this page, you are able to edit:

  • The task name.
  • whether this task is open.
  • the default import action.
  • Whether to include the DSO, DS or DO.
  • The DSO, DS, DO task start/notification date.
  • The DSO, DS, DO task due date.
  • The DSO reminder date.

To save these changes, select the Save button at the bottom of the page.


Edit Task Statuses

You can manually change or reset a task status by selecting the Edit task statuses button on the right side of the View Tasks page.

You can manually reset progress statuses of:

1. Overall task, i.e., Not started, With DSO, With DS, With DO and Complete).
2. Individual parties to the task i.e., DSO, DS or DO progress statuses (Pending, Active, Complete).

If you wish to reopen a complete task to apply corrections to data already collected, then update the Overall Task Status only.

You can make changes to any of the above fields by selecting the appropriate status next to the option, then selecting save.


Notification Emails

Notification Emails are sent to get a data collection task underway.

DSO/DS Notification Email

Below is an example of a notification email that is sent out to the parties associated with a particular data collection task when the status is set to active.

DSO/DS Notification Quarantined Data Declined Email

Below is an example of an email sent to the DSO or DS when data is declined in quarantine by the DO. This email will notify them that the data needs to be resubmitted along with the reason as to why this was declined.

DO Notification E-mail

Below is an example of a notification email that the system automatically sends to the Data Overseer (DO) of a data collection task to advise that data has been uploaded and is ready for their review.

Task Complete Notifications

Below is an example of a notification email that the system automatically sends when a task's Overall Status is set to Completed. The notification is sent to email addresses that have been entered in the "Task Completion Notification" box of the Process that the task belongs to.

The system accepts a comma separated list of email addresses to send these notifications to. If no emails are found, then no notifications are sent.