Start story collection

A story collection identifies and contains a specific group of stories that were collected using a specific story form.

You can have multiple story collections within one project. For example, you might create a test collection for experimenting, a pilot collection with a draft story form, and a final story collection with a revised story form.

What to do here

On this page you can create new story collections and make (some) changes to existing ones.

To create a story collection, click Create New Story Collection. Give the new collection a name. This name will only be visible to people who can see the pages of your NarraFirma project. It will not be visible to the people who only tell stories in the project.

Next, choose a story form from the list of forms you already created. This form will be permanently associated with the new story collection.

Finally, click the Create Story Collection button.

Once you have created a story collection, there are three ways to add stories to it.

You can collect stories over the internet. To do this, select your new story collection in the list, then click Activate or Deactivate Web Form. Now look below the table and find the place where it says The web address (URL) of this story collection is. Click on the link shown there, or copy and paste it into your browser. You can send that link to anyone, and they will be able to use it to fill out your story form and add stories to the story collection.
You can enter stories using the NarraFirma data-entry interface. Go to the Enter or import stories page and follow the instructions there.
You can import stories you collected using a different surveying package. Go to the Enter or import stories page and follow the instructions there.

Connections to other pages

When you associate a story form with a story collection, a snapshot of the story form, as it appears at that moment, is copied into the story collection. Any changes you make to the form or its questions after that moment will not be automatically reflected in the story collection.

If you make changes to a story form after you associate it with a collection, you can update the snapshot version of the form stored in the collection. NarraFirma will warn you if the changes you have made will cause conflicts with data you have already collected. See the FAQ entry below for details on this point.

Frequently-asked questions

Can you give me a clearer picture of exactly what I can and cannot change in my story form after I have started to collect stories?

At the level of the story form

Always safe

Dangerous after you link the story form to a story collection

You can change any texts that appear on your story form that are not saved in your stories. For example, you can change the story form's title, introduction, and conclusion, as well as any messages to participants (like "Thank you for sharing your story").
You can add new questions (eliciting, about stories, or about participants).
You can change the order of questions on the story form. Order is display-only.

Do not change the short name of the story form. It is used to connect the story form to the story collection.

If you must rename a story form

Duplicate the existing story form.
Give the copy a new name.
Create a new story collection using the new form.
Switch over to collecting stories using the new story collection.
As long as the questions in the two forms have the same short names, types, and answer lists, NarraFirma will treat them as if they came from the same story collection and used the same story form.

At the level of the question

Always safe

Dangerous after you collect some stories

You can change the actual text of the question. It is display-only. (Whether the new question means the same thing is up to you.)
You can change the label on the write-in "other" box. It is display-only.
For a checkbox question, you can change the text displayed after the checkbox. It is a display-only option. The value saved is a true/false value, no matter what it says on the checkbox.
For a boolean question, you can set the text displayed on the choices (from the default of yes/no) at the level of the story form. This is a display-only option.
For a slider, you can change the left and right slider labels. The values saved with the stories are numerical only. Of course, if your label change alters the meaning of the numerical values, that's a problem (and NarraFirma will be oblivious to it). But if both labels mean the same thing, it's fine. You can also change the label of the "Does not apply" checkbox under the slider. This is a display-only option as well.
For questions with fixed lists of answers (select, radiobuttons, checkboxes):
- You can add new answers to the list.
- You can change the order in which the answers are shown. Order is display-only.
- You can change the number of rows shown in a select (drop-down) question.

Do not change the question's short name. It is used to to identify your stored data.
Do not change the question's type - with some exceptions (see below).
For questions with fixed lists of answers, do not change the answers themselves.

If you must remove a question

Go to the Review incoming stories page.
Go through your collected stories and remove every answer to the question, if you can. By type:
- text or textarea: delete the text
- select: choose the no-choice choice (usually "--select--")
- checkboxes: uncheck every box
- slider: check the "Does not apply" box
- checkbox: uncheck the box
- radiobuttons or boolean: Because you cannot uncheck an HTML radio-buttons widget, the only way to remove these types of questions is to export and then re-import your data.
When no more stories have data for the question, go to the Build story forms page and remove the question from your form.
Go back to the Start story collection page and see if you can safely update the form now.

If you must change a question's short name

Create a new question with the new short name.
Go to the Review incoming stories page.
Go through your collected stories removing every original answer, if you can (see above), and adding new answers for the new question.
When no more stories have data for the original question, go to the Build story forms page and remove the question from your form.
Go back to the Start story collection page and see if you can update the form now.

If you must change a question's type

A few question type changes do not create data conflicts.

Pairings marked "yes" can be changed back and forth with no effect on your data. Pairings marked "no" will cause conflicts between data in old and new stories. "If edited" means that you can change a question from a free-text type (text, textarea) to a single-answer type (select, radiobuttons) if you first edit all of the existing values to conform to a fixed list (which create a fixed answer list).

If you must change a question's type in one of the "no" areas:

Collect your stories in two separate story collections.
Export the story forms and stories associated with both story collections to separate CSV files. You will end up with four files: two story-form files and two data files.
Compare the four files. See what you need to do to merge your questions without losing meaning.
Merge the two story-form files into one.
Merge the two data files into one.
Import the merged story form. Check that it looks right.
Import the merged data file. Check that the stories look right.
If you have questions during this process, see the Import guide.

If you must remove one of the answers in a fixed list

Go to the Review incoming stories page. Go through the stories, unchecking every instance of the answer.
Remove the answer from the question (on the Write questions about stories page, for example).
Go to the Start story collection page. Update the form.

If you must change one of the answers in a fixed list

Add the new answer to the question (on the Write questions about stories page, for example).
Go to the Start story collection page. Update the form.
Go to the Review incoming stories page. Go through the stories, unchecking every instance of the old answer and checking the new answer instead.
Remove the old answer from the question.
Go to the Start story collection page. Update the form again.

I have two story collections that are identical except for a few small differences. Can I merge them?

If the story forms used in the two story collections only differ in appearances — that is, the data is the same — you can simply add both story collections to a catalysis report. NarraFirma will merge any questions and answers whose short names are identical. (If the answers aren't identical, you can use display lumping to merge them.)

If the data in the two story collections are not the same (for example, their question short names differ), you can still merge your data, but you'll have to use CSV export and import to do it. Export both story collections and their associated story forms to the CSV file format. Then carefully merge the two CSV files into one file, using a spreadsheet. Then import the merged CSV file into a new story collection (along with the revised story form).

If you are not sure what to do, one quick way to check is to export both story collections to CSV files, then compare the files using a spreadsheet.