Creating a Trial in Smatrix
In Smatrix, there are two ways to establish trials for data collection:
Create your own trial template within Smatrix
Import an existing trial template from another user
The following are instructions for the first method: Creating a Trial in Smatrix. See also Importing a Trial in Smatrix.
Initial Setup
Open Smatrix.
Tap the black plus icon in the upper right hand corner of the start up screen.
3. Select “Create”.
4. Assign a trial name, for example, “Example greenhouse”.
About names. When assigning a name for your new trial, be aware of the following constraints:
Names may consist of letters and/or numbers.
Names cannot be exact duplicates of names from existing trials.
Names cannot include emojis.
Setting Hierarchies
Now it is time to set the trial hierarchies.
About hierarchies. In Smatrix, “hierarchy” is a term used to specify the spatial organization of your field site. For example, a horticultural site might use the hierarchies “field, row, plot”. An aquacultural site might use the hierarchies “building, room, tank”.
Hierarchy 1: Row
5. Begin your setup of hierarchies for the example field site, above, by tapping the “ Trial setup” tab. (More information will appear.)
6. Tap the button “ HIERARCHY LEVEL”.
7. You should see a screen that says “Choose hierarchy level” in a green bar at the top, with a catalog of pre-installed hierarchies listed (Fig. 6).
On this view (Fig. 6), you can select up to three of the existing hierarchy levels to use in your trial. If you prefer hierarchy levels that are not provided, you can create new ones.
In this example, we are creating a trial for a greenhouse site that has the following organization: 2 rows of 3 tables each with 10 plants per table, for a total of 60 plants.
The first hierarchy in our example, “Row”, is provided by Smatrix. However, because our example site has only 2 rows, we’ll need to customize the number of rows from the 20 rows provided.
8. Tap to check the box for “Row”.
9. Because our example trial only has 2 rows, we need to change the number of rows from 20, to 2. Tap the bar for “Row” to edit. (It will turn grey to indicate selection before opening a new screen).
10. The “Edit hierarchy level” screen will appear. Tap the box “End value”.
11. A numeric keyboard should appear. Delete “20”. Input “2”.
12. Tap the “Save” button in the lower right-hand corner.
Now we’ve completed setup for the first hierarchy at the example field site, row.
Hierarchy 2: Table
The second hierarchy in the example field site, “Table”, is not provided by Smatrix. We’ll need to add it.
13. Tap the black plus icon (located in the upper right hand corner of the “Choose hierarchy level” screen) to add a hierarchy that is not provided by Smatrix.
14. Tap the prompt “Please name the hierarchy level”. A new screen appears.
15. In the box “What you read in the table”, type “Table”.
The entries for “What you hear from Smatrix” and “What you say to Smatrix” will auto-populate to “Table”. (If you would like to hear and/or say something different, change the entry for what you hear or say from “Table” to something else.)
16. Tap “Done” in the lower right-hand corner.
17. Tap the box “End value”.
18. Delete “20”.
19. Input “3”.
20. Tap the “Save” button in the lower right-hand corner.
“Table” should now appear on the list of available hierarchies. It should be checked.
Now we’ve completed setup for the second hierarchy at the example field site, table.
Hierarchy 3: Plant
The third hierarchy in our example, “Plant”, is provided by Smatrix. We’ll need to customize the number of plants.
21. Tap to check the box for “Plant”.
22. Tap the word “Plant” to edit. (It will turn grey to indicate selection before opening a new screen).
23. The “Edit hierarchy level” screen will appear. Tap the box “End value”.
24. Delete “20”.
25. Input “10”.
26. Tap the “Save” button in the lower right-hand corner.
27. Verify that the boxes for “Table (1-6)”, “Plant (1-10), and “Row (1-2) are checked.
28. Tap the “Choose” button in the lower right-hand corner.
Reordering
The selected hierarchies may not appear in the correct order for your trial. For the example field site, we need the hierarchies to appear in the order “Row”, “Table”, “Plant”.
29. To reorder of the hierarchies, touch the hierarchy you wish to re-order. (It will turn grey to indicate selection.) Drag to the preferred order.
Verification
Now we’ve completed setup for the third hierarchy at the example field site, plant.
Adding Traits
Now we will setup traits for data collection.
30. To add a trait to your trial, tap the “ Trait setup” tab. (More information will appear.)
31. Tap the button “ TRAITS”.
32. You should see a screen that says “Choose trait” in a green bar at the top, with a catalog of pre-installed traits listed (Fig. 29).
On this view (Fig. 29), you can select from the existing traits.
In this example, we will establish two traits for data collection: “total number of storage roots”, and “flesh color score”.
Trait 1: Total Number of Storage Roots
33. “Total Number of Storage Roots” is not an existing trait in Smatrix. Tap the black plus icon (located in the upper right-hand corner of the “Choose trait” screen) to add a trait.
34. Tap the prompt “Please name”. A new screen appears.
35. In the box “What you read in the table”, type the trait name, for example ”total number of storage roots”.
The entries for “What you hear from Smatrix” and “What you say to Smatrix” will auto-populate to the text entered for trait name.
(If you would like to hear and/or say something different, change the entry for what you hear or say from “[Trait Name]” to something else.)
Because “Total Number of Storage Roots” will take a long time to hear or say, you might wish to change it to something shorter, for example “storage roots”.
36. In the text field “What you hear from Smatrix”, delete “Total Number of Storage Roots”. Input “Storage Roots”.
37. In the text field “What you say to Smatrix”, delete “Total Number of Storage Roots”. Input “Storage Roots”.
38. Tap “Done”.
Next, we need to set the values for trait collection.
39. Tap the “Date” field. A new screen appears, showing other options for value ranges.
40. Select the radio button for “0-9”.
41. Tap “Choose”.
42. Tap “Done”.
Now, we’ll establish a second trait for data collection, “Flesh color”.
Trait 2: Flesh color
43. To add a second trait, tap the button “ TRAITS”.
44. Tap the black plus icon (located in the upper right hand corner of the “Choose trait” screen).
45. Tap the prompt “Please name”. A new screen appears.
46. Input “flesh color”.
Next, we need to set the values for trait collection. However, our preferred trait values for flesh color “Orange”, “Yellow”, and “White” are unavailable.
We’ll need to set custom value ranges.
47. To see the options for value ranges, tap the “Date” field. A new screen appears, showing other options for value ranges.
To set a custom value range for words, we’ll select an existing value range, and edit it.
48. Select “(4) blue, green, red, yellow”.
49. Tap “Choose”.
50. Press and hold “Wordset value range” until a small pop-up box appears.
51. Tap “Edit” (Fig. 46).
52. Delete “blue”, “green”, “red”, and “yellow'.
53. Tap “Add word” to add “white”, “yellow”, “orange”.
54. Tap “Done” after each color entry.
54. Tap “Save”.
55. Tap “Done”.
56. Tap “Save”.