Hi **Hi Itzam, Here comes a long answer to a long question: question:** *Is it possible to add further information to the plots after the end of the “interpretation phase” (i.e. the phase where the users fill in the question forms) in order to be able to perform analysis (e.g. Saiku) with all of it at the end? Meaning that the project can be initiated and completed having a CSV file with only the basic columns as specified by the CSV grid template (id, Ycoord, Xcoord, elevation, aspect, slope) and after its completion to add/assign other (e.g. vegetation zones, soil zones, climate zones, etc) spatially available information (info available from a shp per plot) to the plots (based on previous responses this will require the change of schema design with adding the respective attributes and the change of the CSV file with adding respective columns)?* **Yes, no problem at all. You can always add new attributes to your survey after you finished collecting the data and then import the new data to these new attributes using the functionality to import CSV files ( see Tools->Data Import/Export->Update Current Records Using CSV ). The way this works is that it allows you to add data to plot records that are already on the database. So you cannot add new information to plots that have not been collected yet (of course). Please [see this post for further info][1].** *Should I need to know in advance (i.e. before the initiation of the project) the information to be added later, at least as a “title”, in order to add in the CSV file the headings for this additional information and in the schema the attributes (and keep the records in the CSV file blanks), or I only need to have a CSV file (with columns) and attributes in the schema design, only for the already available information at the time the project begins (i.e. slope, aspect, elevation, coordinates)?* **No, you do not need to. In fact we do this very often as many times you will add extra information coming from maps after all the Collect Earth data has been collected, and you would like to use these data through the Saiku analysis tool to combine with the visually interpreted data. The data.** **The only cumbersome thing is that you will need to add these new columns to the CSV files if you want to review the plots later on, otherwise Collect Earth will not show you the plots as the new "from CSV" attributes are not present on the old CSV files. You can use Saiku (after you import the new data) to generate the new CSV files (following the expected column ordering) as you will have all the necessary data** *Should the region_areas.csv and/or areas_per_attribute.csv files be contained in the CEP file from the beginning of the project, or can be added later (e.g. at the end), since from what I understand, are being used for the final analysis?* **Nope, the areas_per_attribute.csv file (region_areas.csv was the old format) is used by Collect Earth when the Saiku database is generated. This means that it is not necessary to have t from the beginning, just at the time of analysis (if one wants to use area information rather than plot counts in the analysis phase)** [1]: http://www.openforis.org/support/questions/80/changing-plot-attributes-in-the-collect-earth-database

Hi Itzam, Here comes a long answer to a long question: *Is it possible to add further information to the plots after the end of the “interpretation phase” (i.e. the phase where the users fill in the question forms) in order to be able to perform analysis (e.g. Saiku) with all of it at the end? Meaning that the project can be initiated and completed having a CSV file with only the basic columns as specified by the CSV grid template (id, Ycoord, Xcoord, elevation, aspect, slope) and after its completion to add/assign other (e.g. vegetation zones, soil zones, climate zones, etc) spatially available information (info available from a shp per plot) to the plots (based on previous responses this will require the change of schema design with adding the respective attributes and the change of the CSV file with adding respective columns)?* **Yes, no problem at all. You can always add new attributes to your survey after you finished collecting the data and then import the new data to these new attributes using the functionality to import CSV files ( see Tools->Data Import/Export->Update Current Records Using CSV ). The way this works is that it allows you to add data to plot records that are already on the database. So you cannot add new information to plots that have not been collected yet (of course). Please [see this post for further info][1].** *Should I need to know in advance (i.e. before the initiation of the project) the information to be added later, at least as a “title”, in order to add in the CSV file the headings for this additional information and in the schema the attributes (and keep the records in the CSV file blanks), or I only need to have a CSV file (with columns) and attributes in the schema design, only for the already available information at the time the project begins (i.e. slope, aspect, elevation, coordinates)?* **No, you do not need to. In fact we do this very often as many times you will add extra information coming from maps after all the Collect Earth data has been collected, and you would like to use these data through the Saiku analysis tool to combine with the visually interpreted data. The only cumbersome thing is that you will need to add these new columns to the CSV files if you want to review the plots later on, otherwise Collect Earth will not show you the plots as the new "from CSV" attributes are not present on the old CSV files. You can use Saiku (after you import the new data) to generate the new CSV files (following the expected column ordering) as you will have all the necessary data** *Should the region_areas.csv and/or areas_per_attribute.csv files be contained in the CEP file from the beginning of the project, or can be added later (e.g. at the end), since from what I understand, are being used for the final analysis?* **Nope, the areas_per_attribute.csv file (region_areas.csv was the old format) is used by Collect Earth when the Saiku database is generated. This means that it is not necessary to have t from the beginning, just at the time of analysis (if one wants to use area information rather than plot counts in the analysis phase)** [1]: http://www.openforis.org/support/questions/80/changing-plot-attributes-in-the-collect-earth-database