Report Blocks Breakdown

Reports are made of Blocks.  Blocks have different functions, so the type of block you choose is based on what you want to add to your report. Here's how to use them:

Basic:

A basic block is able to pull data from the category you defined in the report.  So, if your report has the category of 'Site Visits', the 'merge fields' button will have access to different fields than if you chose 'Contacts' as the category.  Within a basic block you can add text, a table, an image, merge fields, and apply formatting to all of those items.  A basic block only has one option available, the 'Start on New Page' option, which simply inserts a page break before the block.

Repeated: 

A repeated block is able to pull multiple records into one report.  For example, if you needed to list all of the issues associated with a Stewardship Site in a report with a category of 'Stewardship Site', you would use repeated blocks to display all of those issues.  A repeated block needs to have a category, and the results can be filtered and sorted.  The category of a repeated block must be 'adjacent' or immediately related to the parent report category.  For instance, if you have a report with a category of 'Properties', you will not be able to categorize a repeated field of 'Issues', since Issues are not immediately related to Properties (they're related to Stewardship Sites).

The options for a repeated block include: 

Start on New Page - insert a page break before the block, 
New Page for Each Repeat - will put each new repeated record on a new page
Show Heading - if you want the repeated block to have a heading, check this and then you can edit it in the block editor.  A heading will only be displayed once, even if multiple records are returned.
Show Footer - Same as above, but for a footer.
Remove Block when Empty - Hide the repeated block if it doesn't find any records.
Use Sub-Content Blocks - A sub-content block allows you to use other types of blocks in a repeat. So, as an example, let's say you had a Stewardship report that repeated all unresolved issues, but you wanted a map of each issue. You could create a repeated block for the issues. Within the sub-content, you could have a basic block for the specific issue fields you want to display, then you could add a map block to show the geography for that particular issue. 

Another example would simply be if you want to get to a sub-sub list in something. Like, expenses in a Site Visit from a Stewardship report.  You would have a repeated block on site visits, inside that a repeated block on expenses.

Repeat Horizontally - If you'd like the content to be repeated horizontally across rather than vertically, you can do so by toggling this option. More on horizontal repeated blocks here.

Photo:

If your category has any photos associated directly with it, they will appear within a photo block.  Photos are automatically repeating, so you don't have to create a new photo block for each photo that might be associated with the item.  You can filter, sort, and choose to hide it if there's nothing contained within it. 

Photos have two components: Geography and Photo information.  Geography stores information about the location of the photo.  Multiple photos can be associated with the same geography (think of taking multiple photos from a boundary corner). So, your photos will be sorted first by your selected Geography field, then by a Photo field.

The Geography Filter enables you to filter based on fields in the photo geography.  For example, if you want to display only photos with a certain activity type, you could edit the query to look like this: 

The Photo Filter lets you do the same, but with the fields associated with a photo.  For example if you want to display only photos taken between two dates, it would look like this: 

Geography Sort and Photo Sort will rearrange the photos based on the field you choose.  One important note is that Landscape recognizes the Map Label and Name as a text field, Which means 1, 10, 12, 123 etc., will be sorted with 1's, and 2, 21, 214, etc. will be sorted with 2's. You can get around this by making sure there are zeros before the digits (01, 02, 03, etc.).

The photo block options are similar to the repeatable options, where you can Start on New Page to start each entry on a new page, as well as Show Heading and Show Footer or Collapse Block when Empty if no photos are found.

Flow all Photos Together will place each successive photo in the next available space.  If this option is not checked, photos that don't share geography will each get a new row (if there's more than one photo in a row).  Checking this box also eliminates the Geography Content box, which is used to merge and display photo geography information.  Instead, you can use the Photo Caption Content box at the bottom to merge fields from both photo and geography.

Changing the Photos Per Row will set the maximum number of photos that will fit in each row.  Photo Alignment determines where on the page they are placed.  Maximum Photo Size is used to set the maximum size of the photo, and Caption Location will place the caption according to the option you choose.

Map

Map blocks will display the geography of the report category.  

There are a few options: 

Start on New Page will insert a page break before the map.
Show Caption will enable you to edit the map caption.
Show Legend will display the map legend.  Click here for more on printing maps and using map blocks.

The map block will automatically display the symbology of the map you've chosen, however you can override it by clicking on the swatch and changing 'Automatic' to 'Override'.  The symbology can then be added like a normal map layer.

The basemap can be changed by clicking on the eyeball icon.  You can only select one basemap at a time.

Signature

A signature block allows a user to add a signature after the report is generated and before printing or saving to PDF.  When you have a signature block, a new button will appear in the toolbox that allows you to add a signature.  

When in the template builder, a signature block will look something like this:

 Click the signature button when you're generating the report:

Fill out the 'Sign Report' box.  You can use an image of your signature if you would like.

The signature will then appear like this in the report:

 

*important note* - this is not the same as a "digital signature".  If you are concerned about the legal validity of the signature, we recommend seeking alternative methods (wet ink signatures and then scan the document back into Landscape, for example).

Form

Form blocks are available only to reports which are in the Site Visit category.  When you add a form block, it will look like this: 

Once added, the form block will change appearance based on the options you choose so that you can preview the appearance, but will only display the template form layout within the template builder (it will not show the actual form until you generate the report).

There are several options to choose from:

Start on New Page inserts a page break before the block.
Hide Sensitive Questions will not display questions that are marked as 'sensitive' in the form.  
Hide Non-Selected Choices will not display unselected options from lists or multiple choice items.
Hide Descriptions will not display descriptions
Hide Current Condition  will override the "Show Current Condition" option if it's selected on the form.

The form content editor has the ability to add a header and change the form style.  Form Section Style lets you change the style and scale of the font.  Font Size Scale enables you to scale the font according to the default font size.  Entering "2" will make the font twice as large, while "0.5" will make it half the size, etc.  You can change both the section (called "Non-Question Text" in a form) style and the question style.  Finally, you can choose whether to display the form as "Columns" or "Compact".  If "Columns" is selected, you can select "1", "2", or "3" to determine the number of columns in which to display the choices.

Question Filter is a way of merging only certain sections of forms into the final report. If set to 'Show All Questions' it will show all questions. If set to 'Limit questions to certain sections', you can select sections that are defined in your form settings.

Header and Footer

Header and Footer options will appear depending on the position of the "+" button that you use to add a block.  The topmost button will have the option to add a header, while the bottom most will have the option to add a footer.

Both headers and footers will only appear once, regardless of how many records of the category the report returns. Headers and footers can be edited just like basic blocks.