Reporting a trouble spot

Platform: Mobile (the Archer app)

Reporting a trouble spot is the main way field staff put an issue "on the list" for someone to deal with. There are two flavours:

• Single report — you open the Report sheet, pick a category and type, choose the row, and the spot is logged. Notes are optional, and so are photos if your company is on Archer Enterprise.
• Work mode — you pick a type once and pin it, then walk and tap the on-map row buttons to log multiple spots of the same type without reopening the sheet. Great for scouting walks.

Before you start

• You're signed in to the mobile app and in the correct management group.
• Your GPS position is healthy.
• You're standing near the spot you want to report (or you're about to walk a block in work mode).

Single report

1. Open the Maps tab (the middle tab in the bottom navigation, and where the app opens).

   

2. Tap the flag button at the bottom-right of the map. (Alternatively, tap-and-hold at the exact point on the map where you want the pin, if you're not standing on it.) The Report sheet slides up.

3. On the Report step, pick a category from the CATEGORIES list. If your organisation has flagged some types for quick access, a row of QUICK chips sits above the list — tap one to jump straight to that type's row step.

   

4. If you picked a category, choose the type on the Select Type step.

   

5. On the last step — headed with the type you chose — tap the large row button for the row you're in (labelled by row number, e.g. Row 12; when GPS puts you between two rows you'll see both). Tapping the row button logs the spot immediately — there is no separate Save.

   

   On this step you can also:

   • Pick one of the Also nearby: rows, shown under the main buttons, if GPS has you a row off.

   • Tap Notes to add free-text notes — use them to describe exactly what you saw, especially if the type is generic.

   • Tap Photo to capture one or more photos (the button then reads "2 Photos"). Photos on trouble spots come with Archer Enterprise. On other plans, tapping Photo shows "Trouble spot photos are available on Archer Enterprise."

   Using an external RTK rover? With rover-grade GPS (for example the Archer X8-M1), choosing a different row simply records where the spot is — it never changes the app's idea of which lane you're walking, since the rover position is authoritative. On phone GPS, your row choice also doubles as a hint about which lane you're in.

6. The app acknowledges the report two ways: a confirmation snackbar appears, e.g. "Dead Vine · Row 12 · logged" (if you're offline, the spot is queued and the snackbar reads "… saved locally" — it uploads automatically when you're back online), and the new spot opens selected — its detail card slides up at the bottom of the map so you can see exactly what you just logged. If your current map filters would have hidden the new spot, the app loosens them and shows "Filters adjusted so your new spot is visible."

The spot is automatically tagged with:

• Your GPS location (lat/lon) — captured when you open the Report sheet, so the spot doesn't drift if you walk on while filling in notes or photos.
• The block you're in, if you're inside one.
• The row you confirmed (and the distance down the row, if the block has row geometry).
• Any notes and photos you added.
• Your user name and the current timestamp.

Work mode (bulk reporting)

Work mode is for when you're walking a row and seeing the same issue repeatedly — for example, marking dead vines along a block. You lock in one type, then log spots straight from the map.

1. Open the Report sheet from the Maps tab (flag button), pick the category and type just as you would for a single report.

2. On the row step, tap Pin. This pins the chosen type and closes the sheet. From now on, the Report sheet's first step carries a Work mode active banner with an Unpin button.

   

3. Walk the block. The map shows Row quick-log buttons for the row(s) you're next to, each carrying the pinned type's marker shape, short code and name so there's no doubt what you're logging. Each tap logs a trouble spot of the pinned type at your current position — no extra prompts, and (unlike a single report) the new spot doesn't open selected, so the row buttons stay on screen for the next tap. A "N logged" counter above the buttons tracks how many you've added.

4. When you're done, reopen the Report sheet and tap Unpin in the Work mode active banner to leave work mode.

To add notes or photos to a spot you logged in work mode, select it on the map afterwards and edit it (see below).

Working a Spot Search? When you start a Spot Search work order, the searched-for type is pinned automatically, so reporting a find is one tap. Pinning a different type manually takes over, and the pin clears when the session ends.

Adding notes or photos after the fact

If you need to add to a spot you've already reported:

1. Select the spot on the map to open its detail card, then tap its summary line (More, or "1 note") to unfold it.
2. Tap Edit, then add a note and/or capture photos (Archer Enterprise) and tap Save.

The Edit sheet also lets you correct the spot's row — a stepper bounded by the block's actual row count, for when GPS put the spot a row over (or it was tagged from memory). The confirmation snackbar summarises what changed, e.g. "Trouble spot updated: moved to row 14, note saved".

Edit is unavailable until the spot has synced to the cloud. A spot you just logged offline (or moments ago) won't show the Edit option until it has uploaded.

Tips

• Quick chips skip the category step. If your organisation has set them up, the QUICK row at the top of the Report sheet jumps straight to the type's row step.
• Be specific with types. "Irrigation → Leak" is much more useful downstream than "General → Unclassified". If the type you want isn't there, ask your admin to add it.
• Use work mode when it fits. Pinning a type and logging from the map is significantly faster than the single-report flow for scouting walks.
• Reporting works offline. Spots are queued on the phone with a "saved locally" confirmation and upload when you're back in signal with the app open. Photos need a steady signal to upload, so check them once you're back in good signal.
• Row buttons need a mapped block. If you're not inside a block with row geometry, the row step shows a single Log at current position button instead of numbered rows.
• Reporting is cheap. If you're not sure whether something's worth recording, record it. It's much easier to ignore a spurious trouble spot than to remember something you saw three hours ago.