Web-NEERS FAQ

Outlined on this page are troubleshooting tips and frequently asked questions about Web-NEERS.

End of Year Submission and Data Reporting

  • Data submission will be MUCH easier in WebNEERS. You will no longer have to export and import databases from one system to another. In WebNEERS, the Institution Level user can see the Regional Level data at any time. There is no submission step. On the other hand, the Federal Level user (the National Office) cannot view any Institution Level data until it is officially submitted. Official submission will be very easy. The Institution Level user will simply have to click a button to make the data visible to the Federal Level user. 

  • Before data is submitted, Regional Level users should finish entering all of their data and review and fix all Adult Errors, Youth Errors, and Staff Errors. Once this is done, Institution Level users should review the Regional Data to ensure accuracy and completeness. All issues should be addressed prior to submission to the National Office.

  • If you find that something is marked as an error and it isn’t actually an error, determine if it is a bug with the system (i.e., WebNEERS is marking the data incorrectly). If so, please report it to the help desk – webneers--‐help@lyris.nifa.usda.gov. If the data is accurate, but it is being flagged as an error, you can simply skip over it; having errors will not prevent you from submitting your data.   

  • When the Institution Level user clicks the button to submit the data to the National Office, all adults and youth groups that have been entered up to that point will be locked. This means the Regional Level users cannot edit records or enter any exit data for adults or youth groups which were active at the point of submission.  After the National Office reviews the data and approves it, the Institution Level user will be able to give his/her Regional Level users permission to Start the New Reporting Period. This process will merge the data being carried forward from the previous year with the new data that has been entered.

  • All active adults, active youth groups, staff (including volunteers), defaults, filters, subgroups, public assistance programs and additional checklist question sets will carry forward into the new programming year.

  • All adults (graduated & terminated) and youth groups with exit dates prior to the end of the programming year will be removed along with staff hours. The Delivery Sites and Partnerships Chart will be cleared along with the list of Program Impacts.

  • Yes, after your data submission is approved by the Federal Office you will be able to view previous year’s data.

  • The Export Data feature at the Region and Institute Level can be used to export and download raw data from WebNEERS for further analysis depending on the needs of your state.

    • From the Region Level you can download data specific to your certain region(s) depending on your need. Export files are separated by report. You can select all reports or just those you are interested in. Data is exported as .csv files and can be saved to your computer. 

    • From the Institute Level you can download statewide data or the data specific to certain region(s) depending on your need. Export files are separated by report. You can select all reports or just those you are interested in. Data is exported as .csv files and can be saved to your computer. 

    Overview of Data Export Feature

    Codebook for WebNEERS Data - PDF

    More information and the Excel version of the codebook can be found on the WebNEERS System Manuals page.

Data Entry

  • Yes, all adults that participate in EFNEP should be entered into WebNEERS and marked as being part of the Federal EFNEP subgroup.  This gives us a more complete picture of who we are reaching with EFNEP dollars and helps ensure that programs are effectively targeting the EFNEP audience.

    If you want to be able to filter out ineligible participants from your reports, you can create an institution level subgroup and have your users mark the ineligible participants as being part of that subgroup.  Then, you can setup a filter that pulls data for all participants that are 'not in' the subgroup you setup.

  • A participant can only be entered into WebNEERS once in any given program year.

    1. Select Manage Adults at WebNEERS Home page
    2. Select the double arrows (insert icon) icon in the Name column
    3. Review the list of names
      • Identify any names which are repeated
      • Verify the individuals are unique – or –
      • Delete one of the duplicate records
        • See Manage Adults section of the Web-NEERS user manual for information on deleting an adult.

  • You will need to delete the participant from the incorrect database and reenter all of the information into the correct database.

  • If a participant has incomplete recalls/checklists they cannot be considered a graduate. If one of the reasons in WebNEERS does not fit the situation, select “other.”

  • If a previous staff member or volunteer will not delete, it is due to adult participants, youth groups and/or volunteers still being assigned to the staff being deleted.  See Manage Staff section of this manual to review the process to Transfer Responsibilities of adults or youth groups between staff.  If it is volunteers still assigned to the staff, see Manage Staff section of the Web-NEERS user manual to review the process for generating the Volunteer List report. Once the volunteers have been identified, transfer those volunteers to another staff member.

    • Remove the street name and house number; then verify with General Delivery
    • Ensure spelling is correct in town name and/or zip code is correct; then verify with General Delivery

    • Save the Adult record being worked on
    • Return to the WebNEERS Home page
    • Select Manage Adults
    • Select the edit icon next to the adult to be edited
    • Review the Contact Info tab to determine if the address has been verified and/or the tab appears.

    • Select the List of Families by Staff Member under the Report heading in the Adults section
    • Select Address Not Verified Filter
    • Select Submit at the bottom of the screen
    • Select the Preview icon to the right of the staff’s name
    • Review/print the adults listed
    • Repeat step 4 and 5 for each staff member

    • You cannot edit a question if it was included in a question set.  If you need to edit a question that is attached to a question set you’ll need to remove the question set from any regions it is assigned to and then remove the question from the question set. 
    • You can always add it back after you edit it, but this should release it for editing. 
    • Please note, this is only possible if there are no adults or no youth groups in the regional level that used the question set. 
      • If the question set has been attached to an adult or to a youth group and you need to make edits, the checklist must be deleted and then you have to complete the steps listed above to unassign the question set from the region and to remove the question from the set.

Operation Errors

  • As WebNEERS is a web-based application, access to the Internet is required; WebNEERS does not function “off-line.”  If the user is unable to access the Internet, the user must contact the SBN (Small Business Network) or local IT staff for assistance.

    If WebNEERS is not functioning correctly and/or error messages appear, type into the provided space, what the user was doing when receiving the error.  The WebNEERS administrators will address the submitted issues.  

  • Error messages can also be reported on the Online WebNEERS Help Desk site with the category “system bug.” For further instruction on how to use the online Help Desk you can access the manual or view a training video.

Data Point Definitions

  • To calculate the food group amount for a specific food item, locate the gram weight from the weights and measures tab and the amount per 100 gram weight for the food group on the food group data tab.  Then you can use the following formula.  This can also be used to check calculations of nutrients.

    ((Gram Weight/ 100 grams) x Number of Portions) * Amount Per 100 Gram Weight

    For example - how many cups of fruit are in 1 large apple?

    This information can be found by clicking on the food details exclamation point next to any food item that you are searching for.

    • Click on the Weights and Measures tab.  The whole large apple weighs 212 grams.
    • The nutritional analysis is provided for only 100 grams of an apple, and that amount is reported to be .943 cup equivalents from the fruit group.   Therefore the large apple would provide 2.12 times the cup equivalents and nutrients listed in the food details for the 100 grams of large apple: 
      • Cup equivalents of fruit for one large apple =
      • ((212/100) x 1 whole apple, large) * .943 cup equivalents of fruit) = 1.99916 cups (2 cup) equivalents.

    • Having acceptable practices at entry or at exit is a much harder outcome to achieve because it isn’t just looking at improvement on one or more of the questions, but rather having an acceptable score on all questions within a construct.

    • The system looks at each question within a construct. 

    • For example, food resource management is questions 1, 2, 3, and 4.  WebNEERS then checks to make sure that for each of those questions, the responses are “acceptable” or “good”. 

      • So, for question 1 – how often do you plan meals ahead of time, a score of 4 or 5 is needed.  Same for question 2 and 4.  Question 5 you must have a 5.  So, on the report, if someone has a 4 or 5 at entry for questions 1, 2, and 4 and a 5 for question 5, they would be included in the acceptable practices percentage.

    • To find the scoring report for each question:

      • Click on “view adult checklist sets.
      • Click the report icon next to the “10 core questions.”
      • Click on the report icon on the far right for the specific question of interest.
      • Look at the “scoring” section of the answers table at the bottom of the pop-up screen.

Contact

WebNEERS Helpdesk

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