How do I combine the data from two different keypads?

If a keypad stops working during a course and there is not enough time to diagnose and fix it, you may decide to simply give the trainee a different keypad to use. This article will focus on what to do in terms of the voting results. 

If you wish to try to get the keypad working rather than swapping, see this article: 

https://wja.clikapad.com/a-keypad-is-broken-what-can-i-do

Assuming that you have swapped the devices out, there are two options available to you. 

OPTION 1 - Update the Excel manually

The first is to export your results as normal, then on the Results by Keypad sheet, copy the votes from the new keypad, into the line for that trainee's original keypad. Please note, you will need to manually update their score as some points will be added in the row for the original keypad and the rest will be in the row for the keypad you swapped that with. 

After adding their points together into one line, calculate their score as a percentage. 

Remember that you will also need to manually update the Summary sheet in the report and the feedback sheet for the trainee, as any questions that they answered incorrectly after being given a new keypad will be logged against that one, not the one that is in their name. 

OPTION 2 - Update the REC file before exporting your report (ADVANCED)

The benefit to this method as the pass mark and certificate will be generated correctly and manual alterations to the report will not be needed. 

This option involves amending the data, so that when the report is generated, the votes from the original and new keypads as combined to generate as a single set of results in the report. 

Edit the REC file (voting data back up found in the same folder as your course). DO NOT CHOOSE THIS OPTION UNLESS YOU ARE VERY CONFIDENT THAT YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE WAY THE REC FILE WORKS.

ALWAYS MAKE A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL REC FILE AND SAVE IT IN A DIFFERENT FOLDER. In the event that you make any mistakes updating the file you will be able to revert to that copy.

You will need to open the file with Notepad and add the votes from the new keypad to the position of the original one. 

Figure out which keypad was used for the most questions. It makes sense to minimise the amount of changes. So for example if keypad 2 was used for 10 questions but then stopped working and you gave the trainee keypad 11 to use for the next 35 questions, it would make the most sense to allocate keypad 11 to your trainee in the participant list and to copy all votes cast using keypad 2 into the results position for keypad 11.

Before going further, take a look at this example of data from a REC file and ensure that you are comfortable with how to interpret it. 

1862 | 25/03/2026,15:42:49,1;3;3;3;3;3;2;3;3;3;
1712 | 25/03/2026,15:43:16,1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
1724 | 25/03/2026,15:43:30,2;2;2;2;1;2;2;3;2;2;
1738 | 25/03/2026,15:44:26,1;-;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;
1863 | 25/03/2026,15:44:49,1;-;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
1864 | 25/03/2026,15:45:04,2;-;3;2;2;2;2;2;2;2;2;
1865 | 25/03/2026,15:45:14,3;-;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;

Votes from keypads 2 and 11 have been changed to bold in the above to help you to identify them. 

Each line of data show a question ID, then a date and time that the vote was received, then the vote from each keypad separated by a semi colon. 

On the first line question ID 1862 was voted on at 15:42:49 on 25th March 2026. Keypad 1 voted 1, keypad 2 voted 3, keypad 3 voted 3 and so on. In total you can see votes from 10 keypads. 

Here is a copy of row 4:

1738 | 25/03/2026,15:44:26,1;-;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;

In row 4 there are spaces for 11 keypads and you'll notice that the position for keypad 2 shows a dash, which means it didn't vote. Votes for this row are as follows:

Keypad 1:  1

Keypad 2: no vote received

Keypad 3: 3

and keypads 4 to 11 all voted 3 as well. 

In order to most easily amend the data and apply all the answers to one keypad, we would simply add keypad 2's votes for the first three questions to the position for keypad 11. Here is how that would look:

1862 | 25/03/2026,15:42:49,1;3;3;3;3;3;2;3;3;3;3;
1712 | 25/03/2026,15:43:16,1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
1724 | 25/03/2026,15:43:30,2;2;2;2;1;2;2;3;2;2;2;
1738 | 25/03/2026,15:44:26,1;-;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;
1863 | 25/03/2026,15:44:49,1;-;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
1864 | 25/03/2026,15:45:04,2;-;3;2;2;2;2;2;2;2;2;
1865 | 25/03/2026,15:45:14,3;-;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;3;

If you count the votes in the first three rows, you will find there are 11 votes per question. That is because we added keypad 2's votes to the position for keypad 11 (at the end with another ; added after the vote). We didn't bother to remove the votes from keypad 2 but you could replace those with a - if you wish. 

Once you are happy with your changes to the REC, you will need to import the data. On your course PowerPoint go to Add-ins > CLiKAPAD > Voting Results > Import / Merge Data.

Once you have imported the data, you can run your report. Don't forget to update your ppvote Participant List first, so that the trainee's name and information is against the correct keypad number.