Creating Surveys

Madhuri Dange

April 09, 2024 23:05

The Surveys application adds 15 services to Aptify (see About the Survey Management Services for the list of Services). Starting with Aptify 5.5.3, the ability to create and edit surveys using a wizard and panel view is available in the Aptify web interface. In the Aptify Desktop client, the Surveys Administration Dashboard is used to create and edit surveys.

Creating Surveys Using the New Survey Wizard
Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Panel View
Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Administration Dashboard
Creating Survey Questions Using the Questions Service
Using Answer Logic in Surveys
Using Virtual Branches in the Surveys Administration Dashboard

Creating Surveys Using the New Survey Wizard

Starting in Aptify 5.5.3, the New Survey Wizard in the Aptify web interface can be used to create a survey. Perform the following steps to create a survey using the New Survey Wizard in the Aptify web interface:

From the Survey Management dashboard, click More > New Survey Wizard.
If you want to copy an existing survey, enter the survey to copy In the Survey field. If you want to create a new survey, leave the Survey field blank.
Click Next to go to step 2.
- If you are creating a new survey, go to step 4.
- If you are copying an existing survey, go to step 19.
In the Name field, enter a name for the new survey.
In the Description field, enter a description of the survey.
In the Category drop-down box, select a category from the list.
In the Start Date field, enter a date that users can begin to take the survey on the e-Business web site.
In the End Date field, enter a date when the survey becomes unavailable on the e-Business web site.
In the Delivery Type drop-down box, select a delivery type from the list.
- NOTE: Aptify includes one default delivery type, Web. Each survey can support multiple delivery types, but at least one of them must be Web in order for the survey to appear on the e-Business web site.
In the Style Sheet drop-down box, select a style sheet from the list.
Click Next to go to step 3.
Click New.
Add a new question to the survey.
- To add an existing question, enter a question name in the Current Question field and click the Search icon.
- To add a new question, enter the appropriate information in these fields:
  - Question Name
  - Question Text
  - Question Description
  - Survey Question Type
- The fields to define a new question are similar to those in the Questions form. For more information on these fields, see About the Questions Form.
In the Add Possible Answers section, click New to add an answer to the question.
- To add an existing answer, enter an answer name in the Existing Answer field and click the Search icon.
- To add a new answer, enter the appropriate information in these fields:
  - Answer Text
  - Answer Description
- The fields to define a new answer are similar to those in the Answers form. For more information on these fields, see About the Answers Form.
Save the Possible Answers record.
1. To save this record and add another answer, click OK and New and repeat step 14 for each answer.
2. Once all of the answers are entered, review the answers in the listing at the bottom of the record.
  - You can add additional answers, edit existing answers, and update the order in which the answers are displayed in the survey using the buttons above the answer listing.
3. Once the answers to the question are correctly set up, click OK to return to the Staging Survey Questions record.
Save the Staging Surveys Questions record.
1. To save this record and add another question, click OK and New and repeat steps 13 and 14 for each question.
2. Once all of the questions for the survey are entered, click OK to return to the listing of questions.
Review the questions in the survey and make any necessary modifications.
- You can add additional questions, edit existing questions, and update the order in which the questions are displayed in the survey using the buttons above the questions listing.
Go to step 20.
In the New Survey Name field, set the name for your copied survey.
Click Finish to save the survey, and click OK in the success message.
You can add answer logic to this survey using the Survey Panel View. See step 10 in Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Panel View for information on adding answer logic to the survey.

Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Panel View

Starting in Aptify 5.5.3, the Surveys Panel View in the Aptify web interface can be used to create a survey. Perform the following steps to create a survey using the Surveys Panel View in the Aptify web interface:

In the command toolbar in the Survey Management dashboard, click the New Survey button
In the Name field, enter a name for the survey.
In the Capture Mode field, enter the method used to collect survey data.
In the Status field, ensure that the value is Planning.
In the command toolbar, click Save.
Click Questions & Answers tab.
Add the first question to the survey.
1. NOTE: You can also add the first question by clicking the Add New button for the Root Survey Question field, and fill out the New Question Branch record. If you choose this approach, save your question and go to step 9.
2. If you want to add a new question, click the Insert New button.
  1. In the Name field, enter a name for the question.
  2. In the Text field, enter the text of the question as it will appear in the survey.
  3. In the Survey Category field, enter the desired survey category.
  4. In the Question Type field, identify the format for the answers to the question
  5. In the Description field, enter a description of the question.
3. If you want to add an existing question, click the Insert Existing button.
  1. In the Name field, search for the name of an existing question.
  2. Click Find to display the list of available questions.
  3. Click the desired question and click Select.
    - The questions associated with an existing question are added to the survey as well.
Click Save as 1st to save this as the first question for the survey.
Add answers to the question.
1. In the Survey Structure panel of the Questions & Answer tab, click the question to which you want to add answers.
2. In the Questions record, select Possible Answers from the drop-down list at the top of the record.
3. Click New to open the Possible Answers record.
4. In the Possible Answers field, enter a possible answer.
  1. If you want to add a new answer, click the Add New button.
    1. In the Text field, enter the text of the answer as it will appear in the survey.
    2. In the Survey Category field, enter the desired survey category.
    3. In the Description field, enter a description of the answer.
    4. Save the record.
      - Click Save + New to save this record and open a new record for adding another answer to this question.
      - Click Save to save this record and keep it open.
      - Click Save + Close to save this record and return to the Possible Answers record.
  2. If you want to add an existing answer, search for the name of an existing answer in the Possible Answers field.
    1. In the Name field, search for the name of an existing answer.
    2. Click Find to display the list of available answers.
    3. Click the desired answered and click Select.
5. In the Possible Answers record, select the Answer Required option, if desired. See About the Answer Required Options.
6. If you want to create another Possible Answers record, click OK and New and return to the top of this step. Otherwise, click OK.
7. In the Related Records panel, click Save.
If you want to add answer logic to an answer in this question, perform the following steps:
1. In the Questions & Answer tab, click the question where you are adding answer logic and select the Check Answers option.
2. Click Save.
3. Select the drop-down list next to the question and select the desired answer.
4. In the command toolbar, click the Insert Answer Logic button.
5. For the Target Survey Question field, identify the next question in the survey if the user selects this answer.
  - If you want to link to an existing question in your survey, perform the following steps:
    1. In the Name field, search for the name of an existing question.
    2. Click Find to display the list of questions available in your survey.
    3. Click the desired question and click Select.
    4. NOTE: When adding an existing question as the target question, you can only select questions that are after the question for this answer in the survey structure.
  - If you want to link to an existing question not in your survey, perform the following steps:
    1. Click the Add New button.
    2. In the Survey field, identify the name of this survey.
    3. Click Find to display the list of questions available in your survey.
    4. Click the desired question and click OK.
  - If you want to add a new question, perform the following steps:
    1. Click the Add New button.
    2. In the Survey field, identify the name of this survey.
    3. In the Question field, click the Add New button, which opens a new Question record.
    4. Enter question and answer information for the target question, as described in steps 7 through 9.
    5. Select any options as needed.
    6. Click the Save + Close button.
6. Click OK to save the answer logic for this question.
7. If you want to create additional answer logic paths for this question, repeat the above steps. See Using Answer Logic in Surveys for more information.
To add additional questions to this survey, you can repeat steps 7 through 10 for each question.
- If you want to reorder the questions, you can drag and drop the questions within the Survey Structure Panel for the Questions & Answers tab. When you save these questions (repeating step 8), click the Save button instead.
The survey is finished when you have completed adding your questions and answers, and the structure of your survey is correct.

Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Administration Dashboard

This topic describes how to use the Surveys Administration dashboard in the Aptify Desktop client to create a survey.

Starting in Aptify 5.5.3, the Surveys Administration Dashboard is not the default dashboard. To display the Survey Administration Dashboard in Aptify 5.5.3, click Options in the Survey Management bar and select Switch Dashboards > Surveys Administration.

Right-click Surveys and select Create Survey from the drop-down menu.
Configure the following fields within the new survey record's General tab:
- Name: The name of the Survey; this is the name of the survey that will appear on the e-Business eeb site.
- Max Questions Per Page: The maximum number of questions that will appear on each survey web page. By default, this is set to 5, which means that a web user will see no more than five questions on any survey screen. To proceed to the next screen, the web user clicks a Next button. Some survey screens may have less than the Max Questions Per Page if a particular Survey Question has Check Answers or Page Break enabled.
- Start Date/End Date: Enter the date range for when the survey should be made available to users. The Start Date specifies the first day that the survey will be available; the End Date specifies the last day that the survey will be available.
- Allow Partial Completion: Select this option to allow Aptify to save incomplete survey results. This creates a Save button on survey screens for Web users who are logged into the system. It allows users to save a survey and pick up from where they left off at a later time. Also, you must allow partial completion if you plan to use the Force Save option for any Question Branches. See About the Survey Questions (Question Branches) Form for more information.
- Allow Duplicates: Select this option to allow a web user to take a survey more than once.
- Category: Specifies the category to which the Survey belongs. You can create a new Survey Category by clicking the blue link to the left of the field.
- Capture Mode: Set this field to Full Results.
- Tracking Type: Specifies how users are tracked. When set to Anonymous, Aptify does not associate a user with survey results. When set to Identify, Aptify associates a user with survey results; only web users who are logged into the system will have access to the survey. When set to Mixed, all users have access to the survey, and Aptify associates a user with the -survey results if the user is logged into the system at the time he/she takes the -survey.
- Status: Specifies the survey's current status. When set to Planning, a survey will not appear on the web site. When set to In Progress, a survey is available for users to take on the Web site (assuming that the survey is set to use a Web delivery type). When set to Complete, the survey no longer appears in the Survey List for new users; however, the survey is still available to Web users who already took the survey so they can review their answers (this assumes that the user was logged into the web site and the survey's Tracking Type is set to Identify or Mixed). When set to Closed, the survey no longer appears in the Survey List for any web users.
- Erase Message: The text that appears when a user changes an answer that affects the order of questions within the survey. This is applicable if any -Survey Questions use Answer Logic. See About the Erase Message for details.
- Description: An optional description of the survey. This text appears within the Survey Center on the e-Business Web site's main Surveys page.
Click the Delivery Types tab and add Delivery Type records.
- The Surveys module includes the Web delivery type by default.
- You must add at least one Delivery Type entry and set it to Web if you want to the survey to appear on the e-Business Web site.
- Configure an Access Password, if desired. This is applicable if Delivery Type is set to Web. A user is prompted to enter the Access Password after selecting the survey. The survey does not appear unless the user enters the correct password. Note that this password is not case sensitive.
Click the Applied Style Sheets tab and add one or more style sheets (from the Survey Style Sheets service) to the survey.
- Add a start and end date for the style sheet if necessary.
Click Save to save and close the Surveys record.
Right-click the Survey and select Add Root SurveyQuestion from the drop-down menu.
Fill out the form to add the first Survey Question (also referred to as a Question Branch) to the Survey.
1. Enter the question that you want to include in the survey in the Question field.
  - To create a new Question, click the blue link to the left of the field. See Creating Survey Questions Using the Questions Service for more information.
2. Select the Check Answers option to enable Answer Logic.
  - Answer Logic allows you to create conditional branches within a survey based on a user's response to a specific question. You must have the Check Answers option enabled to use Answer Logic for a particular Survey Question in a survey.
  - When enabled, Aptify adds a page break after the Question and examines the answer provided by the user to determine which question to display next.
  - See Using Answer Logic in Surveys for more information.
3. Select the Force Save option to allow Aptify to save a user's answers. When enabled for a particular Survey Question, the system saves a user's responses after the user answers the question and clicks the Next button to proceed to the next screen of the survey. The system saves all responses entered up to that point.
  - If none of the Survey Questions in a Survey have Force Save enabled, the system saves a user's answers only after the user completes the survey.
  - The Survey must have Allow Partial Completion enabled to use the Force Save feature.
4. Select the Page Break option to add a page break after a Question Branch. A user will need to click a Next button to proceed to the next page and continue the survey.
5. Select the Answer Required option to require the user to answer the Survey Question's question before proceeding to the next question.
  - If the user attempts to click Next or Finish within answering the question, an error message appears on-screen stating that the specified question must be answered before the user can proceed. The text of the error message depends upon the Survey Style Sheets in use.
  - This option only applies to certain Question Types. See About the Answer Required Options for details.
6. Click OK to save the Survey Question's configuration settings.
Right-click the last Survey Question within the dashboard.
- Select Add New Survey Question to add another question.
- Select Add Virtual Survey Question to add a link between two branches of the survey. This is a useful feature if you want to reuse lines of questioning within the same survey. See Using Virtual Branches in the Surveys Administration Dashboard for more information.
- Select Add New Survey Question as Answer Logic or Add Virtual Survey Question as Answer Logic to create a conditional branch based on the web user's response to the highlighted Survey Question.
  - Answer Logic options only appear in the right-click menu if you selected the Check Answers option for the highlighted Survey Question and the highlighted Survey Question already has a configured next Survey Question or Virtual Branch.
  - See Using Answer Logic in Surveys for more information.
Complete the survey by adding Survey Questions, Virtual Branches, and/or Answer Logic as necessary.
View the survey on the e-Business Web site to confirm that it operates as expected. See Viewing Surveys for details.
After completing a survey, create a view of the Survey Participants and Survey Results services and double-click a record to see the format in which Aptify saves a web user's responses to a survey.

Creating Survey Questions Using the Questions Service

This topic describes how add questions to a survey using the Questions service.

Starting in Aptify 5.5.3, Aptify web interface users can also add Questions in the Surveys Panel View. See Creating Surveys Using the Surveys Panel View.

A survey is made up of a series of questions. Aptify stores all questions in the Questions service. A Survey Question indicates that a particular question has been added to a particular Survey.

For each Question, you need to specify the text of the question, the format of the question (the Question Type), and the possible answers.

Perform the following steps to create a new survey question using a Questions record.

In the Name field, enter a name for the Question record. This is the name that identifies the question; it also shows up as the name for the Survey Questions in the dashboard that are linked to the Question. This name is not visible to web users.
In the Text field, enter the text of the question that is displayed to web users.
In the Survey Category field, enter the category to which the Question belongs (for example, General or Demographics).
In the Question Type field, enter the format of the question. The default Question Types are described in About Survey Question Types.
In the Description field, enter a description of the question. This information is not visible to web users.
Click the Possible Answers tab (shown below) and add one or more answers to the question. You can create new answers by right-clicking in the Answers grid and selecting New Answers Record from the drop-down menu.
- You can designate certain answers as required, depending on the Question Type. This is primarily for questions that support Multiple Answers to Save, such as Short Answer questions. See About the Answer Required Options for details.

Using Answer Logic in Surveys

Answer Logic creates conditional branches within the survey based on a web user's response to a question. This provides an interactive experience for web users.

For example, if a question asks, Can we contact you to discuss this further? there are two possible answers: Yes or No. If a user responds Yes, the survey should display a form so the user can enter his/her contact information. If a user responds No, the survey should not display the contact information form and proceed to the next question or conclude the survey, since the user has declined the request.

Keep in mind the following if you plan to use Answer Logic. This information is broken down by survey management tool:

When selecting a target question, you can search for an existing question, or add a new question.
- You can search for existing questions within your survey.
- If you add a new question, you enter the question information and the possible answer information on a single record. Once that is entered, you can add additional answer logic paths to the answers in the new question.

Virtual Branches are not required when using the Surveys Panel View or the New Survey wizard.
A drop-down icon next to the name of the conditional answer in the Surveys Panel View identifies an Answer branch in the Aptify web interface.

A Survey Question must have the Check Answers option selected to support Answer Logic.
A Survey Question must already have a next Survey Question before you can select one of the Answer Logic options from the right-click menu.
You cannot use Answer Logic with a Question that allows a user to select multiple answers. For example, a Vertical Check Box question type does not support Answer Logic.
All Survey Questions that use Answer Logic must also have a default Next Survey Question. Consider the following examples:
- If you enable Answer Logic for a question with two answers, create one Answer branch (for users who select Answer #1) and one next Survey Question (for users who select Answer #2).
- If you have a question with three possible answers, you can create one Answer branch for Answer #1, one Answer branch for Answer #2, and one next Survey Question branch for Answer #3). Alternatively, you could create one Answer branch (for Answer #1) and a default next Survey Question branch (for when the user selects Answers #2 or 3).
When creating Answer Logic, the next question can either be a Survey Question or a Virtual Question Branch.
- If you select Add New Survey Question as Answer Logic, select an answer from the Answers drop-down menu and enter the next question in the Target Question field. A user who selects the specified answer will be automatically directed to the Target Question.

- If you select Add New Virtual Survey as Answer Logic, select an answer from the Answers drop-down menu and click the Select button to select an existing Survey Question branch as the parent of the new virtual branch. A user who selects the specified answer will be automatically directed to the Virtual Branch. See Using Virtual Branches in the Surveys Administration Dashboard.

An acorn icon and the text of the conditional answer identifies an Answer branch in the Survey Administration dashboard.

Using Virtual Branches in the Surveys Administration Dashboard

Virtual branches (also known as Virtual Survey Questions) are used in the Surveys Administration Dashboard to simplify survey management by eliminating redundant lines of questioning. Virtual Branching lets the developer create a line of questioning once and then redirect survey users to the same line of questioning as necessary. They are most useful if you want to repeat sections of the survey following Answer Logic.

Virtual branch creation is not necessary when using the Aptify web interface to create and maintain surveys using the Surveys Panel View.

For example, a survey may ask users if they are willing to provide contact information. If the user responds Yes, the survey displays the Contact Info question. If the user responds No, the survey displays a Rate This Survey question.

The survey uses Answer Logic to deal with the two situations. However, even if the user replies Yes, the developer wants the survey to end in the same manner so that all users see the Rate This Survey question followed by Thank You.

Without a Virtual Branch, the developer needs to create the following items, as shown below:

A May We Contact survey question.
A Contact Info survey question below May We Contact.
A Rate This Survey survey question below Contact Info.
A Thank You survey question below Rate This Survey.
An Answer Logic branch for No.
A Rate This Survey survey question below No.
A Thank You survey question below Rate This Survey.

In the example above, items 3 & 4 and 6 & 7 are identical. Rather than create identical lines of questioning, the developer can use a Virtual Branch to create a link between two locations within the survey.

With a Virtual Branch, the developer can add fewer items while creating the same survey structure, as shown below.

A May We Contact survey question.
A Contact Info survey question below May We Contact.
A Rate This Survey survey question below Contact Info.
A Thank You survey question below Rate This Survey.
An Answer Logic branch for No.
A virtual branch to Rate This Survey below No.
- This virtual branch links to Rate This Survey in item 3. After answering Rate This Survey, a user is automatically directed to Thank You in item 4.
- Aptify always makes the first instance within in a survey the parent branch. Therefore, as seen in the following figure, the Rate This Survey branch below the No is the parent branch, even though it was created second.

Keep in mind the following if you plan to use virtual branches:

A branch icon identifies a virtual branch in the Survey Administration dashboard. The solid icon indicates the parent branch to which the other virtual branches link; a shadowed icon indicates a virtual branch that links to the parent branch.
The parent branch is always the first occurrence of the virtual branch in the survey.
You can add a Virtual Branch as the next survey question or use it in conjunction with Answer Logic.
To create a Virtual Branch using the dashboard, right-click a branch and select Add Virtual Survey Question or Add Virtual Survey Question as Answer Logic.
For Add Virtual Survey Question, choose a solid leaf icon from the Select a branch that will be used as the Next Question Branch screen and click OK. Survey Questions that cannot be used as Virtual Branches have shadowed leaf icons.
For Add Virtual Survey Question as Answer Logic, select an answer from the Answers drop-down menu and click the Select button to display the Select a branch that will be used as the Next Question Branch screen, as shown below.

Survey developers can "split" a Virtual Branch if changes need to be made to one or more of the child branches.
To split a Virtual Branch, right-click a child branch and choose Split Virtual Survey Question from the drop-down menu, as shown below.
Splitting ends a Virtual Branch relationship.
Splitting replaces a child branch with a duplicate of the parent branch (in other words, this action creates a duplicate line of questioning).
Splitting is only for the specified branch's top-level Virtual Branch. If the selected Virtual Branch contains a second Virtual Branch, the split operation will cease at the second -Virtual Branch. In other words, Aptify will duplicate the parent branch only up to the next Virtual Branch; any remaining Virtual Branches in the path remain intact.