Once your survey is complete and ready for distribution, it's best practice to preview and test it thoroughly prior to publishing.
To preview your survey:
Some helpful options in Preview Mode:
If you would like to get feedback from testers before publishing your survey, there are two ways to share with them:
*Note: Anytime a survey is taken in Preview mode, that data is recorded and available in the Data and Analysis tab at the top of the Projects page. (You can later delete these responses.)
Having test responses can be very useful to check for errors in your survey. If you don't have a significant number of testers available, you may wish to generate "dummy" test responses:
*Note: you can view the data generated by these test responses in the Data and Analysis tab.
Once your survey is tested and ready for distribution, it's time to publish. Publishing activates the project and allows you to send links to participants.
To publish your survey, click Publish on the Projects page.
In the popup window, add an optional description of the survey for your version history, then click Publish.
Once your survey is published and activated, the popup will display an anonymous link that you can copy and place where you wish.
The Distribution section summarizes your survey responses and provides options for how you can distribute your survey. You can find an anonymous link to your survey in this section, as well as its unique QR code.
For distribution options, click Distribute Survey in the upper right corner. From the popup, you can select from email, web, social media, and more. (You can also use the navigation tab on the left to view the same options.)
Once a survey is published, you can still make changes. However, it's important to be aware of the two types of changes:
Once your survey has begun to collect responses, there are certain changes that can greatly affect this data and should be approached with caution.
Change |
Impact |
Best Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Changing Question Type | The formats for different questions types differ dramatically. Changing a question type can alter data structure and make response analysis challenging. | Hide the unwanted question using Question Randomization in the block: select Advanced Randomization and add the question to Excluded Items. Then add a new question to replace it. |
| Deleting Answer Choices from a question | Even if an answer choice is no longer relevant, deleting it will remove it from the survey editor and you will not be able to use it for historical reporting or data analysis. | Hide the unwanted answer choice using Choice Randomization: select Advanced Randomization and add the answer choice to Excluded Items. Then add a new choice to replace it. |
| Editing Answer Choices in a question | As mentioned above, editing an answer choice will remove its history from the survey editor and make data analysis challenging. | Hide the unwanted answer choice using Choice Randomization: select Advanced Randomization and add the answer choice to Excluded Items. Then add a new choice to replace it rather than editing. |
| Deleting Questions | If you want to remove a question and no longer need its corresponding data, you can move it to the Trash. The data will no longer be available. | If you still need the data, hide the unwanted question using Question Randomization in the block: select Advanced Randomization and add the question to Excluded Items. |
| Editing Logic | Adding, removing or editing Display or Skip Logic will alter what respondents experience and consequently what data is recorded for them. | When making changes to logic, always preview and thoroughly test them before publishing. |
Many edits can be made that improve your survey and will not negatively affect your data, including:
*Note: any time you make a change to your survey, remember to click Publish again to activate the edits.