ClearForms - Customize a Survey Step

Survey Steps are designed to gather community feedback or other data from multiple people as part of an approval or permit Form and allow for the inclusion of feedback or information from a group of people who are neither the applicant, nor the form administrators, or the reviewers. 

There are a few steps to add a Survey Step to a Form. Select the link below to jump to that section of the article.

• A Few Things to Know About Inviting Participants
• Configure a Survey Step
• View Survey Responses
• Edit Survey Responses
• Case Study Example

A Few Things to Know About Inviting Participants 

• The Applicant will be asked to provide all e-mail addresses of the desired survey participants.
• Identified Surveys provide the ability to view and edit individual responses and track whether each has responded. 
• Identified Surveys allow the Applicant to send reminders to those who still need to complete the survey.
• If an Applicant does not know the e-mail addresses of the participants, they can utilize a distribution link to distribute the survey however they like (through email, social media, or offline means) to gather survey responses.
• There's no limit on the number of survey responses for either type of survey.

Configure a Survey Step 

In your Form, follow these steps to add a Survey step.

1. Select the + Add Step button.
2. Select the Survey option.
3. Select the Add Step button to confirm.

Then, follow these steps to configure the Survey Step:

1. Provide a descriptive name for the survey step, so that applicants know exactly what is expected of them.
2. Modify the Step Overview Description that appears on the start page, Applicant Instructions, and Admin Instructions.
3. Select the Configuration button to customize the following details:
   • Survey Title
   • Survey Instructions
   • Whether Respondents will be asked to provide an email address in order to respond (Respondent Identification)
   • Add assignees and a timeframe to the step, and customize the email notification message that invites users to complete the survey. Learn more about using logic in Email Notifications in this article: Online Forms - Data Fields and Formulas
     • Note: select the Save email notification button when you're done.
4. Select the + Add New Field button to add the fields to the survey that respondents will be required to fill out.

View Survey Responses

For Applicants

The applicant who distributed the survey can view responses by navigating back to the Survey Step of the from submission and selecting Responses.

Pro-Tip: Select the Export Responses button to export to CSV.

For Administrators

Administrators of the Form can view survey responses by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Survey Step of the completed form submission.
2. In the Responses section, select a response to view the survey information. Here, you can also edit survey responses. We'll elaborate this later on in the article.

Administrators of the Form can also export survey responses by following these steps:

1. Inside of the Form, navigate to the Actions tab.
2. Navigate to the Export sub-tab.
3. Select the radio button to the left of Export survey data and select the appropriate Survey Step.
4. Select the Export button.
5. Once it's ready, the export will be available to view and download in the Exports Manager tab. Learn about Exports here.

Edit Survey Responses 

Form Admins can access individual survey responses to make necessary edits

In the Survey Step of a completed form submission, navigate to the list of individual Responses. Then, follow the steps below to edit responses.

1. Select a survey response.
2. Edit any necessary information that's been submitted.
3. Save your changes by selecting the Update Responses button at the bottom of the screen.

Note: Edits must be made individually for each submitted survey. 

Case Study Example

This example is a Block Party Permit Form with an Identified Survey Step. 

1. A community uses a Form as their primary permit submission for local block parties. 
2. The Block Party permit submission requires approval from neighbors and other members of the community. 
3. An Applicant is applying for a Block Party Permit using a Form. 
4. The Applicant provides a list of neighbors' e-mail addresses in the Survey Step. (Identified Survey) 
5. The neighbors receive the E-mail and then complete their Survey through Online Forms. 
6. The Applicant can check on neighbors’ survey completions and send reminders as needed.
7. Once the survey is completed - the submission moves to the final step and the block party is approved!