Page Comparison

Detail view

If you wish to edit an existing question, simply click on its title in the list view. In the detail view, which can contain different input fields and functions depending on the question type, you can enter your question text and answer options and configure all question-specific settings.

Overview of the navigation and submenus

The tables list all features of list and detail view with references to detailed explanations.

Feature	Description
List view: Split button: + Question → New question	Click on this button to create new questions on the current page.
List view: Split button: + Question → Paste from Word	This feature allows to paste several questions at once from a draft into the questionnaire editor. Previously, this feature was labelled “Import questions”.
List view: Split button: + Question → Import questions	This feature allows to import questions from another project.
List view: Split button: + Question → Question library	Only for classic EFS question types. This option allows to access the content of the question library.
List view / Detail view	Via these icons, you can switch from the list view to the detail view of the first question, or back again from a question’s detail view to the list of questions.
Survey language	The default language which is currently displayed in the questionnaire editor.
Detail view: Pipe survey data	This feature allows to easily pick and insert wildcards for dynamic content into question texts.
Page info	The icons symbolize the routing elements and other questionnaire features used on the current page.
Page selection	Via the drop-down list, you can navigate to all standard pages, final pages and mixed-external pages.
Navigation arrows	The Arrow icons allow to skip to the previous and next questionnaire page or question, respectively.
Preview	List view: Page preview Detail view: Question or page preview

Submenus

Feature	Description
Properties	Access to the properties of the current page.
Triggers	Access to the Triggers menu of the current page.
Plausibility checks	Access to the Plausibility checks menu of the current page.
Text elements	Access to the Text elements menu of the current page.
Codebook	Shortcut to the Codebook.

Overview of the dedicated list view functions

Feature	Description
Drag&Drop	Use Drag&Drop to change the position of a question on the current page. To move a question to another page, please switch to the questionnaire view, display all questions and drag the question to the appropriate position.
Type	The icon symbolizes the parent category (e.g. matrix), the number the specific question type (e.g. 311).
Title	Internally used question title. Click on the title to access the detail view.
Question text	Question text
Question ID	Unique identifier of the question (q_xxxx). It is used e.g.: In the EFS Survey reporting: it allows to define the questions that should be in an evaluation. In the pro editor: you can create a specific design for each question using CSS.
Info	The icons symbolize the routing elements and other questionnaire features used in the question.
Randomization on / off	The position of all or selected questions on the current page can be randomly switched. To do so, simply click on the icons for the desired questions. Please note: The order of randomized questions on a page cannot be saved, so cannot be the subject of an evaluation.
Actions icons	Preview: Page preview. Copy: In the copy dialog, you can optionally change the question title and select another page as target. Use Save to remain in the current page view. If you use Save and edit, you’ll be routed into the copied question. Delete

Overview of the dedicated detail view features

Depending on the question type, the detail view contains different functions. The following tables give you an overview of which feature you will normally find and can use with common question types such as single or multiple response lists.

Question

Feature	Description
Question type / Change question type	The icon symbolizes the parent category (e.g. matrix), the number the specific question type (e.g. 311). By clicking on the icon, you can invoke the dialog for changing the question type.
Question Title	This field contains the title of the question.
Question Text	In this field, you can enter the question text as it will appear on the website. From EFS 10.0 you can use the TinyMCE editor to layout question text, fill-in instruction and help text. If you do not want to use the TinyMCE editor, you can easily deactivate the feature in the menu Options → Personal preferences on the tab Behavior of questionnaire editor
Fill-in instruction	Here you can insert explanatory notes on answering the ques- tion, e.g. “Multiple answers possible”. If you do not need a fill-in instruction, please delete the standard text (“Here you exp- lain...”) from the corresponding input field.
Help text	Individual questions give respondents the option of invoking a help pop-up window. Here, you can enter the help text that is to appear in the pop-up window later.
Mark question as “protected”	You can protect respondents’ answers to the current question against unauthorized viewing.
Hiding condition for this question	Depending on the answers the respondent has previously given, you can hide the question. To define the conditions, click on the Edit hiding condition link.
Activate horizontal / vertical flipping of answers	This function offers an alternative to randomization: The question’s items will be mirrored on the horizontal (vertical flipping) or the vertical (horizontal flipping) centerline.
Mandatory (DAC)	If you tick the “Mandatory” checkbox, EFS will automatically check to see whether the respondent has answered this question. If this is not the case, an appropriate message will be dis- played. Please note: In the case of matrix questions, selecting this function will only ensure that at least any one item will be answered. You can force respondents to answer several items or all items by ticking the checkboxes in the “dac” column in the “Answer options” section of the entry form.
Alternate colors	If this function is activated, answer options and inside titles will have alternating background colors (white and grey) to improve readability.
Dynamic column text wrap after x answers	After the selected number of answer options has been reached the list wraps and a new column begins. This function is particularly well suited for use in combination with hiding conditions on item level or randomization, i.e. for situations in which “New column” is too static.
Number of items visible	This field allows you to specify how many of the existing items are to be displayed: With the default setting, “0”, all items will be displayed. If you enter a number that is less than the actual number of existing items, the selection will be made by counting off the existing items from the top. Using this function is particularly recommended when combined with item randomization because the randomization produces varying item combinations. If the function is used in combination with hiding conditions for answer options, the output of the questionnaire page will be done by first considering the hiding conditions. Only after that will the number be limited.
Wrap item text	If this option has been enabled, long answer texts will be wrapped automatically. This feature can be used with the question types 111, 112, 113, 121, 122 and 144.

Dynamic answers

Feature	Description
Dynamic answers	If the answers are to be dynamically read from a list, you can make the corresponding settings in this area.

Answers

Feature	Description
Variable name	Depending on question type and type of text field, this field is located either in the „Question options“ section or in a dedicated column. Internal variable names are automatically allocated by the system when creating a question
External variable name	Depending on question type and type of text field, this field is located either in the „Question options“ section or in a dedicated column. External variable names can be changed and are then used on export instead of the internal variable names.
No	When creating the items, the numbering is automatically assigned by the system. You may change the numbering, but the changed numbering should be unique. If the numbering you assigned is not unique, an automatic, unique numbering will be assigned.
Code	Serves to identify an answer option for in single response lists and matrix questions. An overview of all encodings is provided in the codebook. You can edit the encoding. However, you should never do this while the survey is in progress because otherwise, the encoded information will be lost or it will no longer be possible to assign it correctly. Filters and other functions that are based on codes can also be damaged. When defining codes in matrix questions, please note that code “0” is disabled for scale items, except for question types 351, 361 and 364. Code “0” is normally used for questions types 361 and 364 to generate the “Please select” scale cha- racteristic: This allows you to track whether participants have responded to the question.
New	To create a new answer option, enter a new answer or item text into the “New” row. The sort number or the code (depending on the question type) will then be assigned automatically.
Arrow icons	Used to re-sort the answer options. Clicking on the arrow icon in front of an answer option will open a script prompt. Enter the desired new position for the item. After you have confirmed by clicking on OK, the position number will be changed automatically, and the numbers of all subsequent items will be corrected accordingly. Then click on Save. Make the next position change, click on Save again, etc.
Answer option / Dimension	Enter the answer options (or dimensions in matrix questions) in this field. By default there are five preset options. However, you can expand or reduce the number as you wish. If you need more than the pre-created options, simply enter in the “New” row the text for the next option, select the type and Save. You can remove redundant answer option by ticking the checkbox “Delete” and then Save. Up to 100 answer options can be created for a single question. For some question types, less options are available, to guarantee an appealing design. The answer text may have up to 10,000 characters. But please keep in mind that overlong texts may negatively affect the appearance of the question.
Text field width	Depending on question type and type of text field, this field is located either in the „Question options“ section (e.g. 141), in a dedicated column (e.g. 143) or immediately besides the text field (e.g. 111, Answer option + text). It can be used to restrict the width of a specific text field. In “Responsive Layout” projects from EFS 10.2: To find out which unit (em, %) should be used, please check the the i hint in the respective field. In “Responsive Layout” projects from EFS 10.2: If you do not enter a specific text field width, the default value defined in the layout editor will be used (Table 9.3). Default: 100%. Please mind that the feature is not available for question type 363.
Input length (max.)	Depending on question type and type of text field, this field is located either in the „Question options“ section (e.g. 141), in a dedicated column (e.g. 143) or immediately besides the text field (e.g. 111, Answer option + text). It allows to restrict the number of characters that can be entered.
Type	You can select the type of new answer option in this field. The following options are available: Answer option Answer option + text Inside title With 5xx-er questions, you can instead choose between image and HTML
Missing value	This option allows you to create a separate answer option, such as the answer “Other”. This will, therefore, enable the respondent to indicate that none of the possible answers apply to them. Ticking the “Missing value” checkbox for an item marks the item as a “missing value” in the online statistics. (Caution: When exporting the data, e.g. as an SPSS file, any declaration as “Missing” must be performed again.)
Randomization	The order of the selected answer options will be changed randomly so that the respondents will see different arrangements. The extension “Grouping” enables you to randomize answer groups. Please note: The order of randomized questions on a page cannot be saved, so cannot be the subject of an evaluation.
New column	This option allows you to show an answer option for your question in a separate column. This is especially suitable if you wish to offer an additional text field, separated from the answer options.
DAC	By activating the checkboxes in this column, you can ensure that, for matrix questions and multiple response questions, individual answer options, several answer options or all answer options must be answered.
Always visible
Delete	The “Delete” option allows you to reduce the number of answer options.

Tabs

Feature	Description
Questionnaire	Questionnaire view
Page	Page view
Preview question	The window that opens will now only contain the current question, as opposed to the whole page as displayed in the Page preview.
Only suitable for classic question types: Change question type	This function allows you to change a question type to another without having to create the whole question again. You can only change the existing question type to the ones dis- played in the drop-down list. Select the desired question type and click on Change. Please note that various special settings cannot be transferred when changing the question type. For example, hiding conditions and type checks will be lost.
Scale library	This function allows to open the scale library, where you can create a new scale.
Only suitable for classic question types: Add to library	This function allows you to copy a finished question into the question library.
Wildcards	Clicking on this tab allows you to insert a previously created static wildcard into a question or answer field in the entry form.

Showing and Hiding Question Options

The “Question” section of the detail view can get quite extensive, due to the number of setting options and specific features for individual question types. This is remedied using layers that react dynamically: Thus, rarely used options can be shown and hidden as required. The saved settings will be valid for the entire project.

Showing and hiding setting options

Switch to the question view, and click on the View icon.
A layer containing the hidden options will open. As soon as you enable a feature, it will be shown in the question view. Saving is not necessary. To close the layer, click on the x icon.

Info
Please note: Older versions of Internet Explorer cannot display the pop-up windows correctly. If a window is positioned over a drop-down box, the box will shine through. Therefore, pop-up windows can be moved.

Configuring your own default settings

If you usually work with a constant set of question options, you can make these the default setting in the Options → Preferences menu on the Display of questionnaire editor tab.

Pipe survey data

You can use so-called dynamic wildcards to access and display answers already given or data saved in participant administration. When surveying children, for example, you can ask for the name of the child responding and then address the child by name during the further course of the survey.

For this purpose, the name of the corresponding variable, enclosed in two hash signs, is inserted into a question text or an answer option or at any other place in the questionnaire. For example, the #v_2315# wildcard is replaced with the content of the v_2315 project variable.

From EFS 10.3, piping simplifies the insertion of dynamic content: A dedicated dialog shows all available data. All you need to do is select the appropriate content.

Info

Please note:

Dynamic output of content cannot be tested in preview mode, as data generated in the preview cannot be allocated to a participant account and dataset.
Not all of the wildcards function in the mail trigger and recoding trigger. The contents of project variables relating to an open text field may also be output using #v_000n# in the trigger. For closed-ended ques- tions the wildcard #v_000n# in the trigger only outputs the code. In the mail trigger, you may, however, issue a question‘s label by using the syntax #v_000n | label# or insert other texts using conditional replacement

Using Piping to Insert Dynamic Content

To give the newly introduced piping a try, please proceed as follows:

Click on the Pipe survey data button in the question view.
In the drop-down list opened, select the desired data type among the available types, as e.g. survey variables, static wildcards or in personalized surveys particicpant variables.
Finally, select the specific variable and choose between label or code output. EFS will automatically insert the appropriate wildcard into the question text.

Dynamic Wildcards in Detail

Depending on the variable type, the following replacement rules apply:

Project variables (v_000n): Depending on whether you want to output the label or the code of the variable, use the following syntax:

#v_000n#: the label of the respective variable, code in e-mail.
#v_000n | label#: the label of the respective variable.
#v_000n|code#: the code of the respective variable.
For variables that refer to open-ended text fields, the entry made by the respon- dent will be displayed in both cases.
URL parameter (p_000n): The wildcards are #p_0001# for the first URL parameter, #p_0002# for the second URL parameter, etc.
User-defined variables c_000n: The wildcard is #c_000n#.
From EFS 10.5: Scoring variables #s_000x#: The wildcard is #s_000x#.
Participant variables u_000n: The wildcard for the participant administration contents is #variablename# (e.g. #u_language#).
Participant variables of the panelists in EFS Panel installations u_000n: The wildcard for the user table contents listed in Table 11.3 is #u_nameofvariable# (e.g. #u_name#).
Master data of the panelists in EFS Panel installations: The wildcards for master data, m_000n and md_000n, are #m_000n# and #md_000n#.
Other variables: #code# can be used to output the current participant’s access code in a personalized project. This option is needed e.g. for custom programming.

Transferring Answers from Another Project

In personalized projects and in panel and master data surveys on EFS Panel installa- tions, you are able to transfer the contents of variables from another project, i.e. if a participant has completed the source project, you can automatically import their ans- wers into the variables of the second project and use them there for filtering, evalua- tion and other purposes. Participation is assigned via the participant’s e-mail address.

Before you start