Questionnaire

Via the list view, you can create the questions that are to appear on the new questionnaire page. Click the split button + New question directly or select “New question”.

Creating new questions

Please proceed as follows:

• Alternatively, use “Import questions” to copy a specific question from an existing questionnaire.

• If you want to re-use questions based on classic EFS question types, you may select the options “Paste from Word” or “Question library”.

• Enter the question title. It is used for orientation when working in EFS, the survey

  participants cannot see it.

• Select a fitting category first, then select the appropriate question type.

  • The preview displays screenshots of the selected question types.

  • Only in “Responsive layout” surveys: If you activate Dynamic, the question type will be displayed realistically. Click into it and you’ll see e.g. how the form elements behave.

  • Only in “Responsive layout” surveys: You may try what the selected question type will look like on mobile devices, tablet or desktop. Simply resize the width of your browser window: the dynamic question preview will adapt automatically.

• Select the appropriate saving process:

  • Save will route you back to the list view and you can create the next question.

  • Save and edit will bring you to the detail view, where you can configure the new question.

Changing question properties

You can change the title and type of a question retrospectively

• Changing the question title: Switch to the detail view. In the head section, you can change the title.

• Only suitable for classic question types: Changing question type:

  • From EFS 10.3: Switch to the detail view and click on the Change question type icon.

  • Until EFS 10.2: Switch to the detail view and click on the Change question type tab.

Copying or moving questions

Questions can be copied and/or from EFS 10.3 moved to other pages. To do so, in the questionnaire view or list view, click on the Copy icon of the desired question, select the target page and specify the desired action, i.e. “Copy” or “Move”.

Deleting questions

Questions already created can be removed by clicking on the Delete icon in the list view.

Editing Questions

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.

Using HTML in Questions

You can use HTML in the question text, fill-in instructions, help text and answer options to layout the text or to insert images.

You should use the option to manually format individual questions with care. Wherever possible, use the layout features of standard and pro editor instead: it increases uniform appearance and reduces the maintenance effort in case of changes.

Also, please be aware, that while it is possible to use any HTML tag in any part of the questionnaire, this not always leads to the desired outcome. Please test your surveys in different browsers and revert the HTML changes if any display errors occur.

In question types “(113) Single response list (scale above, wrapping)”, “(111) Single response list (horizontal)” with Text alignment set to Top in the Detail configuration and “(311) Accordion” with Control elements set to Bottom in the Detail configuration spaces around the tag might not be displayed correctly when using HTML tags in answer options. The answer option “I <b>don’t</b> agree” would, for example, be displayed as follows:

Idon’tagree

To solve this problem, just insert non-breaking spaces around the tag by using the code &nbsp;. Our example sentence should now be displayed correctly and would look like this:

I&nbsp;<b>don’t</b>&nbsp;agree.

For question type “(311) Accordion” you can also set the option Below under Control elements → Detail configuration to fully support HTML in answer options.

Paste from word

EFS allows you to paste several questions at once from such a draft into the questionnaire editor. To do so, you merely need to arrange the contents of your draft according to certain rules, in order for EFS to differentiate between question texts, answers and scale characteristics.

Formatting the draft

The questions must be formatted in the draft according to the following pattern:

Pasting the draft texts

Please proceed as follows:

1. In the page view, open the + New question split button and select the option “Paste from Word”. (Previously, the feature was accessed via a tab in the questionnaire view.)

2. Highlight the questions in your draft file and right-click to save them to the cache. Then right-click on the question import input field and insert the questions.

3. Then click on Next.

4. In the next dialog, specify the question type.

5. Use the “New page” column to determine whether the questions are to appear on one page or whether and where additional pages should be created.

6. Confirm by clicking Save.

Pasting Batches of Answer and Scale Options

If you require a large number of answer options or scale options for a certain question, you can simply paste the whole batch from your draft document into EFS. All you need to do is simply copy out a block of options and paste it into the respective dialog.

Example:

Software

Consulting

The Company

Service

The answer or scale options are created automatically.

Particularities of specific question types

Please mind the following particularities of specific question types:

• When mass-importing the answer options of a semantic differential, use a vertical line to separate the left- and right-hand pole texts. Example: left|right Example with code: 1;left|right

• You can create answer options with your own alternative text and code for multimedia question types 511, 521 and 522; you must, however, upload and select the multimedia elements manually.

Formatting the draft

The desired options are listed one below the other.

Software

Consulting

The company

Service

Each row in the input field is interpreted as an answer option. During import, the options are automatically numbered and encoded.

Optionally, you can specify the codes yourself. To do so, enter the desired code before each answer option, using a semicolon as the separator:

1;Software

2;Consulting

3;The company

4;Service

Pasting the draft texts

Please proceed as follows:

1. Open the question view.

2. Click on the Paste from Word button in the “Answers” section (or “Scale” resp.).

3. The input dialog will be displayed directly in the question view.

4. Enter the options as explained above. Each option must be entered in a separate row.

5. Trigger the creation by clicking on the Paste from Word button.

6. The imported options will be listed in the “New” section. Check the data, and make any necessary changes. If you wish to manually add more options, click on the [+] icon to open additional “New” rows.

7. Confirm by clicking on Save. The options are now finally created.

8. Finally, delete all the default options you do not need.

Import questions

The feature Import questions can be invoked via the split button + Question in the list view.

Question library

You can use the question library to reduce tiresome routine operations. It is located in the Libraries → Question library menu, but can also be accessed from the questionnaire editor. It can be used to store frequently used questions for insertion in other projects in the installation later on.

• The library category structure allows you to arrange the questions entered, e.g. according to projects of topics, in order to improve clarity.

• The external variable names are stored in the library. When loading the archived questions into a questionnaire, the system ensures uniqueness of the variable names: If a variable name does already exist, a prefix “dupl1_”, “dupl2_”... will be inserted.

The Question Library Structure

Invoking the question library in the Libraries menu will take you to the Overview tab. The so-called category tree is displayed on the left-hand side of this tab, the contents of the currently opened category are displayed on the right-hand side.

• The category tree displays the question library structure. The category system is similar to the file tree on a hard disk with main directories and subdirectories. Here, categories correspond to folders.

  • The main directory in an empty library is called “root”. Below “root” you can create main categories, which in turn can be followed by specific subcategories.

  • A flashing red cursor at the right-hand side displays the category you are currently in.

• To the right of the overview, the “Content of the category” table displays the questions in the opened categories.

Working with the Question Library

The following section will illustrate the executable actions in connection with the question library:

• Adding a question to the library

• Loading a question from the library into a questionnaire

• Moving and deleting questions

• Using categories for organizing

• Deleting categories

• Assigning access rights for library categories

Adding a question to the library

1. To add a question to the library, switch to the Questionnaire editor. Select the page which contains the question you wish to add to the library.

2. Select the question you wish to add to the library.

3. Click on Add to library in the editor.

4. The question library will open.

5. Select the category in which the question is to be filed. The question will be copied into the library automatically.

Loading a question from the library into the questionnaire

1. To add a question from the library into a questionnaire, switch to the Questionnaire editor.

2. In the editor, choose the page into which you wish to insert the question.

3. Select + Question → Question library.

4. In the library, you can search for and select the desired question in the individual categories.

5. Tick the checkboxes of the questions you wish to incorporate into the questionnaire page.

6. Confirm by clicking on Choose.

7. The selected questions will be inserted into your questionnaire.

Moving and deleting questions

In addition to choosing questions for insertion into a project, you can perform several other useful functions by clicking on the icons in the “Actions” column:

• Checkbox: This function allows you to choose a question, as described in the pre-

  vious paragraph.

• Move: This function allows you to move a question into another category.

• Delete: Clicking on this icon will delete the selected question.

• Copy: This function allows you to copy a question into a category of your choice.

Using categories for organizing

1. You can access the question library either from the questionnaire editor or via Libraries->Question library.

2. Use the category tree to locate the new category. To create main categories, click on the root folder. To create subfolders, click on the respective main folder.

3. Click on the Add category tab.

4. Give your category a name.

5. Click on Add category.

Deleting categories

1. Select the category you wish to delete from the category tree.

2. Click on the Delete category tab.

3. A dialog containing a warning message will open. Clicking on OK in the dialog will delete the category.

Assigning access rights for library categories

It is possible to assign different access rights for the various main categories in the library to the user teams in an EFS installation. To do so, please proceed as follows:

1. Select the respective main categories.

2. Click on the Folder rights tab.

3. The object rights dialog is opened. Assign “read” and / or “write” rights to the appropriate teams.

4. Confirm your selection by clicking on Change rights.

Standard pages are configured in the Properties submenu. To open it, click on the page title in the questionnaire view, then select the submenu.

Standard Pages

Standard pages are configured in the Properties submenu. To open it, from EFS 10.2 click on the page title in the questionnaire view, then select the submenu. The table provides an overview. The page properties are explained in detail in the following chapters.

Automatically Submitting a Completed Page

If you check the box in the “Page is submitted automatically after completion of all questions” field, the questionnaire page is submitted as soon as the respondent has answered all the questions in full.

This feature functions on all questionnaire pages which contain only combinations of the following question types: 111, 112, 113, 131, 411, 311, 312, 313, 321, 322, 340, 351 und 511. On pages with multiple response questions and text entries it is not triggered, as it cannot be automatically recognized at what point the participant has completed their input.

There will be no check as to whether the questionnaire page contains HTML and image type elements. Please ensure therefore that such elements are not located at the end of the page: In this case, autosubmit would prevent the participant from seeing the text or the image.

The function assumes that JavaScript is enabled in the respondent’s browser.

Automatically Submitting a Page after a Defined Period of Time

The “Send page automatically” function is often used in combination with the hiding of the Submit button described in the following Chapter. The following options are available in a drop-down list:

• Do not send automatically: This is the default setting.

• Send automatically after x seconds: The period of time lies between 0 seconds and two minutes and can be adjusted exactly to the second.

The function assumes that JavaScript is enabled in the respondent’s browser.

Hiding or deactivating the Submit Button

You can use this function to hide the submit button temporarily or always. Thus only the question and answers will be output on the questionnaire page, the continue but- ton will appear not at all or only after a time. You may also deactivate the submit button for a specific amount of time.

You can choose from the following options:

• Always show Submit button: This is the default setting.

• Always hide Submit button: The Submit button will not appear on this page. Please remember when using this setting to incorporate another form element that can be used to trigger the Submit process or activate a function for automatic sending. The combination of hidden Submit button and automatic page down is useful, for example, with cover tests, in which media is only shown briefly.

• Show after x seconds: You can choose periods from between one second and two minutes. This setting is advisable if you wish to make sure that the respondents look closely at a picture or text.

• Select Disable instead of hiding submit button in combination with an option from the Hide submit button drop down menu, e. g. Show after 11 seconds. The submit button will only be visible after a countdown of 11 seconds.

The function assumes that JavaScript is enabled in the respondent’s browser.

Inserting a Cancel Button

This option allows you to insert an additional image on the respective page. If the participant clicks on this image, the survey window will be closed. Upload the approp- riate image via the media library.

This option does not work with all browsers for the following reason: JavaScript has a security setting that prevents windows from being closed via JavaScript if they were not opened with JavaScript. EFS Survey is not opened using JavaScript, therefore it is also not possible to close it using JavaScript. Many browsers, such as Internet Explorer do not adhere to this security setting entirely, instead they display a confirmation window which queries the surfer as to whether he would really like to close the window: With these browsers the Cancel button functions as expected - the respondent can close it after confirming the window. With browsers that follow the security set- tings closely, such as Mozilla Firefox, the Cancel button will not work.

Defining Page-Specific JavaScript Actions

You have the option of inserting JavaScript code which will be executed once the page is sent. For this feature, it is required that JavaScript is enabled in the respondent’s browser.

Example: alert(‘Please read the question text carefully’);

In this case, for example, a small message window with the corresponding text will be output once the page has been sent.

Customizing a Specific Page with JavaScript or CSS

Sometimes it is necessary to create a different design for a particular questionnaire page or to implement a page-specific JavaScript function. This is frequently realized using a specific template or an “if” construct in the main template. But you can also upload JavaScript and CSS in a dedicated file and integrate it into the header or footer section of the desired page.

To do so, please proceed as follows:

1. Upload the desired files via Pro editor → Upload.

2. Open the Page properties menu for the desired questionnaire page. The file lists in the fields “Header section” and “Footer section”contais all files with the extensions .js and .css which were uploaded.

3. Select the desired files and Save.

Assigning a Differing Character Set to a Specific Page

You can assign an individual questionnaire page a character set that differs from the general character set of the survey or from the character sets for the language versions of a multilingual project. This function can be employed, for example, if the start page used by all participants of a multilingual survey where there is a language selection question, is to be displayed in a different character set than the other various questionnaires.

If you specify a character set in the “Force a character set for this page”, the character set of the survey will be overwritten with the specified character set for this one questionnaire page, and for all existing language versions. By default, the “Don’t force a character set” option is preset.

You may often wish to link certain actions to specific events. For example, in a customer satisfaction survey, customers can report negative experiences. Now, you wish to automatically e-mail the customer’s report to your customer center. In another survey a respondent may request additional information material. In this case it would be helpful if the respondent’s address data (as far as they have been voluntarily submitted) were directly transferred to your sales department or if the submission of the corresponding information material were triggered automatically. Using triggers you can (if applicable) enter additional information on the respondent into the survey at runtime and make it available to the respondent as context information, or make the route through the questionnaire dependent on the value of this information.

Creating triggers

You can use triggers to perform these tasks by selecting and configuring the appropriate actions and associating them with specific variable values within the questionnaire.

Basic notes on triggers

• You can specify whether to execute the trigger more than once in a survey session. To do so, tick the checkbox labeled “Execute this trigger multiple times in one survey session” in the trigger editor.

• You are able to choose whether triggers will be executed or disabled in the preview. For example, it would make sense to disable the random trigger, in order to facilitate repeated testing under constant conditions. This function is activated by ticking the checkbox labeled “Also execute trigger in preview mode” in the trigger editor. By default this function is not activated.

• In principle, triggers can be created on all survey page types. But some trigger types are destined for use on specific page types, as e.g. final pages.

• On each page, you can create as many triggers as required. Please mind, though, that trigger actions require a lot of server resources, i.e. they affect the performance of the questionnaire. Therefore, it is recommended to use not more than 50 triggers per page.

• You can use Drag&Drop to change the sequence of triggers on a page, which may be relevant for the order of execution.

• Triggers are associated with a variable on the page. If the page does not contain any variable, use a dummy variable: Create a question of the type “911 - User-defined” to register a variable with the system. Write the variable onto the form as a hidden variable: “<input type=hidden name=V_NAME_AUS_911 value=1>”. This will transfer a fixed value to the trigger.

• When a page is sent, the EFS routing engine goes through various tasks: It reviews plausibility checks, saves the data, searches for the next page and displays it. The execution position determines the point in the process at which the trigger is executed. The following execution positions are possible and only those which make sense for the current trigger type are available for selection in the trigger editor.

  • Select “Execution position = Directly”, if you want the trigger to be executed first, before the page on which the trigger is defined will be output. Do not use this setting on the first page of a survey.

  • If you select “Execution position = After submitting page, before filter”, the trigger will be executed after the page has been submitted, but before a filter that immediately follows it. Select this option if you want to use the result returned by the trigger for filtering (for example, if the trigger result fulfills a user-defined variable being used as a filter). This execution position is not available on final pages, independent of the trigger type. For page trigger, logout trigger and reinvitation trigger, it is disabled completely.

  • If you select “Execution position = After submitting page, after filter”, the trigger will be executed after the page has been submitted. You can use this option if the trigger returns a result that you only want to use after the filter has been applied, i.e. the next page has been determined. For example, it is imaginable that you want to overwrite a user-defined variable, but only after the trigger has been executed.

• You can create triggers with the execution position “Directly” right on the first questionnaire page. The conditions of such a trigger can contain participant variables, URL parameters and user-defined variables. Project variables cannot be used in such a trigger because they will not be available until after the first page has been sent, i.e. on the second questionnaire page.

• Some trigger types create contents to be saved in the survey result data, e.g. calculating formulas or saving parameters. For this purpose, user-defined variables.

• The runtime check, originally introduced for LUA filters, notes when a trigger cannot be executed, e.g. because an e-mail cannot be dispatched due to a broken if condition.