Writing.Com 101

Manage a Survey Form

Selected items require more in-depth techniques in order to fully manage their capabilities. Indeed, these capabilities are accessed through the Manage command located in the Show Tools line in your Portfolio view, or the Your Item: edit line from within your item.

When you open your newly created Survey for the first time, a window will open that says "Sample Survey" Questions: This survey has no active fields.. To add fields to this survey form, click the Manage link opening a Survey Management Form window. Select Add a Field and follow the directions shown.

When opening a completed survey, you will see a finished product. From here, you can perform a number of tasks, including editing the survey item, changing the fields, viewing responses, and other tasks as listed in the Your Item: line. Use the Manage command to add, change or delete survey fields; the remaining commands relate to the survey item itself.

MANAGE A SURVEY FORM

When you select Manage, the following command are displayed: List Fields, Add a Field, List Responses, Purge, and View Survey. Select the appropriate link and follow the instructions shown on the screen.

 List Fields: The default screen when managing a survey, all survey fields are displayed in a spreadsheet format. From this window each individual field is able to be edited or deleted. Click the "Responses" link to pull up all responses for each individual survey field.

Add a Field: New survey fields are added using this command. Each field contains a name, whether the field is required or not, the type of field and a short description that the participants will see when taking the survey. Other information required to complete the field pertains to the type and appearance of the data to be provided by the participant. Your field may be a pulldown menu, multiple choice, or a comment box. The larger the numeric value used, the larger the box will appear; you may have to experiment a little to obtain the look you desire.

List Responses: All responses received to date may be viewed using this command. Click "View" to see each response in full. Use the "Next" and "Previous" links to page through responses.

Purge: This command removes all existing responses to this survey. A confirmation is required, which cannot be undone, to complete this action. Upon completion, the survey remains intact, but all previously received responses are removed. You can then begin acquiring new responses to your survey. This is a great feature for survey forms being used for monthly contests; it makes starting over with your entrants very easy!

View Survey: The last saved version of your survey is displayed.1

Recommended Reading

1. Survey Form
2. Create/Edit a Survey Form
3. Free and Paid Membership Benefits

Footnotes
1  Written by JACE