The Form tools contain a number of elements which are the question and content types you have available to build your forms and surveys. You use them to ask various questions to your participants, ensure data is collected in a specific format and communicate information and content.

It's important to know which elements to use and when to use them so that you can create engaging user experiences and ensure the data you collect is appropriate and useful.

In this section, we'll learn about the available elements in the Form tool and the settings that can be configured for each one.

Questions

There are 16 different types of questions that you can ask participants. Each question type has its own settings and collects a specific type of data by ensuring the input made by the participant is properly validated.

For example, when collecting email addresses from your participants, using the 'Email' question type will make sure that a response includes an '@' symbol so it is a correctly formatted email address.

A description of each question type and its configurable settings is found below.

Short Text

The Short Text question collects short, open-ended text-based responses such as a word or short sentence. You can use this to ask a question that requires a one or two-word response such as name, title, city, etc., or to ensure feedback is kept concise, as responses will be limited to 255 characters.

If you want to give participants additional space to leave comments, try using the Long Text question instead.

The following settings are configurable for the Short Text question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Maximum Length - Determines how many characters a participant's response can contain. Short text responses allow a maximum of 255 characters, so the value in this setting must be below this limit.

Long Text

The Long Text question collects text-based responses to open-ended questions. You can use this question to collect essay type responses to your questions.

Unlike the Short Text question which limits the number of characters that can be collected, the Long Text question does not have any character limits.

The following settings are configurable for the Long Text question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Maximum Length - Determines how many characters a participant's response can contain. There is no practical limit to the number of characters you can collect.

Email

The Email question collects the email address of a participant and ensures the response is correctly formatted by including an @ symbol.

This question type is needed in a form to send a confirmation notification to the participant after submitting their contribution. This feature can be enabled in the Notification section of the editor, by checking the 'Email confirmation' setting to 'on', after the question is added.

If you use Short Text instead of the Email question to collect an email address, you cannot send confirmation emails unless Registration is required for the form

The following settings are configurable for the Email question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.

Number

The Number question collects responses with whole numbers and ensures it does not include letters or other special characters.

It is good for collecting postcodes/zip codes, dollar values, year of birth, etc.

You can set the number range that responses must fall within. This is useful for collecting the year of birth, for example, ensuring that the input contains a realistic four-digit number (i.e. between 1901 and 2005).

Participants can type in a number, or set the value using the ‘up’ and ‘down’ interface elements to the left and right of the input field.

The following settings are configurable for the Number question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Min -Sets the minimum number value that will be accepted in the response.
  • Max - Sets the maximum number value that will be accepted in the response.

Telephone

Collects manually entered numerical answers by ensuring any inputs only contain a whole number

The following settings can be configured for the Telephone question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.

Website

The Website question collects text-based URLs and ensures that the response includes the words http:// or https://. Use this question to collect a website address for a person or organisation.

The following settings are configurable for the Website question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.

Select Box

The Select Box question collects a single response from a defined set of answer choices contained in a dropdown menu. Participants can only select one choice from the menu.

The Select Box question is useful when you have long lists of answer choices, as it saves space in the form. We recommend using this question instead of the Multiple Choice question when there are greater than six choices.

The following settings are configurable for the Select Box question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Choices - Creates a list of choices your participants can pick from when responding to the question.
  • Allow "other' option - Allows your users to write in their response, instead of selecting one of the choice options.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Randomise choices - Allows answer choices to be displayed to participants in random order. Responses are randomised each time the form is loaded to prevent biasing the participant's selection.

Multiple Choice

The Multiple Choice question lets participants select responses from a defined list of choices. You can decide if they can only select one option or many options in their response.

An 'other' option can also be added to the list of choices, allowing participants to 'write-in' their response.

Images can be added to each response choice to better illustrate your questions and add visual interest.

Choices can also be randomised, reducing any potential bias from always listing your choices in the same order.

The following settings are configurable for the Multiple Choice question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Choices - Creates a list of answer choices your participants can pick from when responding to the question.
  • Allow "other' option - Allows your users to write in their response, instead of selecting one of the choice options.
  • Allow Image Choices - Lets you add images to each response choice to add visual interest.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Multiple Selection - Allows you to control how many responses a participant can select from the list of choices.
  • Randomise choices - Allows answer choices to be displayed to participants in random order. Responses are randomised each time the form is loaded to prevent biasing the participant's selection.

Single Checkbox

The Single Checkbox question is a simple closed-ended question type that asks respondents to confirm a statement by checking a box.

It is useful when participants need to agree to a statement such as terms and conditions, privacy statements, acknowledgments, etc.

The following settings are configurable for the Single Checkbox question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.

Rating

The Rating question gets participants to respond to a question on a visual, stepped scale. A weight is assigned to each step in the scale to determine a weighted average in the results.

You can set how many steps your scale has and choose between stars, hearts, thumbs or smile symbols.

The following settings are configurable for the Rating question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Rating Steps - Lets you set the number of steps that will present to your participants. A minimum of 3 steps is required with a maximum of 10 steps allowed.
  • Rating Icon - Lets you determine whether the visual scale will use star, heart, thumb or smile icons.

Slider

The Slider question asks respondents to plot their response on a predetermined numerical scale by dragging an interactive slider element. It provides an interactive and visual way to engage your participants in surveys and forms.

Slider questions are useful in measuring the 'strength' of a response to understand what people want more or less of, or how strongly they feel about something. They can also overcome the limitations of multiple-choice or rating questions as they let participants respond between options at a finer grain.

The following settings are configurable for the Slider question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Scale Range - The minimum and maximum values of your response scale that participants will be able to select from. It allows for values between -100 and 100.
  • Step Size -Sets the numerical interval the slider will move along the scale by. For example, a step size of 1 will allow the user to drag the slider 1 unit at a time along a scale of 0-100. A step size of 5 will allow the user to drag in units of 5 (0,5,10, etc.) along the same scale.
  • Start Position - Sets the default starting position of the slider element along the scale.
  • Labels - Adds text labels to left, right and centre of the slider bar element. Labels can be numerical or contain words.
  • Hide Numerical Input Box - Hides the numerical input textbox that appears next to the slider scale. This useful if your question is relying on words in your labels rather than numbers.

Ranking

The Ranking question gets participants to assess a list of items and arrange them in order of preference. A weighted average 'score' is calculated for each answer choice, helping you determine the most and least preferred answer choices.

It is useful to identify the priorities of your participants, as they must evaluate each choice relative to all other choices on the list.

You can select how many items a participant may rank from the list, and can randomise the items to minimise potential bias in your responses.

The following settings are configurable for the Ranking question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Choices - Creates a list of answer choices your participants can pick from when responding to the question.
  • Allow Image Choices - Lets you add images to each response choice to add visual interest. You can set images to 'Cover' meaning they will fill the entire image area, or 'Fit' which will preserve the image's original aspect ratio.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Selection Limit - Allows you to control the minimum and maximum number of items that can be ranked by the participant.
  • Randomise choices - Allows answer choices to be displayed to participants in random order. Responses are randomised each time the form is loaded to prevent biasing the participant's selection.

Matrix

The Matrix question lets you ask participants to evaluate one or more questions against a common response scale.

It is useful for comparing priorities, opinions, satisfaction, frequency, etc. across a consistent scale.

The following settings are configurable for the Matrix question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Rows - Sets the items you want participants to evaluate.
  • Columns - Sets the scale you want participants to evaluate each item (row) against. Column choices should be applicable to every row item.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
⚠️ Note: Once an answer has been selected in the matrix it cannot be removed only changed.


File Upload

The File Upload question lets your participants attach an image, document or other files to their contribution.

It is useful for collecting written documents and letters as is often required in 'formal submission' processes.

The following settings are configurable for the File Upload question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Allowed Extensions - Lets you choose the types of files that participants can attach to their contribution. File types include: pdf, doc, docx, txt, xls, xlsx, rtf, png, gif, jpg, jpeg.
  • Multiple Files - Allows you to set the maximum number of files a participant can upload, with a maximum of 10 files allowed. Each submission has a max file size limit of 20 MB, regardless of how many files the person uploads, so a user could add one 20MB file, or 10, 1MB files.

Date

The Date question lets you collect a numeric response that is formatted in a consistent DD/MM/YY date format. It gets participants to select their response using a 'pop-up calendar'.


The following settings are configurable for the Date question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Default Value - Lets you adjust the default value of the response to the current date.

Date and Time

The Date question lets you collect a numeric response that is formatted in a consistent DD/MM/YY date format along with a time-based response. It gets participants to select their response using a 'pop-up calendar', and select a time of day in 5-minute increments.

The following settings are configurable for the Date and Time question:

  • Question (required) - Provides the question title you will ask your participants.
  • Description - Adds an optional text description to provide more context to the question.
  • Required - Determines whether the question requires a response from your participant before submitting their form or not. With this setting off, participants will not be required to respond to the question. With this setting on, participants must respond to the question.
  • Image - Allows you to insert an image file below the question title and description content.
  • Default Value - Lets you adjust the default value of the response to the current date.
Presets

In addition to the question types above, a series of standard preset questions are also available and can be added to your form. These questions are pre-configured and ask common demographic and other questions about participants.

Custom presets can also be added to your preset questions, but must be setup by your Account Manager.

The following 8 preset questions are available in all sites:

Gender

The Gender question asks for the participant's gender and allows three options: 'Male', 'Female', 'Other identity'.

Age Group

The Age Group question allows you to ask which age bracket a participant falls into roughly with 4 year intervals as follows:

  • Under 9
  • 10-14
  • 15-19
  • 20-24
  • 25-29
  • 30-34
  • 35-39
  • 40-44
  • 45-49
  • 50-54
  • 55-59
  • 60-64
  • 65-69
  • 70-74
  • 75-79
  • 80-84
  • 85 and older


Relationship

The Relationship question allows you to ask participants about their relationship with your organisation by choosing from 7 options: 'Live', 'Work', 'Study', 'Own a business', 'Visit', 'Pay rates' and 'Other'. This question allows participants to select as many responses as are applicable.

Postcode

The Postcode question allows you to ask a participant for their postcode by collecting a four digit number.

Year of Birth

The Year of Birth question allows you to ask a participant for the year they were born by collecting a four digital number between 1900-2019.

Suburb

The Suburb question allows you to ask a a participant for the name of a suburb as a short text question.

First Name

The First Name question allows you to ask a a participant for their first name as a short text question.

Last Name

The Last Name question allows you to ask a a participant for their last name as a short text question.

Content

Content elements can be added to your forms to incorporate media content such as text and images that are not directly associated with a question element.

These elements let you provide additional information to users when completing a survey, so they are in a more informed position when leaving feedback. You can also use them to create a more engaging user experience for your participants.

There are four content elements available.

Heading

Adds a heading level text to your survey.

Text

Adds normal body text to your survey using a rich-text editor that can be used to format text and provide links to other pages, files or external websites.

Image

Adds a single image to your survey. You can set the size (width) and position of the image, as well as adding an optional caption.

Video

Adds an embedded video from either Youtube or Vimeo. Ensure you use the share link from the video instead of the page URL.

Content Screen

Adds a combined text and heading content element along with an optional image or video (from YouTube or Vimeo).