Hidden items

[JPatel]

I am looking for more information on hidden items and implementation. We are working with Checkbox Web now on a parallel installation to our Ultimate Survey v3.0 and finding it a lot more usable and stable, however I cant find much in help files about hidden items and how they can be used, etc.

Thanks
Jignesh Patel

[ncushing]

Jignesh,

A hidden item allows you to record data with a survey response that wasn't explicitly entered by the Respondent as the answer to a question. When using piping or creating conditions and branching rules, you can use the "answer" to a hidden item just like you can use the answer to a text input.

When you add a hidden item to a survey, you specify where the software should look to get the data from. Currently, Checkbox Web supports three possible sources:

• Query String - The data is encoded in the link to the survey. This is by fare the most commonly used options.
• Session -The data is in the ASP.NET session state. This value is not typically used because it requires custom software development.
• Cookie - The data is stored in a browser cookie. Again, this is generally not a commonly used option because it requires some coding.

For example, let's say that you are sending a link to an public survey out to three groups of people: sales, marketing, and IT. The survey has questions that are specific to each job function. Rather than ask each respondent to specify his/her job function, you can customize the survey link sent to each group of respondents to include that information. You can also create condition and branching rules based on the job function so the respondent doesn't see questions that do not apply to them.

To capture this information, you would create a new query string hidden item. For the "variable name" field, you would specify the name of query string variable that is inserted in the URL. Consider the following URL:

http://www.mysurveysite.com/Survey.aspx?s=abc123&job_function=IT

This URL contains two query string variables, "s" and "job_function" which have values of "abc123" and "IT" respectively. To capture the job function, you would specify "IT" as the variable name for your hidden item. The question text and alias fields affect how the item will be labelled in reports, exports, etc.

When you send out the survey links to your respondents, you would send each respondent a personalized link based on their job function:

IT:

http://www.mysurveysite.com/Survey.aspx?s=abc123&job_function=IT

Sales:

http://www.mysurveysite.com/Survey.aspx?s=abc123&job_function=Sales

Marketing:

http://www.mysurveysite.com/Survey.aspx?s=abc123&job_function=Marketing

Hidden items are very useful and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions

[JPatel]

Thanks very much! That was the information I was looking for... this is indeed the type of feature we are looking to implement very soon. We will use query string for now, and potentially request a custom quote from your team in regards to passing data through Session state of ASP.NET

Jignesh

[bob b]

I know this is an old thread, but I an doing the same type of thing.

- We enter our users into group with the format E-mail,Firstname,LastName,Order
- We use the "Custom User Fields" to display the info in the Invitation, using @@FirstName @@Lastname and @@Order.. The invitation e-mails work great
- I need the custom info to show up in the survey results but it does not.
- i tried using hidden Items and piping to make the custom fields shop up in the survey results but i can't them to come over..


What is the best way keep that info with the survey and what would the link look like?

[pwiesner]

If you check the "Detailed User Info" option when exporting responses the custom user fields will be included in the exported data.

You should not need to include any of this information in your query string as it is already associated with the user. If you would like for users to confirm this information you can pipe it into the appropriate item type (most likely a single line text item). When creating the pipe you will need to select "User Attribute" from the first drop down list and than you should be able to select whichever "Custom User Field" you would like from the second drop down list.

Additionally if you would like users to be able to update their "Custom User Field(s)" you can add "Profile Property Updater" item(s) to the completion events page.

[bob b]

The fields are all blank when I look at the export.. Also, when I look at the list of responses, all the users show admin or AnonymousRespondent. I must be doing something wrong.. It just seems strange that the email invitation pulls the info but I can't get it show in the survey

Should I add the @@FirstName variables to the link?

[pwiesner]

From your description it sounds like you have set the survey security to Public, as a result users do not need to be authenticated to take the survey. If you would like to associate Checkbox user data with a respondent the survey permissions will need to be changed to either "Access List" or "All Registered Users"; either option will require the user to log in before taking the survey.

Please note that session is shared across all tab/pages you have open in your web browser. As a result if you log in as the Admin user, send yourself a test invitation, and than click on the invitation link without first logging out you will already be authenticated as the Admin user. If you are testing you will need to make sure you log out before clicking on any invitation links.

[bob b]

Thanks for the reply.. I found the Security settings and changes them last night. My test worked great and all my data is coming over correctly...

Now on tot he automation questions..

[pwiesner]

Glad to hear you got things working. If you have additional questions I would suggest creating a new thread as we have drifted away from the original issue somewhat.