This documentation is for Legacy Checkbox Version 6. Please visit our Checkbox Version 7 Documentation page for current user guides.
Below is a glossary of some of the terms used in Checkbox and also some common terms used when talking about online surveys. This is just a starting point – be sure to check out our Documentation for more information on how to use Checkbox Survey and all of its powerful survey creation features.
Basics:
Available Reports: Available Reports refers to the list of reports that are accessible by navigating to [application URL]/availablereports.aspx. If the link is accessed by a Checkbox user, all reports that that user has been given access to will be shown. If the link is accessed by a non-user AND the option to show available reports has been enabled under System Settings, all public reports will be shown.
Available Surveys: Available Surveys refers to the list of surveys that are accessible by navigating to [application URL]/availablesurveys.aspx. If the link is accessed by a Checkbox user, all surveys that that user has been given access to will be shown. If the link is accessed by a non-user AND the option to show available surveys has been enabled under System Settings, all public surveys will be shown.
Folder Permissions: This setting, which allows users to view and manage survey folders, can be accessed by clicking the cog wheel next to the folder name. In order for a user to access a survey in a folder, he must have access to both the survey and the folder in which it’s located.
GUID: This term refers to the unique, 32-character alpha-numeric string that Checkbox generates and uses to identify major elements in the application, such as users, surveys, and reports. GUIDS have no meaning and are generally not used, except occasionally by database admins or Checkbox support team members when identifying items in the application database.
Libraries: Libraries are a special section of Checkbox where you can store survey questions or entire surveys for re-use, which is especially helpful when you use the same question or question template over and over again. Libraries can be private or shared with other users in your organization. For more information, see our Library Guide.
Licensed User: A licensed user is any registered user who counts against the license limit for your account or server license. This includes System Admin, Survey Admins, Survey Editor, and Report Admins – basically anyone who can create or edit surveys or reports or manage system settings. Respondents, Report Viewers, Group Admins, and User Admins do not count against your license limit and are therefore unlimited for all accounts.
Mobile Survey: A mobile survey is any online survey that can be taken on a mobile device. Checkbox Mobile Surveys can be styled with pre-built mobile themes or your own custom style template and also employ the use of jQuery Mobile to automatically detect and scale for mobile devices and browsers, making your mobile online surveys look and perform their best.
Multi-Language Survey: A multi-language survey is a type of online survey that is available in more than one language. Rather than create multiple copies of the same survey to meet the needs of a multi-lingual respondent base, Checkbox Survey software allows you to import translations within a single survey. You can then allow your respondent to choose their language or use browser detection to do it automatically.
Online Survey: An online survey is any survey or form that can be taken using a standard web browser with an active internet connection. Online surveys can be one or many pages.
Online Poll: An online poll is a type of online survey that is typically shorter in length and generally seeks to gather opinions on a particular topic or subject matter.
Profile Property: A User Profile Property is an attribute that is attached to a registered user in Checkbox. The Profile Properties for first name and last name come pre-configured in Checkbox, but a System Admin can add any number of custom Profile Properties (i.e. Department, Address, Email, etc.) in the System Settings under User Settings. For more information on setting up and using your own Profile Properties, see this guide.
Respondent: A respondent, also known as a survey taker or participant, is someone who takes an online survey or poll or fills out an online form. In Checkbox, Respondent is also the name of the user role given to users who only have access to take surveys.
Survey Permissions: Survey Permissions control who has access to a survey and what access they have, such as survey taking, viewing, editing, and managing. Survey permissions control both the survey taking and survey admin functions and can be found in the Survey Editor by clicking the Settings button and navigating to the Permissions tab. For more information, see our Survey Permissions Guide.
Survey XML: In laymen’s terms Survey XML is the code that defines a survey’s rules and contents. You can export survey XML from the Survey Dashboard under the Survey Actions button, which may be useful for sending your surveys to Checkbox Customer Support or importing into other Checkbox installations (must be the same or later version).
User: In Checkbox, a User is anyone who is registered in the application with a username and password. This includes both respondents and administrative-type users.
User Group: Checkbox User Groups are literally just groups of Checkbox users, who can be respondents, administrative users, or a combination of both. You can add Users to User Groups at the time you create the User, or you can add them later either manually or by using the User import process. User Groups are helpful when sending email invitations to a large set of users or when assigning survey or report permissions because they allow you to add an entire group rather than a large number of individual users.
Breadcrumb: A breadcrumb is a navigation aid that tracks your place in an application. The Checkbox breadcrumb is located just under the top main menu and can be used to show where you are in the app and also to navigate back to past screens.
Favorite Surveys: You can “favorite” your frequently or recently used surveys in Checkbox by clicking the star next to the survey name in either the Survey Dashboard or Editor. This will add the survey to the top of the survey list on the Dashboard for easy access.
Recent Activity: This term refers to the list of recent user activity located on the Survey Dashboard and main User Manager page. Checkbox keeps a log of recent activity and, depending on the settings that have been configured under System Settings, displays that activity as a type of audit trail. The Survey Dashboard shows all survey, invitation, and report activity, based on the configured settings. If you click a survey name, the activity list will be filtered for just that survey.
Report Manager: The Report Manager is the area of the application that lists all reports for a survey and allows you to create new reports. The Report Manager can be accessed by choosing a survey, then clicking Results -> Summary Reports.
Survey Dashboard: The Survey Dashboard (referred to as the Survey Manager in older versions) is Checkbox’s “home” screen, where you will find a list of all surveys and the recent activity timeline for those surveys. From here, you can access the Survey Editor, as well as results, sharing and survey actions functions such as copy and delete.
Survey Folder: Survey folders allow you to organize and compartmentalize your surveys. Just like surveys, folders have permissions so you can share or restrict access from other users.
Survey Editor: Click the Edit button next to any survey and you’ll be taken to the Survey Editor, where you can create and edit online survey pages and items, preview your survey, and adjust survey settings such as Permissions, Appearance, and Multi-Language options.
Survey Settings: The Settings button in the Survey Editor controls Survey Settings, which include active dates, response limits, appearance options, permissions, languages, and more. Users must have the Survey Admin or System Admin role and be on the Access List for the survey in order to edit the Settings.
System Settings: System Settings can only be accessed by a System Administrator by clicking on the orange cog wheel in the upper right corner of the Checkbox Survey application. System Settings control application-wide configurations such as security, custom text, report and survey preferences, and more.
Timeline: The timeline in Checkbox refers to the histogram and list of recent activity that appears on the Survey Dashboard. The timeline includes a graph of recent responses, as well as an audit trail of recent activity. Timeline settings can be configured in System Settings under “Timeline Settings”.
Survey Creation:
Alias – Question Or Choice: You can specify an Alias for question text or answer options by filling in the appropriate Alias field in the Survey Editor. The Alias is generally used to create a shortened form of the question or answer for use in reporting. See Alias – Reports under Survey Results below for more details.
Branching: Branching is a type of survey logic that allows you to skip or branch to another page or end of the survey based on a condition. Branches are added at the page level and can be based on question, user attribute, or response attribute. For more information on branching, see our Conditions and Branching Guide.
Completion Event: A completion event is any display or action item that appears on the Completion Page. This includes message items, email alerts and responses, report items and more.
Completion Page: The Completion Page is the last page of the survey. It cannot contain questions or buttons and is meant to display a thank you or completion message or summary information to the Respondent. Completion Pages can also contain action items such as URL redirects to another page.
Conditions: Conditions are a type of survey logic that allows pages and questions to be shown on hidden based on a statement being true. The conditional statement can be dependent on an answer to a previous question, a user profile property, or a response property. For example, “Show question #2 if the answer to question #1 is equal to No.” or more information on conditional logic, see our Conditions and Branching Guide.
Hidden Item: A hidden item is a way to pass a value as a query string into the URL of a survey. This is often done for tracking purposes, such as tracking a certain region or advertising code. Hidden items can be coded so they aren’t obvious to respondents and can be exported with survey results. For more information on hidden survey items, see our Hidden Items Guide.
Merging: Merging, also referred to as Piping, is the ability to pull data stored somewhere in Checkbox into another area. A common example would be merging a User’s first name into a survey invitation to personalize it, but you can also merge previous survey answers into subsequent questions, and much more. For more information on merging data, see our Text Merge Guide.
Mobile Theme: Mobile themes come pre-built into Checkbox and are simple color schemes that are automatically applied when a mobile browser or device is detected in order to simplify mobile surveys and make them look more appealing. Mobile themes are not required – you can also apply a custom Style Template or none at all.
Piping: See “Merging” above.
Survey Footer: The footer of the survey is found below the main survey content, known as the Content Frame. The footer can be customized in the survey’s Style Template. For more information on customizing the look and feel of your online surveys, see our Style Guide.
Survey Header: The header of the survey is found above the main survey content, known as the Content Frame. The header can be customized in the survey’s Style Template. For more information on customizing the look and feel of your online surveys, see our Style Guide.
Survey Item: A survey item is any question, display, action or report item that can be added to a survey page.
Survey Name: The Survey Name is the name that is shown in the list of surveys on the Survey Dashboard and is generally regarded as the internal name for the survey. This can be different from the Survey Title – see below.
Survey Preview: This is the visual preview of a survey. You can see a PC preview from the Survey Dashboard and a PC, Tablet or Phone preview from the Survey Editor. Survey Previews cannot be used to collect survey responses.
Survey Style/Style Template: The Style Template is the pre-built or custom style that is applied to a survey or report. Style Templates allow you to control elements like background color, fonts, images, etc. For more information, see our Style Guide.
Survey Title: The Survey Title is generally regarded as the public name for the survey and can be different from the Survey Name (see above). The Survey Title is what respondents will see in the tab of their browser when the survey loads, and also what is shown if you enable “Show Survey Title” on your survey or summary report. The Survey Title can be edited under Survey Settings -> Languages & Texts -> Show Advanced Settings.
Users & Permissions:
Access List: The Access List in Checkbox Survey is what controls who has access to non-public surveys, reports, and libraries. Under the Permissions menu for each of those items, you can add users or groups to the Access List and then specify which functions you want them to have access to, i.e. view, manage, etc. For more information, see our permissions guides located on our Documentation page.
Email List: You can create an Email List in the Checkbox User Manager as a way to organize and save respondent email addresses for survey invitations, without having to register those respondents as full Users in Checkbox. Email lists only store email addresses, so you won’t be able to merge in personal information such as first name or company name, as you would with a user. You also won’t be able to use the automatic login feature on a survey invitation with email lists, since only registered users can be logged in.
Everyone Group: The Everyone User Group in Checkbox is just what it sounds like – it’s a pre-built User Group that encompasses all registered users in the Checkbox application. In order to grant a User (other than a System Administrator) access to edit or add other Users to an Access List, that User must first be given access to the Everyone Group, which can be done by clicking the User List Security button in the User Manager.
Group Admin: A Group Admin is a User Role that has access to view and manage User Groups, including creating, editing and adding Users to a User Group.
Report Admin: A Report Admin is a User Role that has access to create, edit, and manage reports, as well as view responses (if assigned assigned this security level on the survey Access List). Report Admins count against your Checkbox licensed user limit.
Report Viewer: A Report Viewer can only view reports created by other users, assuming the report is public or they have been added to the Access List for the report. A Report Viewer cannot create or manage reports. Report Viewers do not count against your Checkbox licensed user limit.
Respondent: A Respondent is someone who can take surveys in Checkbox, assuming the survey is public or the Respondent has been given access to the survey either via the Access List or an Invitation. Respondents do not count against your Checkbox licensed user limit.
Survey Admin: A Survey Admin can create, edit, and manage surveys in Checkbox. Survey Admins count against your licensed user limit.
Survey Editor: A Survey Editor can edit surveys that they have been given access to, but cannot create or manage surveys. Survey Editors count against your Checkbox licensed user limit.
System Admin: A System Admin is a “super user” in Checkbox and has access to all functions, including System Settings. A System Admin role also overrides most limits set in Checkbox, including survey access limits and response limits. System Admins count against your Checkbox licensed user limit.
User Admin: A User Admin has the ability create and manage Checkbox Users. A User Admin does not count against your licensed user limit.
User List Security: User List Security controls what Users in Checkbox have access to other Users, either to edit/manage them or to add them to Access Lists in Checkbox. Unless you are a System Admin, in order to edit/manage all Users or have the ability to add all Users to an Access List, you must first be given access to all Users (also known as the Everyone group) via the User List Security button found in the User Manager.
User Role: User Roles are assigned when a User is created in Checkbox and can be edited in the User Manager. User Roles partially control who has access to what in Checkbox. In order for a User to have access to something in Checkbox, i.e. editing a survey, the User must first have the proper User Role and secondly either be the owner of the survey, report, etc. or have been added to the Access List for that survey, report, etc. For more information on User Roles and security, see our permissions guides on our Documentation page.
Survey Sharing:
Bounced: If an email invitation is marked Bounced, it means that it was not delivered because there was some issue either with the email address or the recipient’s email service being down. Email addresses marked as Bounced will be excluded from future invitations or reminders.
Current Recipient: A Current Recipient is a recipient who has received an Email Invitation. This can include recipients who have responded or not responded, but excludes Pending or Bounced recipients.
Email Invitation: An Email Invitation is a method of sharing your survey in Checkbox. Email Invitations can be customized and can be scheduled to send on a particular date or sent manually. Invitations can be sent to Registered Users, Email Lists or you can copy and paste email addresses into the “To” field manually. Invitations sent to Registered Users have the option of automatically logging the user into Checkbox through the invitation link. If you only want your survey to be accessed through the Email Invitation, the survey permissions should be set to Invitation Only. For more information, see our Email Invitation Guide.
Launch Survey: Clicking the Launch option from the Survey Editor or Dashboard will guide you through a simple wizard that will give you the option to review and edit the permissions and other important setting for your survey. At the end of the Launch wizard, you will be given the option to share your survey via link, embed code, social media, or email invitation. You do not have to use the Launch wizard once you’re ready to go live – if you’re confident that all your settings have been configured properly, you can go straight to any of the share options listed under the Sharing button.
Opted Out: A Recipient marked as Opted Out has clicked the Unsubscribe button in your Email Invitation and has asked to be excluded from future emails. Recipients are given the option to opt out of one invitation or all future invitations from your organization. This opt-out function is required for Checkbox Online (hosted) accounts but may be disabled in Checkbox Server accounts.
Pending Recipient: A recipient marked as Pending in the Invitation Manager has not received their invitation yet. This may be because the invitation has not been scheduled, is scheduled but hasn’t sent yet, or was scheduled but there was an error in sending.
Survey Recipient: A recipient is anyone who has received or is scheduled to receive an Email Invitation. This is different from a Survey Respondent, who is someone who is someone who takes a survey, regardless of how the survey was distributed.
Reminder: Reminders are tied to a specific Email Invitation and can be scheduled or sent to all recipients who did not complete the survey that was included in the initial Email Invitation. Reminders can be customized to have different subject lines and text from the original invitation. They can be scheduled to be sent automatically or can be sent manually. Only recipients with completed survey responses will be excluded from the Reminder list – if a recipient starts the survey but doesn’t complete it, he/she will still receive a Reminder. For more information, see our Reminder Guide.
Sharing: The Sharing button in the Survey Dashboard and Editor lists all the ways you can share your survey with potential respondents – by sharing the link manually, embedding your survey on your website using our iframe code, via Twitter or Facebook, or via our built-in Email Invitation manager. You may share your survey using more than one method – just make sure your permissions are configured properly to allow access to your survey. View our Permissions Guide for more information on setting up your permissions correctly.
Testing/Test Link: When you use or distribute a survey link through the Test Survey option (located in the Survey Editor under Survey Actions), your surveys taken with this link are flagged as test responses. Test Responses show as highlighted in red in the Response Manager and can be deleted in bulk using the Delete Test Responses button. Test responses are meant for just that – testing your survey prior to sending it to Respondents – and should NEVER be distributed for live survey taking.
Reporting & Exporting:
Alias – Reports: When you specify a question or answer choice alias in the Survey Editor (see Alias – Question or Choice under Survey Creation above), you can then choose to use those Aliases in your summary reports or data exports by choosing the Use Alias option on the Export Results dialog or the Behavior tab of your report item. When that Use Aliases is selected, any questions or choices that have Aliases associated with them will display with the Alias value rather than the full text value. Aliases are generally used for aesthetic purposes to shorten very long question or answer text.
Chart: A Chart is a graphical representation of survey responses and includes bar, column, line, pie, and donut formats.
Completed Response: A Complete Response is one in which the Respondent has completed all required items and has clicked the Finish or Submit button at the end of the survey. A response is marked Completed only when it has been submitted, regardless of whether or not all questions have been answered.
Date Filter: A Date Filter is a special kind of Report Filter that allows you to filter results based on the Completed Date. Since the Date Filter uses Completed Date as the qualifier, only Completed Responses will ever be included when this filter is used.
Incomplete Response: An Incomplete Response is a response in which the Respondent has not clicked the Finish or Submit button. If the Respondent has not submitted the survey, the response will be marked Incomplete, regardless of whether or not all questions have been answered.
Report Filter: A Report Filter is a way to run a report and filter out certain responses based on criteria that you select. Filters can be applied to an entire report or just one question. For instance, you can create and apply a filter based on the custom User Profile Property “Department”, such that you might apply a filter to your report to only include the responses from users in the Marketing Department. See our Report Filters Guide for more information on how to set up and user filters.
Report Wizard: The Report Wizard is a quick and easy way to create a summary report based on certain settings that you configure in the wizard. For more information on how to use the Report Wizard to create a report for your online survey, see our Report Wizard Guide.
Response: A Response is created when someone starts or completes a Checkbox online survey.
Results Export: A Results Export is a data file of all Responses, based on the criteria selected in the Export dialog. Results Exports in Checkbox can be created in .csv or SPSS format. For more information, see our Results Export Guide.
Summary Reports: Summary Reports refer to the graphical and tabular reports you can create from your survey results using either the Report Wizard or by manually creating a custom report.
Table: A Table is a tabular representation of survey data, including summary tables, statistical tables, and response summaries.
Test Response: See Testing/Test Links in Survey Sharing above.