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Survey Channels

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     The Survey Channels tab is where you define the type of survey - a Web survey, CAPI/Kiosk survey, CATI survey, offline app or any combination - .

    Note: The Offline self-completion app is branded by Forsta as AskMe. Both terms are used in this documentation.

    Figure 1 - The Survey Settings > Survey Channels tab

    When you select the Web Survey channel, the two sub-options become available.

    If you then select the Smartphones option, touch rendering will be activated for the survey. Note that you can switch off the touch rendering functionality for individual pages in the survey by going to the page editor for the survey page in question (go to Page Object for more information).

    Note: CATI, CAPI and Offline self-completion are all add-ons and subject to payment. The tabs will only be available if your company has purchased the appropriate licenses.

    Note that you must select the CAPI/Kiosk Survey option to activate the options on the CAPI/Kiosk Options tab (go to CAPI/Kiosk Options for more information), and the CATI Survey option to activate the options on the CATI Options tab (go to CATI Options for more information). When the CATI Survey option is selected, an additional "Telephony" object becomes available in the New Objects toolbox. Selecting the CATI Survey option also activates additional options for quotas (go to Grid Mode for more information) and (go to List Mode for more information).

    Important
    Use of Forsta Apps may include the use of third party components (“TPC”s), including but not limited to the GoogleTM Firebase range of products. The continued operation of certain features of Forsta Apps may depend on the continued proper operation of those TPCs. Forsta explicitly disclaims any warranty for or on behalf of TPCs. Certain device information, such as but not limited to operating system and model, may be forwarded to the provider of the TPCs for ensuring proper and efficient wording of the App and in accordance with the TPC’s terms and conditions. For a full list of TPCs for your specific App, please contact privacy@confirmit.com.

    Smartphones

    The Smartphones tab contains the options that are specific to these types of mobile device - .

    Figure 2 - The iPhone and Android tab options

    The options are:

    • Logo image URL - allows you to present a logo in the device's top bar. The logo file can be located anywhere, but you are recommended to store it in a location where it will be accessible for the lifetime of the survey. Note that the Show top bar option lower in the page must be checked such that there is a top bar for the logo to be presented in.
    • Background image - if the Background Image theme is selected in the Common tab, then here you can select a background image to be presented. For themes other than “Image Background”, the image will only be visible below the bottom of the survey question area. When the “Image Background” theme is used, the image will be visible underneath the survey text (the transparency of the survey page can be adjusted). Note that you must specify the images that are to be used for landscape and portrait presentations.
    • One Question Per Page - if this is checked, then in the event a survey page has more than one question on it, the page will be divided up such that only one question is presented at a time on the mobile device. Be aware that the page division is performed within the mobile device, and the answers to the questions are only submitted back to the server once all the questions on the original survey page have been answered. So if the respondent leaves the survey before providing the answers for all the questions on the survey page, no answers will be registered for any of the questions on that page. Note that questions in star rating, slider or drop-down grids and questions using answer buttons are kept together on one page irrespective of this setting..
    • Keep grid questions on single page - check this box to prevent the "One Question Per Page" property from displaying normal appearance grid questions as a series of single questions on separate pages.
    • Auto next - controls the automatic page transition functionality for respondents using mobile rendering. The options are:
    • Inherit – the page transition will conform to the survey setting "Auto-next (proceed to next page automatically when possible)" in the layout tab. If "Auto next…" is enabled, mobile rendering will then also automatically move to the next question.
    • On – the next page is automatically displayed when the current question is answered.
    • Off – the next page is not displayed automatically; the respondent must touch "Next" to move to the next question.

    When either On or Off is selected, the "Auto-next (proceed to next page automatically when possible)" survey setting does not apply to mobile rendering.

    • Show top bar - check to display a top bar above the questions and answers on the mobile display. If this option is not checked, then the options under this will not be available, and you will not be able to display a logo.
    • Navigation buttons on top bar - if you have selected to display a top bar, then you can include the navigation buttons within it.
    • Show question title on top bar - if you have selected to display a top bar, then you can display the title of the current question on it. Note that you cannot have both a logo and the question title in the top bar simultaneously; if a logo URL is selected then this Show questions... option is inactive.
    • Fixed position - fixes the top bar at the top of the device's display such that it remains visible when you scroll down the page.
    • Custom header - allows you to use HTML code to define a header to appear at the top of the survey page. Click Edit... to open a coding input overlay. The code can include references to f() or other server-side piping, but it cannot contain JavaScript. The custom header will appear at the top of every page. Note that the Show top bar option (see further up on the page) must be unchecked to be able to supply a custom header; if the top bar is enabled a custom header cannot be included.
    • Custom footer - allows you to use HTML code to define a footer to appear at the bottom of the survey page. Click Edit... to open a coding input overlay. The code can include references to f() or other server-side piping, but it cannot contain JavaScript. The custom footer will appear immediately below the bottom navigation bar and will appear on every page.
    • External stylesheet URL - you may wish to use an external style sheet to format the layout to be used on the mobile device. In this case you must either create the stylesheet and specify its URL in this field, or check the Custom stylesheet box and click Edit. This opens an editing overlay in which you can create the desired stylesheet.

    Generic mobiles

    The Generic mobiles tab contains the options that are specific to other types of mobile device - .

    Figure 3 - The Generic mobiles tab

    The options are:

    • Logo image URL - allows you to present a logo at the top of the survey layout. The logo file can be located anywhere, but you are recommended to store it in a location where it will be accessible for the lifetime of the survey.
    • Title - you can display the title of the current question at the top of the page.

    Smartphone Details

    When the “Smartphones” interviewing channel is checked for a survey and the respondent is using a smartphone, the survey will be optimized for this device type using touch rendering for the survey. The following devices will receive smartphone rendering: iPhone, Android phones, Windows Phone 8 and Firefox OS.

    Touch rendering will be activated for the survey. Note that you can switch off the touch rendering functionality for individual pages in the survey by going to the page editor for the survey page in question (go to Page Object for more information).

    Grid and 3D grid questions are split into separate questions; a grid question into a series of single questions, and a 3D grid into the various questions contained in the 3D grid. The exception to this rule is grid questions with slider or drop-downs, which will be kept together.

    When the "One question per page" mobile layout setting is enabled, each question is delivered as a separate page to the respondent, irrespective of how many questions are on the "original" page in the survey. However the questions are only submitted back to the server when the total "original" survey page is completed. Server-side validation is then performed, and any changes required to answered questions (due perhaps to missing answers, answers outside required limits etc.) are presented to the respondent with the appropriate error message.

    Note that client-side validation of the respondent's input is performed to prevent the need to submit data to the server on a question-by-question basis. The validations performed are:

    • If an answer is required.
    • Min/max/equal number of answers.
    • Force sum of answers.
    • Numeric ranges.
    • Decimal validation.
    • Ranking.
    • Size of open text.
    • Other property for single/multi choice questions.

    The following functionality is not currently supported:

    • Client side scripting (embedded in the page) will be stripped and will not be included. HTML tags embedded within the page (in for example question or answer texts) will be executed.
    • Card sort - this will be rendered as a grid question.
    • Formatting assistance is not applicable. Numeric questions are rendered as the HTML 5 number input type, so will automatically use the numeric keyboard and accept numbers only.
    • Cell click is not applicable. The answer alternatives are automatically rendered so that respondents may tap anywhere on label or the large radio buttons/check boxes.
    • Open text resize is not applicable.
    • Answer buttons are not applicable.
    • Left and right text - the right text will not be displayed.
    • Style options (including category level options) and all survey layout options are ignored.
    • Grid repeat headers is not applicable.
    • Grid bottom headers is not applicable.
    • Grid left and right text - the right text will not be displayed.
    • Drag and drop ranking - these will be rendered as regular ranking questions.
    • 3D-Grids with Other-specify for Answer Other - the open-text input box will appear under the question of the first grid column only.
    • Questions rendered using level Flex extensions - these will be rendered as the generic question type.

    Generic Phone Details

    The Generic phone renderer delivers surveys to respondents optimized for older phone types that have HTML-capable browsers. This rendering is different from the Smartphone renderer. Here the survey rendering uses a similar looking theme to the Smartphone renderer, but without features requiring client-side scripts (advanced WI features). It does not have the client-side validation that is included with the Smartphone renderer, nor does it include the ranking and min/max/equal experience. Geolocation questions are supported, but depend on the device for support.

    Rendering Table

    The table below shows the rendering that will be used for the different types of mobile phone, depending on the channel that is selected for the rendering in the Launch Survey page.

    Device detected Channel selected Renderer
    Smartphone None Desktop
    Smartphone Smartphone Smartphone
    Smartphone Generic (but not iPhone and Android) Desktop
    Generic None Desktop
    Generic iPhone/Android (but not generic) Desktop
    Generic Generic Generic
    Desktop Any Desktop

    Detect Rendering Mode

    The GetRenderingMode() function can be used to determine which rendering mode is currently active. This function can for example be used if you would like certain questions only to be presented in the desktop version of the survey.

    The return values for GetRenderingMode are:

    desktop Desktop (PC, Mac or tablet)
    responsive Responsive Rendering mode
    touch iPhone, Android phone, iPod touch
    generic Any other mobile phone

    To return any of the mobile rendering modes, the mode must be active on the survey and the respondent must access the survey from such a device.

    Mobile Phone Options

    When the Web Survey channel is enabled, two survey renderer sub-options become available. These options adapt the survey layout for optimal display on mobile phones. The options can be selected from Survey Settings > Survey Channels or from the Designer > Launch Survey page. The supported mobile categorizations are currently:

    • Smartphones.

    • Generic mobiles (includes feature phones, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, Symbian etc.).

    Either or both of the mobile renders can be selected for a survey. When the required option(s) are selected and the survey has been launched, the appropriate renderer will be used to deliver the survey pages formatted for the device being used by the respondent. Identification of the device being used is handled automatically by Authoring based on the device's user agent, and cannot be changed. This means that desktop (PC or Mac) and tablet users are identified and use the standard web renderer, iPhones, Android phones and iPods will use the “Smartphones” renderer, and all the rest will use the generic mobile renderer.

    Note: If a survey is launched with touch rendering enabled, but a respondent enters with a touch device with Javascript disabled, the survey engine will check and render in generic if that is enabled, otherwise it will render in desktop mode.

    Note: If you have created some heavily customized pages or questions which would not be included in Touch (iPhone/Android) rendering, rather than turning off the Touch functionality for the entire survey to allow such customized pages/questions to use normal rendering on Touch mobiles, you can turn off Touch for the specific page (go to Page Object for more information).

    Note: Tablet devices such as the iPad, Android tablet, Blackberry Playbook and HP Touchpad will have surveys delivered using the normal desktop renderer; they will not use the mobile optimized renderer.

    The page layout used by the mobile renderers is configurable on the Mobile Layout Editor page. This page is accessible via the Survey Designer > Edit Mobile Layout menu command, or directly by double-clicking on the Mobile Layout node in the HTML Styles folder. In the Mobile Layout Editor page you can edit the font attributes, and if you select a question to be displayed, a preview of the layout is provided - .

    Figure 4 - The Mobile Survey Layout Editor page

    Note: If you attempt to edit the mobile layout before a mobile phone mode is selected in the Survey Modes list, then you will be warned that the survey is not enabled for mobile phones and you will be asked to select at least one mobile mode before continuing.

    Note: All survey pages delivered will include a viewport meta tag to improve the experience on mobile devices for respondents. The following meta tag will be included in all survey pages delivered to respondents:
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"/>

    Common

    The Common tab contains the options that are common to all phone renderings - . Options that are specified here will be applied to all renderings.

    Figure 5 - The Common tab

    The options are:

    • Color theme - eight themes are available (Default, Red, Green, Light Blue, Gray, Dark Gray, Black and Image Background). These themes control the color palate used throughout the survey. This controls the background color, color and style used for navigation buttons, and the style used for the radio-buttons and checkboxes. If you wish to use a background image in the Smartphone rendering, the most appropriate theme to select is the Image Background theme, then specify which images are to be used in the Smartphones tab. Note that themes cannot be customized, and you cannot create your own themes.
    • Font family - defines the font family that is to be used for all text characters presented on the mobile's display.
    • Text - check the boxes and select as required to apply the font characteristics, font size and color to be used for the texts presented on the display.
    • Answers - check the boxes and select as required to apply the font characteristics, font size and color to be used for the answers presented on the display.
    • Progress bar - select whether you wish the progress bar to be displayed at the top and/or the bottom of the display. Note that the Include Progress Bar option in the Survey Settings > Layout tab must be checked for the progress bar to be available.
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