Getting started with IntelliBuilder

IntelliBuilder is a graphical survey editing tool which permits IntelliSurvey users to create, edit, preview, or review survey content without having to access the survey source code. Users involved in the project who may not have a programming background can utilize IntelliBuilder to make changes via a straightforward graphical interface, or leave comments for Project Managers (PMs) so that they can assist with the survey's creation. IntelliBuilder is designed for collaborative survey editing, allowing multiple users to work in a session together as needed.

IntelliBuilder documentation

This article will focus on the basic layout and user interface (UI) of IntelliBuilder for new users, but we encourage users to review our other documentation to learn more about creating survey elements, editing the survey, and how to communicate with IntelliSurvey's Project Managers (PMs), Support, and other users. As IntelliBuilder is a new feature for the IntelliSurvey platform, users should expect that features and functions will change over time. As such, these documents should be considered a "work-in-progress," and users should check back periodically for updates.

The following articles provide additional information on how to create and edit survey content, plus how to communicate with collaborators through IntelliBuilder:

• Survey elements overview for IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on the various types of elements that can be created in IntelliBuilder, common features that can be added to them, and the controls and functions that are available on individual elements once added to the survey.
  
  
• Creating survey elements with IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on the steps to create most survey elements, including how to use lists for question and table options. Elements that do not fit this pattern are covered in "Additional survey elements and features for IntelliBuilder" and "Conditioned survey elements and features for IntelliBuilder."
  
  
• Additional survey elements and features for IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on how to create elements and element features that do not follow the typical steps outlined in "Creating survey elements for IntelliBuilder." Topics include: display text, lists, "other" options, add to 100% tables, piped text, and customized questions (a.k.a., classes).
  
  
• Conditioned survey elements and features for IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on how to create condition logic at the element (question) level or at the option level, and the element types that commonly use or require them. Topics include: groups, loops, quotas, and click balance quotas.
  
  
• Editing surveys with IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on the various ways Survey Creators (SCs) may edit survey elements.
  
  
• Communicating through IntelliBuilder – This article focuses on the usage of comments in IntelliBuilder and how to hide, mark for resolution, or search for them via the Comments Center. 

General layout

The IntelliBuilder UI is broken into several sections which serve different functions. 

The IntelliBuilder applet can be broken down into the following sections:

• IntelliBuilder control buttons and menus – The top of the IntelliBuilder screen contains a series of dropdown menus and buttons that can be used for tasks such as controlling how survey elements are displayed, switching user modes, keyword searching the survey's content, creating new survey content, or testing. Each of these menus and buttons will be covered in additional detail below.
  
  
• Main survey body – This section contains the main content of the survey, including questions, tables, quotas, and other major survey elements.
  
  
• Comments column – The Comments column allows users to post and reply to comments, including the ability to create action items for resolution and at-mentioning other users or Support. 
  
  
• Survey Details shelf – The Survey Details shelf allows users to toggle between the Session History, which provides a grid of survey edits since the last version was stored/saved, the Survey Versions tab, which provides details on each saved session (or "version") and the edits made during that session, and the Survey Info tab, which contains information related to the running of the survey, such as survey objectives, number of desired "completed" respondents, etc.
  
  
• Appendix – The Appendix contains standalone/external lists (a.k.a., "setlists") that can be used across multiple questions, and may also include other items such as uploaded spreadsheets, chapters, and default settings (added via SPL).

User Modes 

IntelliBuilder has three (3) user modes – Basic, Advanced, and Expert. Each mode has varying levels of feature access, and which modes are accessible to a given user will depend on their survey role. As a user's survey role can vary from survey to survey, the user modes available to them may also vary by survey.

 

IntelliBuilder includes a User Mode menu (shown above) that allows users to switch modes where applicable. Users that have been assigned roles of Client Coordinator Editor and above can switch to "lower" user modes; in other words, Client Coordinator Editors could use Advanced (their default), or Basic; and Survey Managers, Creators, and Superusers can use all three modes as needed. To switch user modes, click on the User Mode menu, and select the desired mode.

Active users 

Any active (or recently active) users will be indicated at the top of the screen to the right of the User Mode menu. Each user is indicated in a colored circle containing their initials. Green users indicate that they are still "active," whereas gray users are currently "inactive." Clicking on the down arrow next to the user icons will show additional details on the displayed users, including when they were last active and which elements they edited most recently.

Viewing options 

The View menu allows users to switch the display mode for all elements in the survey. By default, surveys will automatically be displayed in Builder mode with all questions expanded.

Collapsing and expanding the survey

By default, surveys are displayed with all elements "expanded," showing the details of each survey element. In the case of questions and tables, this means the question text and ID, options (with IDs), and any added properties or features are shown. Users may click the up arrows (Collapse All) and down arrows (Expand All) in the upper left corner to "collapse" or expand the view for all survey elements.

 

Clicking Collapse All provides a quick and easy way to view a survey's content by removing all extraneous details of the survey elements and only showing question IDs and text, allowing the user to quickly scan the structure of the survey. Elements that include comments will display a Comment icon to the right as shown on QD2 and QD3.

Comments can still be viewed while the survey is collapsed by hovering over the Comment icon. A tooltip will appear, showing the comments for that element.

 

Individual survey elements can be collapsed by clicking the arrow to the left of the element. To expand the element, click the arrow a second time.

Builder view

The Builder viewing mode is the default viewing mode for IntelliBuilder. Each element is displayed with all of its features, options or list references, and question type. Any comments left by users will be shown in full.

Preview view

The Preview viewing mode is useful for viewing questions and tables as they would be displayed to the respondent. Users can also experiment with how a question or table functions - e.g., does selecting an exclusive option deselect previous selections; do tooltips related to the Explain attribute work properly; or can I add in text to an "other" option?

Users should note that Preview mode ignores question features such as conditions related to display logic or piping from previous selections. As such, additional testing of survey elements via the Test menu may be required to fully gauge whether the survey is functioning as intended.

Source view

The Source viewing mode allows Expert users to view the source code generated from building various survey elements. While in Source view, SPs may also directly edit an element's SPL.

Survey Details shelf

The right hand side of the IntelliBuilder screen contains the Survey Details shelf. This section contains three "tabs" – the Session History tab, the Survey Versions tab, and the Survey Info tab.

Session History 

The Session History grid provides a list of all changes that have occurred in the survey since the last time the Store New Version option was clicked. 

The following information is contained in the grid:

• Who – The initials of which user made the changes.
• What – The type of changes there made; change types include: added, deleted, moved, updated, and inline edited.
• Where – The element that was modified, added, or deleted.
• When – A timestamp of when the changes were made; recent changes may be listed as "X minutes ago".

Survey Versions 

The Survey Versions grid provides a history of all versions created in the course of the survey's development. The initial version is created when the survey is created, with each subsequent version being created once a user clicks the Save New Version button. By default, the grid is listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent version listed at the top. Like in other IntelliSurvey applets, users may elect to sort by other columns by clicking on the column header; an arrow will appear in the header of whichever column the details are being sorted by. Users may then reverse the sort order by clicking on the arrow.

The Notes column provides a list of what actions were performed during each merged session. Hovering over a version's notes will cause a tooltip to appear, with more detail on what changes occurred during that version.

Survey Info 

The Survey Info tab allows users to enter important details related to the running of a survey that PMs and other team members might need to know about the survey's objectives.

 

The following fields are contained on this page:

Appendix 

The Appendix is used to store various survey resources such as standalone lists (setlists), uploaded spreadsheets, default settings, and chapters. Whereas defaults must be added via source code or SPL Input elements, lists and chapters can be added via the Add Element menu by most users. At this time, spreadsheets can only be added to surveys by users with survey roles of Client Coordinators and above. 

 

Like the main survey body, the Appendix includes Collapse All and Expand All (default) buttons in order to collapse all Appendix items into a more easily viewable state. Similarly, individual elements can be collapsed as well.

Actions menu

The Actions menu contains a pulldown menu of tasks that can be performed in IntelliBuilder.

 

The following tasks are currently available: 

Keyboard shortcuts 

For users who enjoy keyboard shortcuts, several have been built into IntelliBuilder to assist with navigating the UI and viewing or creating survey content. At this time, the following keyboard shortcuts are available for IntelliBuilder.

Users should note that typical formatting shortcut keys for bolding, italicizing, and underlining text are also available to use in question text, options, and other displayed text.

Shortcut		Action
PC	MAC
Alt+Shift+N	Ctrl+Option+N	Add element to end of survey
Alt+Shift+S	Ctrl+Option+S	Save element
Alt+Shift+W	Ctrl+Option+W	Cancel element creation or edit
Alt+Shift+C	Ctrl+Option+C	Collapse all elements
Alt+Shift+E	Ctrl+Option+E	Expand all elements
Alt+Shift+V	Ctrl+Shift+V	Go to View menu
Alt+Shift+P	Ctrl+Option+P	Open Insert Piped Text modal (*for use in question or option text, or properties such as Instructions, Explain, or Footnote)
Ctrl+Windows key+T	Ctrl+Command+T	Go to top of survey
Ctrl+Windows key+A	Ctrl+Command+A	Go to Appendix

Keyword searching surveys

IntelliBuilder includes a search field that allows users to filter out survey content based on keyword matching alphanumeric terms. When input is entered in the field, IntelliBuilder begins to filter out all non-matching survey elements and a green bar will appear across the screen, notifying users that "Elements visualization is currently limited to searched criteria." To clear the search filter, click the X on the right side of the search field.

The search function is not case sensitive. The following items are currently searchable:

• Question and option text (including list options)
• Question and table IDs
• Option IDs
• List IDs/names, including those referenced in Options From, Rows From, and Ranks From properties
• Piped Text IDs.

Properties and attributes are not searchable at this time.

Test menu

Users can test merged/saved survey content by selecting a test mode from the Test menu. The options in the test menu allow for more thorough testing of survey content than simply using Preview mode, and also allow users to test all respondent-facing content at once. This is especially important for testing display logic/conditions, piping from previous selections, and terminating users.

The following testing options are currently available:

• Test with Testmode Tools – This testing mode provides a more thorough testing experience for users. Not only are question IDs displayed for users, but the Testmode Toolbar is active, providing users with a range of features that can be utilized for testing respondent-facing survey content. Testers can use the JumpTo search menu to navigate to specific questions, view notes on survey logic or quotas, or use the Data Quickview feature to view how responses and other variables are stored as questions are answered.
  
  
  
• Test as Respondent with Q#s – Testing with question numbers provides a similar experience to that of actual survey takers, but provides question IDs so that testers have a better idea where they are in the survey. This option can be useful for taking notes on respondent-facing survey elements without utilizing the Testmode Toolbar features.
  
  
  
• Test as Respondent without Q#s – Though this is the simplest of the testing options, this option allows testers to run through a survey with the same viewing experience as a survey taker, and will still demonstrate how validations or display and termination logic work.