Widgets

Widgets are the visible and invisible elements which make up our online surveys. Widgets can be used to define questions and tables, create background variables for storing data, or establish settings and configurations.

Each widget is composed of individual lines of code called tags. Widgets can also contain Perl, JavaScript, and other syntaxes to generate complex, custom actions.

D5. What is your current total household income?
type: radio
1. less than $25,000
2. $25,000 - 49,999
3. $50,000 - 74,999
4. $75,000 - 99,999
5. $100,000 - 124,999
6. $125,000 - 149,999
7. $150,000 - 199,999
8. $200,000 or more

INCQUOTA. Income Quota
type: quotas
1. Lower Income {if anyChecked($QD5,1,2)}
2. Middle Income {if anyChecked($QD5,3,4,5,6)}
3. Upper Income {if anyChecked($QD5,7,8)}

Most commonly used widgets

Questions

Questions are visible widgets that comprise the majority of our surveys. The type tag is required for question widgets to establish what types of responses can be inputted or selected, while also establishing which tags and properties can be included.

Overviews of the question types offered in IntelliSurvey's survey programming language (SPL) can be found in the following articles:

• Closed-ended questions
• Open-ended questions
• Interactive respondent exercises

Tables

Tables are an easy way to group similar questions that use the same set of answer choices. The rows usually represent the questions, and the columns usually offer a set of pre-defined answer choices (options) that apply to each question-row. It is also possible to create text response tables or multicolumn tables.

Tables can be defined in our SPL via one of two methods:

• Simple tables use a question-like syntax by adding "table" to the question type (e.g., type: radio table or type: text table).
• Advanced tables do not require "table" when specifying the type, and instead use the start table widget.

Lists and sheets

Lists and sheets act as data sources that can be reused across multiple widgets in a survey. They can be used for both visible questions and hidden questions, known as variables.

• While some lists are defined within a widget (a.k.a., inline lists), other lists are defined as standalone widgets (a.k.a., set lists) via the set list widget.
• Sheets can be uploaded directly to a survey, or if need be, uploaded to a server to use across multiple servers. Generally they do not require a widget to define them once uploaded, but the definesheet widget can be used to add order rules or prevent translations for a sheet.

Variables

Variables are hidden questions that can be used for tasks such as calculating or storing data. Examples of commonly used variables include quotas, click balance quotas, and coded variables.

The following articles are recommended for learning about variables:

• Standalone quotas
• Click balance quotas
• Coded variables
• System variables

Other widgets

The following widgets are also often used when creating surveys.

'app config'

The app config widget allows you to define global parameters for a survey. It is usually placed at the beginning of the survey, but additional app config widgets can be applied later in the code to alter previously set parameters.

Blocks

Blocks allow you to define content that is repeated, or "looped" in a survey. They are most commonly used to ask a series of questions for individual items in a set (e.g., brands). Surround the content with the block widget and heredoc, then specify which list to repeat the content for.

Chapters

Chapters organize a survey into distinct sections, much like a table of contents. Reports reflect this organization by grouping questions and variables by chapter. Use the define chapters widget to globally establish the chapters for your survey.

Classes

A class is a labeled set of tags to create a standardized format to the widgets that reference them. Use the set class widget to define a class and the properties it requires.

Defaults

The set defaults widget is placed at the beginning of the survey source to establish basic rules for the entire survey. To define your survey's default settings, attach any applicable tags to the set defaults widget.

'dynamicvalue'

The dynamicvalue function sets a question's value based on another question or variable. It can be used for tasks like automatically coding closed-end values or performing respondent-facing calculations. All question references can be located on the same survey page or different pages.

'end survey'

The end survey widget is used to end interviews. It assigns respondents a finishing status, and if need be, can redirect them to a different website.

'goto'

The goto widget routes respondents to a question, labeled group, or page based on a condition being "true." After routing, the survey continues from that point and follows any page or group conditions thereafter.

Groups

Groups are used to group together survey content (questions, logic, etc.). Generally, any content embedded between the start group widget and its corresponding end group widget are grouped together and may share the same page, logic conditioning, or other attributes defined by the group.

'import data'

The import data widget allows you to name a variable and assign a value to it. It's designed for defining and populating variables used only for survey logic and is not stored in the survey data set.

'internal memo'

The internal memo widget allows you to add comments to IntelliBuilder for instructions on using a survey template. These comments will not be shown in the live survey.

'label'

The label widget allows you to add an alphanumeric name to a survey page that can be used for page routing with goto, or deferred term and deferred quota routing.

Libraries

Libraries are stored sections of source code for surveys. They save time by eliminating the need to rewrite code and can be called into your survey for use by adding the INCLUDE directive to your survey source.

'new page'

The new page widget is used to manually insert page breaks between survey content. If a page has no visible content, it will automatically submit, preventing a blank page from displaying to respondents.

'send email'

The send email widget allows you to send emails to a respondent from a survey.

'set conditioned text'

The set conditioned text widget defines content that can be inserted, or piped, repeatedly throughout a survey based on specified conditional logic.

'set status'

The set status widget is used for defining custom respondent statuses in a survey.

'set term'

The set term widget is used for terminating respondents and is frequently applied in situations where the the term if tag cannot be easily used.

'set text'

The set text widget defines content that can be inserted, or piped, repeatedly throughout the survey. 

'set text batch'

The set text batch widget is used to create multiple set text widgets at once.

'set value'

The set value widget automatically assigns a value to a specified question or variable. It's typically used to store values for skipped questions.

'show conditioned text'

The show conditioned text widget defines content that is displayed once, where it is located in the survey. Like set conditioned text, it specifies condition logic for when to display it.

'show text'

The show text widget defines content that is  displayed once, where it is located in the survey.

'validation'

The validation widget is used to define custom restrictions on respondent input, preventing respondents from continuing to the next page if a condition is unmet.