An autoother refers to an "Other" option that allows respondents to write in a response not provided in the question's answer set.
To create an autoother, place the autoother: y
element decorator next to the option.
Note: This article covers creating autoother options with decorators. The autoother options as underscores method is still supported, but not preferred. For information on using autoothers with tables, see Autoother in table rows.
Details
- If a respondent selects an
autoother
option, an entry in the accompanying text field is required. - When an autoother is part of a list, the text field created is shown on the first instance of the list being used. The text entered will then appear in subsequent uses of the same list. If no text was specified, the
autoother
option will not appear in further uses of that list. - You can apply any tag that sets parameters for a regular text field to an autoother option. These parameters define the type of input, data storage, and field appearance.
- Multiple parameters can be included together in a single set of curly brackets as shown above. Include 'autoother' on the first parameter, then separate each set of parameters with a semicolon or comma. Using this single line approach for programming parameters is preferred.
- To apply the same autoother parameters to all autoother options in a survey, include autoother tags on a
set defaults
widget at the start of your survey. These can then be overridden locally on individual widgets if needed.a - "autoother" can be added as a column header in a sheet in r9. To create the text field for the autoother option, add 'y' in the "autoother" column's cell corresponding to the option. Additional autoother parameters can then be included as tags on individual questions, or on a
set defaults
widget to apply them to all autoothers.
Common parameters
The following parameters can be used as tags or decorators to customize autoothers.
Parameter | When used as a tag | Description |
datatype |
autoother datatype |
Ensures respondents provide valid input for an open-ended option, such as accepting only integers. |
desc |
autoother desc |
Provides a specific description for the autoother option in reports. |
error |
autoother error |
Customizes the message that is displayed when the option is selected, but no text is entered into the field. Note, if another parameter with a validation is used, such as |
firstq |
autoother firstq |
Allows users to "save" an autoother option to show at a later question. The question ID entered here represents the first place this autoother is shown. The input format is 'QX', with the leading 'Q'. |
autoother maxlength or autoother minlength
|
Similarly, |
|
|
|
Displays a message in the autoother text field (e.g., "Specify"). |
|
|
Adds text after a text input field. |
|
|
Adds text before a text input field. |
|
Defines and validates a numeric range for a response. |
|
required |
autoother required |
With required: n , all autoother validation is disabled. |
size |
autoother size |
Specifies the size (width) of a text field in ems, e.g., |
Tip! Starting in r9, autoothers in questions with either randomize: y
or the order
tag will be anchored in their list positions by default. To change this, use the anchor autoother: n
tag directly on a question or in the survey's set defaults
.
In earlier versions, autoothers are not anchored automatically. You can apply the anchor autoother: y
tag directly to a question or the survey's set defaults
, or add the anchor: y
decorator after the autoother
decorator.
Additional examples
Customizing with individual tags
Place autoother parameters as individual tags on a question immediately after the autoother option.
100. Which movie franchise do you enjoy the most?
type: radio
randomize: y
1. Star Wars
2. Harry Potter
3. Marvel Universe
4. Fast and Furious
97. Other franchise {autoother: y}
autoother placeholder: specify
autoother size: 10
Global autoother parameters
Instead of adding autoother parameters for each question or table, you can apply them at the beginning of the survey by using the set defaults
widget. Parameters set here will apply to the entire survey unless overridden later.
For example, we could standardize the placeholder and field size for all autoothers as shown below.
set defaults
autoother placeholder: Specify
autoother size: 10
Save autoother for later question
Since an autoother option will be displayed the first time a list is used, and must be selected in order to be seen again later in the survey, it may occasionally be necessary to exclude it from a list's initial usage.
In Q4 below, the parameter firstq
is used to "save" the autoother option's first appearance for Q4A.
In Q4, exclusion syntax could also be used in the optsfrom
listcall to remove the autoother from the HOW list so that it can still be used in Q4A.
Autoother options in sheets
Autoother options may also be included in survey spreadsheets. Simply add an "autoother" column after the "text" column, then add a 'y' for the cells corresponding to your autoother options. Once the sheet is called into a question, this triggers the creation of an autoother text field for the flagged options.
For example, consider the following sheet, "attractions."
id | text | autoother |
1 | The beach | |
2 | Lakes | |
3 | National parks | |
4 | State parks | |
5 | Museums (science / history) | |
6 | Historic sites | |
7 | Zoos or aquariums | |
8 | Adventure parks (ziplines, etc.) | |
9 | Theatres | |
10 | Art galleries / exhibits | |
97 | Other 1 | y |
971 | Other 2 | y |
Next, use a listcall to reference the sheet options (e.g., optsfrom: surveyid.sheetname
), and the autoother text fields are created automatically. Parameters can then be included locally as tags or on a set defaults
widget.
Note the single-line approach for creating autoothers is unavailable when using autoother in a spreadsheet.
11. When travelling, what types of attractions do you like to visit?
type: checkbox
randomize: y
optsfrom: surveyid.attractions
autoother placeholder: Please specify
autoother size: 12
Autoother piping
Autoother options may also be piped into follow-up questions and lists by referencing the question where they were selected. Select "other" in the example below for a demonstration.
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