9.1

The r9.1 release continues to build off of our UI/UX improvements we debuted in r9.0/IS Pro. We have rolled out additional functionality that we were unable to include in r9.0, while also addressing feedback from r9.0 testers. We've also included some new features to simplify and speed up the survey editing process, such as the ability to edit sheets in-app, inline translation editing, and improvements to comparing survey versions.

r9.1 also debuts a new look for IntelliBuilder, boasting a new toolbar layout and improved comments, including how users can add, view, search for, resolve and export comments.

In addition to the above UI-focused improvements, r9.1 also debuts tags to simplify how we create and format collection headers, plus tags to help create reporting variables. These tags should help Survey Programmers (SPs) and Report users alike.

In-platform editing of survey sheets

Spreadsheets may now be edited directly in our platform, including adding, removing or rearranging rows and columns, or simply updating values already present. Visit survey sheets within the Assets > Sheets tab, and click on the pencil icon to get started.

Inline translation editing

The Translations applet has undergone several changes in our latest release, most importantly the ability to edit translations directly without needing to upload or download an overlay. Though these features are still available, you may now instead click the Edit (pencil) icon next to view a side-by-side comparison of the original version of the survey with one of the translated versions.

Once in the comparison view, any previously untranslated survey content will display a yellow background. The Only Show Missing Translations toggle can be activated to filter content to quickly only view what still requires translating. Edit translations yourself by clicking on editable content such as question or option text. Users can easily download translations from within the Translations applet's Available Languages table, or from the inline translation screen.

Additional survey UX changes

Compare survey versions in SPL or IntelliBuilder view modes

The Versions applet has undergone some recent changes to how we can compare survey versions. You can now select whether to compare two versions in an IntelliBuilder-style view or the more traditional SPL view. Regardless of whether the two versions chosen were edited in the same manner, the system will know how to display their content in either format.

When viewing in the IntelliBuilder view mode, the comparison view defaults to showing only edited content. Utilize the Only Show Edited Questions toggle to instead view the full survey's content.

Publish Survey icon is more prominent

In previous releases, survey editors could publish a survey by clicking the publish status icon next to the survey's name, located in the header of every applet. To make it even clearer, we've removed that function from the publish status icon and created a new Publish Survey button. This button will be enabled whenever a version is ready for publishing.

Changes to survey stages

When IS Pro debuted in r9.0, we had shifted our survey stage names to Build (formerly QA), Field (formerly Live), Analyze (formerly Soft Shutdown), Closed (formerly Hard Shutdown), and Archived. In r9.1, we are combining Analyze + Closed into a single Analyze (Close) stage that represents both "Soft Close" and "Hard Close." Now when switching survey stages to Analyze, users will be prompted to choose from Soft Close or Hard Close.

On the Fielding Overview > Metrics screen, these stages will be listed as "Analyze (Soft Close)" in light blue and "Analyze (Hard Close)" in gray, as shown below.

While pinned/favorited survey tiles will list the full stage names like in the Metrics screen, both stages will simply be displayed as "Analyze (Close)" in the Survey Navigator grid, but the color codes for each stage will be used to indicate which closed stage they are in.

Reporting tool improvements

Report Builder

In all reports, you'll now find the Field Selector and Record Selector tucked away in the new Report Builder tool, which expands horizontally to allow for more report viewing space.

Frequency report updates

The Frequency report has a new look in r9.1, with upgrades to how various question types are displayed and an overhaul to the color schemes used in graphic representations of the data. Save results for future usage, download Excel or PDF versions, or even copy the data tables to paste into Word or Excel. Individual questions' data can also be copied and pasted into files.

Other updates to the Frequency report include:

• Table question data is now shown in a single table, with the ability to toggle between percents and counts.
  
• Metrics on numeric questions are displayed by default.
  
• Clicking the View Responses link underneath a question will open a Response report in a new browser tab for that question only.

Nets and Metrics updates for the Crosstabs report

We are continuing to build out the functionality of the Crosstabs report in this release, adding in the new Crosstabs Editor tool for building Crosstabs reports and adding nets and metrics to your report. After you've created a net or metric, you may use the toggles in the Nets & Metrics grid to include or exclude them in the report. 

 

Additional Quota Manager feature migrations

We are continuing to migrate previous functionality into our platform, and in r9.1, we have brought back filtering in the Quota Manager. Users may apply a keyword search in the Filter field, or filter by chapter (including built-in/default chapters such as Managers Only, Quota variables, and Click Balance Quotas). By default, all chapters will be shown, but you may opt to show any combination of other chapters in your survey.

Users may also use the Schedule Email button to create an export of their quotas that can be saved in Deliverables and scheduled for periodic emails to themselves and other project collaborators.

IntelliBuilder gets a facelift

The IntelliBuilder visual editor tool has received several updates in r9.1 to provide a more modern look and create a more user-friendly experience. In particular in 9.1, we've focused on improvements to the toolbar layout and how comments are displayed or filtered.

The new and improved IntelliBuilder toolbar

Users will notice the toolbar located at the top of the IntelliBuilder screen has been reorganized, with several icons being changed or being renamed. In particular, we've moved more heavily used actions (such as Download to Word and the Show Comments toggle) out of the action menu and into the toolbar itself, and made access to the Comment Center and View menu's options easier.

Improvements to comment functionality and the Comment Center

The ability to view and filter comments has been simplified for r9.1. Not only were these functions moved out of the Actions menu, but Show Comments is now a toggle switch with the Comments Center accessible via the icon next to the toggle. The Comments column no longer is a fixed width for all survey elements, instead only expanding when a comment exists on that element. When comments are hidden, the icons in collapsed comment indicate whether an element has comments or not.

Comments now also only contain a single "level" of child comments for each parent comment, so no more cascading series of indented comments from replying to others' replies. Resolving a comment at the the thread level will resolve the the topic holistically.

The Comment Center has been shifted to opening in a shelf on the right hand side of the screen and allows users to search by time period, commenter, or comment status (Resolved or Unresolved). The Show only questions with comments toggle can also be activated to facilitate searching for comments in longer surveys.

Users may also enable comment notifications for themselves and other users (defaulting to "on" and sending to the survey owner) or export a survey's comment history as an Excel file.

SPL changes

Open-ended Other options in tables no longer require 'cell' tag

It's very common for table questions to have an open-ended Other option (a.k.a., 'Other specify' or 'autoother') for which respondents can indicate an alternative option. Historically, this has required the use of the cell tag to remove the Other specify from the table column header and into the option. With 9.1, we now do this automatically, no longer requiring the use of the cell tag. Tables will now autogenerate an Other specify option within the table option whenever an autoother is present. If a table requires the autoother to be in the table heading (for tables in base themes or using mode: classic) that can be handled by simply adding columnautoother: n to the table.

Old Code (pre-9.1)	New Code
2. You've indicated you eat at the below restaurants. What is the meal you typically eat when visiting? type: radio table cell: O[97] {autoother placeholder: Specify} rowsfrom: RESTAURANTS {if anyChecked($Q1,[id])} 1. Breakfast 2. Lunch 3. Dinner 97. Other {autoother: y}	2. You've indicated you eat at the below restaurants. What is the meal you typically eat when visiting? type: radio table rowsfrom: RESTAURANTS {if anyChecked($Q1,[id])} 1. Breakfast 2. Lunch 3. Dinner 97. Other {autoother: y}
End Result in Both Cases

Introducing the 'collection header: y' decorator

Survey Programmers can rejoice that we now have a more user-friendly way to implement collection headers with the introduction of the collection header: y decorator (alias, header: y). Rather than using underscores with letters to indicate a collection header - '_A. Chocolate Candy' - SPs can use normal numeric IDs along with the collection header: y decorator to indicate that item is a header, not an option, as shown below.

setlist: CANDY
order: [*],$
100. Chocolate Candy {collection header: y}
1. M&M's
2. Twix
3. Snickers
4. KitKat
5. Hershey's Bars
6. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (inc. Miniatures, White Ghosts, Pumpkins)
200. Sweet or Sour Candy  {collection header: y}
21.  Nerds
22.  Sour Patch Kids
23.  Skittles
300. Lollipops  {header: y}
31. Dum Dums
32. Blow Pops
33. Tootsie Pops
400. Other  {collection header: y} {order: [*],$}
41. Starburst
42. Twizzlers
43. Other {autoother: y}

1. What kind of candy do you like?
type: checkbox
optsfrom: CANDY

Note that you can also include anchor: y or order as a decorator on the collection header as well. In the above example, the collections would be randomized, with the '400. Other' collection anchored as last. Since the Other collection also includes {order: [*],$}, its elements will be randomized with '43. Other' anchored as last.

Collection headers and sheets

collection header can also be used with survey sheets. Like other decorators, it can be applied as as a sheet column name, with 'y' specified in the column to trigger the collection header's display. As part of this implementation, other decorators such as order,  alphabetize, and anchor can be included as sheet columns as well.

Other header-related applications

We have also introduced some other tricks SPs can apply while using lists with headers, such as:

• The ability to remove header-display from a question via a listcall via the header decorator - e.g., optsfrom: LIST [header: n].
• The ability to only show the headers in a question, and not the collections' options, via the header decorator - e.g., optsfrom: LIST [header: only].
• The ability to exclude a collection from a listcall with exclusion syntax. For example, using the list above, we could exclude the Lollipops collection by specifying optsfrom: CANDY -[300].

Support for collection header usage with ranking questions will be coming in 9.2.

'collection punch summary'

As part of our improvement for collection headers, the collection punch summary tag has been introduced. Similar to row punch summary, this tag creates a variable that will indicate all of the collections that had at least one of their child elements selected in this question.

setlist: LOCATIONS
order: [*],$
100. <b>Vet/Clinic</b> {collection header: y} 
1. Veterinary clinic or local veterinarian 
200. <b>Mass Merchandisers</b> {collection header: y} 
2. Walmart
3. Target
300. <b>Pet Stores</b> {collection header: y} {order: [*]}
4. Petco
5. PetSmart
6. Pet Supplies Plus
400. <b>Club Stores</b> {collection header: y} {alphabetize: y}
8. Costco
9. Sam's Club
10. BJ's Warehouse
500. <b>Grocery/Drug Stores</b> {collection header: y} {order: [*]}
11. Drug Stores (e.g., CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid)
12. Grocery Stores (e.g., Kroger, Albertson's, Publix, Winn-Dixie, etc)
600. <b>Online Stores</b> {collection header: y} {order: [*]}
20. Amazon.com
21. chewy.com
22. 1800petmeds.com
23. Petsupermarket.com

57. Where do you purchase <b>dog food</b> IN STORE?
type: checkbox
optsfrom: LOCATIONS -[600]
collectionpunchsummary: QTYPE1. Types of IN STORE locations

In the above example, if a respondent selects a response from any of the collections 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500, that collection will be noted in the collection punch summary variable QTYPE1's results.

Reporting only variables

Create dynamic "reporting only variables" with the reporting only: y tag. This tag behaves a bit similarly to a data filter, in that it stores data with the respondent based on the logical expressions defined in the source. These variables aren't dependent on a respondent "punching" them in real-time, and therefore can be defined anywhere in the source code, added after the survey is live, modified later in the survey, and more, yet will contain the proper data according to the logical expression defined.

Since these are dynamic variables designed for use with coded variables only (coded single select, coded multiple select, and coded number), neither a quota nor a downstream logic variable may be used for a reporting-only variable. Reporting-only variables populate for the entire data set. If you wish to restrict to only certain respondent types, utilize apply if to filter the reporting-only variables appropriately.

For example:

AGE. What is your age?
type: integer
required: y 

AGEG. Age group
type: coded single select
reporting only: y
1. Under 30 {if $QAGE < 30}
2. 30 to 50 {if $QAGE >= 30 and $QAGE <= 50}
3. Over 50 {if $QAGE > 50}

'report placement' tag

The report placement tag (alias reporting placement) was designed for implementation with both reporting-only and regular variables to allow SPs to specify where in the Reporting Field Tree the variable should be located. Inputs of 'before QX/TX', 'after QX/TX', or 'here' can be specified.

AGE. What is your age? 
type: integer 
range: 0-110  

GEN. What is your gender?
1. Male
2. Female
3. Prefer not to answer

AGEG. Age group 
type: coded single select 
reporting only: y 
report placement: after QAGE
1. Under 30 {if $QAGE < 30} 
2. 30 to 50 {if $QAGE >= 30 and $QAGE <= 50} 
3. Over 50 {if $QAGE > 50}

In the above example, the above questions and variables would appear in the following order in our Reporting Field Tree: QAGE, QAGEG, QGEN.

Additional caveats to using 'report placement'

SPs should also consider the following when using report placement:

• If a reporting-only variable does not include report placement, it will default to appearing after the "latest" variable used in the reporting-only variable's calculation.
• A widget cannot include both report placement and chapter tags on it, though widgets using report placement will inherit previously-defined chapters (e.g., defined on the group it is located in).
• When referencing table IDs with report placement, be sure to use a 'T' in the reference - e.g., report placement: before T10. 

Additional SPL Improvements

• Images are able to be integrated into table options easily, via show image options: y.
• The Collapse Group property (tag: ib collapse group ) has been introduced, which allows default collapsing of a group in the IB view. When paired with editable by, this tucks away the group's content. Intended to be used on survey-admin type variables, using these tags effectively moves focus of IB Editors towards other important survey content.
• editable by is now inherited downstream, meaning, if a group is indicated as being editable by Advanced IB users only, its child widgets will also inherit this same restriction.

Additional features

• Create Add On role of "Manage All Users"
• For SPSS downloads, a new advanced option was added to allow downloaders to place variable labels into descriptions
• Add "Draft/Pub" toggle to Dummy Data interface
• CodeMirror editor should text-wrap
• Migrate split screen functionality for SPL Editor
• Fielding Metrics improvements including behavior overall, resetting tiles
• Max Capacity reintroduced; moved to Survey Config
• Scheduling survey stage changes reintroduced
• Testmode features 
  • Viewing SPL & Source Warnings brought back
  • TestID added to Testmode

Important bug fixes

• render if omits parts of a block's translations from overlay
• Loops: reporting ranking questions
• singlepage does not redirect language picker
• Status column within Translations table is too small for content being inserted
• Update editable by to be inherited downstream