General link
Table of contents
General links are a good option for scenarios where you do not necessarily have the contact details for your target respondents. Instead, a link to the survey can be published in an environment where your intended audience can be reached e.g. embedded on your website or social media accounts.
Watch a short tutorial:
How to create a general link
We have covered how you go about when wanting to send your survey, now let’s go into depth on how you distribute your survey via a general link.
Select General link to access the link sendout panel.
On the top of the panel you create a name (min. 3 characters) for the link. You can edit the name of the link at all time. Please note that the name of the link will not be displayed to the respondents; it is only presented inside the tool so that you can identify it. When respondents answer your survey, the link will be shown in your report under respondents. Furthermore, if you use several links, you will have the option to import those as background variables (see description below). This way, you can filter your results and make comparisons based on the link that the respondents used.
Only allow one answer per person
There is also a setting for only allowing one answer per person (computer). Checking this will save a cookie locally on the respondent’s computer to keep track of the respondent activity on that specific link. For example, if they have already used the link and then click the link again after having completed the survey, they will be shown a message saying they have already registered an answer and can’t respond a second time. If the respondent has left a partial answer, the cookie will have this registered and will let the respondent continue completing the survey when they click the link again.
Please note: this function is only effective if the respondent allows cookies to be saved on their computer or network.
Note: If you have already sent the survey, you can only change this setting to a certain extent. If the respondent has already clicked on the link, the cookie will have already been set on their computer and any changes from your end will not have any effect. They will not be able to answer the link a second time unless they manually delete the cookie. If you unmark the checkbox after send-out and a respondent had not answered the link previously, they will be able to answer multiple times from the same device. We advise you, therefore, to make all decisions final before distributing the survey.
Distribute general link as QR code
Right next to the link itself there is a premade QR code ready for you to download.
A QR code is practical when not distributing the survey digitally. For example, when using printed media such as newspapers, magazines, posters, flyers etc.
How to distribute and view links?
After the link is saved, you can pick it up from the distribution tab by clicking the name of the link. You can copy the link and distribute/publish it as desired. It is important that you remember to activate the survey before distributing the link. If the link is not active, it will not allow any answers to be registered.
Import links as background data
To import your links as background data, go to the edit mode of your survey. In the menu on the left, you will find the option Question bank. Click the option and choose background data in the next step. Here you will find—if you have previously created a link—the background variable Link. Please choose it, click Add and Save. Your links are now available as background data in your report and you can filter based on those. Note: Deletion and adding of links with the same name can cause problems. Try to only create the minimum number of links required and edit those rather than deleting them.
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