Creating questionnaires

Create a questionnaire by designing questions, inserting layout elements, and defining conditional logic. Once you create the questionnaire, you can use it for Surveys, Event Reports, and when processing records. You can also use questionnaires with specific features in Diligent One, like certifications.

Note

Only Professional Managers and Professional Users can complete these tasks.

How it works

Questionnaire length

You can add up to 500 questions to a questionnaire. However, if any table linked to the questionnaire reaches 500 columns in total, then you cannot add more questions.

For example, if a table with 100 columns is linked to a questionnaire, then the questionnaire is limited to 400 questions.

Create a questionnaire

  1. Open the Results app.
  2. Click the name of the collection with the questionnaire you want to modify.
  3. Click Questionnaires.
  4. Click Add and enter the following information:
    • Reference- Optional. Enter a unique ID to reference the questionnaire. This will be helpful to bulk importer and toolkit users to uniquely identify the questionnaire.
    • Name - Enter a meaningful title for your questionnaire.
    • Instruction - Optional. Enter your instructions for those individuals receiving your questionnaire. You can format your response using the Bold, Italic, List, or Link options above the text box.
    • Optional. Add files to questionnaire instructions attach one or more default supporting files to send with the questionnaire. The files are available when responding to the questionnaire (they are labeled Related files in the questionnaire itself) and automatically attached to the record for each submission. Supporting files cannot be changed after submitting a response. Files are included in a reserved column in the associated table.

      Note

      For security reasons, Diligent One does not accept file attachments with the following extensions: .bat, .com, .dmg, .exe, or .scr.

  5. Optional. To allow users to submit updated responses to previously assigned questionnaires without supplying an explanatory comment, select Allow resubmitting assigned questionnaire without comment.

    Note

    This setting does not work for status questionnaires.

  6. Choose whether recipients should see information about specific records.
    • Choose Show all record fields when your respondents need to see all fields for a record. This is generally a good option when all of a record's data is relevant to the recipient and none of it is sensitive.
    • Choose Show select record fields when your respondents only need to see some fields for a record. You can select the fields recipients see in the settings for the table the questionnaire is sent from. This is generally a good option when only some of a record's data is relevant to the recipient or some fields are sensitive and you do not want to expose them to the recipient.
    • Choose Hide all record fields when your respondents do not need to see the data. This is generally appropriate for surveys and event reports where individual record details do not matter, but it might cause confusion when you are asking questions about specific records in a table.

      Note

      When you select Show all record fields or Show select record fields for a questionnaire that is linked to an assessment survey, or a control performance or certification table, respondents can view contextual information from the Projects app, such as the control description. For more information, see:

  7. Optional. Choose the language for all Diligent One-generated text (I.E. labels and buttons) shown to questionnaire recipients from the System labels locale list. This setting overrides all user and organization language settings on this questionnaire only. It does not translate questions and answers within the questionnaire. If you do not set this, Diligent One will display system labels in the language set in the recipient's user profile (if they are logged in) or your organization's locale (if the recipient is not logged in).

    Note

    If your questionnaire has multiple audiences who speak different languages, consider creating multiple copies of the same questionnaire to address your major audience groups most effectively.

  8. Optional. To automatically send the questionnaire when a record has a specific status, select that status from the Linked Statuses list.
  9. Optional. To link the questionnaire to tables:
    1. Select one or tables from the list.
    2. Select Only allow this questionnaire to be sent from linked tables for all roles. This option ensures that the questionnaire can only be sent from tables it is linked to and not from other tables when processing records. For more information, see Linking tables to questionnaires.

    When a questionnaire is linked to a table, columns for each response in the questionnaire are added to the table. You can then gather responses by assigning the questionnaire while processing records. Responses are associated with the record you assign the questionnaire from. For more information, see Processing records.

  10. Click Save. The questionnaire saves and displays on the Questionnaire details page.

Add questions

For information about specific response types, see Questionnaire components.

  1. Open the Results app.
  2. Click the name of the collection that contains the questionnaire you want to modify.
  3. Click Questionnaires.
  4. Click and open the appropriate questionnaire.

    The Questionnaire details page opens

  5. Optional. Switch on the toggle Show references to display the reference field in the questions and responses.
  6. Next to Questions, click Add and select a Response Type.
  7. Complete the following fields:
    Response typeFieldDescription
    AllReference

    Optional. A unique ID to reference the question.

    This will be helpful to bulk importer and toolkit users to uniquely identify the question.

    AllQuestion

    The text of the question to ask respondents. Use only plain text in this field.

    The maximum limit of this field is 4096 characters.

    • Single choice
    • Multiple choice
    • Dropdown
    		Response options

    Options that respondents can choose:

    • To add more options, click Add another
    • To provide an Other option, select Allow 'Other' and provide a label

    Response Reference

    Optional. A unique ID to reference a response option.

    This will be helpful to bulk importer and toolkit users to uniquely identify a response option.

    AllInstructions

    Additional context for the question.

    You can format the instruction text using the Bold, Italic, Underline, List, or Link buttons. To apply the formatting, highlight the text to format and then click the appropriate button.

    Numeric ScaleScale

    The range of values that the respondent can choose from.

    You can select a scale range between 0-10.

    Numeric ScaleLabels Specifies labels for the start, middle, and end values represented on the scale, for example "low", "medium", "high".
    AllColumn display nameOptional. Specifies the name of the column in which responses are stored.
    AllMake response optionalOptional. Specifies that respondents can choose whether or not to respond to the question before advancing in the questionnaire.
  8. Optional. To change the response type, select a Response Type list and select a different type from the list.

    Available types to convert to depend on the type of question you are changing. You cannot change a question with predefined answers to one with defined answers, and vice versa.

  9. To save the question, click Save.
  10. Optional. To add additional questions, click Add and select a Response Type and then repeat steps 2 to 4.

Apply conditional logic

  1. Find the question that you want to add a conditional follow-up question to, and click Edit. Both the question and the follow-up question must exist to create conditional logic. The question must be one of the following response types to support conditional logic:
    • Single choice
    • Multiple choice
    • Dropdown

  2. Next to the answer you want to provide a follow-up question for, click Specify a follow-up question and select the question from the Adds list.

    If you do not see any questions in the list, make sure you have created and saved the question you want to choose and then try again. You cannot specify a follow-up question to an existing follow-up question.

    Use the Remove icon to remove the relationship if you select the wrong question.

  3. Click Save.

    The follow-up question displays indented under the question. Follow-up questions are only shown to recipients who select the response you linked the follow-up to.

Insert a layout item

  1. From the Questionnaire details page, click Add and select one of the following:
    • Page break

    • Section

      To contextualize the section of questions, provide a short description and then click Save.

  2. Click and drag the layout item to the appropriate location within the questions list.

    There is no limit to the number of sections or page breaks you can define within a questionnaire.

Preview the questionnaire

Once you add the components of your questionnaire, preview it as a recipient would see it. From the Questionnaire details page, click Preview.

Previewing the questionnaire allows you to test and interact with the questionnaire, without saving any responses.

Edit a questionnaire

Edit a questionnaire at any time by completing any of the following steps:

Task Step Remarks
Edit the questionnaire name, instructions, layout, system labels language, or linked statuses and tables From the Questionnaire details page, click Edit.

Choose Show all record fields when your respondents need to see all fields for a record. This is generally a good option when all of a record's data is relevant to the recipient and none of it is sensitive.

Choose Show select record fields when your respondents only need to see some fields for a record. You can select the fields recipients see in the settings for the table the questionnaire is sent from. This is generally a good option when only some of a record's data is relevant to the recipient or some fields are sensitive and you do not want to expose them to the recipient.

Choose Hide all record fields when your respondents do not need to see the data. This is generally appropriate for surveys and event reports where individual record details do not matter, but it might cause confusion when you are asking questions about specific records in a table.

Note

When you select Show all record fields or Show select record fields for a questionnaire that is linked to an assessment survey, or a control performance or certification table, respondents can view contextual information from the Projects app, such as the control description. For more information, see:
Edit a question

From the Questionnaire details page, click and open the appropriate question.

  
Reorder questions From the Questionnaire details page, drag each question to the desired location.

When questions are reordered in a questionnaire:

  • all related columns in the table display in the same order
  • the questions within the side panel of the questionnaire (visible to the respondent) display in the same order

If the table contains questions from multiple questionnaires, the columns within the table display questions from the oldest questionnaire first and questions from the newest questionnaire last.
Delete a question

From the Questionnaire details page, click the trash icon next to the question you want to delete.

Deleting a question only removes it from the questionnaire, and prevents future questionnaire recipients from responding to the question. Data collected within the question field in the table is not removed.

You cannot delete the question if it is being used in a questionnaire that has been saved, but not submitted.