Survey links

Here’s how to access a survey link:

1. Open Survey Shaper
2. In the content table, click the more icon (⋮) on the survey and select Versions & Links > Survey Links
3. Click the Copy icon next to the relevant link to copy it to your clipboard
4. Paste the link into your browser to test it, or paste it onto a website or into an email to share with others

The dialog also shows the Survey Guid, the survey’s unique identifier, with its own Copy icon.

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Published Live Link

A Published Live Link is a direct link you can use to distribute the survey to respondents via an external mailer or website. When a respondent clicks on the link, it’ll automatically open the most recently published version of the survey.

It’s a reusable link, meaning that each time the link is clicked, a new survey session is automatically created. This allows multiple respondents to complete the survey via the same link, and also allows the same respondent to complete the survey more than once.

Since it’s a live link, all responses will be captured in the data store.

The Survey GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) in the link identifies the survey, and a unique Survey Entry GUID is generated for each survey session. Every time you click on the reusable link, a new Survey Entry GUID is generated.

For surveys where the internal mailer is used to distribute the survey, every record in the sample is allocated a Survey Entry GUID on import, and the survey links are handled automatically. The links aren’t reusable. If the respondent closes the browser partway through the survey, it’s the Survey Entry GUID that remembers where they were and enables them to go back into the survey via the same link and continue from where they left off.

Important distribution instructions

When sending a Published Live Link to an external party to distribute, we strongly recommend that you include a brief instruction on how to handle the link. This is to prevent them accidentally embedding a link that already has a Survey Entry GUID appended by mistake.

For example, copy and paste the following text into your communication:

Please use the link below to distribute the survey.

Please Note: when distributing the survey, it is important that you directly copy and paste the link below. Once clicked on, it creates a unique ID, which is created for each user when they commence the survey. It is therefore important not to copy the link from your browser after you’ve clicked on it, as it will have been altered to a unique ID. Please contact us if you require any further clarification about this.

[insert hyperlinked published live survey link here]

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Published Test Link

A Published Test Link can be used to test the survey. Upon clicking on the link, the most recently published version of the survey will automatically open.

Since it’s a test link, the published test link should not be distributed to respondents. Although all responses will be captured in the data store, they’ll be tagged as “testentry=true” and will therefore not be counted as completes and won’t be available for use in other applications such as Data Explorer.

Similar to a published live link, the published test link can be used multiple times.

Need to check test data?

At present, test entries aren’t available for data export. If you want to check test data, you’ll need to complete the survey using the Published Live Link. After the data has been exported and checked, the test surveys can be converted to “testentry=true” so they’re excluded from survey statistics and other HumanListening applications. See Test Live Survey and Reset Test Data.

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Unpublished Test Link

An Unpublished Test Link can be used to test an unpublished survey. This is useful in situations where the survey is currently live (where respondents have already started responding to the survey) and you want to test an update you have made to the survey before publishing the update.

An unpublished test link can be used multiple times, however it is tied to a specific version of the survey.

An unpublished test link should not be distributed to respondents.

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Preview Link

A Preview Link can be used to test the most recent version of the survey (published or unpublished). This is useful in situations where the survey is currently live (where respondents have already started responding to the survey) and you want to test an update you have made to the survey before publishing the update.

A preview link can be used multiple times, however it is tied to a specific version of the survey. Responses are not recorded in the data store.

A preview link should not be distributed to respondents.

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Updated survey — new link?

Published links will automatically open the most recently published version of the survey, so there’s no need to send a new link if you’ve updated the survey.

Unpublished or Preview links are tied to a specific version of the survey. If you save a new version of the survey after sending the original link, another person will need an updated link in order to view the new version of the survey.

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Link type summary

Link Type	Records Data	Counted in Statistics	Reusable	Version
Published Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	Latest published
Published Test	Yes (tagged as test)	No	Yes	Latest published
Unpublished Test	Yes (tagged as test)	No	Yes	Specific version
Preview	No	No	Yes	Specific version