How To Use Questions In Action Network Forms

How Are Responses Stored When An Activist Completes A Form?

When someone completes a form their answers can be stored as either a Custom Field entry or as a Tag.

Should I Use Tags Or Custom Fields?

This is a matter of personal preference and will depend on the type of information you're trying to capture, how long you'll need to have the information and how you want to target form-respondents.

Tags	Custom Fields
Tags can be useful for segmenting your activists based on shared characteristics. For example, you could Tag all volunteers with a "Volunteer" Tag. You can tag activists based on any characteristic you define. Tags can easily be added or removed en masse to Activists, and can easily be deleted entirely when no longer needed.	Custom Fields are useful to capture information that you'd like activists to be able to change in future easily, or for any text fields. They're useful for capturing text responses to open questions like "What local issue matters the most to you?" The data held in Custom Fields can be deleted, and the Fields hidden when no longer needed.

How Do I Create Questions That Can Be Used In Different Forms?

You can create a library of Questions that can then be reused in different Forms across Action Network. For example, you could create a Question: "Would you like us to get in touch about volunteering opportunities?" which could be included in each Form you create.

1. To create a Question click on Details in the START ORGANIZING menu.

2. Move your cursor over the Questions & Custom Fields option and click on the + icon that appears.

3. On the following page choose the type of Question you'd like to create from the dropdown menu labelled Choose field type.

4. On the next screen fill in the required details for the Question and click on CREATE QUESTION.

5. When you're ready to use the Question in a Form you'll find it in the top right-hand corner of the Edit Form page.

6. Pick the question from the drop-down list.

7. Once your question appears simply click on it and drag it into your Form on the left of the screen. Once you're happy with it's position release the mouse button and the Question will snap into place.

Where Can I Use Form Questions?

You may assume that you can only use Questions when creating a Form- such as a sign-up form, or volunteering form. You can actually use them anywhere someone takes an Action. So you can add Questions to a Fundraiser or Event, to capture additional information.

What Types Of Questions Can I Add To Forms? 

1. Text Field: This is a short text box into which respondents can type in any response, and is useful for Questions with short responses. Responses from Text Fields will be stored in Custom Fields.
   
2. Text Area: These are similar to Text Fields but are larger and enable respondents to view more of their response. These are useful if trying to capture comments from survey respondents. Responses will be stored in a Custom Field.
   
3. Checkbox Group: Checkboxes allow respondents to pick one or more options from a list. Responses can be stored in Custom Fields or as Tags.
   
4. Radio Button Group: Radio Buttons allow respondents to pick one value from a list. Selecting another value in that list will de-select any existing choice. Values from Radio Button Groups can be stored in Custom Fields or as Tags.
   
5. Dropdown Menu: This Question type allows respondents to pick an option from a Dropdown list, allowing them to only choose one response. Responses can be stored in a Custom Field or as Tags.

Can An Activist Change Their Answer?

If you want to give Activist's the ability to change their Answer in future, or to overwrite a value already held for a particular Custom Field then simply make sure Always Show is ticked in the Question Settings.

Can I Hide Questions From Non-Members?

It's possible to hide a Question from someone based on the content of an existing Custom Field. You'd just need to decide which Custom Field will filter out the Activists you don't want to see the Question. For example, if you wanted a Question to be displayed only to current members you could set it to show only to activists with a Membership_Status of Current.

Tagging Activists Based On Form Responses

There are two methods for tagging Activists based on form responses depending on whether the Question has been added to the Question Library, or if the Question was created as part of a form. You can find the instructions for both here: How To Tag Activists Based On A Form Response

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