Question form template management overview

A question form template is simply a master document used to define the structure, appearance and flow of a customer-facing application, enquiry or satisfaction survey form, etc. Any number of templates can be created on the system to meet the specific need, all located under different template categories e.g. Housing Applications, Services Applications, Repairs Satisfaction Surveys, Marketing Campaigns, etc. Alternative variations of effectively the same template can be maintained in parallel, allowing subtle changes to be applied, say, annually without compromising the live form. The process to create a template is very simple: firstly decide on the number of pages that will be included; secondly, add the different sections that will appear within each page; thirdly, add the required groups that will appear within each section, and finally, insert the questions that are to appear within each group. All these question form building blocks are referred to as ‘elements’. Only a basic outline of the intended form is required at the outset, as the page, section, group and question order can all be controlled and adjusted right up to final publication. The rules governing the permitted reordering options are summarised as follows:

• A page and all associated elements – sections, groups and questions – can be moved to any position within the form, relative to other pages contained therein.
• A section can only be moved up or down within the same page i.e. a section cannot be moved from one page to another. In such circumstances, the section would need to be deleted and recreated in the intended page.
• A group – both library and form-specific groups – can be reordered within the same section only i.e. a group cannot be moved from one section to another. In such circumstances, the group would need to be deleted and recreated in the intended section.
• A question can only be moved up or down within the same group i.e. a question cannot be moved from one group to another. In such circumstances, the question would need to be deleted and recreated in the intended group. Where the question is set as mandatory, the entire group must be removed and then recreated as a new group, omitting the superfluous question.

A key aspect of the template form creation process is the page setup. This is a diagrammatical representation of the form structure, and aids in the visualisation of the final output. All elements of the form are displayed as colour-coded, horizontal bars - RED denoting system questions, GREY denoting bespoke questions - with indentations used to depict related components. For instance, sections within a page appear as indented bars underneath the main page heading. Similarly, linked groups appear as indented bars underneath the section heading. To aid the end user, all permitted functions for each element are displayed as options on the corresponding horizontal bar. Once the configuration of the template is complete, it is compiled into the live customer-facing version. Prior to this stage, it can be previewed – ‘tested’ – any number of times to ensure that all aspects operate as intended.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of question form template management, including:

• To create a new question form template
• To clone a question form template
• To add a new page to a question form
• To add a section to a question form page
• To add a library group to a question form section
• To create a new group in a question form section
• To add a library question to a form group
• To create a new question via a form group
• To create a new question dependency rule within a form template
• To reorder pages within a question form
• To reorder elements within a question form
• To preview a question form under construction