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Fill in default responses by URL parameter

Use a URL parameter to automatically preselect answers for the respondents when they open your questionnaire.

For example, you can create a link that automatically selects HR for a department question:
https://s.pointerpro.com/yoursuffix?q1=3

In this example, q1 refers to question 1 and 3 refers to the third answer option.


You'll need this:

  • One of these Pointerpro plans:

 Professional           Enterprise           ReportR           DistributR 

 
NOTE
 

Filling in answers by default using URL parameters will only work for the following question types:

  • Text Choice
  • Image Choice
  • Text Slider
  • Numeric slider
  • NPS
  • Form (with only 1 field)
  • Open ended
On this help guide page:
  1. Activate feature
  2. Formatting the suffix

1. Activate feature

Go to the Extra Options tab and click Fill in default responses by URL parameter and enable Fill in default responses by URL parameter.

Fill in Default Responses by URL Parameter - activate feature

You can also Hide questions that are filled by URL parameter if you don't want respondents to see questions that have been automatically completed.

2. Create your URL parameter

Add the parameter to the end of your questionnaire URL using ?qx=y

Where:

  • x = the question number
  • y = the answer option number

For example, suppose question 1 asks:

What department are you in?

  1. Marketing
  2. Management
  3. HR
  4. Finance

To automatically sleect HR, use: ?q1=3

Fill in Default Responses by URL Parameter - how to find parameter

Your complete questionnaire URL would look like:

Fill in Default Responses by URL Parameter - example

When the respondent opens the link, HR will already be selected.

Fill in Default Responses by URL Parameter - question example

IMPORTANT
 
Use the answer option number, not the answer text.
For example, use ?q1=3, not ?q1=HR.

Fill in multiple questions

You can automatically fill in more than one question by separating the parameters with &.

For example :

https://s.pointerpro.com/yoursuffix?q1=2&q2=3&q3=5

This automatically fills question 1 with answer 2, question 2 with answer 3, and question 3 with answer 5.

TIP
 

Unless you enable Hide questions that are filled by URL parameter, respondents can still change the answers that were automatically selected.

NOTE

URL parameters are not supported when multiple answers can be selected for the same question. If the same question appears more than once in the URL, the last value will be used.

What's next?

  • Question logic is a highly effective way to improve the flow of your survey and tailor it to make it relevant to respondents. It allows you to specify which question to show or hide, or even skip to the end of the survey, based on the answer to a preceding inquiry, quiz score, or contact data. 
  • Outcomes is a feature that allows you to select what you will show to your respondents as a final screen, based on their answers or show a screen based on criteria that you have specified, such as a specific quiz score. It offers the possibility to create personality quizzes and business tests that end with personalised advice based on the respondent's answers. 
  • Auto Skip will automatically slide to the next slide once the answer has been selected by the respondent, so it helps them progress smoothly through the survey. You can also choose if you want to have respondents click "Complete to finish the survey or if it will automatically complete once the final question has been answered.