Creating a grid question

A grid allows you to group questions together into a table format. Grids are flexible and space saving, but can easily become complex and difficult for respondents to use. Grids can be particularly challenging for respondents using screen readers or respondents using mobile devices with small screens.

Setting up your grid

In the  Survey builder:

1. Find the right place for your grid and click Add item.
2. Select Grid question from the list of question types.
3. List the items you wish to ask questions about, one per line, in the box labelled Row items in first column.
4. Click Add question.  Your question will appear inside a box on the main survey builder page.
5. Click +Add question column.
6. Select one of the question types offered and set the question up as required.
7. Repeat the previous two steps for as many columns as you need.

You can preview your grid by clicking on the Preview icon at the top of the page it appears on. To move, copy or delete it, click on the Question actions icon at the top right of the question.

Editing your grid

In the Survey builder you can now:

• Edit the row headings by clicking the Edit question icon in the top left corner.
• Edit the question columns by clicking the Edit question icon above the relevant column heading.
• Change the order of row items by clicking the Question actions icon next to each item and selecting Move up or Move down.
• Change the order of question columns by clicking the Question actions next to each column heading and selecting Move left or Move right.

Advanced options

• More info: Use this text box to add an explanation or further information to your grid. This text will not be displayed by default to respondents, but will be shown to them if they click on More info. If you wish additional information to be visible by default, use the survey builder to add a note to the question instead.  Note: You can only add “more info” to the whole grid, not to the individual questions within the grid.
• Alternative question text for use in exports: If your question text is long, you can enter a shorter version here which you can choose to use instead of the full question text if you export your results data. This alternative text will not be visible to respondents.  This field is also used to apply a piping source label to the grid.  If you are using the grid for piping, you must also apply a piping source label to each relevant question column by editing the advanced options for that question separately.
• Other advanced options, such as the required/optional settings, have to be set for each individual question within the grid separately.