> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://fayneos.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Surveys: Ask Members Before and After

> Add survey lessons with rating, choice, and text questions. Make them required, keep them anonymous, and pair a follow-up with an earlier survey to see what changed.

A survey is a lesson made of questions with no right answers. Use one to learn about your members before a workshop or program starts, and a second one afterwards to see what changed. Nothing in a survey is graded, and members never see a score.

Surveys sit in the lesson list like any other lesson, so a course can mix them freely: a survey first, then lessons, a [knowledge check](/docs/content/knowledge-checks), and a follow-up survey at the end. The answers come back to you in the [cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief) for a list, and on each member's profile.

## Add a survey

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the course editor">
    Go to **Courses** and open the course.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a survey">
    Open the chevron menu next to **Add lesson** in the lesson sidebar and choose **Add survey**. If the course has [modules](/docs/content/modules), each module header menu offers the same option. A new survey starts with one rating question, so it never opens empty.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the questions">
    Type `/` and insert blocks from the **Survey questions** group: **Rating Question**, **Choice Question**, or **Text Question**. Headings and short text in between are fine; they are shown but not collected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the settings">
    Open **Survey settings** from the survey's row in the sidebar, or from the **Survey settings** chip at the top of the survey. See [Survey settings](#survey-settings) below.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    Publish the survey like any lesson. Surveys show their own icon in the lesson list.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Survey questions only work inside survey lessons. The `/` menu offers them only there. If one ends up in a normal lesson (for example after a paste), the editor warns you and members never see it.
</Note>

## Question types

| Question | What members do | What you set |
| - | - | - |
| **Rating Question** | Pick a number from 1 to 5. | The question and a label for each end, such as "Not confident" and "Very confident". |
| **Choice Question** | Pick one option, or several. | The options, **Answers**: **Single** or **Multiple**, and **Allow Other**, which adds an Other option with a short text field. |
| **Text Question** | Answer in their own words. | **Answer**: **Short** or **Long**, and an optional **Max length**. Answers are capped at 2,000 characters. |

Every question is required by default. Turn off **Required** in its settings to make it optional; members then see an **Optional** tag on it.

Each question also has a **Question key** under **Advanced**. Fayne creates it for you. It is what answers, before and after comparisons, and exports are matched by, so leave it alone unless you know you need to change it.

## Survey settings

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Required to advance">
    When on, later lessons stay locked until the member answers this survey, with an "Answer ... first" note in the sidebar. Off by default. Turn it on for a survey that must come first, such as prework before a workshop.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Anonymous">
    You see totals and quotes without names. Answers from an anonymous survey never appear next to a member's name, on their profile, or in the CSV export. Once someone has answered, **Anonymous** can't be turned off, because people answered believing their names were hidden. You can still turn it on later; answers given before stay named.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Compare with">
    Pick an earlier survey in the same course with the same questions. The [cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief) then shows how ratings moved from the first survey to this one.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Before and after

To measure change, ask the same rating questions twice.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build the first survey">
    Add the survey members answer before the program starts, with the self-ratings you care about.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Duplicate it as a follow-up">
    Open the survey's menu in the sidebar and choose **Duplicate as follow-up**. Fayne adds a copy named "... (follow-up)" with the same questions and sets **Compare with** to the first survey for you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Move it into place">
    Drag the follow-up to where it belongs, usually at the end of the course or after the live session.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You can reword the follow-up's questions. Pairing works through each question's key, not its wording, so keep the keys the same.

## What members experience

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Submit once" icon="send">
    Members answer the questions and press **Submit answers**. A required question left empty is pointed out before anything is sent.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Answers are final" icon="lock">
    Once submitted, a survey can't be changed. Coming back to it shows their answers, read-only. A baseline that can be edited later is no baseline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Counts as a lesson" icon="flag">
    A survey is complete when it is submitted, and it counts toward course progress like any lesson. Scrolling to the end does not complete it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Signed-in members only" icon="user">
    Guests and preview visitors can read a survey but must sign in to submit it.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

A survey goes to your academy by its nature, so there is no separate notice. If a survey is anonymous, or the answers are used in a particular way, say so in the survey's intro text.

## What you can change after answers come in

| Change | Allowed? |
| - | - |
| Reword a question or its labels | Yes. Answers already given stay attached through the question key. |
| Add a question | Yes. Earlier respondents simply have no answer to it. |
| Remove a question | Yes. Members who haven't answered yet won't see it. |
| Turn **Anonymous** off | No. |
| Turn the survey into a lesson | No. **Turn into lesson** disappears once someone has answered. |

## Where the answers go

* **Cohort brief**: put the members on a [list](/docs/students/audiences) and open the list's **Brief** tab for response rates, rating charts, choice results, quotes, and before and after. See [Cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief).
* **Member profile**: the **Responses** tab on a member's profile shows their answers to named surveys. See [Managing members](/docs/students/managing-students).
* **Reminders**: email the members who haven't answered yet. See [Reminder emails](/docs/students/reminder-emails).

<Tip>
  You can ask the AI editor to create a survey for you, for example "add a short survey before the first lesson asking how confident people feel about each topic." Review the questions and settings before you publish. See [AI Customization](/docs/content/ai-customization).
</Tip>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cohort brief" icon="chart-pie" href="/docs/students/cohort-brief">
    Read a list's answers as one report.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Knowledge checks" icon="circle-check" href="/docs/content/knowledge-checks">
    Graded questions with a pass mark.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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