Skip to main content

Survey Status & Preview

Control when surveys are active and preview exactly what patients will see.

Survey Status

Every survey has a status that controls whether it’s sent to patients.

Status Types

Draft

Survey is being edited and not sent to patients

Published

Survey is active and will be sent to patients

Archived

Survey is inactive and not sent to patients

Status Behaviour

StatusEditableDispatched to PatientsVisible in Reports
DraftYesNoNo
PublishedYesYesYes
ArchivedYesNoYes (historical)

Draft Status

All new surveys start as Drafts. This includes imported templates, duplicates, and surveys built from scratch.

When to Use Draft

  • While initially setting up a survey
  • When making significant changes to questions
  • Before reviewing with colleagues
  • While waiting for approval

Draft Behaviour

  • Survey is saved to your account
  • Changes can be made freely
  • Survey does not appear in dispatch queue
  • Patients will not receive this survey

Published Status

A published survey is active and will be sent to patients according to your dispatch settings.

When to Publish

  • After reviewing all questions and translations
  • When you’ve previewed the patient experience
  • After testing with the Preview function
  • When ready for patient use

Publishing a Survey

1

Open the Survey

Navigate to the survey editor
2

Locate Status Control

Find the status indicator at the top of the page
3

Click Status Badge

Click on the current status (e.g., “Draft”)
4

Select Published

Choose Published from the dropdown menu
5

Confirm

The survey is now active and will be dispatched to patients
Published surveys are immediately active. Once published, the survey will be included in the next dispatch cycle for eligible patients.

Schedule Conflict Prevention

When publishing a survey, the system checks for scheduling conflicts with other published surveys in your organisation. This prevents patients from receiving multiple surveys at the same follow-up interval.
What triggers a conflict? If your survey and another published survey both have the same dispatch interval enabled (e.g., both have “3 months” selected), a conflict is detected.
Dispatch intervals checked:
  • 1 month
  • 3 months
  • 6 months
  • 12 months
  • 24 months
  • 36 months
If a conflict is detected, you’ll see a warning dialog showing:
  • The conflicting survey’s title
  • Which intervals overlap
To resolve conflicts:
  1. Deactivate the conflicting survey — Archive the existing survey before publishing the new one, or
  2. Adjust dispatch settings — Change the dispatch intervals on one survey to avoid overlap
Only one survey should be published per dispatch interval. If you need multiple active surveys, configure them to use different follow-up intervals.

Published Behaviour

  • Survey appears in dispatch queue
  • Patients receive survey based on dispatch settings
  • Responses are collected and available in Results
  • You can still edit the survey while published

Archived Status

Archive surveys you no longer want to send but need to keep for records.

When to Archive

  • Retiring an old survey version
  • Seasonal surveys (off-season)
  • Completed research studies
  • Replaced by a newer survey

Archiving a Survey

1

Open the Survey

Navigate to the survey you want to archive
2

Click Status Badge

Click on the current status
3

Select Archived

Choose Archived from the dropdown

Archived Behaviour

  • Survey is not dispatched to patients
  • Historical responses remain accessible
  • Survey can be reactivated by changing status to Published
  • Survey is still visible in your survey list
Archive rather than delete surveys that have collected responses. This preserves your historical data.

Changing Status

You can change a survey’s status at any time:
FromToEffect
DraftPublishedSurvey becomes active immediately
DraftArchivedSurvey is saved but remains inactive
PublishedDraftSurvey stops dispatching; can edit freely
PublishedArchivedSurvey stops dispatching; responses preserved
ArchivedPublishedSurvey becomes active again
ArchivedDraftSurvey available for editing

Preview Function

Preview shows exactly what patients will see when they receive your survey.

Accessing Preview

From the Survey Selector page, click the Preview button (eye icon) next to any survey.

What Preview Shows

The preview displays:
  • Survey title and introduction
  • All questions in order
  • Response controls (sliders, multiple choice, text fields)
  • Multi-language switcher (if translations exist)
  • Completion confirmation message

Using Preview Effectively

1

Check Question Clarity

Read each question from the patient’s perspective
2

Test Response Controls

Interact with sliders and selection options
3

Verify Question Order

Confirm questions flow logically
4

Review Translations

Switch languages to check translated content
5

Check Mobile Display

Resize browser window to test mobile layout
Preview is read-only and does not submit responses. Use it freely to test without affecting your data.

Preview vs Live Survey

AspectPreviewLive Survey
AppearanceIdenticalIdentical
Response submissionDisabledEnabled
Data recordingNoneFull
AccessLogged-in usersPatients via link

Best Practices

Before Publishing

Managing Multiple Surveys

  • Keep only one survey Published per purpose
  • Use Draft for surveys under development
  • Archive old versions rather than deleting them
  • Name surveys clearly to distinguish versions

Status Workflow

Create → Draft → (Edit & Preview) → Published → (Collect Data) → Archived
Most surveys follow this lifecycle:
  1. Created as Draft
  2. Edited and previewed
  3. Published when ready
  4. Archived when superseded or no longer needed