Respondents drag a list of items into their own order of preference — the standard way to capture priority or preference across a set of options.
What respondents see#
A list of answer options (items) that respondents drag to reorder, from most to least preferred (or by whatever instruction you give). Depending on your Answers Display setting, items render as a plain list, image cards, or a mixed image + text layout.
When to use it#
- Prioritize a list of features, brands, or attributes.
- "Rank your top 3" preference exercises.
- Any question where relative order matters more than an absolute rating per item.
Configuring it in the builder#
- Add your items as answer options, same as a choice question.
- In Settings, choose the Answers Display mode (text / image / both) — same control used by single choice, multiple choice, and matrix.
- In Validation, turn on Selection Limits to require a minimum and/or maximum number of items ranked (respondents aren't forced to rank every item unless you require the full count).
Settings reference#
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Answers Display | Card layout for items (text/image/both) | Text |
| Minimum Selections | Fewest items that must be ranked (0 = no minimum). Can be set up to the Maximum Selections value | 0 |
| Maximum Selections | Most items that can be ranked. On Thumbnail Rank and Tap & Drag Rank it can be set to the interface's default (5 and 3) even when the question has fewer items | All items |
| Best Label | Text shown at the top/best end of the ranking list | "Best" |
| Worst Label | Text shown at the bottom/worst end of the ranking list | "Worst" |
| Auto-answer when only one option is displayed (Logic tab) | When carry-forward or display logic leaves one item, ranks it #1 and hides the question | Off |
| Item Order (Randomization) | Randomize, reverse, or hold fixed the order items are presented in — plus advanced order/lock/show-N-of-M/Least Fill controls | Fixed |
Best/Worst labels only appear on the native Ranking question — the Tap & Drag Rank and Group Rank plugins hide them since their layouts don't have a fixed top/bottom axis. See Randomization & Section Loops for the full randomization option set.
Related plugins: Tap & Drag Rank and Group Rank are mobile-optimized ranking interfaces built on the same base type — see Custom Interfaces.
Logic support#
Ranking has its own position-based condition operators, since the stored answer is an ordered list rather than a single value:
| Operator | Meaning | Inputs |
|---|---|---|
| Item ranked at | A specific item is at an exact position | Item + position |
| Item not ranked at | A specific item is NOT at that position | Item + position |
| Items ranked count = | The number of ranked items equals a count | Count |
| Is empty | Nothing was ranked | — |
| Is not empty | At least one item was ranked | — |
Items the respondent didn't rank are treated as not matching any position. See Display logic — Ranking for the full reference and examples (e.g. "Show follow-up if 'Quality' is in top 3").
A single item can also have its own display logic, so it shows only to some respondents. Add item logic (or Edit item logic) in the item's ⋯ menu opens the Item logic window on that item, and Remove item logic takes the rule off. To read, edit, fill down or check every item's rule at once, click the Item logic button above the items. While a teammate is editing the question, the window opens view-only: you can read every rule but not change it until they finish. See Display logic on choices, items, rows and columns.
Related guides#
- Question Types — overview and when-to-use table
- Custom Interfaces — Tap & Drag Rank, Group Rank, and other ranking plugins
- Display Logic — full ranking operator table
- Randomization & Section Loops — item randomization options and looping a ranking question per section
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