Text & Contact Questions

Short text, long text, email, phone, and ZIP/postal code questions collect open-ended or validated contact data. Use them for names, comments, and fields where format matters.

---

In the builder, Short and Long are one question called Text Entry. Add it from the Standard group, where the card reads Text Entry and is described as Short or long text. Clicking the card adds a Short question, and so does the + button on its right edge. Next to that button is a chevron whose tooltip reads Choose a Text Entry type; it opens a short menu of the two variants, Short (One line) and Long (Multi-line), and picking one adds that length directly.

Either way, the question is added to the section you have selected, or to the section the selected question belongs to. With nothing selected the builder adds nothing and asks you to select a section first.

To change an existing question, open its Settings tab and use Text Length. After you confirm, the question is replaced by the other length, with a new question number. Its text and settings carry over, and logic, piping and quotas that used it move to the new question. The confirmation warns that the switch could impact your data if the survey has already collected responses: answers already collected stay saved with the original question and, as with deleting a question, no longer appear in HM Admin results once the survey is published again. If no responses have been collected yet, nothing is lost. Comments stay with the original question. A Short question set to Numeric Entry cannot switch to Long, because Long has no numeric mode: set its Answer Type back to Text first.

---

Text Entry: Short#

Full guide: Short Text →

A single-line text field for brief, open-ended responses.

When to use it:

• Collecting names, codes, or one-word answers.
• Any question where a short phrase is enough.

Numeric Entry#

Short text has two answer types, chosen in the question's Settings tab under Answer Type:

• Text is the default. Respondents can type anything.
• Numeric Entry lets respondents type only numbers. Letters, spaces, minus signs and stray symbols are rejected as they type, and a pasted value like $1,234.56 per month is trimmed down to 1234.56 on the spot. It offers exactly the formatting options Constant Sum does, and behaves the same way.

Pick Numeric Entry for amounts, counts, ages, prices and percentages.

Once Numeric Entry is on, two extra panels appear:

Number Rules

Respondents can always type a decimal point, and can never type a minus sign, so a Numeric Entry answer is never negative. These are Constant Sum's own rules; there is no switch for either. Once the field is full it simply stops accepting characters, exactly as a Constant Sum counter does: nothing already typed is quietly dropped to make room.

Respondents can also use the − and + buttons on either side of the field, just like a Constant Sum counter. Each press moves the answer by the Step size, and holding a button down keeps it moving. − stops at 0, and + stops once the number would no longer fit the Max length. The up and down arrow keys do nothing in the field, just as they do nothing in Constant Sum.

Formatting gives the same three options as Constant Sum, so the two question types look consistent to a respondent:

The symbol is shown around the field, never saved into the answer: the exported value is always a plain number, so quotas, logic and analytics can compare it. Because it is decoration, screen readers are told the unit separately ("Enter an amount in $", "Enter a percentage").

To require a minimum length, open the Validation tab and fill in Minimum Characters. It appears only while the question is in plain text mode: choosing any Answer Format replaces it with that format's own checks, so a question set to Number, Email or a pattern has no minimum-character box.

Numeric Entry vs the Validation tab's "Number" format. Both still work and they are independent. On the Validation tab, under Answer Format, setting Format to Number checks the answer when the respondent hits Next; Numeric Entry stops the wrong characters from being typed in the first place. You can use either, or both.

To cap the allowed range, open the Validation tab and set Format to Number. An Allowed Range row with Min and Max boxes appears only under that format, and it belongs to it. Two things follow: Numeric Entry on its own has no range limit, and changing Format away from Number clears whatever range you had entered.

Switching back to Text removes the numeric settings; nothing is left behind.

---

Text Entry: Long#

Full guide: Long Text →

A multi-line text area for longer, open-ended responses.

When to use it:

• Comment boxes.
• "Please explain why…" follow-ups.
• Any question where respondents need room to write.

---

Email#

These three are not in the question palette. Email, Phone and Postal Code are not types you add from the palette. Add a Text Entry question, open its Validation tab, and set Answer Format to Email Address, Phone Number or Postal / ZIP Code. The sections below describe what each format does. Questions of these types can also come from the AI assistant or be in an existing survey, which is why you may meet them in a survey you did not build.

A single field that checks the answer looks like an email address: some text, an @, and a domain with a dot in it. The box is prefilled with the placeholder [email protected].

The check runs when the respondent leaves the field. A wrong-looking address turns the box red and shows a short message asking for a valid email address. It does not block them, though: pressing Next only checks that a required question has been answered, not that the address is well formed, so a respondent who ignores the warning can still move on. If you need the format enforced at Next, use a Text Entry question with Format set to Email Address on the Validation tab instead. Nothing is sent to the address either way, so a well-formed address that does not exist still passes.

When to use it:

• Newsletter sign-up or contact follow-up.
• Any field where you need a deliverable address.

---

Phone#

A single field for a phone number. It accepts 7 to 20 characters made of digits, spaces, hyphens, brackets and dots, with an optional + at the front, and stops accepting characters at 20. The placeholder reads Phone number or WhatsApp number.

The same shape is accepted whatever country your respondents are in. There is no per-country phone format and no setting to choose one, so a number that is valid in one country and impossible in another both pass. If you need a specific national format, say so in the question text or the helper text.

As with Email, the shape check runs when the respondent leaves the field and marks the box, but it does not block Next. For a phone number that has to be well formed before the respondent can move on, use a Text Entry question with Format set to Phone Number on the Validation tab.

When to use it:

• Callback requests.
• SMS follow-up studies (where permitted).

---

Zip Code#

Full guide: ZIP / Postal Code →

Zip Code is a US ZIP field: digits only, an exact number of them. Add it from the Specialized group in the question palette, where the card reads Zip Code and is described as US ZIP with state/region lookup.

On a phone the field opens the numeric keypad and, on Android, takes focus as the page loads so the keypad is already up. The placeholder reads Postal code.

What it validates#

Respondents must enter exactly the number of digits you set, and nothing but digits. The field stops accepting characters once it is full. Anything that is not a digit is caught by the check rather than blocked as it is typed: it appears in the box, in capitals, and then fails. The answer is checked when the respondent leaves the field and again when they press Next, and a short message names the number of digits expected.

The default is 5 digits, which is the US ZIP. To change it, open the Validation tab and use Code Length (digits) under Answer Format. Any whole number from 3 to 10 is allowed, and leaving the box empty returns the question to 5.

There is no country list and no per-country pattern. The question is US ZIP shaped whatever length you give it: a 6 digit setting accepts six digits, and a Canadian postal code such as K1A 0B1 is rejected because it contains letters and a space. For codes that contain letters, see Postal Code below.

State & Region Lookup#

A Zip Code question can work out where the respondent is from the code they typed. Open the question's Settings tab and turn on State & Region Lookup.

With the toggle on, one more setting appears. Region Mapping chooses which set of regions the state is grouped into:

Review / edit match lists shows the lists behind the lookup: which ZIP codes belong to each state, and which states belong to each region. You can change them, for example to rename a region or group states your own way, and your lists then replace the Census ones for that question. See Zip Code.

Turning the toggle on also creates three global variables if your survey does not already have them: ZipCode, State and Region. The panel lists them so you can see what will be filled.

The lookup runs when the respondent moves off the page the question is on, both in a live survey and in preview. ZipCode holds the code, State holds the US state it belongs to, and Region holds the region or division for that state under the mapping you chose, or under your own lists if you edited them.

If the code cannot be matched, the survey carries on: ZipCode keeps whatever the respondent typed and both State and Region are set to Unknown. Worth knowing when you branch on them, because a condition written as "Region is Northeast" quietly excludes those people. If that matters, add a branch for Unknown.

Once the variables are filled you can use them like any other global variable: in display or skip logic, in quotas, and piped into later question text.

---

Postal Code#

Postal Code is the international counterpart to Zip Code. It accepts 3 to 10 characters made of letters, digits, spaces and hyphens, so both 10001 and SW1A 1AA pass. What is typed is shown in capitals. Its placeholder reads Postal code / PIN code.

It has no length control and no lookup: State & Region Lookup is a Zip Code feature only.

Postal Code is not a card in the question palette. You reach it in two places:

• As a field inside a Form Fields question, where the field type is listed as Postal Code.
• As an answer format on any Text Entry question: on the Validation tab, under Answer Format, set Format to Postal / ZIP Code.

Email and Phone work the same way. Besides their own question types, both are Form Fields field types, and the Format list on the Validation tab offers Email Address and Phone Number for a Text Entry question.

Tip: For several validated fields on one page (name + email + phone), consider a Form Fields composite question instead of separate items.

---

Related guides#

• Question Types for the overview and when-to-use table
• Date, Upload & Form Fields for composite form fields
• Logic, Flow & Conditions for text operators and piping
• Display Blocks & Plugins for Guided Story and other display plugins