Survey Builder Overview

The Survey Builder is where you design your survey: add questions, organize them into sections, configure settings, and preview the final result before going live.

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Opening the builder#

From the Surveys page, click on any survey card to open it. You'll land on the Build tab, which is the main editing workspace.

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What you'll see#

The builder is divided into four areas:

1. Top toolbar#

The toolbar at the top gives you quick access to the most important actions.

Where the tabs are: the builder's tab strip (Build, Flow, Panels & Quotas, Translations, Settings, Distribute) sits in this same top toolbar as one bordered bar, centred across it, with the open tab filled in blue. Unless the window is very wide (a toolbar of about 1600 pixels, or 1800 while other people are editing the survey too) the strip sits on its own row directly beneath the toolbar buttons, so it is never squeezed or covered. Inside HM Admin the top row is a breadcrumb instead (Home › Builder › Projects › your survey's name, which you can double-click to rename), with Fielding Dashboard (the bar chart) and Summary Dashboard (the line chart), which open the project's two dashboards in HM Admin, then Preview, AI Edit, Save, Publish and the status on the right; the row below holds Undo/Redo, Find and the tabs. Home and Projects take you back to HM Admin once any change still on its way has reached the server (see Leaving the survey). On a screen narrower than 1024 pixels the editor isn't shown: you'll see Open this survey on a wider screen to edit it, with a Preview Survey button. This strip is how you move between the builder's workspaces, so any instruction that starts with a tab name, for example Survey builder → Distribute tab, starts here. See Builder tabs for what each one holds.

The toolbar buttons themselves:

• Save: Saves your current work as a new version. You can always go back to previous versions later. The builder also autosaves silently after 20 seconds of inactivity, and a small status icon next to the survey title confirms when your latest version was stored. The arrow beside Save opens Version History, Save as template (admins), Export as JSON file and Export to Word (see Exporting a Survey); unsaved changes are saved first, and if that save fails nothing is exported. Below them, Export comments to Excel downloads every comment on the survey (see Question Comments).
• Publish: Makes your survey live so respondents can start taking it. The Publish dialog itself now has a two-tab Share Link / QR Code quick-share panel, so you can grab the public link or download a QR PNG without leaving the builder. For the full distribution surface (email, social, embeds, trackable channels), use the Distribute tab.
• AI Edit: Opens a menu: Ask AI to edit this survey opens a side panel where you can ask AI to improve or modify your survey, and Check against Word doc… compares the survey with its Word questionnaire. Admins also see Edit survey JSON there, which opens the survey's JSON to edit by hand or with AI (see Survey JSON Editor).
• Open comments (red comment badge with a count): shown only while comments in the survey are still open. Each click goes to the next open comment and opens it; block headers carry the same badge for their own questions. See Finding open comments.
• Preview: Opens a full preview so you can experience the survey exactly as a respondent would.
• Undo / Redo: Step backward or forward through your recent changes.
• Find in survey: Search question text and configuration from the toolbar, or press Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) / Cmd+K (Mac). Jump straight to a matching question on the canvas. The search control only appears while you are on the Build tab.
• Download: The download icon next to the dashboard icons. Choose Export JSON to download the survey definition as a .json file, or Export to Word to pick what to include and download a .docx questionnaire. Unsaved changes are saved first, so the file matches what you see; if the save fails, nothing is exported. See Exporting a Survey.

2. Question palette (left side)#

On the left you'll find a list of all available question types: single choice, multiple choice, rating, NPS, matrix, and more.

A question is always added to the SELECTED section, so you have to select one first. Click a section on the canvas to select it (it picks up a highlighted border), then either drag a question type from the palette onto it or just click the question type to drop it straight in. The hint at the top of the palette reads "Drag or click + to add to" and then names the section that will receive the question, so you can check you are aiming at the right one before you click.

Expanding a section is not the same as selecting it. An expanded section shows you its questions; a selected one is the one a new question lands in. With no section selected, clicking a question type adds nothing and a warning appears saying "Please select a section to add the question to".

Use Search question types... at the top of the palette to find a type by name without opening categories. The search looks across every category, including collapsed ones.

Where each question type lives#

The palette is grouped into seven collapsible categories. Only Standard is open when you arrive; the other six are collapsed, so their question types are not on screen until you click the category heading to expand it. If you cannot see the type you want, it is almost always inside a category that is still shut rather than missing.

Some tiles carry a small variants control that offers alternatives of the same type, for example the Multiple Choice and Text Entry tiles.

StorySync AI Qual#

StorySync AI Qual is the palette's bottom category, and it holds the question types that collect a spoken or recorded answer rather than a click. Instead of picking from a list, the respondent talks, records a short video, or photographs something, and the answer comes back as qualitative material you can read alongside the rest of the survey.

The category sits at the very end of the palette and is collapsed when you open the builder, so click StorySync AI Qual to expand it. Adding one works exactly like any other question type: select a section on the canvas first, then click the tile or drag it onto the section.

Setting one up#

These types are not written in the properties panel the way a normal question is. Drop one onto a section and its card invites you to set the question up, with an Open setup wizard button on it. Click that and a dialog opens, headed Configure followed by the question type's name, holding your opening text, sub-questions, voice options and redirects.

The wizard moves through steps with Next and Previous, and you finish with Submit. Cancel closes it without keeping your edits. Once configured, the card turns into a summary naming the type, with the opening text and a count of sub-questions on it, and the same Open setup wizard button reopens the dialog to change anything.

The right panel is only for the basics here. The card says so: all the voice flow, sub-questions and display settings are edited in the wizard, and the properties panel is left for things like Require Answer. Tap & Talk and Slide & Speak are the exceptions in this category: they take their text inline like an ordinary question and have no setup wizard.

On a window between 1024 and 1279 pixels wide the palette folds into a narrow strip with one Question types button, so the canvas keeps its width. Point at the strip or tap the button to open the palette over the canvas; it closes when you move away or tap anywhere else.

3. Survey canvas (center)#

The center area is your main workspace. Here you'll see your sections (groups of questions) and the questions inside each one.

Things you can do on the canvas:

• Add a section: Click Add Section at the bottom of the canvas to create a new group.
• Add a question: Select a section first, then drag a question type from the palette onto it or click the question type. There is no "Add question" button: the palette is how questions are added, and it adds to whichever section is selected.
• Select a question: Click any question to open its settings in the properties panel on the right.
• Duplicate a question: Open the three-dot Question menu on the question and choose Duplicate.
• Delete a question: Open the three-dot Question menu on the question and choose Delete. The same menu also offers Preview this question, Save to library, Move question to…, and Reset font sizes on the core question types (a plugin interface does not get that last one).
• Delete a section: Open the three-dot Section menu in the section header and choose Delete section. Deleting a section removes the questions inside it too.

4. Properties panel (right side)#

When you select a question, the right panel shows all the settings for that question: its title, answer options, logic rules, images, and more. This is where you fine-tune each question. The panel's tabs sit on their own strip with a line under it; the settings below scroll under that line, so the first line of a tab is never hidden behind the tabs.

In dark mode, question and choice text imported from Qualtrics or Word that was saved as black or near-black is shown in the normal light text colour on the canvas, so it stays readable. Only the display changes: the saved text, the preview and what respondents see keep the original colour.

Termination Logic on a question's Logic tab lists every rule that can end the survey on that question's answer, including survey-wide screening rules that an older AI or Word import created. Each one is also on the question card under Terminate survey. Edit or remove a rule from either place. On a multiple-choice question, Is Equal to means the option was selected, along with anything else. A rule meant for "only this option" needs a different condition, such as Count equal to 1 together with Is Selected.

On a window between 1024 and 1279 pixels wide the panel opens over the right of the canvas when you pick a question or a section, and Close properties (✕) puts it away until you pick another. Below 1024 pixels the builder shows a message to open the survey on a wider screen, with Preview Survey.

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Deleting and restoring a survey#

Deleting a survey does not destroy it. It moves to Trash, and every response it collected stays with it.

Deleting#

From the Surveys page, click Delete in the survey's row — every action is its own icon at the right of the row — or tick several surveys and use Delete in the bar above the list. The confirmation tells you the survey is moving to Trash rather than being removed permanently.

Restoring#

Click the Trash tab in the status filter row at the top of the Surveys page, alongside All, Published, Draft, Paused and Closed. The badge shows how many surveys are in there.

Click Restore in the trashed survey's row, or tick several and use Restore in the bar above the list. A survey returns to the list in the state it was in when you deleted it: a paused survey comes back paused, a draft comes back a draft. All of its responses, versions, quotas and distribution links come back with it.

You can also select several trashed surveys and use Restore on the selection toolbar.

What happens while a survey is in Trash#

• It does not appear in the survey list, search results, folders, or analytics.
• Its public link stops working, so respondents who open it see a "not found" page, and no new responses can be submitted. Anyone already part-way through a session can finish it, and their answers are kept.
• The card is not clickable, and its status cannot be changed. Editing, duplicating, sharing, previewing, analytics and export are all unavailable. The only actions are Restore and Delete permanently.
• Nothing expires: a survey stays in Trash until you restore or permanently delete it.

Deleting permanently#

The Trash tab's rows also offer Delete permanently, on the row or as a bulk action once you tick some. This removes the survey and every response it holds for good.

This cannot be undone. There is no second Trash and no backup to restore from. Once confirmed, the data is gone. The confirmation dialog says so explicitly, and you can only reach this action from Trash, so a survey can never be destroyed in a single step.

For audit purposes the platform records who performed the permanent deletion, when, the survey's name, and how many responses were destroyed. That record is kept after the survey itself is gone.

Note: a trashed survey is also removed from HM Admin, together with its responses and respondent media (voice, video and text answers). Restoring it in Survey Builder re-syncs all of it back automatically: the survey appears in HM Admin first, and its responses and media follow once the background response sync finishes, which can take a few minutes on a large survey.

If a survey is missing from HM Admin#

The re-sync after a restore runs in the background, so it can fail, most often because the sync service is temporarily unreachable. When that happens the survey is back in Survey Builder but HM Admin has not been told, so it will not appear in Project Management and its analytics and fielding screens cannot open.

To fix it, click Re-sync to HM Admin in the survey's row in the surveys list. It is safe to run more than once. A survey that has never been published has nothing to sync, and the action will say so.

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Working with sections#

Sections are like chapters in your survey. Use them to group related questions together, for example, "About You", "Product Feedback", and "Final Thoughts".

Two small buttons sit at the left of every section header, before the title: a six-dot grip that drags the section, and a chevron that opens and closes it. Everything else you can do to a section lives behind the three-dot Section menu at the other end of the header:

You can also rename a section by double-clicking its title on the canvas.

Reordering sections#

There is no "move up" or "move down" item in the Section menu. To change a section's position, press and hold the grip button at the far left of its header and drag the section up or down the canvas. The grip is the only thing that starts a section drag, so dragging the title or the body of the card moves nothing. The grip has no visible text: hover it and a tooltip reads Drag section.

The drag has to travel a short distance before it begins, so a stray click on the grip will not nudge your survey. Clicking the grip does nothing else either: it will not select or collapse the section. Section dragging is pointer only, with no keyboard equivalent.

The order on the Build canvas is the order respondents meet the sections in, and the Flow tab is brought into line with the drag for you. One thing to expect: a section that sits inside a branch, a group or a randomizer on the Flow tab can only move within that container, so it may settle back near where it started instead of where you dropped it. If you need it somewhere else entirely, move it out of the container on the Flow tab first. Flow blocks stay with the section they were placed after rather than with the position they were at, so blocks travel with a section you move.

Collapsing and expanding a section#

The chevron button between the grip and the title shows or hides the section's questions on the canvas. It is display only: nothing about the section, its questions or the survey changes. Screen readers announce it as Collapse section while the section is open and Expand section while it is closed. While a section is open there is a second collapse button in a strip at the bottom of the card, and that one does have a Collapse section tooltip on hover.

Sections arrive collapsed. The exception is a brand new survey: while it has exactly one section and that section is empty, it starts open, with Drop questions here in the middle of it.

Collapsing a section also deselects it. If the section was the selected one, closing it clears the selection, and if the question you had selected lives inside it, that selection is cleared too. Since a new question is added to the selected section, a collapsed canvas means the palette has nothing to add to. The reverse also holds: selecting a section, or selecting a question inside it, expands it automatically, so you rarely need the chevron to open one.

Clicking blank space inside a section does the same job as the chevron once the section is already selected, which is why an open section you click twice ends up closed. Clicking a section that is not selected selects it instead.

Section Loop#

Choosing Section Loop opens a dialog of the same name, headed with the section's title. A button at the top reads Turn On Section Loop or Turn Off Section Loop depending on the current state, with a line next to it confirming which one you are in.

With the loop on, pick a Loop Source. Static Items is the one to start with: you type each item yourself, which suits a fixed list like a set of categories or brands. If you turn the loop back off, the dialog warns that saving will discard the loop's configuration, so nothing is thrown away silently.

Once a loop is set up, the section header carries a Section Loop badge. Hover it to see how many times the section will repeat, when that number can be known in advance, and click it to reopen the dialog.

For the full set of loop sources and what merging the answers back looks like, see Randomization & Loops.

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Editing questions#

Changing the title and description#

Click a question to select it, then edit the title in the properties panel. Changes appear immediately on the canvas.

Managing answer options#

For choice-based questions (single choice, multiple choice, etc.), the properties panel lets you:

• Add new answer options.
• Remove options you don't need.
• Edit the text of any option.

Formatting answer text#

If you need bold, italic, links, or lists in your answer options, click the rich text icon next to any answer. A small editor will open where you can apply formatting, then save or cancel.

Adding images to answers#

Many question types let you attach an image to each answer option. The builder uses the same image management experience everywhere: question text, answer options, matrix rows/columns, and ranking/distribution items all use the same small image control:

• Click the image icon next to an answer, item or row to open the Insert Image dialog. If the answer already has an image, the dialog is headed Update Image instead.
• Upload Image takes a file from your machine, Link From Library opens a picker headed Select Image from Library for images you have already added, and OR Enter URL Manually: takes an image address.
• A thumbnail preview appears inline so you can confirm it looks right.
• Click the thumbnail again to swap or remove the image.
• In Select Image from Library, the folder list shows your own folders and, under Shared with me, folders colleagues have shared with you (with the owner's name). A client administrator also sees every folder of their client under Client folders. An image someone else owns shows Edit a copy: it opens the image in Graphics Library in a new tab, where Save as new image keeps your edited copy in your own library. All Images includes the images in those shared folders.
• You can use the images in a shared folder, but only its owner (or your organisation's administrator) adds or removes images.
• If your role may share library folders, a Share button appears next to the folder list when one of your own folders is chosen. Search for people or groups of your client, add or remove them, then Save. Sub-folders are shared with the folder.

For matrix questions, you can add images and formatted text to both rows and columns.

One editor, everywhere#

Whether you're editing a question's title, an answer option, a ranking item, a matrix row, or a description, you get the same toolbar with:

• Rich-text formatting (bold, italic, lists, links).
• Hover tooltips (Add tooltip): select a word, click the speech-bubble icon, type the tooltip text and choose Show tooltip: Below or Above. In the editor the word is highlighted with a small ⓘ↓ (opens below) or ⓘ↑ (opens above) badge, and hovering it does nothing; use Preview to see the tooltip the way respondents do (hover, or tap on a phone). Click or double-click a highlighted word to change or remove its tooltip.
• Piped-text insertion (answers from earlier questions, global variables, loop tokens).
• Switch to HTML, which hands you the raw HTML if you need that much control. The same button then reads Switch to Standard View to take you back.

Editing in the standard view keeps the HTML you or an import put in the question text: tooltips, <div> wrappers and their classes, image sizes and table cell styles all stay as they are. If some markup can't be kept exactly (for example one <span> nested inside another), an amber strip appears above the text and nothing is saved until you choose Edit as HTML or Save as rich text.

That means the skills you learn editing a question title transfer directly to editing answer text, ranking items, or matrix rows.

Pasting or dropping an image into text#

You can paste a screenshot or a copied image straight into the editor (Ctrl/Cmd + V), or drag an image file onto it. The builder uploads the image to your image library first — an Uploading image to the image library… strip shows under the toolbar while it does — and then inserts it. The question stores only the image's link, the same as when you use Insert image, so the survey stays small and syncs cleanly.

Pasted content that carries embedded images (for example, text copied from a document) is handled the same way. This applies to the Rich Content Editor, the question text box on the question card (including Instruction Swiper screens), and pasting HTML source into either one's HTML view. Only pasting and dropping are covered: if you type an embedded image's code into the HTML view by hand, it is not uploaded.

An image pasted into an answer option is filed in the image library under that option's name, the same as one added with the option's own image button.

If the upload fails, a red strip explains why and the image is not inserted. Try again, or use Insert image to add it by URL.

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Internal IDs (QID, SID, AID)#

Every element in your survey is automatically assigned a stable internal ID when it's created:

• Questions get a QID: QID1, QID2, QID3, and so on.
• Sections get a SID: SID1, SID2, SID3, and so on.
• Answer options get an AID: AID1, AID2, AID3, and so on.

These IDs are permanent. They never change, even if you rename the question, move it to a different section, reorder your survey, or rename the visible question number (like Q1 or Q2).

Why this matters#

When you use piping to insert a previous answer into a later question, the system uses the stable QID to find the right question. This means you can freely rename your question tags (Q1 → Demographics1, etc.) without breaking any piped text references.

Internal ID vs. question number#

You don't need to manage internal IDs manually. They are assigned automatically and work behind the scenes.

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Previewing your survey#

At any time, click Preview in the toolbar to see your survey as a respondent would. The preview respects all your logic rules, styling settings, and flow, so what you see is what respondents will get.

You can also preview a single section from its context menu if you want to focus on one part. A section preview never shows the questions in your other sections, so any rule that checks whether one of those questions Is Displayed treats it as not displayed, the same as a respondent who never reached it.

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Saving and publishing#

• Save commits your current work. Each save creates a version, so you can always look back at what changed over time.
• Autosave: After 20 seconds of inactivity following an edit, the builder will save your work automatically in the background. You don't need to do anything: just keep editing, step away, and your changes are preserved.
• Version history lets you view and restore previous versions of your survey.
• Publish pushes your latest saved version live. Only published surveys accept responses, so you can save and tweak as much as you like before going live.

What the Publish dialog tells you#

The dialog reports what the attempt actually did, and it only shows the success screen with your share link and QR code when a new version really went live.

• Published: a new version was created and is now live. This is the screen with the link, the QR tab, and the share options.
• Nothing to publish: the survey is already live and there is nothing new to send. Your survey keeps collecting responses on the version already published. If you expected changes to go out, close the dialog, check the status icon next to the survey title, save, and publish again.
• Not published: something stopped the publish, and the dialog names it. The most common reasons are a validation check on a conjoint or matrix question, a rule that still refers to something deleted (below), or a network failure. Nothing was changed; fix what it names and publish again. Where the dialog can take you to the problem, it shows a button for it (Go to question, Go to section, Go to survey flow or Go to quotas).

Rules that refer to something deleted#

Publish checks that every rule still points at something the survey holds. If a question, section or answer option was deleted while a rule still used it, the survey would still run, but the rule would quietly behave as if the deleted question had never been answered. A question shown only when the deleted one was answered would then be hidden from every respondent. So Publish stops and names the rule, for example "Q5: display logic refers to a question that has been deleted. Update or remove it, then publish again.", with a button that takes you to it.

Only a new problem stops Publish. If the same rule was already broken in the version that is live now, respondents are already getting it, so publishing again does not make anything worse: the survey is published, and the success screen warns you instead, naming the rule ("Q5: display logic refers to a question that has been deleted. This was already broken in the published version, so it was published anyway. Update or remove it.") with the same button to go to it. If the survey has never been published, every such rule stops Publish. If the published version cannot be loaded to compare against (for example your connection drops), Publish stops too and says so, rather than guess.

The check covers display and skip logic (including where a skip jumps to), termination rules, piped text (${q://...}, in questions, answers and web service fields), carry forward, loop & merge sources, answer display logic, global variable assignments, quota conditions and the Flow tab (branch conditions, branch and randomizer contents, loop & merge and set-language blocks). It only checks rules that the survey actually uses: global variables (including the built-in ones), ${e://...} fields and leftovers from an older way of writing a rule that has since been replaced are never reported. An answer option counts as deleted once it is gone from the question's answers, even if the question's randomization settings still list it.

This usually happens when a teammate was editing the rule while you deleted what it used, and the update to their rule was discarded (see Collaboration & Sharing). It can also come from an imported survey. Saving is never blocked by it, so you can keep working while you fix the rule.

Previously the dialog showed the success screen in all three cases, which is why a publish could look like it had gone out when nothing had. If you were working around that by publishing twice, you no longer need to.

How autosave works#

• The builder watches for edits on the canvas, properties panel, settings, and every other editor surface.
• Any time you make a change, a 20-second idle timer starts. Each new edit resets the timer.
• When the timer runs out with no new edits, your survey is saved silently, with no popup or message interrupting you.
• If you hit Save manually (or press Ctrl+S / Cmd+S) during the countdown, the pending autosave is cancelled and your manual save takes over.
• Ctrl+S / Cmd+S saves the survey only while you're working on the builder itself. Inside an open dialog the shortcut belongs to that dialog: in the Interface code editor it saves the code, the same as Save & apply and only when that button is available, and it never saves the survey behind it. Likewise Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z inside a dialog undoes your typing there, not changes on the canvas.
• Autosaves create the same kind of version snapshot as manual saves, so every autosave is restorable from Version History.
• If an autosave fails (for example, a network drop), you'll see an error message and the builder will try again on your next edit. Nothing is lost from the canvas.
• If you are signed out while editing, a notice says You have been signed out and stays on screen until you sign in again; it does not close on a click outside it or on Esc. Everything already saved is safe, and your unsaved changes stay in the builder: nothing is saved while you are signed out, and the next autosave sends them once you are back in as the same person. If someone else signs in instead, the page reloads for them and your unsaved changes are not saved under their account. Choose Sign in again. On its own, Survey Builder opens the sign-in page in a new tab, so the builder tab keeps your changes; sign in there (it takes you to the dashboard) and come back to the builder tab. If you are looking at another tab or window when it happens, the builder's tab title starts with Signed out, and your browser shows a notification saying you have been signed out, as long as you have allowed it to send notifications. The browser asks for that permission the first time you choose Sign in again, so the notification reaches you from the next sign-out on. Inside HM Admin it is the HM Admin tab that changes its title and HM Admin that asks for the permission. Inside HM Admin, the notice signs you back in with your HM Admin sign-in, without leaving the page; if that does not work, reload HM Admin and sign in there. Having the builder and the Library open in two tabs at once does not sign you out: the tabs share one session, and a moment the server could not be reached is not treated as a sign-out.

Knowing what's saved#

The toolbar always tells you the current state of your work, with a small status icon next to the survey title:

• Amber dot: A small amber dot means you have unsaved changes and an autosave is scheduled. Hover it and the tooltip reads Unsaved changes. The dot carries no other label, so this is the one to learn.
• Cloud with an upward arrow: A save is currently in flight (its tooltip reads Saving…), and the Save button reads Saving... while it runs.
• Green check mark: Your latest change has just been saved.

With nothing left to save, the Save button is greyed out and its tooltip says so. Hover it at any time and it also reminds you that edits auto-save after 20 seconds idle.

For the timing of each saved version, open Version History from the arrow next to the Save button. Every manual save and autosave is listed there with its timestamp.

An edit you make while a save or publish is running stays unsaved. The builder compares your work against what it actually sent, so anything you typed after the request went out keeps the amber dot, keeps Save enabled, and is picked up by the next autosave. The same holds while the builder is refreshing the survey's status in the background, for example just after publishing. If the toolbar says saved, your latest change is in a version.

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Builder tabs#

All of these live in the tab strip in the top toolbar (see What you'll see), so the path to any of them is Surveys → open your survey → tab name. Beyond the Build tab, the builder includes:

Tip: Use Preview from the toolbar to test the full respondent path before publishing.

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Quotas in Survey Builder#

Quotas cap how many people of a given kind can complete your survey. They live on the Panels & Quotas tab of the builder, and a new survey starts with none.

• Add Quota creates a quota. You give it a name, a response limit, what happens When Full, and the conditions that decide who it counts.
• Add Group collects related quotas together and sets how a respondent who matches several of them at once is assigned.
• A group can publish a live, read-only dashboard of its fill status. Turn on Public on the group's card, then use Copy dashboard URL to get a link you can send to a client without giving them builder access.

Quotas and Quota Groups covers every setting, how the counts behave, and how to correct one by hand.

Controlling how answers are rendered#

Many question types (single choice, multiple choice, ranking, distribution, fast select, tap-and-drag rank) support attaching images to their answer options. When an answer has both text and an image, the Answers Display control on the question's Settings tab in the properties panel lets you choose what respondents see:

• Text only: Show just the label.
• Images only: Show just the image.
• Both (default): Show image and text together.

This is a single setting shared across every question type that supports it, so you can quickly convert an image-grid into a text list or vice versa without re-editing every answer.

Note: Matrix and plugin interfaces (fast select, tap & drag rank, directional swipe) that have their own display modes render them inside their own settings section, so the global Answers Display toggle is hidden for those to avoid duplicates.

Interface code (</>)#

Administrators and Support Administrators can replace how a question is drawn with their own code, from the </> button on the question card. It opens on the question's current code, or on the script uploaded for its type in HM Admin's Question Scripts. Edit it and click Save & apply.

• Saving code never changes the question's type. A Rating question with your code is still a Rating question, so its answers, logic, reports and exports work as before.
• The button is offered on every question type except Instructions (Text & Graphic), Play Video / Audio, Create / Edit Global Variables, Display Global Variables and the AI Qual interfaces. None of those draw anything your code could replace. The Instruction Swiper is the one exception on a Text & Graphic base: it draws its own screens, so it offers the button, and its code starts from the swiper's own. Timed Instruction and Orientation Instruction do not.
• On a File Upload question, the respondent's uploads are accepted only once the page has confirmed your code is running in the frame it built. Code that echoes the page's session key (window.__INTUIFY_INIT_NONCE__) in its widgetReady message is confirmed at once. Code saved before 7 Oct 2026, which does not echo it, is confirmed by the page itself a moment later, so you do not need to edit it again to make uploads work.
• Code on a plain question looks like the built-in question: it sits in the same centred column on the survey's background, takes its text sizes from Branding and the question's own Text size, and scrolls when it is taller than the screen. Code saved before this change keeps the fixed sizes it was written with until it is rebuilt from the current question script.
• Duplicating a survey copies its code. The copy starts with the exact code each question runs and keeps its own versions from then on, so saving code in one survey never changes the other. The editor always opens on the version the question runs.

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Working with the library#

The builder integrates tightly with the Library so you can save and reuse questions, sections, and entire surveys.

Saving to the library#

A question can be saved from its Question menu with Save to library, and a section from its Section menu with the same item. The question opens a Save to Library dialog and the section a Save Section to Library one, and both hold the same fields:

• The Title is always saved as plain text, so rich-text formatting (bold, HTML tags) in your question title won't leak into the library name.
• Tags (comma or space separated): the information icon beside this field explains how tags help teammates find content later. Add a few short tags like demographics, screener, or NPS.
• Items you save appear in the library with their rich-text titles rendered (so bold, italics, and links survive), making browsing feel natural.

Adding from the library#

The library palette lives next to the standard question palette. Drag any library question or block onto your canvas. When you drop a block, its child questions automatically get fresh, unique question tags and section tags so nothing collides with questions already in your survey. Logic saved with a block between its own questions points at the new copies; logic that named a question outside the section was left out when the section was saved, and Save Section to Library says how many such rules there were.

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Survey list: folders and "Updated" timestamps#

The Surveys page (your main project list) has a few details worth calling out:

• Folder-scoped counts: When you click a folder in the sidebar, the status counts at the top (Draft, Active, Closed, etc.) recalculate to show only surveys in that folder. The selected folder is reflected in the URL, so you can bookmark or share a link to a specific folder view.
• Folder counts follow your filters: The number next to each folder in the sidebar (and next to All and Unfoldered) counts only the surveys that match the status tab, search and Created By filter you have applied, so it always matches the list you see when you open that folder. While Trash is open, the sidebar keeps counting your live surveys. Trash itself follows Created By and search too, and its Created By list shows the people whose surveys are in Trash.
• Stat tiles follow Created By: Total Surveys, Total Responses, Active Now and Avg Completion at the top of the page count only the surveys by the creators picked in Created By.
• "Updated" timestamps: The last-updated column now prefixes times with "Updated" (for example, Updated 5 min ago) so it reads naturally in the list.
• Back button on new-survey page: If you start creating a survey and change your mind, use the Back button in the top-left of the New Survey page to return to the surveys list without saving.
• Working on several at once: Tick surveys (or Select all) and the bar above the list offers Update status, Move to folder and Delete (Restore and Delete permanently in Trash). The whole selection is handled in one go: the button you used shows a spinner and the bar waits until it is done, then one message says how many changed.
• Which status tab opens: On its own, the Surveys page reopens on the status tab you used last. Inside HM Admin's Projects › Survey Builder tab it opens on All every time, as HM Admin's other tabs start from their defaults.

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Collaboration#

Use Share on the survey card or toolbar to invite teammates. See Collaboration & Sharing for permissions, live presence and live editing — several people working in one survey at once, with a question someone is editing shown as view-only to the others.

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Related guides#

• Logic, Flow & Conditions
• Question Types
• Distributions & Sharing Links
• Branding & Survey Settings