Defining Answer Layout and Creating Questions
Use the Define Answer Layout page to name your questions and to define how you want the answers to questions to be recorded. For example, you can create text answer boxes, checkboxes, and such. Once you have named your questions and defined your answer layout, you can create your questions.
For an overview of creating appraisal questionnaires, see: Create Your Questionnaire Pages.
To define an answer layout:
1. In the main menu, choose Define Answer Layout.
2. Click the New button to name your questions and to define the answer layout.
3. Enter the name of a question in the Question Name field. You can name them anything you like, but we suggest that you make them something meaningful.
In our example, we named the questions:
- HR1PLEASSUM (for 'Please summarise your views of ......."
- HR2OVERENTOBJ (for 'Overall Enterprise Objectives"
- HR3BUSUNTOBJ (for 'Business Unit Objectives"
4. Enter the question in the Text field only if you are creating a default question, otherwise enter your questions later (described in Creating Questions).
5. Specify how you want answers to be recorded by creating any or all of the following:
To create text areas:
If you want text areas for recording answers:
1. Select Text Area as the HTML Type.
2. Enter the width and height of the text area. These are columns (in our example, we used a width of 60 and height of 5).
3. Select whether you the answer box to align to the left or right hand side of the questionnaire (select right for our example).
4. Optionally, you can enter any heading text that you want to display above the question in the Heading Text field.
5. Enter any field level help you want made available for the user.
6. Continue to enter any further text area boxes and click the Save button.
7. Continue defining your answer layout at Step 4 When you have finished defining your answer layout, create questions for your questionnaire.
To create text:
If you want text for recording answers:
1. Select Text as the HTML Type.
2. Enter the width and height of the text box (a width of 15 and height of 1 is a good default)
3. Select whether you want the text box to align to the left or right hand side of the questionnaire.
4. Optionally, you can enter any heading text that you want to display above the question in the Heading Text field.
5. Continue to enter any further text boxes and click the Save button.
6. Enter any field level help you want made available for the user.
7. Continue defining your answer layout at Step 4 When you have finished defining your answer layout, create questions for your questionnaire.
To create checkboxes:
If you want checkboxes for recording answers:
1. Select Checkbox as the HTML Type.
2. Leave the width and height fields blank.
3. Select whether you the answer box to align to the left or right hand side of the questionnaire.
4. Enter any field level help you want made available for the user.
5. Continue to enter any further checkboxes and click the Save button.
6. Continue defining your answer layout at Step 4 When you have finished defining your answer layout, create questions for your questionnaire.
To create options with lists:
If you want to use lists to record answers, you can either use a lookup table to display the list of values, or you must enter a SQL Select statement to retrieve the list. You can also use the list of values to link a person's career path into the appraisal process. You do this by creating a list that contains the alternative career paths that can be selected for the person during their appraisal.
Using a lookup table
1. Select Option as the HTML Type.
2. Leave the width and height fields blank.
3. Select whether you the answer to align to the left or right hand side of the questionnaire.
4. If the question has a default value that is not defaulted from the list of values, enter a value.
5. If the question has a default value, select either the type of Value to use the value entered in the Default Value field. Alternatively, select SQL to use the value defaulted from a list of values and enter a Select statement to select the value in the Find field..
6. Enter any field level help you want made available for the user. in the Field Level Help field.
7. Continue defining your answer layout at Step 4 When you have finished defining your answer layout, create questions for your questionnaire.
Using a SQL select statement
1. Enter the Select statement in the SQL Text field to retrieve the list of values.
2. If you are using a lookup table to display the list of values, enter it in the Lookup Type field.
3. If you are using SQL to use the value defaulted from a list of values, enter a Select statement to select the value in the Find field..
4. Continue to enter any further options and click the Save button.
5. Continue defining your answer layout at Step 4 When you have finished defining your answer layout, create questions for your questionnaire.
Creating Questions
To create questions:
1. Select Assemble Questionnaire from the menu and and select the questionnaire you previously created.
2. Click the Show Categories button to see the categories you assembled for that questionnaire.
Note: You can click the Show Layout button to see the questionnaire layout at any time.
3. Click the Questions hypertext link alongside the category to add the first question. In our example, the question is HR1PLEASSUM.
4. You get a message to say that there are no questions associated with this category, so click the New button.
5. Select the first question.
6. If you are creating a unique question or overwriting the default question, enter the question text in the Text field.
In our example, select HR1PLEASSUM, and enter the question text "Please summarise your views of the appraisee's performance against objectives"
7. Select whether you want the question to align to the left or right hand side of the questions page.
In our example, the answer box is aligned to the right, so align the question left.
Note: Any text you enter in the Text field appears to the left of the answer box, whereas any textyou enter in the Heading Text field appears above the answer area.
8. Return to the Update Profile Categories page and click the Questions hypertext link alongside the next category to create the question.
10. Continue to enter questions as described, then press the Save button when you have finished.
11. Click the Show Layout button to check that you are happy with the questionnaire layout before you associate the questionnaire with the template.
See Also
You are now ready to associate the questionnaire with the template.
