1. Using Financial Reporting Compliance
  2. Close and Reopen Surveys

Close and Reopen Surveys

A survey exists in one of three states, which determine whether participants can respond to survey questions.

  • Open to Responses means participants can respond to questions. This is the default state when a survey is created.

  • Closed to Responses, also known as a "soft close," means participants can't respond to questions. It's soft, however, because a survey owner can change its state back to Open to Responses, and so restore participants' ability to answer questions. When a survey passes its due date, a predefined job called Close Overdue Surveys to Responses places it in the Closed to Reponses state. Even before the due date, an owner may place the survey in this state.

  • Closed means participants can't respond to questions and the survey can't be reopened. This state is also known as a "hard close." An owner may place a survey in this state at any point.

To change the state of a survey, its owner selects its record in the Surveys page, then selects an option from the Actions menu. Whether each of these options is available depends on the current state of the survey.

  • If the survey is in the Closed to Responses state, an Open for Responses option is available. It reopens the survey. If the survey's due date is in the past, however, the owner must edit the survey to assign a future due date before selecting this option.

  • If the survey is in the Open to Responses state, a Close for Responses option is available. It places the survey in a soft close.

  • If the survey is in either the Open to Responses or Closed to Responses state, a Close Survey option is available. It implements a hard close. Once the owner selects it, the survey is available only for viewing.

A couple of conditions apply:

  • The state-related options in the Actions menu are available only to the survey owners. You can't change the state of a survey if you're its editor or viewer.

  • These state-related options apply only to stand-alone surveys. If you select the record of a survey associated with an assessment, these options don't appear in the Actions menu even if you're an owner.