Tokens, also known as access codes, can be used for two purposes:

1. when we want to link the completion with the specific respondent whose data we have,
2. when we want to be sure that each of the respondents will complete the questionnaire only once.

The simplest example of first use is the situation in which we have e-mail addresses of customers and send them to this particular e-mail request to complete the satisfaction survey. After analyzing the completion, we can extract dissatisfied customers, link negative responses to e-mails and take further steps to improve satisfaction. In addition, we can also categorize our respondents by adding additional information to e-mails, such as a branch or region (for more information, see the article about contacts and labels).

The choice of securing the survey with tokens gives us the confidence that the survey will be filled only once by the same person.

The following article describes the configuration of tokens for later distribution your questionnaires by email, via the Startquestion platform. If you want to distribute tokens in a different way (eg print or download export to a mail merge), we invite you to the article about the export of tokens.

How to set up a survey with a token?

1. First, select the „Project” tab (1), „Surveys” (2), and then select the title of the survey you want to use(3).

2. Next, go to the „Settings” tab (4) -> „Survey settings” (5). Search the Security form box menu (6), and then click to select the Top form: Highest – The survey protected with identification code (token). One token for each respondent (7).
3. Select Identification of respondents (this option allows you to link the responder to the questionnaire he filled in) by clicking Enabled, or select Disabled (8) if you want the survey to remain anonymous.
4. Then decide if the token should be a single or multiple use (more on this topic will be explained later in this article) (9).

5. In the next steps, specify the validity period of the tokens. After this time has elapsed, it will no longer be possible to complete the survey with a token. The default value is 30 days.
6. To confirm changes, at the bottom of the Survey Settings menu, click the Save button.
7. When the survey settings are properly configured, go to the „Collect” (11) tab and select the „E-mail distribution” option (12).
8. Next, choose the way in which contacts should be added by you:

a) Import from file.

b) Enter manually.

Import from file

1. When you select the „Import from file” option, a window will appear including instructions on how to prepare the file (13).
2. If you have only e-mail addresses in the file, place them in the first column. If your contacts are also labeled, put them in the next columns, as in the example shown.

Thanks to this solution, you can also add your own token for each respondent in the contact list, which will be used automatically instead of generating the token by the system.

All you have to do is create a Token column in the file you import and assign a valid (unique, alphanumeric, 6-character) token to each e-mail address, it will be assigned to a given respondent in the system.

3. After preparing the file, select the „Browse” option and select the file with your contacts from the computer (14)
4. After completing all of the above steps correctly, select Add (15). Remember that the import time of a file depends on its size and number of contacts.

5. The imported contact file looks like the example below.
6. On the left there are respondents’ e-mail addresses (16), on the right there are generated individual tokens that will be sent to the respondent in the survey URL (17).
7. A single respondent with a token can be removed by selecting the trash can icon next to the generated code (18).
8. We can also delete all respondents, along with tokens by selecting the trash can icon under the list of all contacts (19).

Enter manually

1. By clicking on the „Enter manually” option a window will appear in which you should enter the e-mail address in the free field (20)
2. After entering the respondent’s e-mail address, we can add another address using the „Add” option, or end adding them by clicking the „Finish” option (21)

In case you previously imported a contact file or created a list of contacts with labels, also when adding manually it will be possible to provide any data corresponding to the created labels.

As with the import of the file, here too you can specify your own token, which will be used instead of the token generated by the system (if the token is correct).

3. The contacts entered manually look like in the example below.
4. On the left are the respondents’ email addresses (22). Next to the respondent’s e-mail address and possibly other data, there is also a token given by you when you add a contact. It is used instead of the token generated by the system. On the right side there are individual tokens that will be sent to the respondent in the survey URL (23).
5. A single respondent with a token can be removed by selecting the trash can icon, which is placed next to the generated code (24).
6. We can also delete all respondents, along with tokens by selecting the trash can icon under the list of all contacts (25).
7. In addition, a list of respondents in the system can be exported in the selected format (26) for use in external distributing systems.

What is the difference between a single and a multiple token (code)?

A multiple token differs from a single token in that it will allow the respondent to correct the questionnaire he has completed. This is useful, for example, when a question requires the respondent to recall situations or when the survey is carried out in several stages.

However, please note that this token does not allow you to complete the survey many times. It means that one person will be able to give only one, not multiple opinions.

Worth to remember:

•   A survey with a single-use code (token) allows access to the questionnaire only to authorized persons.
•  The token allows the respondent to open the survey only once (see how to allow respondents to postpone the survey for later),
•  The highest level of security can be set only if the survey has not been started before (which means you didn’t obtain any results using it),
•  Links with tokens are valid for a maximum of 90 days from distribution. However, you can reduce this period in the Survey Settings in the „Limit validity of tokens” option.