SurveyMonkey

Previewing & Testing Surveys

Before sending a survey, use the Preview & Score section to make sure everything looks and works as expected. There are limits to editing a live survey, so it's helpful to edit your survey design before collecting responses. If you want to test your collector options, you can create a test collector.

The Preview & Score section lets you view and test your survey design. It shows everything you set up in the Design Survey section.

To preview your survey design:

  1. After creating your survey, go to the Preview & Score section and take your survey.
  2. Try the Survey Format options in the bottom right corner to see which display you like best.
  3. Use each Device View in the bottom left corner to view the format for Desktop, Tablet, and Phone. We recommend previewing the survey in each mode.

If you've added any logic features to your survey, click on Preview Logic in the right sidebar to view the logic rules. This will help you check that each logic path is working as expected.

As you take the survey preview, the sidebar highlights your answer selection with a green badge to show which question you’re answering in your survey design and the logic path. You can hover over page numbers and question numbers to see the associated text.

TIP! Preview Logic doesn’t show Block Randomization, A/B testing, or logic that’s based on custom data or custom variables. But, there are other ways to test Advanced Piping or Advanced Branching that use custom variables and custom data.

You can invite others to give feedback on your survey design by sharing the survey preview link or sending an invitation to comment. There can only be 100 comments per account, including deleted ones, on a survey.

If you want others to edit your survey design and work on surveys with you, check out our other collaboration features.

If you want to try out collecting responses, you can create a collector to use as a test. It includes your collector options and lets you experience the survey the way your survey-takers will see it.

When you take the survey using your test collector, it records test responses that you can view in the Analyze Results section. This way you can see how your data looks before you send out the survey.

To create a test collector:

  1. Go to the Collect Responses section of your survey.
  2. Create a collector for the survey—we suggest using a Web Link.
  3. Click the three dots (...) and rename your collector "Test Collector" so you don't confuse it with your real collectors.
  4. From the collector options, turn on Multiple Responses. This allows you to test the survey more than once.
  5. Choose your remaining collector options.
  6. Copy the URL you created and paste it in your browser's address bar.
  7. Take the survey.
  8. Go to the Analyze Results section of the survey to see how your data looks.
  9. Make any edits to the survey design or collector options, as needed.
  10. Clear the responses from the collector once you're done testing so they don't interfere with your survey results.

TIP! If you're using Email Invitation or Text Message collectors, you can send a test email or test text to preview how your message appears in your email client or mobile text app.