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SharePoint Surveys – Overview and Links

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A few months ago I looked high and low for a simple table/list covering SharePoint survey capabilities for a customer. I wasn’t able to find one so I put together the following list of SharePoint survey capabilities:

  • Default survey template comes out of the box
  • Familiar interface to end users - no need to learn a new application
  • Several options for capturing survey responses ( text, dropdown list, yes/no, ratings, date, currency, etc.)
  • Ability to export results to Excel, view as an RSS feed, or get an email alert on survey responses
  • Graphical display of responses
  • Ability to save user data with the survey or capture results as anonymous*. NOTE: the survey response user is still tagged, just hidden from the survey admin. So it IS possible to see who sent in an anonymous survey response with the right level of permissions
  • Ability to allow individuals to submit multiple responses, or limit each user to a single response
  • Branching logic is now supported in MOSS 2007 surveys (e.g. questions are asked/not asked based on responses to other questions)
  • Longer surveys and forms can be broken up over multiple pages
  • Ability to customize look-and-feel using SharePoint Designer
  • Ability to extend survey capabilities with 3rd party solutions at a low cost

I also found the following articles which may help in understanding these features better:

 

Technet article on SharePoint surveys – I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the forms services piece (I didn’t include this in the capabilities list above, since it is an Enterprise SharePoint capability, and more involved)

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc194407.aspx

 

Washington State survey review – I thought this gave some good screenshots/basics on using the out-of-box SharePoint survey list

https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/sandbox/surveys/wiki/Home.aspx

 

Hope this helps!

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2010
    Hi Nate, Thanks for the overview and links. I was trying out various features available in survey, and I came across a intersting "type of answer" type called "Rating Scale". I belive this is just the best feature in Survey. Only problem is I did'nt find a way to programatically access the answers to the "sub-questions" in that type of question set. Any ideas as to how to access the answers programatically ??

  • Anonymous
    July 06, 2012
    I would like to create a time tracking template in Share Point so my team members can enter the project and keep track of their time.  It would be nice to be able to run some admin reports.  Is there any easy solution!

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2013
    I have a question for you.. Is it possible for a single user to respond to the same survey multiple times?? If yes, how will the data be exported to excel ...... as the user will have the same username....... thanks in advance

  • Anonymous
    November 08, 2015
    Excellent compilation, thank you for doing this