Adding questions to a survey
To add a question, open the survey’s Build tab and click Add question in the Questions card. Choose a Question type, write the question and click Save. A settings dialog opens straight away so you can finish the question.
Who can do this: Survey managers and Admins.
Add a question
- Open the survey on the Build tab.
- In the Questions card, click Add question. In a new survey, the card says “No questions here yet”.
- Choose a Question type: Text, Number, Options or Rating.
- Write the Question.
- Click Save.
- In the dialog that opens, add help text and the other settings, then click Save.
You cannot change a question’s type later. To change it, delete the question and add a new one.
Question types
| Type | Respondents answer with | Settings | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text | A text box. | Multiline: on for a large box, off for one line. | Open feedback: “What should we start doing?” |
| Number | A slider in whole numbers. | Min and Max (0 and 10 to start with). | “How many hours a week do you spend on reports?” |
| Options | Clicking option cards. | Allow multiple selections: off for one choice, on for several. The list of Options, with Add option. | “Which site do you work at?” |
| Rating | One slider per parameter. | A list of Parameters, each with a name, Help text (shown as a tooltip), Min and Max. Use Add parameter to add more. | Rating several things at once: “Rate the canteen on price, quality and choice.” |
Surveys do not have file upload questions.
Settings for every question
- Question: the text respondents see.
- Help text: extra guidance shown under the question. Up to 500 characters.
- Required: respondents must answer before they can go to the next question. If a question isn’t required, respondents can skip it. A Number or Rating slider they leave untouched counts as not answered.
Every survey question is shown to every respondent. There are no visibility or answer settings on survey questions, and questions always appear in the order you set.
Reorder questions
Drag a question card to a new position. The new order is saved straight away.
Edit a question
Click the question card, make your changes and click Save. You can do this at any time, even after people have answered.
Before you edit a survey that already has answers, know what happens to them:
| Change | Effect on existing answers |
|---|---|
| Rename a question or an option | Answers are kept. |
| Change help text, Required, Min or Max | Answers are kept. |
| Add a new question | Earlier respondents simply have no answer to it. |
| Remove an option | Every answer that chose that option loses it. |
| Remove a rating parameter | Every rating given to that parameter is deleted. |
| Delete a question | Every answer to it, and its AI summaries, are deleted. |
Good to know: Hives does not warn you that answers will be lost when you remove an option or parameter, or delete a question. It cannot be undone. If you need the answers, export them first. See Survey results, results link, export and AI summaries.
Renaming a question keeps its answers, but changing its meaning makes old and new answers hard to compare. If the meaning changes, add a new question instead.
Delete a question
- Click the question card.
- Click Delete.
- Confirm with Delete.
Check your survey before you share it
Turn on the preview link on the Share tab and walk through the survey as a respondent. Nothing you enter in the preview is saved. See Sharing a survey.
Common questions
Can I add a question where people upload a file? No. Surveys support Text, Number, Options and Rating questions.
Can I make some answers visible only to certain people? No. Survey answers are anonymous and only survey managers and Admins see results. See Who can see, manage and answer a survey.