How to Create a Short Answer Question in Zoho Survey | Online Help Guide

Short Answer

The Short Answer question type allows your respondents to type in a short text or a combination of text and numbers. You can set the character limit and the textbox size while crafting the question. The maximum response size is limited to 255 characters, which can be changed to any number less than 255. The maximum size you can set for the textbox is 40 characters. 
For example, a simple question as to what your customers think about a "good coffee" wouldn't need lengthy write-ups. It could be an emotion or a memory that they could explain in a word or two. A short answer question best serves the purpose.

Short answer question sample:


To add a short answer question to your survey:

  1. Click Short Answer in the question types listed on the left pane. You can also drag and drop the question type to the builder. Also, you can change the question type by clicking the dropdown next to the question type in the question editor. However, the choices for change are related to the question type you have selected. For example, if you selected the short answer question type, you can only change it to its variants available in the list. You can select an option from the dropdown. 

  2. In the Question box, type your question. 
    1. If you want to mark the question mandatory, select the Make this question mandatory checkbox.
    2. If you want to make changes to the default Error message text that displays, edit the content in the textbox.
    3. If you want to pipe in custom variables or variables from previous questions and customize the follow-up questions, click Insert Variable right above the Question box, and select the variable you want to use from the list. Read more on Piping.
  3. To learn what else you can do with the question, click Advanced options. You can perform the following actions:
    1. In the Textbox size dropdown list, select the size of the textbox you want to use.
    2. Select Validation if you would like to validate your responses using a predefined or custom regular expression that matches the answer.

      1. Select a validation type from the list of options available in the Validate dropdown list. Depending on the validation type you select, a predefined regular expression will be displayed in the RegEx field.
      2. Click the Condition dropdown list to select Matches or Contains.
      3. If you select Length, you'll need to enter the minimum and maximum character limits in theText must be between fields respectively.
      4. If you select Custom, you'll need to enter a custom regular expression to match the answer.
      5. You can edit the default error message in the Error message field, or use the text displayed.
    3. The autofill or prepopulate answer feature allows you to prepopulate single-variable survey responses automatically before sending them to respondents. To prepopulate answers for a known respondent, select Prepopulate answer. 
    4. Question hint is used to add hints to your question and help your respondents get a clear idea of what your questions are all about. This feature is optional and is available only for certain types of questions. 
      Add survey question hint
    5. Select Mark as Health Information (ePHI) in the Data Privacy section to safeguard the health information data in the healthcare surveys category. The Encrypt answer field also gets selected, by default.
    6. Select Encrypt answer to add an additional layer of security to the responses for this particular question.
  4. Switch to the Display Logic tab to add a logic condition to the question.
  5. Click Save.
  6. To discard the changes, click Cancel.