> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://fayneos.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Surveys: Ask Members Before and After > Add survey lessons with rating, choice, and text questions. Make them required, keep them anonymous, and pair a follow-up with an earlier survey to see what changed. A survey is a lesson made of questions with no right answers. Use one to learn about your members before a workshop or program starts, and a second one afterwards to see what changed. Nothing in a survey is graded, and members never see a score. Surveys sit in the lesson list like any other lesson, so a course can mix them freely: a survey first, then lessons, a [knowledge check](/docs/content/knowledge-checks.md), and a follow-up survey at the end. The answers come back to you in the [cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief.md) for a list, and on each member's profile. ## Add a survey **1. Open the course editor** Go to **Courses** and open the course. **2. Add a survey** Open the chevron menu next to **Add lesson** in the lesson sidebar and choose **Add survey**. If the course has [modules](/docs/content/modules.md), each module header menu offers the same option. A new survey starts with one rating question, so it never opens empty. **3. Write the questions** Type `/` and insert blocks from the **Survey questions** group: **Rating Question**, **Choice Question**, or **Text Question**. Headings and short text in between are fine; they are shown but not collected. **4. Choose the settings** Open **Survey settings** from the survey's row in the sidebar, or from the **Survey settings** chip at the top of the survey. See [Survey settings](#survey-settings) below. **5. Publish** Publish the survey like any lesson. Surveys show their own icon in the lesson list. > [!NOTE] > > Survey questions only work inside survey lessons. The `/` menu offers them only there. If one ends up in a normal lesson (for example after a paste), the editor warns you and members never see it. ## Question types | Question | What members do | What you set | | - | - | - | | **Rating Question** | Pick a number from 1 to 5. | The question and a label for each end, such as "Not confident" and "Very confident". | | **Choice Question** | Pick one option, or several. | The options, **Answers**: **Single** or **Multiple**, and **Allow Other**, which adds an Other option with a short text field. | | **Text Question** | Answer in their own words. | **Answer**: **Short** or **Long**, and an optional **Max length**. Answers are capped at 2,000 characters. | Every question is required by default. Turn off **Required** in its settings to make it optional; members then see an **Optional** tag on it. Each question also has a **Question key** under **Advanced**. Fayne creates it for you. It is what answers, before and after comparisons, and exports are matched by, so leave it alone unless you know you need to change it. ## Survey settings > **Required to advance** > > When on, later lessons stay locked until the member answers this survey, with an "Answer ... first" note in the sidebar. Off by default. Turn it on for a survey that must come first, such as prework before a workshop. > **Anonymous** > > You see totals and quotes without names. Answers from an anonymous survey never appear next to a member's name, on their profile, or in the CSV export. Once someone has answered, **Anonymous** can't be turned off, because people answered believing their names were hidden. You can still turn it on later; answers given before stay named. > **Compare with** > > Pick an earlier survey in the same course with the same questions. The [cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief.md) then shows how ratings moved from the first survey to this one. ## Before and after To measure change, ask the same rating questions twice. **1. Build the first survey** Add the survey members answer before the program starts, with the self-ratings you care about. **2. Duplicate it as a follow-up** Open the survey's menu in the sidebar and choose **Duplicate as follow-up**. Fayne adds a copy named "... (follow-up)" with the same questions and sets **Compare with** to the first survey for you. **3. Move it into place** Drag the follow-up to where it belongs, usually at the end of the course or after the live session. You can reword the follow-up's questions. Pairing works through each question's key, not its wording, so keep the keys the same. ## What members experience > **Submit once** > > Members answer the questions and press **Submit answers**. A required question left empty is pointed out before anything is sent. > **Answers are final** > > Once submitted, a survey can't be changed. Coming back to it shows their answers, read-only. A baseline that can be edited later is no baseline. > **Counts as a lesson** > > A survey is complete when it is submitted, and it counts toward course progress like any lesson. Scrolling to the end does not complete it. > **Signed-in members only** > > Guests and preview visitors can read a survey but must sign in to submit it. A survey goes to your academy by its nature, so there is no separate notice. If a survey is anonymous, or the answers are used in a particular way, say so in the survey's intro text. ## What you can change after answers come in | Change | Allowed? | | - | - | | Reword a question or its labels | Yes. Answers already given stay attached through the question key. | | Add a question | Yes. Earlier respondents simply have no answer to it. | | Remove a question | Yes. Members who haven't answered yet won't see it. | | Turn **Anonymous** off | No. | | Turn the survey into a lesson | No. **Turn into lesson** disappears once someone has answered. | ## Where the answers go * **Cohort brief**: put the members on a [list](/docs/students/audiences.md) and open the list's **Brief** tab for response rates, rating charts, choice results, quotes, and before and after. See [Cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief.md). * **Member profile**: the **Responses** tab on a member's profile shows their answers to named surveys. See [Managing members](/docs/students/managing-students.md). * **Reminders**: email the members who haven't answered yet. See [Reminder emails](/docs/students/reminder-emails.md). > [!TIP] > > You can ask the AI editor to create a survey for you, for example "add a short survey before the first lesson asking how confident people feel about each topic." Review the questions and settings before you publish. See [AI Customization](/docs/content/ai-customization.md). ## Related > **[Cohort brief](/docs/students/cohort-brief.md)** > > Read a list's answers as one report. > **[Knowledge checks](/docs/content/knowledge-checks.md)** > > Graded questions with a pass mark. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.