What are Event Questions
Event questions collect arbitrary data from the user during registration. Anything that our system does not collect by default may be collected with one or more event questions. This data will be collected on a per-registration basis and asked each time the user registers.
Features
Event questions, like club questions, allow you to define the type of answer you wish to collect as well as specify the possible list of answers. They may be optional or required and combined with form layout nesting and branching, maybe targeted to the appropriate attendee.
Use Once Per Form
Unlike packages and assigners, event questions have a limitation that they may only capture one answer per registration form. While we permit you to place a question more than once on the form layout to facilitate branching, if the user answers a question more than once, the last answer provided is what will be saved.
This is because of answer validation. If you accept a yes/no answer and someone answers it twice, we don't currently have the ability to capture that someone answered yes twice or yes and no once each. As a result, we can only record one answer per question.
Adding or Editing Questions
Event questions are added by clicking the wrench at the top of the Parts Bin and choosing Add New, Question. The following form will be presented in the edit pane:
The question is what is displayed on the registration form as well as in certain reports so a brief question is best. The description is displayed under the question on the registration form and may further elaborate about the desired information
Once saved, the question must be dragged from the parts bin onto the form layout for a user to be able to select it. See our form builder video for a live demonstration.
Specify Fixed Answers
When asking the attendee for t-shirt size or volunteer position, it is often helpful to collect the responses in a standardized format. By choosing "text" as the answer type, you can use a fixed answer list to specify in advance the choices they may select from:
This would result in a dropdown list with the above options to choose from and prevents free-form text entry. This makes tallying or sorting the responses in Excel easy.
Yes/No Questions and Nesting
When nesting elements beneath a Yes/No question on the registration form, the children are only revealed when the attendee answers "Yes".
However, even when "No", the children are processed because No is a value and we process all children for required elements and validation rules anytime the parent has been answered or selected. Therefore, it is important to realize that any required questions, packages or any assigners nested immediately beneath an event question answered "No" will still be evaluated.
This may cause confusing behavior when elements not visible are being required of the attendee.
At this time, it is not possible to reverse the logic such that "No" reveals the children elements. You must word your questions in such a way that only the "Yes" answer will suffice.
Report Header
Next to the question is a "Report Header" field that permits the organizer to specify a shorter, administrative-only header for the data collected. In the example above, "Do you have special medical or physical conditions?" would be displayed to the attendee while "Medical Condition" would be displayed in the administrative screens and as column headers in our reporting suite.
What NOT to Collect with Event Questions
While it is possible to collect any data you want through custom event questions, we recommend that you avoid the following:
- Any data already contained in the user profile (names, emails, phone numbers, etc.)
- Any data already contained in the vehicle profile (make, model, color, transponder #, plus other more detailed data points like engine displacement, tire brand, etc.)
- Any data collected by Club Questions (membership number, region of record, and any custom club questions you've created).
- Any data that should be used for classification of participants where a class, class modifier, or group would be more appropriate (drivetrain layout, tire type, experience level etc.)
Reducing the number of steps and redundant information requests your attendees must go through to get registered is one key to ensuring you get the most usable data in the most efficient way. It is important to remember that data the system collects by default from the user profile and vehicle profile, can be "cherry-picked" for your reports. Custom event questions and custom club questions are included on an "all-or-none" basis.