Sometimes you need all the benefits of a unique survey link, without sending out a unique link. The Authenticator makes this possible by having respondents “log in” to a survey.This page describes how to set up an Authenticator on your survey which checks to see if the participant is found on a Panel you have uploaded. To learn how to set up an Authenticator that checks a third-party service instead of a panel (for instance a university login system), refer to our guide to SSO Authentication.
Step-by-Step
To set up the Authenticator:
- Go to Survey Flow, click Add a New Element Here, and then click Authenticator.
- Move the Authenticator to the beginning of your survey flow and place the blocks you’d like to authenticate beneath the Authenticator element.
- Select the library and panel you’ll use to verify each respondent’s information.
- Use the drop-down arrow under Authentication Fields to identify the panel fields you’d like the respondent to enter for authentication.
- Type in a label if you want it to be different than the panel field name.
- Select the password box to hide the characters the respondent types in.
- Click the plus or minus buttons to add or remove additional fields from your Authenticator.
- Review the settings under Options.
- Click Save.
More Information
To Set Authenticator Options
- Select the amount of authentication attempts allowed.
- Change the text for the authentication prompt or error message by selecting a message from your library or creating a new one.
- Select “Allow authenticating respondents to retake authenticated section” to allow respondents to retake the authenticated portion of the survey.
- Select to have the system reload any previously saved progress upon authentication.
Note: If you select this option, you must have only one authenticator at the beginning of your flow. Also, you must disable Save and Continue in the Survey Options.
When to Use the Authenticator
Use the Authenticator when you want the benefits of using the mailer without sending your survey through the mailer.The Authenticator allows you to collect responses that are connected to panel information without generating unique links. It does this by prompting the respondent to login. This means that you can copy the anonymous link to a website or into an email and still track who has responded. Only people who are listed in your panel can take the survey, so you will not collect unwanted responses even when using the anonymous link.
Removing Authenticator
To remove the Authenticator, move all blocks out from under the Authenticator and click Delete. If you delete the Authenticator without moving the blocks so they are no longer underneath it, all the blocks will be deleted. If you accidentally delete your blocks, click Cancel at the bottom of your Survey Flow and all of the changes you made will not be saved.
QTips
- Make sure all blocks that you want authenticated are under the Authenticator element. This means they are not on the same outside tear as the Authenticator in the Survey Flow, but are indented under the Authenticator.
- If you are going to be testing out your Authenticator, make sure you add extra dummy contacts to your panel so you can log in to the Authenticator yourself while testing. Otherwise, wait to put your survey elements under the Authenticator until you are done testing.
- Make sure that the respondent has the information they need to log in to the Authenticator.
- If you click Reload any previously saved progress upon authentication, make sure you only have one Authenticator in your Survey Flow and that it is at the beginning of the flow.