I am currently working on a questionnaire where I need to display a user-specific link imported from Headquarters. My goal is to preload a URL (for example, a link to an image of a store) into a text variable and then display it to the interviewer/respondent as a clickable link within the questionnaire. Each questionnaire should display a different link, as each store is different. In total, I have around 900 stores.
Here is what I have tried so far:
I created a text question variable (e.g., hh_id_link) to store the URL imported from HQ.
I attempted to display the link in a static text question using HTML (e.g., anchor tag) and also tried other formatting approaches.
However, the HTML is removed or not rendered when saving, and I cannot get the dynamic link to appear as clickable in Designer.
I understand that there may be limitations with rendering dynamic hyperlinks using variables, but I would like to confirm the recommended or supported approach.
Could you please advise:
Is it possible to display a dynamic clickable hyperlink using a variable (e.g., %hh_id_link%) in Survey Solutions?
If not, what is the recommended way to allow interviewers/respondents to open a user-specific URL imported from HQ?
Are there any settings, formatting options, or workarounds (e.g., attachments, enabling formatted text, specific question types) that I should use?
Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.
If your purpose is to provide the location of the stores so that the enumerators can visit there directly, then you can create a GPS questionnaire on the cover page and pre-upload the latitude and longitude for the respective stores. It would show the location option on the interviewer application. I’m attaching a YouTube link for your reference. GPS Navigation
Hello @rrsahu , thank you very much for your response.
I already have a GPS question implemented in the questionnaire. However, in our field conditions, GPS coordinates are not always precise enough. This is why we also provide a picture of the store frontage so that interviewers can clearly identify the correct location in the field.
Each store has its own specific image, which is available through a unique URL. This is the reason why I am trying to display a user-specific link imported from Headquarters, the link points to the picture of the store.
Could you please clarify whether it is possible to display a dynamic clickable hyperlink using a variable (for example %hh_id_link%) within the questionnaire?
If this is not supported, could you advise on the recommended approach to allow interviewers to access a store-specific image via a link?
Hello @NHYMAN,
Generally, you cannot “upload” a hyperlink file that becomes a clickable element within the Survey Solutions interview screen (like a web link you’d click in a browser).
If you put a web address (e.g., https://www.example.com) into a Static Text question or a Hint for a question, it will appear as plain text. The enumerator would typically have to manually copy that text and paste it into a web browser on their tablet to access the external resource. It won’t be a directly clickable link within the Survey Solutions app itself for general information display.
If you want to just display the photos of stores, then you can create a static text, and in the attachment segment, upload images with unique names. Later, from the Headquarter part, under the image variable, we provided those image names to link them properly. Hope this helps. I’ve attached an image below for your reference.
You can find the way how to do that here. But, here is a small hint user the regular markdown style to make a hyperlink in a question text. static text, error message, etc.
Dear @vfedoseev,
We were discussing the external hyperlink and not the internal one. I saw it, and this is possible. But his question was, can we upload the hyperlinks so that the enumerator can click on them to see the stores?
@NHYMAN Please let me know if I understood the question accurately.
Thank you both for your responses and for taking the time to look into this.
To clarify the situation:
We initially considered the image attachment solution (uploading store images directly into the questionnaire) as you proprosed @rrsahu . However, from a GDPR confidentiality standpoint, our Data Protection Officer did not approve this approach.
The images we use do not only contain the store frontage; they may also include additional contextual information that can be considered sensitive. Because Survey Solutions Designer is cloud-based, importing these images into the Designer would mean storing potentially sensitive data outside our secure infrastructure. This would conflict with our statistical data protection regulations.
For this reason, we decided instead to host the images on our own secure internal server.
Our intended workflow is therefore:
Host store images securely on our internal server
Create a text question in Designer (e.g., hh_id_link) to store a URL
Create a Static Text question that displays this URL as a clickable link
In Headquarters, import our list of stores while adding a column named hh_id_link containing the unique link for each store.
This would allow interviewers to access the store image via the link directly from the survey tool, without storing the image itself in Survey Solutions.
@vfedoseev, I did try using markdown-style formatting to create a clickable link (putting the link between angle brackets <>), but this did not work in practice.
This is why I reached out the you, as to know if there were a supported way in Survey Solutions to display a dynamic, clickable external hyperlink using a variable (such as %hh_id_link%)?
Or is it technically expected that such links can only be displayed as plain text and opened manually outside the app? To which @rrsahu replied.
Markup format: [visible text](link text). But this won’t help you dynamically generate links using preloading, because they will still be displayed as plain text.
Perhaps your approach is the best solution in your case. One more option you have is:
Add 900 (since you have around 900 stores) static texts (one link per text).
Hide them all using enabling conditions.
Use preloading to display only the necessary ones.
This will certainly make your questionnaire cumbersome, but the links will be displayed as clickable and sensitive content will not be displayed. I have prepared an example here, which may be useful to you. Keep in mind, the limit on the number of items in a single section is 1000.
That is not a good approach. As soon as you need to replace a non-participating store or add one to boost your sample you will need to modify the questionnaire and effectively start a new survey. That is different from having a fixed nomenclature of items that @rrsahu is tracking.
This will not work in the CAPI mode which assumes the interviewers may work without connectivity.
What does “securely” mean in this sentence? If you are expecting to access this info from the Interviewer app, you cannot rely on the interviewer credential in the app (they are certainly not accessible from the syntax to construct any dynamic link), thus I understand your links will be publicly exposed. Your GDPR officer may be ok with this (have you asked?), but mentioning “securely” sounds more like trying to sweep it under the carpet.
Is that really the markdown style? In the past it used square brackets and parentheses.
I think your situation would be perfectly resolved with image preloading, if that was possible (which is not). Check the github issue tracker around here:
Upvote this feature by adding your organization/country/survey name.
