Hosting your Survey

Option 1: Linking

By and far the easiest way to host your survey is to simply provide a link from your website to the survey. There are a couple variants of this method. The key is the URL to your survey page. You can always find it by clicking the host option for your survey. The format of the link is as follows:

http://larry.boeldt.net/survey/survey.asp?SurveyID=#

  Let's say for instance your survey ID# is 1. Your link would look something like this:

<a href="http://larry.boeldt.net/survey/survey.asp?SurveyID=1">Fill out our survey</a>

With the basic link structure in place you also have an opportunity to make this link arrive in a popup. The most compatible way to handle this is to use the _blank target.

<a href="http://larry.boeldt.net/survey/survey.asp?SurveyID=1" target="_blank">Fill out our survey</a>

Finally, if you are advanced you know you can use the javascript window.open command there are numerous resources for the window.open command that explain how to use this command

Option 2: FTP Survey to your site

Sometimes simply linking to the survey is not enough. For example many corporate users need to make sure the survey fits within the look and feel of their web site. Survey Builder makes uploading the content to your survey relatively easy. The screen below illustrates the fully filled form for hosting.

Instructions: Gives you the basics of how to link to your survey (covered in the previous section) or host. To host the survey you must set up a /surveydata/ folder on your web server and provide ftp access to the survey. The IUSER_SERVER account must have read/write access to this folder because it stores the filled out surveys as XML on that folder. Survey builder periodically checks this folder for files, when it finds them it downloads them to the survey builder server and loads them into your survey database.

The following bullets describe each of the fields:

• Instructions - Proivdes some basic directions on how to use the hosting screen. Generally important notes are in red.
• FTPSite - This is the name or IP Address of your FTP Server
• FTPFolder - This indicates the folder on your FTP Server where the survey file and surveys will be stored.
• FTPFileName - This is the .asp file name (without the .asp extension) that you wish to call your file.
• FTPLogin - This is the loginname of your FTP Server account (ask your administrator)
• FTPPassword - This is the password for your FTP Server account
• FTPPickupPath - Your administrator will create a "virtual path" to your survey data called /surveydata on your website. Usually the FTP Pickup Path and FTP Folder are the same this additional setting offers the flexability to have a separate path for this data.
• FTPMode - Usually the Active mode is best, but some servers (especially those behind firewalls) will refuse to allow the file to be uploaded. If you have trouble uploading try switching to between Active and Passive modes to see which will successfully upload your file.
• StyleSheet - A stylesheet defines the appearance of your survey. The stylesheets provide some colorful options for presenting your survey. Choose the one that suits you best. You can always use the "Preview" in the survey editor to see the results.
• Hosting Links - Before you use these links you must have filled out the above fields and clicked update. Also if you change any of the above, click update first.
• Send to FTP Server Now - Clicking this link will push the survey up to your website.
• Delete Survey - Delete the survey file from your web server.
• Host DIR - View a directory listing of your survey folder.

Option 3: Use an IFrame

This option is pretty cool. You create a page on your website then create an HTML IFrame that points to the Survey URL on larry.boeldt.net. Heres the HTML for this option:

<iframe 
	frameborder="0"
	scrolling="0"
	src="http://larry.boeldt.net/survey/survey.asp?SurveyID=1"
 	style="border:0px;height:8192px;width:100%;">
</iframe>

Your survey will show up similar to this snapshot (if your entire survey does not display in the frame, increase the height:8192px to a higher number of pixels until the submit button displays:

I suggest always setting the pixel height to fit your survey plus a buffer in case someone's browser "Squeezes" the survey and makes it taller. So once you find a good maximum, add 300 or 400 pixels to the number to ensure the survey will always fit in your iframe.

Option 4: Use Frames

If you are fimiliar with frames you can create an HTML Frameset in your website then point the main frame to the survey URL. Personally I preferr the IFrame option, but if you must support really old browsers the IFrame might not be compatible. Frames are widely supported but still not 100%. Given that most environments use a modern V4 or newer browser.

Option 5: You host and post to US

This option is quite tricky but offers a good compromise between the hosting location of your survey. Basically you present the survey to be filled out from your website. Then submit to your survey URL on larry.boeldt.net.

The trick is to follow your normal hosting option. But then intervene on your own web server by changing the <FORM> tag's action element of your survey from surveyname.asp to the survey URL listed on the hosting screen. Also add a target="_blank" to the form tag to pull up the results in a popup window. The great thing about using the _blank element is that unlike a javascript popup, the _blank tag is not blocked by popup blocking utilities, thus ensuring the survey will post. The other benefit is that your website is visible behind the window and the user simply has to click the X to close the survey results window and return to your web site.