LimeSurvey (Opens in a new tab) It is a great open source tool for creating online polls, surveys and quizzes. It can be used as a simple or complex solution to reach your audience. Surveys can be set to invite only and there are over 28 different question types such as multiple choice, free text, and select a photo.
Businesses can benefit from targeted customer surveys, professional market research, and the helpful insights that LimeSurvey generates from survey statistics.
In this guide, we will show you how to install LimeSurvey on the popular web host Hostinger (Opens in a new tab). It is a highly rated web hosting provider with plans starting at just $1.99.
How to create your own polling platform with LimeSurvey: Preparation
Hostinger, like many web hosts, makes installing LimeSurvey easy by using its automatic installation wizard. To get LimeSurvey up and running, go to Auto Installer in the Hostinger admin panel. Select Other and choose LimeSurvey from the dropdown menu.
The installer is a two-step process. For the first step, fill in the basic details like the new website name, folder, and administrator login credentials. You can choose to install LimeSurvey on an existing database or create a new one. In general, creating a new database is the best option as it keeps your LimeSurvey data separate from other applications.
For the second step of the wizard, you can choose to install an older version of LimeSurvey and decide whether the app should update automatically. Again, leaving these settings at default is usually a good idea.
Finally, click Install.
Step 1: Log in to LimeSurvey as an administrator
Now that LimeSurvey is installed, go to the Auto Installer page, right-click on LimeSurvey, and select Manage. This will open the LimeSurvey admin panel URL. Enter the username and password you set up in the first step of the installation wizard to log in.
Step 2: Add free text questions to your survey
Choose Create Survey to start your first survey. You will be asked for the survey title and primary language. Your survey will be automatically populated with one question to start with.
LimeSurvey has more than 28 different types of questions that you can create. To switch between them, click the button under Switch Question Type. A long free text is a simple type of question that will ask the participant to enter a text answer to a question.
Click Save on your question when you’re finished editing it. You can click the question preview to see how your question will look to survey participants.
Step 3: Add multiple choice questions to your questionnaire
Click Add Question and change the question type to Boot Buttons. This type of question asks the survey participant to select one option from several buttons.
You have now chosen a different type of question, additional options are available. In the case of boot buttons, you can add and remove answer options that people can choose from.
Advanced features can be set for each question by changing the settings in the column on the right. You can do things like add a timer to questions or set questions to be mandatory. To see what each of these settings do, hover over the green question mark next to it.
Step 4: Set the question set name
Questions are divided into groups in LimeSurvey. The name of the question group will be displayed in relation to the questions in the survey, so you’ll want to change it to an appropriate title.
Simply click on the group name in the column to the left and click Edit. This takes you to the Edit Collection page, where you can change the title and description of the question set.
Step 5: Preview your survey
When the survey is complete, click on Preview the survey, it will open in a new tab. You will be able to participate in your survey and see how participants view and interact with it. No data will be saved during this step.
Step 6: Activate your survey
Activating the survey will publish it and make it live to the participants. To do this, click Activate this survey. The form will ask you to confirm a few other settings, such as whether you want to store participants’ details or whether you want to be completely anonymous. Once you have made your choices, your survey will be published.
You will be asked if you want to make your survey accessible (available to everyone you send the URL to) or closed access (by invitation only with an access token).
Seventh Step: View your survey results
As the survey results come in, you can view insights in the LimeSurvey Stats section.
You can see an overview of the results you received in the simple mode. By switching to expert mode, you can generate specific and detailed reports from the responses you have received.
summary
This guide has taught you how to create your first survey with LimeSurvey. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what can be achieved with this online survey tool.
There is a great deal of freedom in how the questions are formatted and designed, and it is possible to create complex surveys with multiple branching paths. The reporting system is also robust, allowing you to dig into the responses you receive to find useful insights into the data.
Installing LimeSurvey is a good alternative to our favorite commercial survey tools (Opens in a new tab), though it does take longer to setup than using one of these cloud-based solutions. It can be used for professional market research, as a customer feedback tool (Opens in a new tab) For business development, or simply to create an interesting test for your visitors.
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