Skip/Branch
What is Skip/Branch?
Skip/Branch is a way to customize the flow of your form using a set of rules that you can define. Skip rules are used to show/hide individual questions, allowing items to be "skipped". Branch rules are used to set which page should come next on multi-page forms, allowing forms to "branch" to different pages. You can find the Skip/Branch page by editing your form and clicking the "Skip/Branch" button near the top. Alternately, you can edit an individual form item's Skip/Branch rules by editing the item and clicking the "Skip/Branch" tab.
Skip requires a form with at least two pages; branch requires a form with at least three pages. You can split your form into multiple pages by using a Page Break item.
When building your form, it is easiest to add Skip/Branch rules last, after you have finished adding and positioning all of your form items. If you move or delete an item that Skip/Branch rules depend on, your form may not work as expected.
Skip Example
Skip is useful in cases where you need to ask a question that only makes sense when the user answered a previous question in a certain way. For example, suppose you had this question on the first page of your form:
How many cats do you own?
* none
* 1
* 2
* 3 or more
And this question on the second page of your form:
What are the names of your cats?
It only makes sense to ask for the cats' names if the user chose something other than "none" for the previous question. Skip rules can be used to make the second question show only in cases where the user did not choose "none" for the first question. To do this, go to the Skip/Branch page.
On the Skip/Branch page, find the box for "What are the names of your cats?". Change the settings so that the box reads:
"Hide" | WHEN | "How many cats do you own?" | IS | "none"
This will keep the item hidden if the user chose "none". An alternate way to create this same behavior would be to use multiple rules. Change the settings so that the box reads:
"Show" | WHEN | "How many cats do you own?" | IS | "1"
Then click the "more" button to add another rule. Make the next row read:
"OR" | "How many cats do you own?" | IS | "2"
Add a final row for the last choice:
"OR" | "How many cats do you own?" | IS | "3 or more"
This will keep the item visible if the user chose "1", "2", or "3 or more".
Branch Example
Branch is useful in cases where you have several completely different sets of questions that only make sense to ask when the user answered a previous question in a certain way. For example, suppose you had this question on the first page of your form:
Do you prefer cats or dogs?
* cats
* dogs
Suppose you have two more pages, a page of cat questions followed by a page of dog questions.
If the user chose "cats" you want to show the cat page, and if the user chose "dogs" you want to show the dog page. Branch rules can be used to have your form choose which page to display next. To do this, go to the Skip/Branch page.
On the Skip/Branch page, find the box for "Page Break 1". This box controls which page comes after page 1 (the "Page Break 2" box controls which page comes after page 2, etc). Change the settings so that the box reads:
"Page 3" | WHEN | "Do you prefer cats or dogs?" | IS | "dogs"
This will cause page 1 to branch to page 3 if the user chose "dogs". If the user chose "cats", the form will continue to the next page as normal.
As with Skip rules, you can use the "more" button to add multiple Branch rules. Branch rules are checked in the order in which they appear on the Skip/Branch setup page. The first rule that is found to be true is used.
Forms can only branch forwards, a page cannot branch to itself or to a page before it. If you need your form to end on a page other than the last page, you can select a Success Page as the page to branch to.
Additional Information
Only a user's answers to multiple choice questions can be used to create Skip/Branch rules.
List of items that can be used to create Skip/Branch rules:
- Radio Button
- Dropdown
- Checkbox
- Radio Button Email Routing
- Checkbox Email Routing
- Radio Button Totaling
- Checkbox Totaling
- Radio Button Percent