> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.liftify.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build and publish a survey

> Create a survey, add and arrange questions, split it across pages, show questions conditionally, route by NPS score, preview it, and publish.

A survey is the questionnaire your customers fill in — an NPS question, a few
follow-ups, a thank-you page. You build it here, preview it, then publish it. A
survey only reaches customers once a campaign sends it, so publishing is the
step that makes it usable, not the step that sends it.

Click **Surveys** in the left navigation to start. The subnav has a **Surveys**
group with **All**, **Active**, and **Draft**.

## Step 1: Create the survey

1. Click **Create Survey** at the top right of the **Surveys** page.
2. Liftify creates a draft called *New Survey*, confirms with "Survey draft created successfully.", and drops you straight into the builder.

If the button is greyed out, hovering it explains why: *"You don't have permission to create surveys"*.

To reopen a survey later, find its card on the **Surveys** page and click
**Edit**. Each card shows the survey name, a copy control for the **Survey ID**,
a line reading "Created 3/4/2026 by Dana Reyes · Last updated 3/9/2026", and two
counts — **Sent** and **Responses**.

<Info>
  Narrow a long list with the filter bar: **Created Date**, the search button
  (*"Search surveys..."*), and **Clear all filters** once a filter is on.
</Info>

## Step 2: Learn the three panels

The builder is three columns:

* **Left** — **Add Element** plus the running list of everything in the survey, in order.
* **Middle** — the editor for whichever element you have selected.
* **Right** — **Settings** for the survey as a whole.

Across the top: a back arrow, **Save Draft**, the survey name (click it to
rename — 255 characters max), **Languages**, **Preview**, **Publish**, and a
trash button to delete the survey.

<Warning>
  Nothing you type is saved until you click **Save Draft**, **Preview**, or
  **Publish**. If you try to leave with unsaved work, an **Unsaved Changes**
  window asks *"You have unsaved survey changes. Leave this page without
  saving?"* — **Cancel** keeps you on the page, **Leave page** discards.
</Warning>

If you only have permission to view the survey, **Save Draft** is replaced by a
**Read only** label and the editors are locked.

## Step 3: Add your questions

Click **Add Element** and pick a type. Until you add one, the list reads *"Add
your first element to start building this survey."*

| Element                 | What the customer sees                                                          |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **NPS**                 | The 0–10 "how likely are you to recommend us" scale                             |
| **Paragraph**           | A multi-line free-text box                                                      |
| **Short answer**        | A single-line text box                                                          |
| **Rating**              | A numeric scale you set the top of                                              |
| **Checkboxes**          | A list where they can tick more than one                                        |
| **Multiple Choice**     | A list where they pick exactly one                                              |
| **Contact Info**        | A block of contact fields — **First Name**, **Last Name**, **Email**, **Phone** |
| **Matrix Rating**       | Several rows rated on one shared scale                                          |
| **Matrix Radio Choice** | Several rows, one choice each, on shared columns                                |
| **Matrix Dropdown**     | Several rows, each answered from a shared dropdown                              |
| **Description**         | Text you want to show them — not a question                                     |
| **Thank-you page**      | The closing page                                                                |

**Thank-you page** disappears from the menu once the survey has one — a survey
gets at most one.

### Fill in the editor

Click an element in the left list to open its editor. The fields depend on the
type, but the common ones are:

* **Prompt** — the question itself. The hint under it reads *"Add a merge field by typing `{{`"*, which is how you drop in values like the customer's name.
* **Placeholder (optional)** — on **Short answer** and **Paragraph**; *"Shown inside the text field before the respondent types"*.
* **Scale Description (left side)** / **Scale Description (right side)** — the wording at each end of an **NPS** or **Rating** scale. On NPS the hints say *"Shown next to 0"* and *"Shown next to 10"*.
* **Scale Upper Limit** — on **Rating**, how high the scale goes.
* **Choices** with **Add Choice** — on **Checkboxes** and **Multiple Choice**.
* **Add Row** — on the matrix types, one row per thing you're asking about.
* **Add Field** — on **Contact Info**, for a contact field beyond the four standard ones. Each row has its own on/off switch and its own **Required** box.
* **Heading** and **Message** — on the **Thank-you page**.
* **Content** — on **Description**.

Most question types also have a **Required** checkbox: *"Respondents must answer
this question before continuing."* A question that is not required shows an
**Optional** badge in the left list.

### Reorder, duplicate, and delete

* **Reorder** — drag an element by its handle in the left list.
* **Duplicate element** and **Delete element** — the **⋮** button on each row.
* Deleting asks you to confirm in a **Delete Element** window first.

## Step 4: Split the survey across pages

Hover the gap between two questions in the left list and click **Insert Page
Break**. The break appears as a dashed **Page Break** row, which you can drag or
delete like anything else.

Selecting a page break shows: *"This break starts a new page in the survey flow.
Use the element actions menu to remove it."*

<Note>
  Some page breaks are added for you and can't be dragged or deleted — see
  **Display logic** below. That's deliberate: a conditional question has to sit
  on its own page so the answer it depends on is already submitted.
</Note>

## Step 5: Show a question only when it applies

Display logic hides a question unless earlier answers match. Open the question
you want to hide and scroll to **Display Logic**, described on screen as *"This
question is displayed if any block's conditions are all met"*.

1. Click **Add display logic**.
2. In the block, **If answer to** picks the earlier question you're keying off.
3. On the condition row, choose the operator — **is**, **is not**, **is greater than**, **is within the range of**, **is less than** — and the value. **is within the range of** takes two values, joined on screen by **and**, and includes both ends.
4. **Add Condition** adds another row to the same block. Rows in one block are joined by **AND** — all of them must be true.
5. **Add another display logic** adds a second block. Blocks are alternatives — the question shows if *any* block is fully satisfied.
6. The trash button on a row removes that condition.

Two limits worth knowing before you plan a survey around this:

* **Only some questions can be the source.** You can key off an **NPS**, a **Rating**, or a **Multiple Choice** question. Matrix questions and **Description** blocks can be hidden by display logic but cannot drive it.
* **The first question can't be hidden.** There's nothing before it to test. On the first question the section reads *"Display logic is available after the first question."*

## Step 6: Route by NPS score

Routing sends a respondent to a different question depending on their NPS score
— for example, unhappy scores to a "what went wrong" question and happy ones
straight to the thank-you page.

Open the **NPS** question and find **Routing**.

1. Click **Add Route**.
2. **If answer** takes an operator and a score from 0 to 10. **is within the range of** shows a second score box with **and** between them, and includes both ends.
3. **Route to** picks the destination question.
4. The trash button removes a route.

Two rules the builder enforces:

* **A destination must come later in the survey.** The current question and anything before it aren't offered. Until there is a later question, the section reads *"Add another question to configure conditional routing for this question."*
* **Order decides the outcome.** Routes are evaluated top to bottom and the first one that matches wins. Reordering routes changes what the survey does.

If no route matches, the respondent simply continues — next question on the
page, then the next page, then the end of the survey.

## Step 7: Set the look and the buttons

The **Settings** panel on the right applies to the whole survey.

| Setting                      | What it does                                                                                           |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Use survey name as title** | On, the page is titled with the survey's name. Turn it off and a **Custom title** box appears.         |
| **Logo**                     | Shows your logo. The **(from settings)** link opens the branding settings where the logo itself lives. |
| **Progress Indicator**       | Shows respondents how far through they are.                                                            |
| **CTA Buttons - Background** | *"Background color for the call-to-action buttons"*                                                    |
| **CTA Buttons - Font**       | *"Font color for the call-to-action buttons"*                                                          |
| **Next Button Text**         | Wording on the button that moves to the next page.                                                     |
| **Submit Button Text**       | Wording on the final button.                                                                           |

The two color rows take a hex value or a swatch you click to open a picker.

## Step 8: Preview it

Click **Preview**. Liftify saves what you've done and opens the survey the way a
customer would see it, including page breaks, display logic, and routing.

If you see *"Preview is temporarily unavailable. Please try again."*, the
preview couldn't be set up — your work is still saved; try again.

## Step 9: Publish

Click **Publish**. On success Liftify returns you to the **Surveys** list with
"Survey published successfully." and the survey moves to **Active**.

Editing a survey that's already live is the same flow — the button reads
**Republish**, and the confirmation is "Survey republished successfully." Until
you republish, live respondents keep getting the version you published last.

Publishing is refused, with the reason on screen, when:

* **The survey has no questions** — *"A survey must have at least one question before it can be published."*
* **Display logic doesn't hold up** — for example a condition pointing at a question you have since deleted or moved later. Fix the flagged question and publish again.
* **A language you added isn't fully translated.** Every language on the **Languages** page must be complete before the survey can go out.

## Getting the survey to customers

Publishing does not send anything. A survey reaches customers through a
campaign: pick **Survey** as the campaign type, choose this survey on the
campaign's **Basic Info** step, and include the survey link in a touchpoint. See
[Campaign types explained](/campaigns/campaign-types-explained) and
[Add and edit touchpoints](/campaigns/add-and-edit-touchpoints).

## Delete a survey

The trash button in the builder header opens **Delete Survey** — *"Are you sure
you want to delete this survey?"*

A survey that people have already answered cannot be deleted:
*"This survey can't be deleted because it already has responses."* Leave it in
place; its responses stay readable.

## Troubleshooting

**"This survey has changed. Please refresh and try again."** Someone else saved
this survey while you had it open. Refresh and redo your edit — otherwise you'd
overwrite their work.

**"Your unsaved survey changes are no longer available. Please refresh and try
again."** The builder lost track of your unsaved edits, usually after sitting
open a long time. Refresh and re-enter them.

**A question is outlined in red.** Something in it is invalid — an empty
**Prompt**, a broken display-logic condition, a route with no destination. The
message under the field says what. You can't publish until it's fixed.

**My display logic block says "Invalid source" / my route says "Invalid
destination".** The question it pointed at was deleted, or moved so it no longer
comes before (for display logic) or after (for routing) this one. Pick a valid
question or remove the rule.

**A page break I didn't add won't budge.** It was added automatically around a
question that has display logic. Remove the display logic and the break goes
with it.