With new releases come new features, and with new features comes having to learn how to use them. Offline participation is one of those that can be a little hard to wrap your head around.
Let’s go over some frequently asked questions and use cases so you can figure out if Offline Participation is right for your next project.
What is Offline Participation?
Offline Participation is a feature that allows you to collect survey responses without being connected to the internet. Put simply, it’s a publishing method that allows you to generate a special URL in your Sogolytics account and then open that link in your browser when you need to collect offline responses.
If I access the offline survey via URL, then how is it offline?
The URL for Offline Participation can be bookmarked or loaded into a browser tab before you lose internet connection. Once the page URL is pulled up, you can collect responses regardless of internet connection. The responses will be stored in your browser cache until you reconnect to the internet and upload them.
How many responses can the browser store?
Up to 100 responses can be stored in the browser, but this number can be less given the browser that you choose to use. Make sure to connect to Wi-Fi and upload your responses as frequently as possible so you don’t miss any responses.
What happens if I accidentally close out the tab while collecting offline responses?
If you accidentally close out the tab have no fear! When you reopen the tab from your bookmarks or reconnect to the internet and open it via your browser, the responses you collected before closing will still be there.
Are all design features available with Offline Participation?
Some design features, such as Pre-Population and Save and Continue Later, are not available in the offline mode. Any feature that requires internet connection will be complete unavailable. For the complete least of incompatible features and suggested work arounds, check out the User Guide page on Offline Participation.
Does this mean that my participants who don’t have internet connection can fill out my survey?
Yes, but maybe not in the way that you think. The offline participation link isn’t something that you send directly to participants. Afterall, they would need internet connection to receive and load the link. This is for you or one of your colleagues to collect offline responses on your own devices.
Can I have some examples of when I could use Offline Participation?
Of course! Here are three example use cases:
#1
You’re conducting an employee satisfaction survey. You need to distribute the survey but not all your employees have company emails. You could post a QR code to the survey for your employees to scan and take the survey, but you’re not sure if all of them have smart phones and even if they did, they work in a warehouse with spotty Wi-Fi. This is where Offline Participation fits in.
You can set up a kiosk of sorts where your employees can fill out the survey. Simply pull up the offline survey URL on a device (such as a laptop or tablet), place it in a spot that’s accessible to all your employees, and have them fill out the survey, one by one, on the device.
#2
You’re hosting a booth at a conference or convention, and you want attendees to sign up for your business’s mailing list through a survey. The catch is – there’s no Wi-Fi. In this case, pull up the offline URL from your bookmarks and have attendees sign-up on your offline device.
#3
You’re using Sogolytics to conduct in person research. You’re not sure if you’ll have internet connection when you survey your participants. Offline Participation lets you collect feedback on your device without having to worry about Wi-Fi connection.
Is Offline Participation right for me?
That’s up to you to decide! Hopefully this article has made Offline Participation and its capabilities a little clearer. If you still have questions visit our User Guide, attend our What’s New? webinar, or sign up for a one-on-one support call.
