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Survey123 App - Survey description not appear

YHH

Hello all,

I have been creating my survey using Survey123 version 3.17. I am still in the process of designing the survey. When I click "Preview", I can see my survey description, but the description doesn't appar when I see my survey in the ArcGIS Survey123 App. I have tried the iPhone and Microsoft desktop versions. The Survey elements (survey header, description, footer) are on. I re-downloaded the app, but it still have the same issue.

I believe I could see the survey description last year. Is it an error?

Please advise.

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ChristopherCounsell

There are three parts to Survey123. Desktop (Connect), website (ArcGIS Online) and field app (survey123 mobile app).

If you make an update in connect, it goes to the website. The field app will only get it if you download the updated form.

Can you please ensure you have a) published the survey form and b) downloaded it to the field app.

If not successful, can you please elaborate on where the survey description is? in the survey questionnaire? item details?

YHH

Thank you for your reply!

I use the Survey123 on ArcGIS Online to create my survey and the Survey123 Mobile App to display the survey (I already downloaded the app).

The survey description is on the Survey123 on ArcGIS Online. I can see the survey description when I click "Preview", but I can not see the description on the Survey123 Mobile App. It starts showing from the questionnaire I created.

Survey123 ArcGIS Online.png

Survey123 Mobile App.jpg

ChristopherCounsell

The 'survey description' section of the web designer is a 'note' question that allows you to add text to your survey. It should be supported in the field app.

I think the issue is that you have made changes to your survey, but you have not published them. They will appear in the 'preview' but won't appear in the form in either the web browser or field app, as the changes have not been committed to the actual, published survey.

If you want your changes to the survey to appear, publish them.

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/browser/create-surveys/previewyourform.htm

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/browser/create-surveys/publishsurvey.htm

GeospatialClarity

I am seeing the same thing, a missing survey description. The survey, created in AGOL, is published and the preview shows it, but not the desktop app nor the android app.

ChristopherCounsell

Preview = preview unpublished changes. It's not a good reference point to discuss against. I'm not sure if either of you have a legitimate issue where the description isn't appearing in the field app, or if you have not published the changes and then downloaded the form.

Publish the survey. Don't preview it. If you want to see it as it is currently live in the WEB FORM, launch the survey in a browser i.e. follow the steps below to launch the survey in the browser:
https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/browser/create-surveys/sharesurvey.htm#GUID-D7BD77AF-C8BE-4F56-9575-B796E17CCA74
Confirm that it's working as expected in the web browser as above. This is your published survey and reference point for what is working in the browser vs the field software.
Download the survey to the Survey123 field app software. You will need to download the updated form, if you have made updates to the survey (i.e. adding a description and publishing the update).
Confirm you are on the latest version of the Survey123 field app.

If the issue persists with the above steps followed and your are on the latest version, then it suggests that the behavior is not working as expected.

YHH

Thank you for your reply again magisian. I did 'published' my survey (I tried many many times like, save published save published), but the issue is still persist. So, I used a 'Note' question and used like a survey description section. Then, I turned off Survey description button from the Survey elements. Now I can see my survey description in the field app.

melj

I'm having the same issue. where the published survey (created on web) that is opened in the field app just shows a blank of the description (in my case the first page is description, questions start on the next one). But when I open my published survey via web, the description is correctly displayed.

jawhitacre@PA.LCL_PAGame

I am also experiencing this behavior. I updated the text and background colors and that didn't fix anything. It looks fine in the mobile app. Is this a bug?

@Ruth_JiatengXu you seem active on other issue similar to this one...any help you can provide?

Ruth_JiatengXu

Hi @James_Whitacre_PGC @melj @YHH @ChristopherCounsell @GeospatialClarity

Thanks for sharing here! The survey description is currently only supported in the web app. The survey description published in the web designer will become the hint of the note question called generated_note_form_title. This generated_note question is hidden by default in the Connect and Field App.

If you want to see the survey description in the Connect and Field App, please copy the hint to a note question.

Doc reference: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/xlsformnotes.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_31E80EF0A30346F2B083BA1524B378D9

Thanks,

Ruth

ChristopherCounsell

Thanks Ruth. I'd reviewed the documentation and blogs and they referred to the description as a Note question:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-blog/introducing-custom-themes-in-survey123-web/ba-p/893966

The Survey Description element, in Survey123 jargon, is a Note question type

@IsmaelChivitemight be worth adding the caveat to the blogs?

jawhitacre@PA.LCL_PAGame

Thanks for responding @Ruth_JiatengXu and for clarifying. However, this seems to indicate that in order to use a survey in both a browser and the mobile app, you much now publish the survey from Connect and that surveys designed using the web designer can only be used in a browser. If that is the case, this a serious design flaw in the overall design of Survey123. I would hope and expect that no matter where you design the survey, it should look the same across all devices and platforms.

To put this in perspective, this issue/flaw resulted in me losing over 6 hours of work trying to troubleshoot and figure out the proper solution as I was trying to push the survey to go live. So what I expected to be a 15 minute process resulted in me basically losing a day of work and a day delay in going live on the survey. I am also now forced to continue using the Connect app to make any edits instead of the more convenient web designer.

Ruth_JiatengXu

Hi @James_Whitacre_PGC, we are sorry for the inconvenience. I have created an internal issue to support the survey description in the field app. I will let you know when the fix is available.

ChristopherCounsell

hi @James_Whitacre_PGC here's a few bullet points that may help understanding working with Survey123 designers moving forward:

Survey123 is generally treated as a 'developer' platform. It's more accessible to traditional non-developers, but you really benefit from taking a developer approach (build, test, release)
Survey123 Connect was the original designer for the Survey123 field app. The web forms and web form designer came later, and started off with minimal functionality.
Although the web designer is getting better, Survey123 Connect is much more powerful for designing survey forms. There are some things that are only supported in the web designer.
I generally use Survey123 Connect to design for the Survey123 field app. There's a more direct alignment with this builder and the field app. I also use it for web forms, but make sure to test in the target environment and check what functionality won't be supported by the browser.
I generally only use the web form designer when I'm making a brief survey, it's simple, it will primarily be used in the web browser e.g. by external users, or if another staff member needs to update it and they don't have skills in Survey123 Connect

You can make it easier by just going Connect = field app, web designer = web forms. If you want to blur the lines:

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/faq/faqcreatesurveys.htm#anchor1

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/quickreferencecreatesurveys.htm

Change the 'connect' vs 'web designer' on the documentation pages
And take care when exploring newer functionality - test in both target environments.

Hope this helps with future efforts.

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