• Age: Input age as a number (e.g. 32).
• Currency: Input currency or money as values (e.g. $29.99)
• Integer: Accept whole numbers as an input (e.g. 5)
• Decimal: Allow decimal values as an input (e.g. 2.55).
• Numeric slider: Select a value along a predefined scale using a slider.

• Opinion scale
• Multi-choice (single-select)
• Multi-choice (multi-select)
• Binary Yes/No
• Net Promoter Score
• Star rating
• Drop down list
• Multi-select drop down list
• Opinion slider
• Matrix
• Multi-factor scale
• Multi-factor opinion slider
• Picture choice (single-elect)
• Picture choice (multi-select)

• Addition: +
• Subtraction: –
• Multiplication: *
• Division: /
• Power: ^
• Grouping: ( )

• Return minimum value: Min
• Return maximum value: Max
• Greater than: >
• Less than: <
• Equal to: =
• IF statements: IF (

• Results: Select one or more formulas to calculate values from.
• Heading: Write a heading for your results. Each results section will have its own heading.
• Image: Import an image to display along side the result.
• Description: Craft a description for your results. In this section you can pipe text from question answers, hidden fields API, or our CRM. You can also pipe calculations from additional formulas into the description field.
• Call-to-action: Add a CTA below a results section to send visitors to a landing page or website of your choice.

• Greater than: >
• Greater than or equal to: >=
• Equal to: ==

• Lesser than: <
• Lesser than or equal to: <=
• Equal to: ==

• Average value: an average of all values returned by a formula.
• Min: the smallest value input.
• Max: the largest value input.
• Response count: total number of saved responses for a formula.

• URL link: share access with a simple link.
• QR code: download a QR code for respondents to scan.
• Website embed: embed calculators on your website.
• Email invitation: craft bespoke email campaigns to share your calculator.
• Pop-ups & slideouts: have your calculator pop-up or slide out at the click of a button.
• Audience: target qualified respondents from all over the world.

The post Release Notes: Interactive Calculator Builder appeared first on Shout.com.

But as all of you’ve grown, so have we.

We realised that the name KwikSurveys no longer encompasses what we stand for, nor what we hope to achieve.

So, we’d like to introduce Shout.

This is more than just a name to us, it represents our desire to be heard (and to have you be heard). We know change can be disconcerting, so we want to assure you that we aren’t leaving you behind.

No, we’re taking you with us.

What does this mean for you?

In the coming weeks, you’ll notice several changes. Most notably, all traffic will be redirected from KwikSurveys.com to Shout.com, our brand new website.

We’ll have a completely new look and name, but there’s no cause for concern, we’ll still be run by the same devoted and hard working team.

You won’t lose anything in your KwikSurveys account. You’ll be able to log in via the Shout website, and find all your projects and data stored safely. The app will be completely re-branded as Shout, along with all survey links

All our products will remain available to everyone who’s helped us get this far, that’s over 3 million people globally. But, we’ve got big plans for where we’re heading.

We’re going to do what our competitors have failed to do in a time where data protection regulations are popping up around the world. This will mean more features to help you collect data whilst ensuring your’re compliant.

You may have already noticed us roll out some of these features already, most notably including:

• GDPR compliant CRM groups
• Separate PII from response data
• We’ve gone cookieless

Recently, we’ve also made some major improvements to our builder and added a whole new survey format, where you can ask one question at a time. You can learn more about this and our other new features in our latest release notes.

We’d also like to share a few words from our CEO.

To our valued customers,

I want to start by thanking you. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you, and it’s important that you know that you’re the reason we continue to drive forward.

Over the coming weeks, KwikSurveys will be transitioning to a new name, logo, and visual identity that better represents who we are and what we stand for.

And so it’s my pleasure to introduce Shout.

Let me share our reasons for this re-brand with you.

Firstly, we feel that the name KwikSurveys no longer accurately reflects the breadth and depth of our products. As you know, we’ve offered more than just surveys for a long time. You’re able to assess with quizzes, grow your audience with forms, manage contacts in our CRM, and much more.

And since we have big plans for what else you’ll be able to do, now seems like the appropriate time for us to evolve our identity.

Which brings us nicely to our second reason. As our product range grows, so will our values and mission. We’re striving to provide compliant tools for data collection and engaging audiences, and so our brand needs to be more modern, innovative, and reflective of our commitment to delivering those to you.

Finally, we feel that this re-brand is necessary for us to remain competitive in our ever-growing industry. We want a brand that’s unique, memorable, and instantly recognisable to our customers, partners, and stakeholders.

While our name may be changing, our commitment to providing exceptional products, services and support remains unchanged. We’re confident in this new future we’re forging and excited to continue working with you as Shout.

Thank you for your continued support and loyalty, we couldn’t do this without you.

David Meagor, CEO – Shout

That’s all from us for now, thank you again for joining us along this journey. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at help@shout.com.

The post Introducing Shout: A Privacy-First Survey Platform appeared first on Shout.com.

Along with these new features, we’ve added a few other exciting additions to make your surveys more engaging, interactive and personalized.

One question at a time surveys

Our latest survey type is designed to keep respondents engaged and increase completion rates.

How? By displaying one question at a time, which is perfect for short research and lead generation campaigns. This new survey type ensures that respondents stay focused and reduces the effects of survey fatigue.

To create a one question at a time survey:

1. Click the + icon in your dashboard
2. Select ‘Survey’
3. Choose the ‘One’ survey type

Progress bar

We’ve introduced a progress bar that gives respondents a sneak peek of what’s in store for them. This feature will give them an idea of how long your survey will take to complete and what information they may need to prepare.

Progress bars won’t list every question in your survey, they’ll only display your page or section titles.

Hide sections from the progress bar

We’ve made it possible to hide pages so that they don’t appear on your progress bar. This feature is especially useful if you’re using Question Logic, where you can create custom paths through your survey based on respondents’ answer choices.

This ensures that you provide the most personalized and engaging experience.

To hide sections of questions from the progress bar:

1. Click the ⋮ icon next to the section title
2. Select ‘Hide in progress bar’

Page images

Take full control over your survey design with all-new page images that can be added to an entire section or for a single question.

These images help provide context for any questions you have or ensure your branding is present throughout your survey. Get creative with your design and personalize your surveys to leave a lasting impression on respondents.

Welcome section

We’ve added a welcome section to help you greet respondents and share any important information about your research or data processing activities. This section is perfect for setting the expectations for your respondents.

By default, this section will be present when you create a new single-question-per-page survey.

To add another to your survey:

1. Click ‘New question’
2. Selecting Heading/ Greeting

Theme filters

When you now head into the Themes menu in the builder, you’ll see a new filter menu you can interact with. This allows you to more easily find the best theme design for your survey.

These filters are only available for classic surveys, but not to worry. We’ve handpicked the best selection of existing themes for one-question surveys and added a new range that have been specially optimized for this survey type.

Disable auto-scroll

We’ve introduced the option to disable the question highlight bar and auto-scroll feature for Many question survey types. This will give you more control over your survey and allow you to personalize the experience for your respondents.

To disable auto-scroll for classic surveys:

1. Open the Theme menu
2. Switch ‘Highlight next question (auto-scroll) off

Wrapping up

This latest update has something for everyone. From one-question-per-page surveys to progress bars and page images, we’ve got you covered.

So, go ahead and create surveys that are engaging, interactive, and personalized. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

The post Release Notes: One Question at a Time Surveys appeared first on Shout.com.

• What’s new?
  • New and improved survey builder
  • Form tab
  • Improved UI
  • Keyboard shortcuts
• What’s changed?
  • Add questions to your survey
  • Reordering questions
  • Adding and managing survey pages
  • Managing question and page logic
  • Applying question settings
  • Changing exit page type
  • Moving questions to other survey pages
  • Copying questions
  • Applying points/ choosing correct answers (Quizzes only)
• What’s gone?
  • Question settings cog
  • Drag and drop builder
  • Add Items tab
  • Manage Pages tab
  • Logic tab

After we released the new contact management and email builder tools in March, we decided to update and improve some of the existing tools on Shout to give you a better experience.

What’s new?

Let’s begin with all the new features and changes brought to you in this update.

New and improved survey builder

Now that we’ve added more features and layers to the app, we want to streamline some existing processes.

The first port-of-call for this was our survey builder. The classic drag-and-drop builder has been replaced with a more intuitive build menu.

This is where our new Form tab comes into play.

Need a privacy-first survey builder?

Sign up to our 14-Day Free Trial to start using all the features in this update.

Start your Free Trial

Form tab

We’ve consolidated a lot of our existing features under the form tab to streamline the survey building process.

From the Form tab you now add and manage:

• Questions
• Pages (both Question and Exit pages)
• Question Logic
• Page Logic

We’ll get into these changes below, but you’ll now be using the Form tab to manage the majority of your survey’s content and flow.

Improved UI

We’ve reduced the size of the form top bar, to improve your experiences regardless of what device you’re using.

The Form Preview feature has also been moved into the top bar, along with the ‘Add collaborators’ button.

You’ll see that we’ve hidden the page description field by default, you can add this back in by clicking ‘Add page description’ below the page title.

Next to this, you can use the ‘Add logo’ button to add your logo to the top of the form. The position of your logo is determined by the survey theme you’re using.

Keyboard shortcuts

We’ve also introduced a few keyboard shortcuts to enable you to build surveys quickly and easily.

Press CTRL + Q to add a blank question to your survey. Then, enter some question text and our A.I. question prediction tool will select the best question type for you. Alternatively, click the dropdown to manually select a question type from the library.

If you select a Multiple-Choice question type, you can then use the TAB or ENTER key to add new answer options.

What’s changed?

Now, let’s take a look at some of the features or settings that have changed or moved in the app.

Add questions to your survey

Instead of dragging and dropping questions into the survey builder, you can now add and manage questions in the Form Tab.

Click the ‘+ new question’ button to open the question type library. From here you simply select a question type to add it to your survey or quiz.

Hovering over these question types will display an image and description for it.

Reordering questions

Change the order of questions in your survey by dragging and dropping them into place in the Form tab.

This saves you from scrolling through your survey or moving between pages to find a question.

Adding and managing survey pages

All pages (and questions on those pages) are displayed in the Form tab.

To add new pages:

1. Click the ⋮ icon
2. Select ‘Add page’
3. Select ‘Question Page’ or ‘Exit Page’

To reorder pages:

1. Click the ⋮ icon
2. Select ‘Reorder pages’
3. Drag and drop pages into a new order in the Reorder page pop-up
4. Click ‘Done’

To delete pages:

1. Click the ⋮ icon next to the page you want to delete
2. Select ‘Delete page’
3. Confirm your selection

Managing question and page logic

We felt it made sense to consolidate Question and Page Logic into the same space as questions and pages.

So, now you can manage logic at the question level and the page level without having to jump between different tabs.

To add Question Logic:

1. Click the ⋮ icon next to the question you want to apply logic to
2. Select ‘Logic’
3. Use the dropdowns beneath your answer options to choose and select a page

Alternatively, you can use the Question Logic icon beneath the answer option in the builder to open the Logic menu.

To view existing Question Logic:

You can also view all existing logic applied to your questions and pages, to ensure everything is set up correctly.

1. Go to the Form tab
2. Switch to the ‘Question logic’ view

Applying question settings

Previously, you would need to hover over a question and navigate to the settings menu to discover what you could do to make surveys your own.

It didn’t make a lot of sense to us that some of our most useful features were hidden away like that, so we’ve improved their discoverability.

Selecting any question (in the Form tab or in the builder) will reveal all the settings that can be customized for that question type.

For example:

• Add an ‘Other’ answer option
• Make a question required
• Mark a question as collecting personal information (for pseudonymization)
• Randomize answer order
• Set minimum and maximum answer selections

Changing exit page type

As you may know, we have three exit page types for you to choose from:

• Standard thank you page
• Custom exit page
• Redirect to URL upon completion

To switch between these types:

Navigate to your exit page by clicking its title in the Form tab

1. Click the ‘Exit page type’ dropdown in the bottom bar
2. Select an exit page type

Moving questions to other survey pages

Before this update, you would have moved questions to other pages via the question settings cog. We’ve removed this setting cog, but you can now moves questions to other pages by:

1. Go to the Form tab
2. Hover over the question you want to move
3. Click the ⋮ icon next to the question
4. Select ‘Move to page’
5. Click the ‘Select a page’ dropdown
6. Choose a page to move your question to

This will then move your question to the page you selected, which you will be able to see in he Form tab.

Copying questions

As with the above, the copy/  duplicate question feature was available in the question settings wheel. This has also been moved over to the Form tab:

1. Go to the Form tab
2. Hover over the question you want to copy
3. Click the ⋮ icon next to the question
4. Select ‘Copy’

A copy of the original question will appear below the original question.

Applying points/ choosing correct answers (Quizzes only)

We’ve also made it much easier to apply points to questions in quizzes (or mark them as correct). All you need to do is:

1. Click an answer option in the builder
2. Enter a number into the ‘Points’ field for single select questions or mark the answer as correct for multi-select questions

What’s gone?

Here’s an overview of the features you might be used to seeing, but have been removed from the app.

Question settings cog

Previously, the question settings cog would appear when you hovered over a question in the builder. You’d then have to click the Settings option to reveal the specific settings for that question.

We wanted to make it easier to find these settings, so from here on out all question settings will appear in the bottom bar when you click a question in the builder.

Drag and drop builder

We’ve removed the ability to drag and drop questions into the builder from the sidebar. We felt it was much more intuitive for the question type to be added to your survey with a simple click.

However, you can still reorder questions in the Form tab by dragging and dropping them into place.

Add Items tab

This where you would have dragged questions into the builder from. This has been replaced by the Form tab.

Manage Pages tab

Your survey/ quiz pages were previously listed in this tab, but we’ve now consolidated this into the Form tab.

Logic tab

As with the above, we’ve moved all Logic controls to the Form tab. We believe it makes more sense to have all these features in one place.

The post Release Notes: New and Improved Survey Builder appeared first on Shout.com.

And finally, we can share the results of all this hard work with you!

So, let’s get into a complete rundown of everything new and what changes we’ve made to the app.

What’s new?

Firstly, let’s get stuck into all the new features you’ll have access to.

Research and Marketing CRM

We’ve completely changed the way you store and manage your contacts on Shout. Our new CRM system allows you to import contacts and group them based on the type of campaigns you intend to send, whilst also tracking your lawful basis of processing their data.

Meaning, you not only have a way of storing contacts logically but will also be able to ensure you’re compliant whilst doing so.

Groups

This feature was previously known as Email Lists in the app. These were basic function contact lists that had to be built manually.

We’ve added new and exciting functionality to how these lists work and donned them, Groups.

There are two things you can achieve with Groups.

Firstly, you can group contacts based on shared information and the types of campaigns they would be sent. For example, you would create a group for your customers and send them surveys relating to their experience with your business.

You could also have another group for your employees, who would be sent surveys related to engagement and performance.

Secondly, these groups should be used to store and track your legal basis for processing.

According to the GDPR (and other data protection laws), you must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. There are six available lawful bases for processing:

• Consent
• Contract
• Legal obligation
• Vital interests
• Public task
• Legitimate interests

Any of these lawful bases can be applied to your contact Groups, but you must also maintain records on your end of why any of these bases have been applied.

Segmenting contacts

Our new contact segmenting tools allow you to apply one or more filters to your contacts in order to target specific audiences or create niche groups.

The filters you can apply are abundant, and range in everything from email engagement data (such as open and click rates) to answers contacts have given in a survey they responded to.

For instance, you may want to create a Group filled with all your most loyal customers; your advocates.

Well, that’s easy!

Create a Net Promoter Score survey and send it out to all your customers (those who’ve consented to receive such emails). Wait for the responses to roll in, and when you’re happy that you’ve collected enough head over to the segmenting tool.

From there you can apply a filter rule that shows all contacts who gave you an NPS rating of 9 or 10 (these are your advocates). Then save your segment as a group and voilà, you now have a list of your most loyal customers.

Custom fields

Custom Fields allow you to add more information to contacts in the CRM. By default, you’ll have access to the following fields:

• Email address
• First name
• Last name
• Phone number
• Company
• Address Line 1
• Address Line 2
• Zip/ Postcode
• City/ Town
• State/ Province
• Country

But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can add your own custom fields to contacts, which can in turn be used to create groups and segments.

For example, create custom fields for job roles, birthdays, customer types. The possibilities are endless.

And there’s more.

You can pass these custom fields into emails by using Merge Tags. This allows you to personalize email content based on the information stored for that contact.

Contact profiles

Your contacts are no longer just email addresses stored in the app. You’ll now have access to a whole host of information about them in their Contact Profile.

If you click a contact’s email address, you’ll find:

• Average open rates
• Average click rates
• Total emails sent
• Groups they’re a part of
• Personal information and custom fields
• Activity log

This last addition is our favorite. The Activity Log lists any events that are relevant to that contact, from email campaigns they’ve been sent to surveys they’ve responded to.

Email Builder

Our favorite addition to the app is our new email-building tool. This is a block editor that allows you to drag and drop content blocks into your email template and customize each one individually.

You can use this new tool to design email invitations for your surveys.

Here’s a quick list of the available content blocks:

• Menu
• Button
• Columns
• Text
• Heading
• Survey button
• Divider
• Image

You’ll be able to customize the colors and formatting of all elements in emails, from the background to the font.

The sky’s the limit!

Previewing Emails

Not only will you be able to preview your emails as you’re designing them, but you can also do so for both desktop, tablet, and mobile. This will ensure that your hard work will display the way you intended, regardless of the device used to view it.

Display Content Dynamically

We’ve gone one step further and added the ability to show and hide content based on a recipient’s device.

Have an image that doesn’t look as great on a smaller screen?

A problem of the past.

Simply hide it for mobile devices then add a more suitable image for smaller screens and hide that for desktops.

Email metrics

Any notable email tool allows you to track the success of your campaigns, and we’re no different

You’ll have access to all the industry-standard email metrics, including:

• Opens
• Clicks
• Open rates
• Click rates

We’ll also provide you with:

• Survey response rate
• Survey completion rate

You can find these metrics by visiting the email report via the Mailings dashboard. Email metrics will also be included in the report of linked surveys.

Filter and compare survey results based on email metrics

As with survey data, you’ll be able to filter and compare data sets in your report based on the average email statistics for your contacts.

For example, you’d like to compare the responses of your most and least engaged email contacts. All you need to do is set up a comparison rule for anyone with a click rate above 50% and another rule for anyone with a click rate below that.

After doing this, all charts in your report will display two datasets side-by-side for these two groups

We’ve added a plethora of new filter rules to our reporting tool, so it’d be best for you to take a look at our guide on how to filter and compare survey results.

Collect contacts with a Form

You’re now able to use the contact form (and other text fields) to collect contacts and update contact information in the CRM.

When creating a contact form, you’ll be asked if you want to link contacts to a specific group. Simply select one of your existing groups from the dropdown or choose to create a new group.

All new contacts collected by this form will then be added to the groups you defined. If that contact already exists in your group, their information will be updated.

If a group is marked with the Explicit Consent lawful basis of processing, then a consent question will automatically be added to your survey, form, or quiz.

We’ll get into this below.

Collect explicit consent (when adding contacts)

We wanted to make it easy for you to collect and record consent when adding new contacts to your CRM.

If you link a contact form to a group marked with the Explicit Consent lawful basis of processing, then a consent question will be added to your survey automatically.

This question will appear below your contact form and allows contacts to opt-in to any mailings you wish to send them in the future.

All consent given by contacts is recorded by our system, enabling you to remain compliant.

What’s changed?

If you’ve been sending email invitations in the past, you will notice that these areas of the site have completely changed.

For your own peace of mind, we’ll go over everything that changed and where you can find the corresponding feature in this new update.

Separate Dashboards for Surveys and Quizzes

The first thing you may notice upon logging into the app is that the dashboard has changed. These changes were made to make storing and accessing different projects easier for you.

Previously, all surveys/ forms and quizzes were stored in the same dashboard. Now, you’ll see that you have a separate dashboard for surveys and quizzes.

You’ll even see that your email invitations have their own dashboard, to make it simple to reference previous campaigns and identify what survey they were linked to.

You can access these dashboards by opening the Main Menu in the top left.

Address Book

If you previously stored contacts on Shout, you will have done so using the Address Book. On your first visit to the site (post-update), you will see that this no longer exists.

But not to worry!

If you have existing contacts on the site, but you can’t see them, you can rest assured that they are still stored safely.

You’ll also be able to migrate these contacts to the new CRM system.

Email Invitations

As we’ve discussed in the What’s New section, the Email Invitations template has been completely replaced with our new Block Editor.

No longer do you have to use a boilerplate email design, you can now fully customize everything from content to the way emails are displayed on different devices.

What’s gone?

As with any major update to the software, sometimes it’s not possible to get all associated features up to snuff and working alongside everything else. This means those features have to be removed.

But, it might not be goodbye forever. We keep a record of what’s been removed and regularly assess whether it should be reintroduced and how we would go about doing so.

If you feel strongly about the removal of these features, get in touch and let us know. Your feedback is everything to us.

Use your own SMTP server

This was a feature that allowed you to use your own email server to send email invitations, as opposed to our own.

Unfortunately, users will no longer have access to this feature.

For the time being, all email invitations are sent via our own email server. But, this is no cause for concern. We use SendGrid (and Industry Leader) to distribute emails, with whom we retain an excellent sender score.

The post Release Notes: Contact Manager & Email Builder appeared first on Shout.com.