The auto suggest setting in Textbox questions allows you to enter values that will be suggested as the respondent types their answer(s) into the field.
When using the auto suggest feature you have the option to force these values to ensure that what the survey taker enters matches an option in the autocomplete list. This acts as a type of validation so any answer that is not a part of your autocomplete list will not be saved.
1. Edit your Textbox question, then click the Validation tab.
2. At the bottom of the panel, enter your values in the Auto Suggest field.
3. Select the Remove any respondent's answers that aren't on the auto suggest list and Save Question.
We recommend that you require this question (either soft-required or regular required) when using an auto suggest list. This way survey respondents who fail to notice that the field has been cleared as a result of autocomplete validation will be reminded to answer this question.
How Does Auto Suggest Work?
As respondents start typing auto suggest performs a "contains" search of each line of text entered in the Auto Suggest field on the Validation tab. This means that as the respondent types the auto suggest will search for matches anywhere in the text strings for a match!
Take, for example, the below Auto Suggest list:
If respondents type the word "support" any option that contains support will appear.
Admin
— Dave Domagalski on 04/25/2018
@Adi: Thank you for your vote and for sharing this resource with SurveyGizmo users!
David
Documentation Specialist
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience
— Adi on 04/25/2018
@Dave @Bri +1 for allowing the user to switch between the "contains" search and the "starts with" search.
And for everyone else... until surveygizmo gives us the switch option, use this tutorial to DIY: https://www.w3schools.com/howto/howto_js_autocomplete.asp
Admin
— Dave Domagalski on 12/13/2017
@Jonathan: Thank you for exploring SurveyGizmo documentation content!
I'm afraid that at this time there is not a setting for adjusting the font size of the auto suggest text.
I will make a note of this limitation with our Development Team as a potential future upgrade to this functionality.
I'm sorry for the trouble!
David
Documentation Specialist
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience
— Rachel on 12/13/2017
Is there a way to format the font of the auto suggest text? On a mobile device, the text is quite small and hard to select. Thank you!
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 12/08/2017
@Ken: I'm sorry for the trouble! We had several customers frustrated with the starts-with search so we made the switch to the contains search as it is more all encompassing. Since the change we've been tracking customers affected in order to get this prioritized with the development team. Thank you for adding your voice! I don't have a time line on this as we haven't had too many reports from customers but I will see what I can do!
Bri Hillmer
Documentation Coordinator
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience Team
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 12/08/2017
@Sjreisinger: This is a great idea! You could achieve this with disqualify logic by setting up "Is not exactly equal to" conditions but it might be time consuming to set up depending on how long your list is. I will make a note of this to discuss with our development team as a possible future improvement.
Here is our tutorial on setting up disqualify logic:
https://help.surveygizmo.com/help/disqualify-logic
I hope this helps!
Bri Hillmer
Documentation Coordinator
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience Team
— Ken on 12/08/2017
Definitely NEED (MUST HAVE) an autocomplete option for "Starts With". For the surveys we create, this is a requirement. BTW, I only found out you had changed the search method when a client told me the survey was "broken".
— Sjreisinger on 12/08/2017
Is it possible to disqualify people that entered an answer that is different than the auto-suggest list?
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 03/01/2017
@Ryan: It sounds like rather than populating the autocomplete list you wish to reference an external URL to populate the list? This is not currently available but is a great idea. I'll make note of this for discussion with the development team as a possible future improvement.
This is the kind of customization our programming services team might be able to achieve for a fee. You can learn more about programming services here:
https://www.surveygizmo.com/programming-services/
Bri
Documentation Coordinator
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience Team
— Ryan on 02/28/2017
Is it possible to use a datasource URL if we will be repeating the same Auto Suggest question throughout the survey?
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 02/14/2017
@Ralf: Thanks for this feedback! We had several customers frustrated with the starts with search so we made the switch to the contains search as it is more all encompassing. We'll definitely keep track of users wishing to have this option and add it back if it becomes an issue!
Bri
Documentation Coordinator
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience Team
— Josefski on 02/14/2017
Is there any possibility to get back to "starts-with-search"? Can I do it with custom scripting?
I like the "contains" search, but for the type of surveys we do, the "starts-with-search" was way better and less complicated for the interviewer.
I would like to suggest a button at the validation tab where one can choose between the two options, which would be great if possible.
Admin
— Dave Domagalski on 09/30/2016
@Claire: Thank you for your question!
As the auto-complete feature performs a "starts with" search, "The Home Depot" would not be suggested to your respondent if they typed in "Home Depot". The auto-complete suggests matches based on the beginning of the text entered.
I hope this helps clarify!
David
Documentation Specialist/Survey Explorer
SurveyGizmo Customer Experience
— Claire on 09/30/2016
Say my respondent types "Home Depot" but the auto-suggest item says "The Home Depot." What will happen?
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 05/30/2016
@Oleksiy: Great idea! While we don't currently have this functionality I'll definitely pass this along to our development team as a possible future improvement!
Bri
Documentation Coordinator/Survey Sorceress
SurveyGizmo Customer Support
— Oleksiy on 05/27/2016
Is there any way to add the autocomplete setting to the "Other, Write-In" text field under the "Checkboxes" question type?
Admin
— Dave Domagalski on 04/22/2016
@Jennifer: Thank you for your question! While a contains search to auto complete text fields is not an out-of-the-box feature, it could be achieved with custom scripting and JavaScript. Here is our scripting documentation if you want to explore this further:
http://script.surveygizmo.com/help
If you have someone on your team that is comfortable with custom scripting or JavaScript they may be able to design this for you. Another option would be to look into the Friends of SurveyGizmo Referral Program here:
http://help.surveygizmo.com/help/article/link/friends-of-surveygizmo-referral-program
David Domagalski
Survey Explorer
SurveyGizmo Customer Support
— Jennifer on 04/21/2016
How can I create a "contains" search instead?
Admin
— Bri Hillmer on 07/02/2015
@Yahya: Thanks for taking a look at our documentation! Great question! You can use a merge code to dynamically pull and store the date. Check out our system date merge code in the below document:
http://help.surveygizmo.com/help/article/link/merge-code-intro#system-data-merge-codes
I hope this helps!
Bri
Documentation Coordinator/Survey Sorceress
SurveyGizmo Customer Support
— Yahya on 07/02/2015
Can the autocomplete to provide the current time
Meaning, we need to record the interview time, instead of entering it, can't gizmo do it automatically!
Thanks in advance