Note: in order to create and use panels, the community extension is required AND the account admin must enable it per workspace in the workspace settings.
Introduction
Panel Management is a special feature in Survalyzer. A Panel is very similar to a Sample. However, a Panel:
- will typically be reused
- has automated sign-up process
- has members who can self-manage their profiles
- can automatically filter survey invitations based on previous surveys activity
- (optional) can incentivize members through points and incentives system
- (optional) has connected member portal where members can log-in, browse available surveys, see their points balance, redeem incentives, etc.
In this article we describe general panel settings and member variables. If you look for instructions on how to set-up an automated member onboarding process or incentives system, please check articles below for more information:
- Panel management: How to configure sign-up and profile surveys (panel synchronization)
- Incentive Management & Vouchers
- Survey Credits: How to give points for filling out a survey
General Settings and Variables overview
A Panel has several settings. Below an overview can be found.
Here new variable groups and variables can be added. For information about the data types see Datatypes in Survalyzer. In case of a long list of additional variables, using variable groups is recommended, as they make it possible to categorise additional information.
This input field changes the name of the Panel. This name can be seen in the Panel list.
Availability of the panel types depends on the subscriptions present in the account. There are 2 types of panels in Survalyzer:
- Research Panel. Used to conduct research with the same panel of participants. Includes Incentive Management area. Community Extension required to create and use this panel type. Examples of Research Panels are current customers of your company, or a specific target group of potential customers. Some Panels contain people of several different target groups.
- Dashboard Viewers Panel. Used to share Survalyzer reports and dashboards to restricted list of people. Dashboard Viewers need to log in with email and password to see the report. The Dashboard Extension is required to create and use this panel type. Examples of dashboard viewers are employees that require restricted or filtered access to a NPS survey dashboard, or B2B clients that need access to survey results.
There are 3 additional panel settings:
- Hide recipients list in wizard > when selected, users will not see “Recipients” step when distributing invitations to this panel.
- Panel sharing > when enabled, panel will be available to distribute to in other workspaces. Further information on this
- Anonymize fields when member is “withdrawn” from panel > automatically anonymize selected member fields when a member changes to “withdrawn” status. Once enabled, the system immediately anonymizes the fields selected in the panel settings.
- Forgot password message > if there is more than one default “forgot password message” available in the account, it will be possible to select it in this drop-down field. Custom “forgot password messages” can be created as an additionally paid service.
- Login page custom style > This feature is only relevant if you have enabled login protection in the survey settings (see Access Control). When a panelist clicks on a questionnaire link, a secure login page is displayed. You can customize the login page to match your corporate identity using the settings here.
This list contains all system variables with corresponding data types. Unlike non-system variables, these variables can’t be edited or deleted.
| Field name | Datatype | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MemberId | Integer | Unique identifier for each member. When importing it can be used to update existing members. If MemberId exists the other variables for that member can be updated. If MemberId is empty a new member will be created. If MemberId has a non-existing (wrong) value the row will be ignored. |
| String | Used for inviting members via email. The email address must be unique within the panel and is validated against RFC 5322 Official Standard. | |
| First Name | String | First name of a member. Field can be empty and has no character limitation. |
| Last Name | String | Last name of a member. Field can be empty and has no character limitation. |
| Gender | Integer | It is a drop-down list with values: (0) Male, (1) Female, (2) Divers. |
| Language | String | It is a drop-down list with languages. Language must be the code from the Iso code list (e.g. EN – English). Can be used for sending survey invitations and displaying the survey in corresponding language. |
| Cell Phone Number | Integer | Used for sending invitations via SMS. It has a limitation 15 numbers. |
| Membership Status | Integer | Control which panel members are currently enrolled. “Withdrawn” members cannot be invited to surveys or log-in to portals and reports. Values can be: |
| Enrolled date | Date | Is automatically set when MembershipStatus changes to “Enrolled”. Can be overwritten through Excel member import/update or with a value assignment in a survey. |
| Withdrawn date | Date | Is automatically set when MembershipStatus changes to “Withdrawn”. Can be overwritten through Excel member import/update or with a value assignment in a survey. When a member uses the unsubscribe option in a survey invitation, the membership status will automatically be set to Withdrawn. |
| Withdrawn reason | String | If member withdrawal happens automatically, this field will include additional explanation. Otherwise, it can be controlled manually. |
| Password | String | Used to access private surveys or area in combination with Email. Password should gather 4 points to pass validation: |
| Survey credit | Integer | Survey credits are used to incentivize panel members and allow redeeming vouchers. |
| Change password | String | Value must be the same as Password field |
| Failed logins | Integer | Value that is accumulated each time member fails to login, at 5 failed attempts user is blocked and can’t login anymore. Users can be unblocked. |
| Blocked | Boolean | Setting that is automatically enabled when member fails to login 5 times. It can be disabled by user with access to panel and then member can login again. Failed logins count is then reset to 0. |
| Last login | Date | Field that is populated with current date (day, month, year, time) converted to local from UTC, after successful login attempt of a member . |
| Parent Member ID | Integer | Field that enables hierarchy-based filtering in dashboards. It allows to write and store the ID of the member’s parent, such as a manager or team lead. It helps to create a set-up, where dashboard viewers automatically see data relevant to their hierarchy without the need for custom variables and complex filtering logic. |
Note: Automatic withdrawal for hard-bounced panel members
For panels using the Community Extension, Survalyzer runs a weekly automation that identifies panel members with hard-bounced email addresses and sets their membership status to “Withdrawn”.
This helps keep panel data clean and supports better email delivery rates by preventing future invitations from being sent to email addresses that can no longer be reached.
To create a categorised list of variables, you can create variable groups. For example, a group for personal data like address, city or date of birth. Another group could contain filter variables, for example, if the respondent has a specific product. In this way you can categorise your variables.
You can move custom member variables between your variable groups by simply dragging and dropping them, or by using the arrows on the right hand side of the list.