Creating a survey

This guide walks you through creating a new survey in Novella, from selecting a survey type to publishing and sharing it.

Before you start

• Make sure you have permission to create surveys in your workspace.
• Decide your survey goal (for example, collecting product feedback, support experience, or post-event sentiment).
• Gather any copy you want to use ahead of time (survey title, question text, follow-up prompts, and thank-you message).

Create a new survey

1. In Novella, open Surveys.
2. Click Create survey.
3. Choose the survey type and channel that best match how respondents will see it.
4. Enter a clear survey name so your team can identify it later.
5. Save to open the survey editor.

Configure survey content

In the survey editor, complete the core content fields:

• Header/Greeting: Optional introductory line.
• Primary question: Your main feedback question.
• Scale labels or options: Clarify what the low and high ends mean.
• Follow-up question: Ask for detail after a score or rating.
• Thank-you message: Confirm submission and close the flow.

Tip: Keep wording short and specific to improve completion rates.

Configure survey settings

Review these settings before publishing:

• Status: Draft while editing. When you publish, Novella sets the survey to Planned (future start) or Active (starts now).
• Publish date: Set when the survey should go live.
• Close date: Optional; leave blank for an always-on survey.
• Language variant: Select the language used for this survey.
• Brand/design: Confirm logo, colors, and footer behavior match your workspace standards.

If your survey is used as a web widget, also review widget display and targeting rules.

Preview and test

Before publishing:

1. Use Preview survey to view desktop and mobile behavior.
2. Submit test responses to confirm question flow and follow-up logic.
3. Verify score labels, button text, and confirmation messaging.
4. Confirm links, branding, and any personalization tokens render correctly.

Publish and share

1. Click Publish and choose when the survey should start.
2. If the start time is in the future, status becomes Planned. If it starts now, status becomes Active.
3. Optionally set an end date to automatically move the survey out of active collection later.
4. Save/confirm publishing, then copy the survey link (if available) or embed/deploy it in the intended channel.
5. Share internally so owners know where responses will appear.

Manage after launch

After publishing, monitor performance and keep the survey healthy:

• Watch response volume and completion trends.
• Update wording only when needed to preserve trend consistency.
• Close or archive surveys that are no longer active.
• Duplicate high-performing surveys when launching similar campaigns.

Troubleshooting

I can’t publish my survey

• Confirm required fields (name, question text, and scale configuration) are completed.
• Check your role permissions in the workspace.
• Save and refresh, then try again.

My survey looks different than expected

• Recheck workspace brand settings.
• Verify the selected survey type/channel.
• Use Preview again and test on both desktop and mobile.

Responses are not coming in

• Confirm the survey status is Active (or Planned if it is scheduled for a future start).
• Verify the link or embed location is correct.
• Submit a test response yourself to validate end-to-end collection.