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Create Survey in the Forum

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Create Survey in the Forum — APG vNext Guide

This archived community thread from the APG vNext support forum discusses: Create Survey in the Forum.

About This Topic

In order to create a survey from multiple polls, you can use a built-in PGDCode API like the following:[survey=407309,407310,407311]where the numbers are the...

Getting Help with APG vNext

APG vNext is a powerful ASP.NET forum and community platform. For questions related to this topic:

If you need direct assistance, the support team is active in the community forum.

Creating a Survey or Poll in APG vNext Forum

APG vNext includes a built-in poll and survey system that can be attached to any thread or created as a standalone survey post. Polls support single-choice and multiple-choice responses, time-limited voting, and optional member-only access. Survey results can be exported to CSV from the admin panel.

Creating a Poll When Posting a Thread

  1. Click "New Thread" in any forum
  2. Scroll to the "Add Poll" section below the post editor
  3. Enter the question and add up to 20 answer options
  4. Configure: Allow Multiple Answers (yes/no), End Date, Show Results Before Voting (yes/no)
  5. Post the thread - the poll appears above the post content

Creating a Standalone Survey

<!-- Standalone surveys are created via Admin Panel -->
Admin Panel -> Content -> Surveys -> Create New Survey
-- Configure multiple questions per survey (unlike single-question polls)
-- Share via /community/survey/[survey-slug]

Exporting Survey Results

-- Direct SQL export:
SELECT q.QuestionText, a.AnswerText, COUNT(r.ResponseID) AS VoteCount
FROM   apg_SurveyQuestions q
JOIN   apg_SurveyAnswers a ON a.QuestionID = q.QuestionID
LEFT   JOIN apg_SurveyResponses r ON r.AnswerID = a.AnswerID
WHERE  q.SurveyID = @SurveyID
GROUP  BY q.QuestionText, a.AnswerText
ORDER  BY q.QuestionOrder, VoteCount DESC;

Poll Customisation

<add key="APG.Poll.MaxOptions"        value="20" />
<add key="APG.Poll.AllowGuestVoting"  value="false" />
<add key="APG.Poll.ShowVoterNames"    value="false" />

Related Resources

Creating Surveys in APG vNext Forums

APG vNext supports two types of in-forum surveys: polls (simple single or multiple choice attached to a thread) and structured surveys (multi-question forms embedded in a thread or accessible via a direct URL). Polls are built into APG vNext and require no additional setup. The structured survey feature is available in APG vNext 5.x as an add-on module.

Creating a Poll (Built-In Feature)

  1. Start a new thread in any forum
  2. Toggle "Add Poll" at the bottom of the new thread form
  3. Enter the poll question and up to 20 answer options
  4. Configure: single or multiple choice, visible results (before voting), closing date
  5. Post the thread — the poll appears above the first post

Poll Configuration Options

<!-- web.config: global poll settings -->
<add key="APG.Poll.MaxOptions"           value="20" />
<add key="APG.Poll.AllowMultipleChoice"  value="true" />
<add key="APG.Poll.HideResultsBeforeVote" value="false" />
<add key="APG.Poll.AllowVoteChange"      value="true" />
<!-- Members can change their vote within 24 hours -->
<add key="APG.Poll.VoteChangeWindowHours" value="24" />

Structured Surveys (APG vNext 5.x Module)

The Survey Module extends APG vNext polls to support multi-question forms with question types including free text, rating scales (1-10), Likert scales (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree), and file uploads. Survey responses are stored in apg_SurveyResponses and exportable to CSV for analysis.

Creating a Structured Survey

Admin Panel → Community → Surveys → Create New Survey
-- Configure:
--   Title: "Community Satisfaction Survey Q1 2026"
--   Forum: [Select forum for the survey thread]
--   Questions: [Add questions of various types]
--   Settings: Anonymous, Required, Closing date
-- Publish → creates a pinned thread in the selected forum

Viewing Survey Results

-- Export survey responses:
SELECT sq.QuestionText, sa.AnswerText, COUNT(*) AS ResponseCount
FROM   apg_SurveyResponses sr
JOIN   apg_SurveyAnswers sa ON sa.ResponseID = sr.ResponseID
JOIN   apg_SurveyQuestions sq ON sq.QuestionID = sa.QuestionID
WHERE  sr.SurveyID = @SurveyID
GROUP  BY sq.QuestionText, sa.AnswerText
ORDER  BY sq.QuestionOrder, ResponseCount DESC;

Best Practices for Forum Surveys

Short surveys (3-5 questions) get significantly higher completion rates than long ones. For community satisfaction surveys, focus on the three most critical questions: overall satisfaction (1-10), what members value most, and what could be improved. Include a single free-text "other" question to capture unexpected feedback. Send surveys to active members (posted in the last 30 days) rather than the entire member list to increase relevance and response rate. Follow up survey results with a public summary post thanking participants and sharing what changes will be made in response to their feedback — this reinforces that participation leads to real action and encourages participation in future surveys.

Privacy and Consent for Forum Surveys

When collecting survey responses from community members, ensure you have a lawful basis under GDPR or your applicable data protection law. For anonymous polls, no special consent is required beyond the forum's standard privacy policy. For structured surveys that collect personal opinions linked to member accounts, include a brief privacy notice explaining how responses will be used, who will see them, and how long they will be retained. Anonymous survey mode (available in the Survey Module) severs the link between responses and member identities after collection, making GDPR compliance simpler while still allowing you to analyse aggregate results and trends across your community.

Related Resources

Looking for more help? Browse the support forum or check the Knowledge Base.