Add and Edit Ranking Questions in Engagement Questionnaires

Gather prioritized feedback from residents by adding ranking questions to your engagement questionnaires. Ranking questions allow respondents to order multiple options from most to least important, preferred, or relevant, providing clear insight into community priorities and preferences for municipal decision-making.

Quick Steps

1. Navigate to Ask > Surveys > Build select your survey
   
   
2. Drag "Ranking" from the Content sidebar under "OTHER"
3. Drop the question into your desired position in the questionnaire
4. Configure question text, ranking options, and settings in the modal that opens automatically
   
   
5. Click "Save" to apply changes and see the in-builder preview

In-Depth Guide

Adding a New Ranking Question

Access the Questionnaire Builder Navigate to the Engage section and go to the Activities listing screen. Find your engagement questionnaire and select "Edit" to open the Questionnaire Builder interface.

Add the Ranking Question From the Content sidebar on the right, locate "Ranking" under the "OTHER" section. Drag the Ranking element and drop it into your questionnaire at the desired position.

The questionnaire builder will display a drop zone where you can position your new question. Release the Ranking element when the drop zone appears in your preferred location.

Configure Question Settings Once you drop the Ranking element into your questionnaire, the configuration modal automatically opens. Enter your question text in the main question field. Write clear questions that work well with priority ordering. For example, "Rank these community improvement priorities from most to least important to you" or "Please order these municipal services by your satisfaction level, starting with the most satisfactory."

Add Support Text (Optional) Use the Support Text field to provide additional context, instructions, or clarification about how to complete the ranking. This text appears below the main question and can explain ranking criteria, provide examples, or clarify what the ranking order should represent.

Create Ranking Options In the "Options" section, enter the items that respondents will rank in order. Each option represents a choice that can be prioritized relative to the others. Create options that are:

• Comparable in scope and scale
• Meaningful to your target audience
• Clear and distinct from one another
• Relevant to the decision-making context

Use the "Add Option" button to include additional ranking choices as needed. You can also use "Bulk Add" to enter multiple options quickly by typing them on separate lines.

Configure Advanced Settings Several toggle options allow you to customize the ranking behavior:

• Limit Items to Rank: Restricts how many items respondents must rank instead of requiring them to rank all options
• Randomize Options: Presents ranking items in random order to each respondent to reduce order bias

Mark as Required (Optional) Toggle the Required Question setting to make the ranking question mandatory for questionnaire submission. Required questions must be answered before respondents can proceed or submit their responses.

Save Your Configuration After configuring all settings and ranking options, click "Save" to apply your changes. The modal will close and you'll see an in-builder preview of your ranking question within the questionnaire.

Editing Existing Ranking Questions

Locate and Select the Question In the Questionnaire Builder, find the ranking question you want to modify. Click on the edit icon on the question block to open the configuration modal and access all editing options.

Modify Question Content Update the question text, support text, or ranking options as needed. You can add, remove, or modify options using the provided controls. Click "Save" to apply your changes and close the configuration modal. Once saved, you'll see an in-builder preview of your updated question.

Manage Ranking Options Add new options, remove existing ones, or modify option text to ensure your ranking captures the priorities you need to understand. Ensure all options can be meaningfully compared using the same ranking criteria.

Adjust Settings Modify settings like item limits or randomization based on how you want respondents to interact with the ranking exercise. Consider how these changes might affect the complexity and time required to complete the question.

Reorder Questions Reposition ranking questions within your questionnaire flow using two methods:

• Drag-and-drop: Click and hold the question block, then drag it to a new position. The questionnaire will show drop zones indicating valid placement locations.
• Toolbar: Use the reordering options available in the question's toolbar for precise positioning.

Remove Questions To delete a ranking question, use the delete option in the question's toolbar. The question will be removed immediately without a confirmation prompt.

Question Design Best Practices

Keep Option Lists Manageable Limit ranking questions to 3-8 options for optimal usability. Too many options can overwhelm respondents and make the ranking exercise difficult to complete, especially on mobile devices.

Ensure Options Are Comparable Create ranking options that can all be evaluated using the same criteria. Mixing different types of items (services vs. policies vs. facilities) in one ranking can confuse respondents.

Use Clear, Distinct Options Ensure each ranking option is clearly different from the others. Overlapping or similar options make it difficult for respondents to establish meaningful priority orders.

Consider Partial Rankings Use "Limit Items to Rank" when you only need to understand top priorities rather than requiring respondents to rank every single option, which can reduce completion burden.

Provide Ranking Context Use support text to clarify what the ranking should represent (importance, preference, satisfaction, urgency) and any relevant decision-making context.

Methodology

Ranking Data Collection Ranking responses are captured as ordered lists showing the priority sequence selected by each respondent. The system records the position (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) assigned to each ranking option.

Partial Ranking Processing When "Limit Items to Rank" is enabled, only the specified number of top-ranked items are required. Unranked options are recorded separately and can be analyzed as lower-priority or unranked items.

Order Randomization When randomization is enabled, each respondent sees ranking options in a different random initial order. This reduces position bias that might occur if certain options consistently appear first or last.

Language Support Ranking questions support multi-language engagement questionnaires when configured. Question text, support text, and all ranking options are translated consistently across supported languages.

Edge Cases, Exceptions & Known Issues

Drag and Drop Functionality

• Questions must be dropped in valid drop zones within the questionnaire area
• Dropping questions outside the builder area will not add them to your questionnaire

Option Management Limitations

• Deleting ranking options after responses have been collected may affect data integrity and analysis
• Empty or duplicate options will trigger validation errors when saving
• Very similar options may confuse respondents and reduce ranking reliability

Partial Ranking Considerations

• When limiting items to rank, unranked options may be interpreted differently by respondents (unimportant vs. unknown vs. neutral)

Randomization Considerations

• Initial randomization may still influence final rankings if respondents are anchored to the starting order
• Some option sequences have logical ordering (chronological, hierarchical) that should not be randomized
• Randomization settings cannot be changed after significant data collection without affecting response patterns

Completion Time Factors

• Complex ranking exercises may lead to increased questionnaire abandonment rates
• Multiple ranking questions in sequence may cause respondent fatigue

Response Quality Considerations

• Some respondents may struggle with ranking concepts or have difficulty establishing priority orders
• Random or arbitrary rankings may occur when respondents lack sufficient knowledge about options
• Social desirability bias may influence rankings of sensitive topics or controversial options