Introducing two updates to enhance your SurveyStack surveys!

Elevate Your Survey Content with Markdown

Each question available in the SurveyStack builder has “Label”, “Hint” and “More Info” field that allows survey designers to provide details and instructions to the user. These fields offered room for detail but we wanted to further customizability, so we updated the “More Info” field to be Markdown compatible to give the survey builder the ability to expand on text in any question!

Users can now utilize Markdown syntax to customize text sections and even incorporate images to provide additional context (example below left). Whether you’re explaining complex concepts, giving instructions, or simply making your survey more aesthetically pleasing, the Markdown feature allows for a flexible and customizable text layout (below right).

Trace your field using Map Trace

One of the question types offered in SurveyStack is a Map question type that allows submitters to record a location to associate with farm management data. Survey submitters often complete the Map questions on a computer, recording a single location or manually tracing field boundaries, but with the new Map Trace feature, or “geotrace” feature, users can use a mobile device with GPS to travel the perimeter of a field to create the field outline! This feature can be used to trace any field, but its most common use will likely be for tracking movable grazing fences or fields that are difficult to outline on a computer.

*Note that this feature will only function on mobile devices as it tracks the survey respondent’s device location as they travel around the boundary of a field.

To activate Map Trace as you are designing a survey in the builder, enable the “geotrace” check box in the Map Question. See image below.

The survey submitter will now have the option to use Map Trace as they complete your survey. To start Map Trace, the user will click the trace button circled in green (see images below) on the Map Question type, click the play button, and begin moving along the perimeter of the field until they arrive back to the starting point. To end the Map Trace, click the stop button and accept the outline by clicking the check mark, the field will highlight in blue and they can click “NEXT” to move to the next question!

Thanks to our users and developers for their collaboration on these improvements! If you have additional feedback or questions about farmOS integrations, please reach out to info@our-sci.net.