Date Question Type

Collect the date responses hassle-free with the Date question type

The date question type can be used to ask your respondents for a specific date or time. It also makes the respondent input the date in a format that you want them to follow.

The date question type allows you to preset the date format in your surveys. With this feature, all your respondents will be made to enter the date in a specific format - either DD/MM/YYYY,  MM/DD/YYYY, or YYYY/MM/DD, making it uniform.

Here is an example to help you understand the feature better. You run a pharmaceutical company and regularly conduct surveys to analyze the effectiveness of various drugs. You are expected to record the results of these surveys by date and time.

Using the Date question type, you can ensure all your participants are marking the date in the same format.

Let’s see how to use a Date question type in a survey!

1. To create a question that asks for a date as the response, click on the “Add New” button and choose the “Date” question type.

2. Choose your desired date format. You can choose from “Date only” and “Date & Time” formats.

The “Show Calendar” toggle will be enabled by default to assist the respondent in picking a date from a calendar. If the toggle is turned off, the respondent has to type the date and time manually.

3. Preview the question and proceed.

Use case:

You run a school and want to conduct a general knowledge quiz frequently. Date question type in your quiz would help you compare the results based on different dates and times. You can closely monitor the progress your students are making.

1. Create a question that asks the students to input the date they took the survey.

2. Select the question type as Date & Time.

3. Choose the format you want the students to follow.

4. Preview the question and proceed.

Date range validations

To meet your custom requirements, you can validate the date input by the respondents. In this manner, you can set the active dates that the respondent can choose. You can set static or dynamic date range validations based on your requirement.

Static date range validation

With the static date range validation, the active dates that the respondent can choose from will be fixed when you set the validations and create a survey. The active dates that the respondents can choose will remain the same irrespective of when they fill out the survey.

To understand better, let’s say you want to roll out a survey to understand employees’ preferred dates for a company outing.

1. In the Date question, click on the “Validation” tab.

2. Under Validation, choose the “Static” validation type.

3. You choose from the “Before”, “After”,and “Between”options under the Range drop-down. For the use case, let’s select the “Between” option.

4. Configure the Start Date and the End Date from which the respondents can choose a date.

Now, when the respondent takes the survey, they will be able to choose a date from the fixed dates.

Dynamic date range validation

With the dynamic date range validation, the active dates that the respondent can choose from will be relative to the date on which the respondent takes the survey. In this way, you need not update the date range validation when you want to reuse it or send recurring surveys.

For example, let’s say you’re running a hospital. And, you offer your patients to book a doctor’s appointment online. You can set a 2-week window from which the patients can choose a date to book an appointment. Let’s see how it’s done.

1. In the Date question, click on the “Validation” tab.

2. Under Validation, choose the “Dynamic” validation type.

3. Choose from the “Before”, “After”, “Within Next”, and “Within Last” options from the Range drop-down. Let’s select the “Within Next” option for our use case.

4. Enter the Duration within which the active dates have to be shown to the respondent. To select a date within the next two months, enter “2” in the Duration box and choose “Weeks” from the drop-down.

Now, when the respondent fills the form, they will be able to choose a date from the active dates based on the validation set relative to the date on which they fill the form.

FAQs

1. How to remove a set validation condition?

Under the validation tab, click on the delete icon beside the set validation. The process is the same for both static and dynamic validation types.

2. What do the different ranges in the dynamic validation type mean?

Before:

It will allow the user respondent to choose a date before the set number of days/weeks/months/years from the date they fill the form. Let’s say the dynamic validation is set as “Before 2 days”. If the respondent fills out the form on September 12, 2022, they can choose a date before September 10, 2022(including September 10, 2022).

After:

It will allow the user respondent to choose a date after the set number of days/weeks/months/years from the date they fill the form. Let’s say the dynamic validation is set as “After 2 days”. If the respondent fills out the form on September 12, 2022, they can choose a date after September 14, 2022(including September 12, 2022).

Within next:

It will allow the user respondent to choose a date within the next set number of days/weeks/months/years from the date they fill the form. Let’s say the dynamic validation is set as “Within next 2 days”. If the respondent fills out the form on September 12, 2022, they can choose a date between September 12, 2022, and September 14, 2022(including September 12, 2022, and September 14, 2022).

Within last:

It will allow the user respondent to choose a date within the last set number of days/weeks/months/years from the date they fill the form. Let’s say the dynamic validation is set as “Within last 2 days”. If the respondent fills out the form on September 12, 2022, they can choose a date between September 10, 2022, and September 12, 2022(including September 10, 2022, and September 12, 2022).