If you’d like to initialize the Internal Respondent Number in version 8 you’ll need to edit the STUDYNAME_config.cgi file.  For example, adding this line:

respnum_start:300

to the STUDYNAME_config.cgi (contained in the “admin” folder on the server) will give the first respondent Internal Respondent Number 300.  The next respondent will get 301 and so on.

After editing the config file make sure to log into the Admin Module and click on Reset Survey.

A new feature in SSI Web allows you to remove your survey and any associated database data from the server.   To delete your survey from off the server (after you have closed the survey and downloaded your data) go to:

Field, Remote Survey Management, Delete Survey from Server

SetValue(QuestionName, Value)
GetValue(QuestionName) 

 Web v8 you can now easily save variables using the new SSI Script SetValue() function.  Any existing question fields in the database can be set.  For example:

[%SetValue(Q1, 5) %]

would set the value for Q1 to 5 in the database.

Currently we do not have a place in the SSI Web interface where you can specify variable names.  One work around is to use Pass-In Fields (located in the Start question) to setup variables that can be used by SetValue().  For example you could create a Pass-In field named “age”.  You could then set the value for “age” to 45 midway through the survey using the following command:

[%SetValue(age, 45) %]

To retrieve the value for age you can use:

[%GetValue(age) %]

which returns the current value for age stored in the database.

We have made an update to SSI Web v8 Beta.  Please update your system to Beta 2 by clicking the link below:

Download Beta 2

Here are some of the issues that have been addressed in Beta 2:

* Compatibility with servers that had older Perl database modules installed.
* Local Web testing with Apache issues.
* Bug in Cross Tabs and questions in loops with dot notation.
* Bug in recoding and Semantic Differential questions.

We also added the following features:

* SSIScript functions GetValue() and SetValue() used to set and retrieve values within a survey.
* The ability to remove a survey from the server including deleting the database tables etc.  See: Field, Remote Survey Management, Delete Survey from Server.

The ability to recode list values during export has been added to SSI Web v8.

Normally list values are hard coded values starting at 1.  When exporting the data, these values can be modified to reflect a different numbering system.  A recode mapping is created to recode list member values.  Recode maps each have a name that allows for reuse in more than one export.  Recode maps are arranged using a top down approach to apply settings and changes to recodes.  This means options that are higher on the hierarchy have lower precedence and lower options have higher precedence.  The current recode is always shown in the Recoded Value column, whether it is inherited from a setting of lesser precedence or the recode was made at the current level.  When a list is selected from the tree menu, the current recode values are shown in the table.  The default list values are shown in the List Value column, and their labels are also shown in the List Label column.  These two columns are there for guidance and cannot be modified directly.

The option with the least amount of precedence is Set all “Other Specify” member values to [some number].  When this settings is checked, all list member values marked as Other Specify across all lists in the study will now use this value instead of the list default value.

The next option is Set all “None of the Above” member values to [some number].  When this settings is checked, all list members values marked as Exclusive across all lists in the study will now use this value instead of the list default value.  This settings has higher precedence than Set all “Other Specify” member values to [some number], meaning if both options are checked, Set all “None of the Above” member values to [some number] will be the recode value.

More fine-grained options can be set using the Global List Recode section.  Every predefined list in the current study will be under this section.  At this point, individual list members can be modified where as the previous settings modified all lists.  Any changes made in the Global List Recode section apply only to a given list, but override Other Specify and None of the Above settings.  Anywhere the list is used, these changes will be reflected.  Recodes at this level can be undone by clicking Clear Changes.  This will remove all recodes at this level and show the current recode settings inherited from options of lower precedence.

The settings with the highest precedence are Question Specific Override.  These settings apply only to a question in the study.  If a question has more than one list, it will be listed here under the question name.

Recoding list members has the following consequences:

1. If the list member value is part of the data field name, the data field name will be modified as well.  This applies to grid, multi-select, semantic diff, ranking, and constant sum questions.  For example, if a ranking question has 4 options, the fields default names are r_1, r_2, r_3, r_4.  If the list values are recoded to be zero based instead of one based, the field names will be changed to r_0, r_1, r_2, r_3.
2. If the 2 list member values are recoded to be the same, then the List Labels will be joined together and delimited by a semi-colon.  This only applies to SPSS and CSV .labels files.  Value Labels will have multiple meanings.  For example, if a list contains Dairy with a value of 1 and Flavor with a value of 2 and Flavor is recoded to be 1, then the value label becomes Dairy; Flavor.  This will apply anywhere either one is used.

Today we have launched v8 beta.  See:

http://www.sawtoothsoftware.com/product-blog/v8-beta/

for details.

Semantic Differential questions have been added to v8. Semantic Diffs can have either radio buttons or sliders. The left and right sides are defined by lists. Items and sides can be randomized.

In version 8 we have removed MooTools.  We are now using the jQuery JavaScript library. If you have any custom JavaScript code that relies on MooTools you will need to rewrite it in jQuery.  This process can be fairly simple as the two languages have some similarities.

ToolTip(LinkText, HelpText, Width, Height)

There is a new ToolTip() SSI Script function in SSI Web v8.  It allows you to display a popup tool tip for specified text.  When the respondent moves their mouse over the top of this text a box will be displayed with “HelpText” in it.

ToolTip(LinkText, HelpText) or ToolTip(LinkText, HelpText, Width, Height).  Width and Height are optional.

Example: [%ToolTip("SSI Web", "Great product!", 100, 50)%]

If you want to use your own custom HTML (to include images etc.) to create a tool tip then you don’t even need to use the ToolTip function. Simply place HTML similar to the example below in your study and it will create a tool tip. Make sure you include the “tool_tip_link” and “tool_tip_text” classes. The HTML containing the “tool_tip_text” class must immediately follow the “tool_tip_link” HTML.

Example:

<span class=”tool_tip_link”>Car XYZ</span>

<div class=”tool_tip_text”>
<img src=”[%GraphicsPath()%]car_pic.jpg” alt=”" border=”0″>
<br>This is an “awesome” car!
</div>

SSI Web v8 Beta Feedback