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CMS: Legacy Survey Feature Sunset: Why Your Survey Links Redirect and What to Use Instead

  • Updated

Once your organization's Editor 2.0 website is live, links to surveys built in Communications > Surveys open your website's home page instead of the survey, and Editor 2.0 can't show those surveys. Rebuild the survey with the Site Editor's Advanced Form widget or a free tool such as Google Forms, and share the new link.

Applies to: Org admins · Organizations whose Editor 2.0 website is live; Communications > Surveys is on the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans · Editor 2.0 (CMS)

Where: Communications > Surveys; Content > Site Editor; Communications > Send Communication

Does this affect you?

  • Your website uses the legacy content editor: no. Communications > Surveys still works there on the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans. See How to Create a Survey.
  • Your Editor 2.0 website is still in preview: not yet. Until the new website goes live, visitors see your current website, and survey links still work.
  • Your Editor 2.0 website is live: yes. Survey links open your new home page. Communications > Surveys is still on your admin site with your past surveys and their responses, but links to a survey no longer reach it.

Why old survey links open your home page

When your Editor 2.0 website goes live, every page of your old website sends visitors to your new website's home page, and survey pages are old-website pages. Editor 2.0 has no widget that shows a survey from Communications > Surveys, so there's no new page for those links to go to.

That's true of every survey link: links in emails you sent before the switch, emails sent with a survey's Publish button, and Anonymous Surveys links. Once your new website is live, the Links drop-down on Send Communication no longer lists surveys. It offers Downloads, Program Access, Officials Self-Registration, Volunteer Shifts, Menu Pages (your new website's pages), Programs and Schedules.

If families tell you a survey link opens your home page, rebuild the survey with one of the options below and send the new link.

Option 1: Build the survey on your website with the Advanced Form widget (free)

The Site Editor's Advanced Form widget works well for short surveys, feedback forms, questionnaires and registration follow-ups.

  1. Go to Content > Site Editor and open the page where you want the survey.
  2. From the left panel, drag the Advanced Form widget onto the page.
  3. Add your questions. Field types include Radio Buttons (one choice), Checkboxes (several choices), Dropdowns, Short Text and Paragraph/Text Area.
  4. Open the form's Settings and enter the notification email address that should receive responses.
  5. Click Republish.
  6. Share the page's link: point a button or menu item at it, or paste the page's address into an email.

Each response is emailed to the notification address, and responses are also listed in the Site Editor under Settings > Manage Form Responses. For step-by-step instructions, see CMS: Survey Options.

Option 2: Use Google Forms (free)

Google Forms suits longer surveys and keeps detailed response tracking in your Google account. It's also the easiest choice for a survey you send by email, because you paste its link into your message.

  1. Create your survey in Google Forms.
  2. Copy the form's share link.
  3. Go to Communications > Send Communication, choose your recipients and paste the link into your message.

You can also link to the form from a button on your website. Showing the form inside one of your pages needs an embed code; contact TeamSideline Support if you want one added.

Limit responses to your members

A survey on a public page is open to anyone who visits it. To hear only from your players and families, don't put the link on your website: send it with Send Communication, so only the people you choose get it.

If it doesn't work

  • A survey link opens your home page. Your new website is live, so old survey links can't reach the survey. Rebuild it with Option 1 or Option 2 and send the new link.
  • Your surveys aren't in the Links drop-down. After go-live, survey links aren't offered. Paste the new survey's link into your message instead.
  • Advanced Form responses aren't arriving by email. Check the notification address in the form's Settings. The first time an address is used, it gets a confirmation email, and responses are delivered only after someone clicks its link. Responses are still listed under Settings > Manage Form Responses.

Good to know

  • No one-to-one replacement. The Advanced Form widget and Google Forms are alternatives, not an exact copy of the old Surveys feature.
  • Your past results stay. Old surveys and their responses stay on Communications > Surveys. To view or export them, see How do I view/export results of Survey?
  • Advanced surveys. For conditional logic, workflows or detailed reporting, Jotform is offered as an optional paid add-on app in the Site Editor for the Elite and Enterprise plans. Contact TeamSideline Support to ask about it.
  • Entry Forms still work. For a simple form whose responses you want kept in TeamSideline, use an Entry Form instead. See CMS: Entry Form widget vs. Form widget - which to use and where responses go.

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