Public Survey Links
A Public Survey Link is one of the three access-token types in Survanta. It opens exactly one survey to visitors who do not have a Survanta account, so they can read the survey and submit a response.
Purpose
A Public Survey Link lets you share a single, specific survey with people outside your organization. Anyone with the link can open that one survey and answer it. They cannot browse your other surveys and they cannot see any results.
Who Creates It
An authorized tenant user with Tenant.ManagePublicLinks creates a Public Survey Link from the dashboard. Platform staff need the matching System permission and selected-tenant context.
What the Visitor Sees
The visitor opens the survey's public page directly. They see the one survey you selected and its questions, ready to answer. They do not see dashboard navigation, other surveys, or any results.
What the Visitor Can Do
- Open the specific survey the link points to.
- Submit anonymously when
AllowAnonymousSubmissionis enabled. An eligible signed-in tenant user can send a JWT so the response is attributed while retaining its public origin. - Submit again if you enabled multiple submissions.
What the Visitor Cannot Do
- See or open any other survey.
- View collected responses or results.
- See any dashboard screens or navigation.
- Reach data belonging to any other tenant.
Creation Steps
- Open the Dashboard.
- In the sidebar, open Access Links & Tokens and choose Public Survey Links.
- Open the Create Single Survey Token page.
- Select the survey from the Survey dropdown and set any optional fields you need.
- Choose Create.
- On the issued page, use the Copy button to copy the one-time link (or Open to preview it).
- Share the copied link with your intended audience through a safe channel.
Field Guide
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Survey | Yes | Single-select dropdown of your tenant's surveys. Choose which one survey the link opens. There is no manual id entry. |
| Name | No | A label to help you recognize the link later in the list. |
| Starts at | No | The date and time the link becomes usable. Before this moment the link does not open. |
| Expires at | No | The date and time the link stops working. |
| Max opens | No | The maximum number of times the public page may be opened. |
| Max responses | No | The maximum number of responses that may be submitted through the link. |
| Passcode | No | A secret code the visitor must enter to open the page. |
| Require passcode | No | A switch that turns passcode entry on for this link. |
| Anonymous submission | No | A switch that records the response without identifying the visitor. |
| Multiple submissions | No | A switch that lets the same visitor submit more than one response. |
Expiration
If you set Expires at, the link stops opening after that moment. If you also set Starts at, the link only opens inside that window. An expired link cannot open its public page.
Passcode
If you turn on Require passcode and set a Passcode, the visitor must enter the correct code before the survey opens. A wrong passcode shows a generic "unable to open" message and does not reveal any internal state.
Revoke
You can revoke a link at any time from the dashboard. Revoke is a POST action protected by antiforgery. Once revoked, the link can no longer open its public page.
Plan Limit
Public links and generated QR codes are two renderings of the same SingleSurvey token and share MaxPublicSurveyLinks. The limit counts active, unrevoked, unexpired tokens. A plan downgrade retains the oldest allowed tokens and revokes newer excess tokens; expired tokens do not consume capacity.
One-Time Link Display
The raw link is shown exactly once, on the issued page, right after you create it, with Copy and Open buttons. It is never retrievable later and is never stored in plain form; only a hash is kept. List and detail pages show safe metadata only — name, scope, status, availability window, and usage capacity — never the raw link or its hash. If you lose the link, create a new one and revoke the old one.
Practical Example
You want to gather feedback from external customers on a single questionnaire. Create a Public Survey Link for your "Customer Satisfaction" survey, optionally set an expiry and a response cap, copy the one-time link, and send it to your customers. They open the survey and submit answers without needing an account.
Resulting Public Route
https://example.com/p/{token}
The {token} placeholder is filled in with the value shown once on the issued page.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "This link has expired" | The Expires at time has passed. | Create a new link and share it. |
| "Unable to open" after entering a code | The passcode is wrong. | Re-check the passcode you shared, or issue a new link. |
| The page will not open | The link was revoked. | Create a new link if access is still needed. |
| "Limit reached" when creating | You have reached MaxPublicSurveyLinks. | Revoke a link you no longer need, or review your plan limit. |
| You cannot reach the create page | Your account lacks Tenant.ManagePublicLinks or the matching selected-tenant System permission. |
Ask an authorized administrator to create the link or grant access. |