---
title: Creating and launching a survey
description: Build a questionnaire, choose the participants, set confidentiality and reminders, then launch, edit, duplicate or close a survey.
url: "http://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/surveys-creating-and-launching-a-survey/"
updated: "2026-11-11"
category: "Surveys & Engagement"
---

# Creating and launching a survey

A survey is built in a four-step wizard: questions, participants, settings, then launch. You can start from a blank page, from a template, or from an existing survey you duplicate. This article explains each step, saving as a draft, launching, and what you then do from the survey’s page: edit, duplicate, close. It is intended for the HR staff and administrators who design surveys.

## Before you start

- The Surveys module must be open to your account — see [Getting started with Surveys](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/surveys-getting-started/).
- To create, edit or duplicate a survey, you need the **Survey** permission at the **Execute** tier. The Administrator and HR Manager roles hold it.
- To launch or close it, you also need **Launch / schedule a survey** at the **Execute** tier (Administrator, HR Manager, Manager). Without it, you can only save it as a draft.
- To use templates and the question library, you need **PMF templates — Browse (11)**; to edit them, **PMF template — Customize** at the Execute tier.
- The participants offered are the active employees within your scope.
- The wizard’s starting values (confidentiality, duration, reminders) come from **Settings › Surveys › Configuration** — see [Survey settings](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/surveys-settings/).

## Opening the wizard

Three paths lead to the wizard:

- the **New survey** tab, or the **New** button on the list: a blank page with a first question;
- the **PMF Templates** tab: click **Preview →** under a template to read its questions, then **Access →** to open the wizard pre-filled with its title and questions, grouped by theme;
- the **Duplicate** icon of an existing survey: the wizard takes over its questions, participants and settings, and its title followed by “(copie)”.

The **Preview** button, top right, shows the questionnaire at any time as a participant will see it.

## Step 1: questions

![Questions step of the wizard: the Questions, Participants, Settings, Launch stepper; the Survey title field filled with “Hybrid work barometer — November 2026” and its translate button; the Description (optional) field; the counter 1 section(s) · 4 question(s) and the Library button; Section 1 with question Q1 of type Scale (1-5) and question Q2 of type Single choice with its three answer options.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/sondages-03.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C843&quality=80&ssl=1)
Each question has its text, its type and, for a choice, its options.

1. Enter the **Survey title**, which is required. The globe icon to its right opens the title translation.
2. Fill in the first question: its text, then its type in the drop-down list.
3. Click **Add a question** to add another one to the section, or **Add a section** to group questions under a new heading. A section’s title is edited directly in its header.
4. For each question, pick a **Theme…** if needed: results are calculated and presented by theme.
5. Use the arrows to move a question up or down, the copy icon to duplicate it, the bin to delete it and the globe to translate its text.
6. Click **Next**. The wizard will not move on without a title (“Title is required”), without any question (“Add at least one question”) or with a question that has no text.

### Question types

- **Scale (1-5)**: from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”. Answers 4 and 5 count as favourable.
- **Single choice** and **Multiple choice**: three options are created by default; rename them, delete them with the cross or add more with **Add an option**.
- **NPS**: a score from 0 to 10, from “Not at all likely” to “Extremely likely”. Only scores 9 and 10 count as favourable.
- **Free text**: a written answer. These answers feed the Comments tab of the results.

### The question library

The **Library** button opens a panel of ready-made questions sorted by theme. Search for a question, then add it to the chosen section with one click. With **PMF template — Customize**, you can also edit the text of a library question.

## Step 2: participants

You have two modes.

![Participants step: the two modes Participants (selected) and Lifecycle, two filter drop-downs (department, office) showing no value, the All and Deselect links, the counter 2 option(s) selected, then the list of employees with their job, department and office; Sandra COSTA and Vincent ROCHAT are ticked.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/sondages-04.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C481&quality=80&ssl=1)
Tick participants one by one, or filter then select all.

### Participants mode

1. Filter the list by department or office if needed.
2. Click a row to tick or untick an employee. **All** ticks the whole filtered list; **Deselect** clears the selection.
3. Check the counter, top right, then click **Next**. With no participant, the wizard shows “Select at least one participant”.

### Lifecycle mode

Choose **Onboarding** (new joiners) or **Offboarding** (leavers). Participants are not ticked: they are worked out from employees’ status. The card shows how many employees currently match; the list is recalculated each time the survey is edited.

## Step 3: settings

![Settings step: the Default confidentiality card with Confidential (Non-identifiable responses, selected) and Visible (Names visible) and the Minimum confidentiality threshold set to 5 min. responses; the Timeline card with One-time selected, the Opening and Closing dates and 30 days left; the Estimated duration card showing 2 min with the Customize duration switch; the Reminders card with one reminder at 3 days and the Add a reminder link.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/sondages-05.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C293&quality=80&ssl=1)
The survey’s confidentiality, schedule, duration and reminders.

- **Confidentiality**: **Confidential** (non-identifiable responses) or **Visible** (names visible). In Confidential mode, set the **Minimum confidentiality threshold**: no result is shown until that number of responses is reached.
- **Timeline**: **One-time** or **Recurring**. For a recurring survey, choose the **Frequency** (weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual) and the number of **Rounds**. Enter the **Opening** and **Closing** dates; the number of days left is shown underneath.
- **Estimated duration**: calculated from the number and type of questions. Turn on **Customize duration** to enter a duration in minutes yourself.
- **Reminders**: the list of automatic reminders, each expressed in days. Add one with **Add a reminder**, remove one with the cross.

## Step 4: launch or save as a draft

![Launch step: the heading Publish survey and the subheading Summary, three cards (Surveys: the title and 1 section(s) · 4 Questions; Participants: 2 Employee, Confidential (min 5); Timeline: One-time, 1 Reminders and the dates from 2026-11-11 to 2026-12-11), then the Draft and Launch buttons.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/sondages-06.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C394&quality=80&ssl=1)
The summary before launching.

1. Review the **Summary**: title and number of questions, participants and confidentiality, schedule and reminders.
2. Click **Draft** to save without sending anything. The survey appears in the list with the **Draft** status.
3. Or click **Launch**: the survey is saved and opened to responses. The button only appears if you may launch surveys.

On launch, each participant receives a personal response link, and the invitation email is sent if automatic sending is on in the settings. A module notification reports the launch.

## The survey page

Click a survey’s title in the list to open its page.

![Page of the survey Employee Engagement — Q1 2026: the Closed and Confidential (min 5) badges, the line Created by Données de démonstration · 31/10/2026 · Recurring — Cycle 1, the Edit, Duplicate and Results buttons, the participation bar 12/42 (29%), the Timeline (Opening, Closing, Reminders sent 2, Estimated duration), Participation by department and PMF Scores (53%) cards, then the Track responses, Send reminder, View results and Export shortcuts.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/sondages-07.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C413&quality=80&ssl=1)
The page brings together dates, participation by department and actions.

- **Edit** reopens the wizard on this survey. **Duplicate** creates a draft copy.
- **Launch** (draft) or **Launch now** opens the survey. **Close** (open survey) closes it as of today: no further response is accepted.
- **Results** appears once the survey is open or closed.
- The cards show the dates, the number of reminders sent, the estimated duration, participation by department and the global score.

## Good to know

- A survey whose closing date has passed no longer accepts responses, even if nobody closed it by hand; the closing day itself is still open.
- When a recurring survey closes, the next cycle is prepared as a draft, with the same questions and participants and dates shifted according to the frequency. You then launch it.
- Editing a survey’s questions replaces its whole list of questions: avoid doing so once responses have come in.
- Every creation, edit, launch and closure is recorded in the module’s activity log.

## Frequently asked questions

### I only see the Draft button. Why?

The **Launch** button requires **Launch / schedule a survey** at the Execute tier. Save as a draft, then ask someone with that permission to launch it from the survey page.

### Can I add a participant after launch?

Yes, by editing the survey. The new participant can then answer from the response form.

### What is the minimum confidentiality threshold for?

It prevents anyone from guessing who answered what in a small group: below that number of responses, no result is shown, neither for the survey nor for a department. See [Reading results and generating reports](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/surveys-reading-results-and-generating-reports/).

### *Similaire*