Working with Invitations

Working with Invitations

Sending out invitations by email is one convenient way to publish your surveys. If you have a list of email addresses, you can either import them to Opinio (file upload), or simply copy/paste to create your invitation. This module also let you track your invitees; who has responded, who has not, who has received reminders etc.

An invitee list is a re-usable list of respondents.

Directions to create an Invitee List

1. Go to the 'Resources' page by clicking the 'Resources' link on the top navigation bar.

   

2. Click on 'Invitee Lists'.

   

3. Select 'New Invitee List'.

   

4. Name the list and click 'Create'.
5. To add invitees to the list, click the list's 'Add Invitees' link. There are two ways to add invitees:
   • Add Invitees Manually:
     1. Click on the 'Add Invitees Manually Tab'.
     2. Begin adding invitees by entering them into the text field. The format for adding invitees is:

        

        
        

        email,name,attribute-1,attribute-2,etc.

        These labels should be entered as the first line in the text field. The attributes following the email and name can be any piece of data, such as department, class, and so on. If no labels are entered to determine the format (email,name,attribute-1,attribute-2) then the first column must be emails and the second names. Here is an example of an invitee list with labels:

        email,name,department,building
        joe@mit.edu,Joe Smith,Physics,Bldg 12
        Mspears@mit.edu,Marlyn Spears,Math,Bldg 15
        BLane@mit.edu,Bryan Lane,Libraries,Bldg 17
        

        The name and attribute labels are optional but the email label must be included. The labels can appear in any order but the position of the data must match the labels.
     3. Once you have entered the invitee data, click 'Save'.
   • Add Invitees by Importing:
     1. Click on the 'Import Invitees' tab.

        

     2. Click 'Browse' to select a local text file with the invitee list. Use the format mentioned in Step B of the Add Invitees Manually instructions above when creating the local text file.
     3. Select 'Import'.

Invitations are re-usable 'invites' that automatically send a message to respondents when the survey has been published.

Directions to Create an Invitation

1. Click 'Publish' Survey.
2. Select 'Invitations'.
3. Select the 'New Invitation' link.
4. Fill out the 'New Invitation' form.
   • Invitation Settings:

     

     1. Invitation Name - The name you wish to call the invitation.
     2. From Name - This will appear in the invitation email as the sender.
     3. From Email - This will appear as the sender's email.
     4. Content Type - If you want to include HTML code in your invitation email, you have to set this parameter to "text/html". To include html code simply type/paste the code in the "message" field. If you do not need to use HTML in the invitation, select "text/plain". The HTML code should be a valid and complete HTML document.
   • Invitation Date and Message:

     

     1. Send Date - The date and time the invitation will be sent to the respondents.
     2. Subject - The subject line of the invitation email.
     3. Message - The message sent along with the invitation email. Make sure you keep the link included with the default message - this is how the invitees will access the survey.
   • Reminder Dates

     

     1. Remindar Dates 1 - 5 - Choose the date and time that each of the five reminder messages will be sent. The number of "Reminder Dates" fields filled in determine how many reminder messages will be sent.
   • Reminder Messages

     

     1. Reminder Subject - The subject line of the reminder messages.
     2. Reminder Message - The message sent with each of the reminders (the last reminder has a unique message).
     3. Last Reminder Subject - The subject of the final reminder message.
     4. Last Reminder Message - A unique message sent with the final reminder.
5. Click 'Create'.
6. Click 'Ok'.

Directions to Add Invitees to an Invitation

1. Click 'Publish' Survey.
2. Select 'Invitations'.
3. Choose the 'Invitation' you wish to edit.
4. Click 'Add Invitees'.
5. Begin adding invitees. There are three ways to do this:
   • Enter Invitees Manually:
   • Using an 'Invitee List':
   • Importing Invitees: