Form data from checkboxes doesn't differentiate in Excel or CSV exports

  • JoshAtJ
    Asked on December 17, 2014 at 3:21 PM

    I have a survey in which respondents check off a variety of checkboxes indicating their interest in various topics. I want to tally all the responses so that I know how many times a given checkbox was clicked.

    However, a "Visual Report" lumps a ton of checkbox responses in a given question into the "other" field, rendering the report basically useless.

    What's more, CSV and Excel fields export checkbox responses as undifferentiated masses of text, rendering them ESPECIALLY useless.

    Why, why, why can't I run a simple tally of responses??

    Argh!

  • Mike_T Jotform Support
    Replied on December 17, 2014 at 6:00 PM

    Thank you for contacting us.

    Looks like that you have found an Entry Limit option on the Visual Reports, so the "Other" answers issue is fixed.

    This is how we export the Check Box answers to excel.

    Form data from checkboxes doesnt differentiate in Excel or CSV exports Image 1 Screenshot 40

    Would you like to have an option to separate the data into multiple columns?

    Form data from checkboxes doesnt differentiate in Excel or CSV exports Image 2 Screenshot 51

    or

    Form data from checkboxes doesnt differentiate in Excel or CSV exports Image 3 Screenshot 62

    Please confirm, and we will be able to forward a feature request to our Development Team.

  • JoshAtJ
    Replied on December 17, 2014 at 6:03 PM

    I think some way to break out the checkbox responses within a given question and analyze THOSE responses would be wonderful. As to what the style would be, the first version, where a "select color" response is "checked" would make most sense.

    Now, could this be applied retroactively to surveys that are already closed? That would be awesome.

     

  • abajan Jotform Support
    Replied on December 17, 2014 at 8:30 PM

    There's a workaround where a textbox field can be added for each checkbox and an Update a form field value condition

    Form data from checkboxes doesnt differentiate in Excel or CSV exports Image 1 Screenshot 20

    used to populate each textbox with the word "Checked" (or whatever word is preferred).

    Please clone this jotform, select any number of colors and submit it. When you check its submissions you'll see a column for each textbox and the relevant columns populated with "Checked". Short of embedding the form's full in a webpage and adding a script, it's the best workaround I can think of.

    Please see: How to clone a jotform

    Thanks

  • abajan Jotform Support
    Replied on December 17, 2014 at 9:33 PM

    Hi again,

    To further expand on what was stated in my last reply, if you were to embed the full source of the clone into a web page of your own and add this script below the form code (like in this page) the checkbox group ("Select Color") column in the records would not contain any data. To illustrate, enter your email address in the demo, select any of the colors and submit it. The auto-reply you get will show just the textbox entries. The demo has the Hide Empty Fields on Emails feature enabled:

    Form data from checkboxes doesnt differentiate in Excel or CSV exports Image 1 Screenshot 20


    That's why the "Select Color" line isn't shown. However, there's no equivalent feature for submission records. So, an empty "Select Color" column would be seen there.

    If you would like further help with this please let us know.


    Thanks