Get started with the ArcGIS Survey123 web designer

You recently opened a food truck, Cilantro City Cafe, and want to collect information from your customers to find out how you're doing. In addition to asking questions about how they found the food and the service, you can ask questions to help you decide which channels to use for marketing, where most customers are finding your food truck, and more.

In this tutorial, you'll create a survey in ArcGIS Survey123 using the web designer.

This tutorial was last tested on August 29, 2025.

View final result

Requirements

• Publisher or Administrator role in an ArcGIS organization: ArcGIS Online (see options for software access) or ArcGIS Enterprise (learn more)

Get started with the ArcGIS Survey123 web designer

Create a blank survey

First, you'll sign in to the Survey123 website. Then, you'll set up a blank survey.

1. Go to the ArcGIS Survey123 website.

   The Survey123 website is where you create and manage surveys, view the data collected for each survey, and analyze and print the results. You can also export the collected survey data to use it in other ArcGIS client applications.

2. Sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account or into ArcGIS Enterprise using a named user account.

   Note:

   If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.

3. On the ribbon, click New survey.

   

   There are several options for starting your survey. You can start with a blank survey in the web designer, use a preconfigured template, or use ArcGIS Survey123 Connect to build your survey in a spreadsheet. You'll choose the first option to start with a blank survey in the web designer.

4. For Blank survey, click Get started.

   

   It may take a moment for the survey to be created. During this process, a new form item and associated feature layer are created in your ArcGIS organization. When the survey is ready, a preview of the survey appears along with a list of usable question types. It does not contain survey questions yet.

5. Download the CilantroCityCafe_graphics.zip file. Unzip the file to a location on your desktop that you can access easily, such as the Downloads folder.

   You'll start by filling in the survey details. These details are used to describe the content in your organization and won't appear on the survey.

6. Next to the survey name, Untitled survey, click the Edit survey info button.

   

   The Edit survey info window appears.

7. In the Edit survey info window, enter the following details:
   • For Name, type Cilantro City Café Feedback Form.
   • For Summary, type Survey for Cilantro City Café customers to provide feedback about their experience.
   • For Thumbnail, click the placeholder image and navigate to the location where you unzipped the CilantroCityCafe_graphics.zip folder. Select the Cilantro City Cafe Feedback thumbnail file.

   

8. Click OK.

   Next, you'll set the title, description, and banner image that appear to users when they use the survey.

9. In the survey preview, click Survey title not set.

   The Survey header pane appears on the Edit tab.

10. In the Survey header pane, click Image. Next to Select image, click the placeholder thumbnail.

    

11. Click Select image file. In the Open window, browse to the location where you unzipped the CilantroCityCafe_graphics.zip folder and select the Cilantro City Cafe Feedback Banner file.
12. Click OK.

    

    The banner image is added to the top of the survey.

13. In the survey preview, click Description content for the survey.
14. In the Survey description pane, type Let us know about your visit to our food truck!
15. At the bottom of the Edit pane, click Save.

    

    The survey title and description are set and your changes are saved. Next, you'll start adding questions.

Add text and date questions

Now that you have added the survey title and description, you'll add the first questions. To begin gathering data from your customers, you want to know what their name is and when they visited the food truck.

1. Click the Add tab.

   The Add tab shows all the question types that you can add to your survey.

2. On the Add tab, click Singleline text.
3. In the Singleline text pane, for Label, type What is your name?

   

   As you type the label, it appears on the survey preview. You can configure multiple parameters for each survey question, depending on the type of question. In this case, you can set a default value for the question and set validation rules. You want to ensure survey participants answer the question before submitting the survey, so you'll make this a required question.

4. For Validation, check the This is a required question box.

   

   Required questions are indicated on the survey with a red asterisk.

   

   Next, you'll add a date question.

5. Click the Add tab and click the Date question type.

   A blank date question is added to the survey preview below the text question. A small calendar icon in the corner of the question input box indicates the question type.

6. In the Date pane, for Label, type When did you visit the food truck?

   You'll also set a default value for this question. It's likely that customers will fill in the survey while visiting the food truck, so you'll set the default value to the date the survey is submitted.

7. For Default value, select Submitting date.

   

   In addition to choosing a default date value for the question, you can also configure the date format that is saved for the question. The default option is to collect the day, month, and year, but you can also collect only month and year, or just the year.

8. For Validation, check the This is a required question box.

Add a location question

The next question you want to ask your customers is where they found your food truck. To do this, you'll add a location question. Location question types allow users to specify a location, either on a map, by typing an address, or by choosing a location from a list.

1. On the Add tab, in the Location group, click Map.

   

   A map question is added to the survey preview. Map questions allow survey respondents to drop a pin on the map. With a map question, you can collect data for anywhere the food truck may have been parked that may not have an exact address, such as in a parking lot or at a sports field complex.

2. In the Map pane, for Label, type Where did you visit the food truck?
3. For Hint, type Drop a pin on the map near where you found us parked.

   

   Next, you'll configure the map to make it easier for your customers to find where the truck may have been parked. You can do this by customizing the map extent and drawing options.

4. Under Map and extent, in the search bar, type Charleston, SC and press Enter.

   The map zooms to Charleston, South Carolina. This new map extent is also shown in the survey preview. This extent is what your customers will see when they open the survey.

5. Zoom in to Charleston until you can see some neighborhoods labeled on the basemap, such as French Quarter.

   

   Finally, you'll set a minimum zoom level to help customers place the pin on the map with more accuracy.

6. Check the Set minimum zoom level for drawing tools box.

   When you check the box, a scale bar appears. The minimum zoom level is set to World by default. You'll change the minimum zoom level to match your current extent, which is indicated on the scale bar by an arrow.

7. Click and drag the scale slider to just before the current extent arrow.

   

   The maximum scale changes to Town. Now, your customers will only be able to add a point on the map if they're zoomed in closer than the current map extent.

8. Check the This is a required question box.

Add rating questions

Next, you'll add questions to capture information about the experience customers had at your food truck. You'll use a series of choice questions. Choice question types described below allow users to choose an answer from a list or scale. The way the choices are presented varies depending on the question type.

1. On the Add tab, in the Choice group, click Rating.

   

   A rating question is added to the survey preview under the map question.

2. For Label, type How would you rate your meal?

   

   By default, the rating question has five stars. You can configure the question with more or fewer stars, or choose another icon. A five-star scale is a familiar way to rate food quality and experience, so you'll leave it unchanged.

3. Check the This is a required question box.

   You want to add a similar question to understand how the customer would rate the service they received. Instead of adding another rating question and configuring it from scratch, you'll duplicate the meal question.

4. In the survey preview pane, click the How would you rate your meal? question. Click the Duplicate button.

   

   A copy of the question is added to the survey.

5. On the Edit tab, for Label, edit the How would you rate your meal? - Copy text to How would you rate the service you received?

   All the other configuration choices match the first rating question. Next, you'll add a question to find out how people learned about your food truck. You'll use a multiselect question to ensure that your customers can select all relevant options.

6. On the Add tab, click Multiple select.
7. For Label, type How did you hear about us?
8. For Choices, click Batch edit.

   

   A window appears, showing the existing choices, numbered 1 through 3. This text box allows you to add multiple user input choices at a time. Each choice must be on a new line.

9. Add the following choices:
   • Social Media
   • Community newsletter
   • Friend or colleague referral
   • Advertisement
10. Click OK.

    

11. Check the Allow "Other" box.

    This option both allows the survey respondents to select Other as an option, and to add text describing their choice.

Add dependent questions

Depending on how a survey respondent answers a question, you may want to ask them for more information. You can design the survey to only show certain questions based on the participant's response to earlier questions. Next, you'll create two questions, then define a visibility rule to hide the second question unless it's relevant to the first.

1. On the Add tab, in the Choice group, click Single select.
2. For Label, type Would you recommend Cilantro City Cafe to others?
3. For Choices, click Batch edit.
4. Delete the existing Choice text and type Yes. Press Enter.
5. On the new line, type No. Click OK.

   

   Next, you'll set up a text question.

6. On the Add tab, click Multiline text.

   Like the singleline text question you added earlier, this question allows the user to add their own text. This question type is designed for longer answers.

7. For Label, type Why not? For Hint, type Please let us know what we can do to improve.

   You'll hide this question and set a rule to only show it when the survey respondent answers no to the preceding question.

8. Under Behavior, next to Visible, click Set rule.

   

   The visibility rule expression builder appears. It allows you to build a logical expression to determine when the question will be shown on the survey. The first box selects the survey question, the second box shows a logical operator, and the last two boxes allow for criteria.

9. For Visibility rule, click the first box and choose the question Would you recommend Cilantro City Cafe to others?
10. Leave the second box set to is. Click the last box and choose No.

    The final expression reads Would you recommend Cilantro City Cafe to others? is No.

    

11. In the Set visibility rule pane, click OK.

    The question is now grayed out in the survey preview. An eye icon in the corner shows that the question has a rule set on it.

    

Add a media question

Media and files question types allow users to capture or upload media and files with their survey response. In this case, you want your survey respondent to be able to upload pictures they may have taken of their meal. Image questions can be configured to either allow uploaded files, or to have the survey respondent take a photo. Depending on when someone is taking your survey, you want to allow for both options.

1. On the Add tab, in the Media and files group, click Image.

   

2. For Label, type Share a photo of your meal!
3. For Image source, leave the Browse images or use camera option selected.
4. For File size, set Maximum to 10 MB.

   

   10 MB should be large enough to allow most photos taken on a mobile phone. When choosing file size, consider the source and resolution of images and what file size they're likely to result in.

5. Save the survey.

Style and publish the survey

Now that you're done building your survey, you'll customize the appearance to match your branding.

1. Click the Appearance tab.

   

   The Appearance tab shows a set of preconfigured themes you can choose from. You can also customize your own theme.

2. For Theme, choose the red theme.

   

   The survey preview updates to show the red background of your survey.

3. Scroll through your survey to ensure that the red theme works for all components of your survey.

   The component color of the image upload box has changed to match the theme of your survey.

4. Click Edit theme.

   

   More options to customize the theme appear, including font colors, background colors, and a custom image uploader. All the elements show well against the background, so you'll skip this step for now.

5. Click the Options tab.

   This tab displays the message your customers will see when they submit the survey.

6. In the text box, edit the Thank you line to read: Thank you for your feedback!

   

   Finally, you'll publish the survey. Once published, you'll be able to send out the link so that your customers can start submitting feedback.

7. Save the survey. Click Publish.

   Note:

   You can also preview the survey before you publish it. The preview will show the survey as it appears to your survey respondents. This is a good way to confirm configured settings, such as the map's zoom extent, visibility rules, and required questions. You can also see how the form looks on different screen sizes, such as a mobile device.

   When you click Publish, the Modify Schema pane may appear. This pane allows you to change the default field lengths and names for the survey's feature layer.

8. In the Publish Survey pane, click Publish.

   The survey may take a few minutes to publish.

9. When the publishing is complete, click the Collaborate tab.

   

   From this tab, you can manage who has access to your survey and how it's shared.

10. For Share this survey, click the Open the survey in a new tab button.

    

11. Review the survey to make sure everything appears as you intended. Close the tab.

    If needed, you can make changes and republish the survey.

12. For Who can submit to this survey, choose Everyone (public).

    

13. At the bottom of the page, click Save to save the sharing settings.

    The survey is now complete and ready to share with your customers.

14. Copy the URL or download the QR code to share with your customers.

In this tutorial, you created a survey to gather information from customers visiting your food truck. You used several question types to capture the information needed to understand how your customers are liking the food and service and also to learn how they found the food truck so you can improve your marketing and expand your customer base.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• Topographic map sources: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community