Using a Slider Control

Using a Slider Control for single-response questions

You can insert a draggable Slider Control as a way of representing single response questions. Respondents drag the slider to the position representing their response.

The Slider Control consists of:

a set of images (the bar itself, the slider, the scale markers on the bar and an associated image for each question code such as smiley faces or dials that give more information) the position of those images the number of codes the way the Slider Control behaves

These are stored together in a file with extension .sld.

The Slider Control tool includes templates for horizontal and vertical bars. You can also create your own Slider Control from your own bar and slider images.

The templates allow you to include an image for each question code, which is displayed instead of the code label. You can decide whether to display images, the code labels (the text associated with a given response) or nothing at all. If you choose to display the code labels, they are displayed when the respondent moves the slider, showing them what that position on the Slider Control means.

Using a Slider Control template

1. In the Questionnaire window, select the single response question that you wish to turn into a Slider Control. 2. Select Show in the toolbar topics, then select As Slider Control in the drop-down list, and check the Show box. The questionnaire window changes to display a grey box for the question (if a Slider Control has been previously defined for this question, that Slider Control will be displayed). 3. Double-click the Slider Control area to open the Slider Control wizard. The existing Slider Control templates will be displayed. The default templates show five code positions, but this will be changed to fit the number of codes that exist in your question. 4. Select the one you wish to use. It will appear in preview, allowing you to move the slider to show how the template looks at different settings.

5. When you have the Slider Control you want, click OK.

Creating a new Slider Control

1. In the questionnaire window, select the single-response question that you wish to turn into a Slider Control. 2. Select Show in the toolbar topics, then select As Slider Control in the drop-down list, and check the Show box. The questionnaire window changes to display a grey area for the question. 3. Double-click the Slider Control area to open the Slider Control wizard. The existing Slider Control templates will be displayed. 4. Click Advanced without selecting a template. You are taken to the Points on slider page. This is where you can choose an image to go with each point on your Slider Control.

5. Click the Browse button to browse for an image for that point. If the image is greyscale, you can change its colour by using the colourize button. 6. Repeat this for each point.

7. Click Next to choose an image for the bar. You can specify the position of the bar image.

8. Click Next to choose an image to use as a scale marker between codes. 9. Click Next to choose an image to use for the slider that respondents drag or stretch across the bar. 10. Click Next to set how the slider behaves. Check the Use steps box if you want the slider to jump between points, clear it if you want the respondent to be able to position it anywhere on the slider.

11. Click Next to set how the point graphics behave. This step allows you to change which direction the slider travels in, and where the graphics appear.

12. When you have the slider you want, click Finish. You will be asked if you wish to save your Slider Control as a style. The file is saved with the .sld extension and contains all the images to create the Slider Control.

Changing the number of points

If you have created a question with a Slider Control and then realise that you need to add more points to it, you must do this.

1. Select the question in the Questionnaire window.

2. Click on the toolbar to change to Style mode. 3. Click the Slider Control button on the toolbar to open the Slider Control wizard.

4. Click the Advanced button on the Slider Control wizard. There will be extra and buttons, allowing you to add and remove codes in the slider style. Using a Slider Control for quantity questions

You can convert a quantity question to a Slider Control. Respondents can drag the slider along the bar to show a given quantity.

The Slider Controls for quantity questions are very similar to those used for single-response questions, but they do not have the associated graphics for each code point. Instead, you need to supply a range of values for the quantity.

You can either display a code box so that respondents can type in a numeric value, or just display the draggable Slider Control. Displaying the Slider Control on its own has the disadvantage that respondents may not be sure what value each position represents (unless it’s included in the bar image).

Using a template Slider Control

1. In the Questionnaire window, select the quantity question that you wish to turn into aSlider Control. 2. Select Show in the toolbar topics, then select As Slider Control in the drop-down list, and check the Show box. The Questionnaire window changes to display a grey box for the question. If a Slider Control has been previously defined for this question the selected Slider Control is displayed. 3. Double-click the Slider Control area to open the Slider Control wizard. The existing slider bar templates will be displayed. The default templates show five code positions. 4. Select the one with the bar you wish to use. It will appear in preview, allowing you to move the slider to see how it displays at different settings.

The associated code graphics shown in the template window do not appear for quantity questions. They are only available for coded questions. Instead, you have a code box for respondents to enter their value.

If you wish to change the code box visibility and location:

1. Select Advanced. 2. Click Next until you get to the Code labels/ response box page. 3. Change Size to the required size of the code box (the proportion of space the box uses) 4. Change Horizontal space to change the distance from the left edge that the response box appears. 5. Click Finish.

Creating a new Slider Control

1. In the Questionnaire window, select the quantity question that you wish to turn into aSlider Control. 2. Select Show in the toolbar topics, then select As Slider Control in the drop-down list, and check the Show box. The Questionnaire window changes to display a grey box for the question. If aSlider Control has been previously defined for this question the selected Slider Control is displayed. 3. Double click the grey area to open theSlider Control wizard. The existing Slider Control templates will be displayed. The default templates show five code positions, but this will be changed to fit the number of codes that exist in your question. 4. Click Advanced without selecting a template. You are taken to the Bar section. 5. Click Browse to find an image to use as the bar for your Slider Control.

6. If the image is greyscale, you can change the color by using the Colourize button. 7. Click Next to go to the scale marker page. These mark divisions on the bar. You can ignore these for a quantity slider. 8. Click Next to choose an image to use for the slider that respondents drag or stretch across the bar. 9. Click Next to set how the Slider Control behaves. Clear the Use steps box so the respondent can position the slider wherever they like on the bar. 10. Click Next to set the maximum and minimum values respondents can enter. You can also set the position of the code box to type in a response and the direction the slider travels in.

11. When you have the slider you want, click Finish. You will be asked if you wish to save your Slider Control as a style. The file is saved with the .sld extension and contains all the images to create the Slider Control.

Extracting the graphics from a Slider Control template

If you want to create your own Slider Control but wish to make it look like one of the template Slider Controls, you can extract the graphics from the template.

1. Open the Slider Control wizard. The existing Slider Control templates will be displayed. If the one you want is not visible, press the Browse button to find the folder containing it. 2. Select the Slider Control template with graphics that you wish to use. 3. Click Extract. A Browse for Folder dialog appears. 4. Select the folder where you wish to save the graphics, or create a new folder and click OK. 5. A message box appears telling you whether the images were successfully extracted, and a window opens, showing you the extracted graphic files.