Project survey

A project survey is the set of single or multiple choice questions teams answer to describe a project’s risk profile or business context. The questions, how they are structured, and the way answers relate to each other can be managed by content administrators.

Customize the system-wide project survey settings, including sections, subsections, and questions & answers.

For more information

For a detailed explanation about how the project survey works, see Understanding the project survey.

Sections and subsections

Sections provide a first-level grouping for one or more subsections. Subsections contain one or more survey questions. Only custom sections and subsections can be deleted.

Project survey

Question details

  • Question: A request for information about a project or work effort.

    • Q: A question that groups together a set of answers.

    • Help Text: Optional text that further explains a question.

  • Format: Questions can be multiple choice or single choice.

    • Multiple choice: Users can select any number of the supplied answers. Each answer is presented to the user as a check box.

    • Single choice: Users can select only one of the supplied answers. Each answer is presented as a radio-button.

  • Policy: A question can be marked as optional (the default for all SD Elements content), mandatory, or hidden.

    • Optional: The question is displayed in the survey but an answer is not required.

    • Mandatory: The question is displayed in the survey and an answer is required. No Countermeasures are generated for a project if a mandatory question is unanswered.

    • Hidden: Questions are not displayed in the survey to users when they make projects.

  • Answers: Possible answers to the question.

Existing projects are affected by policy changes to survey questions. If a question is marked as mandatory, then all projects in the system must answer it.
Hiding all the questions in a subsection will hide the subsection. Hiding all the subsections in a section will hide the section.

Answer details

An answer has the following details:

  • Answer: The text of an answer.

    • If the question is single choice, then answers are radio-buttons and users can only select one.

    • If the question is multiple choice, then answers are checkboxes and users can select multiple answers.

  • Help Text: Optional text that describes an answer.

  • Implied Answers: A list of answers to automatically include in the project settings when the current answer is selected.

    • Implied answers cascade, meaning that if answer A implies answer B, and answer B implies answer C, then by selecting answer A, a user is also selecting answers B and C.

      Be careful not to introduce cyclical conflicts when designing custom content. For example, if A implies B, B implies C, and C implies A, then if a user selects A they will receive an error.

  • Move to Question: You can move a single answer to belong to a different question in any other section. You can also move any subsection to a different section.

  • Rules: The conditions of when an answer can be selected. You can always select an answer in project settings if there are no rules.

Implied answers are added to a project at the time of survey save only.

Create a custom survey section

To add a custom section to the system follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Click Add Section.

  3. Fill in the name of the new section.

  4. Click Create Section.

Subsections and their questions and answers can be added to this new section.

Update a custom survey section

To update the name of a custom section follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section using the interface and click its name.

  3. Fill in the new name for the section.

  4. Click Save Section.

The section title is updated across all projects.

Reorder sections and subsections

To reorder the project survey’s sections and subsections and customize the order in which questions appear, follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Reordering the survey in the library affects existing and future projects. This action may also affect subsequent completions of a project’s survey because the default order of the survey is designed to automatically answer some questions or make new questions available in subsequent sections. By reordering the survey and completing it again, answers and sections may become available out of an expected order and affect your project’s settings. For more information about how selecting an answer affects other answers, see Understanding the project survey.
It is recommended that you reorder the survey with your Customer Success representative.

Reordering the survey has the following behavior:

  • If two sections or subsections have the same number, they are sorted by:

    • Custom content with the newest item first

    • Followed by default content with the oldest item first

  • Custom survey sections and subsections are assigned the highest ordinal (for example, if you have 5 existing sections or subsections, the custom section or subsection will be assigned as 6).

  • If you disable content using the Content Pack Selector, its section no longer appears in the Project Survey itself, but you can still reorder its section from Library → Project Survey.

Sections

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Click on the dropdown list under the Order column of the section you would like to reorder.

    survey reorder dropdown

  3. Select a number to determine its order.

    1. For example, if you select 2, the section will move to the second place in the list of sections after you save.

  4. Click on Save Project Survey.

The Project Survey is reordered based on your selection.

See notes below for more information.

Subsections

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Click on the name of the section containing the subsection you would like to reorder.

  3. Click on the dropdown list under the Order column of the subsection you would like to reorder.

    survey reorder dropdown

  4. Select a number to determine its order.

    1. For example, if you select 2, the subsection will move to the second place in the list of subsections after you save.

  5. Click on Save Section.

The Project Survey is reordered based on your selection.

Default Project Survey order

Currently, it is only possible to return the Project Survey to its default order manually. You can reorder the survey to its default state using the following image.

Delete a custom survey section

To delete a custom section follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section using the interface and click its name.

  3. Click Delete Section.

  4. Acknowledge the details in the dialog.

  5. Click Confirm.

The section, its sub-sections and questions and answers are permanently removed from the system. The affected answers are also removed from all projects.

Add a custom question to a subsection

To add a question to a custom or default subsection follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the subsection and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection.

  4. Click Add Question.

  5. Fill in the required fields.

    Add question

  6. Click Add Question.

The question is added to all projects.

Edit a custom question

To edit a custom question follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the subsection and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection containing the question.

  4. Click the question.

  5. Update the desired fields.

    Add question

  6. Click Save Question.

The question is added to all projects.

Add a custom answer to a question

To add an answer to a custom or default question follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the question and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection containing the question.

  4. Click on the question from the list.

  5. Enter the title of the answer in the field "Add an answer…​".

  6. Click on Save Question. The page reloads with the answer added to the list.

  7. Click on the new answer.

  8. Fill in the required fields.

    Add question

  9. Click Save Answer.

The answer is active and available in all projects.

Edit a custom answer

To edit a custom answer follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the question and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection containing the question.

  4. Click on the question from the list.

  5. Click on the answer.

  6. Update the desired fields.

    Edit question

  7. Click Save Answer.

The answer is updated in all projects.

Deactivate an answer

Deactivate an answer so that users cannot select it in the survey. To deactivate an answer follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the question and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection containing the question.

  4. Click on the question from the list.

  5. Click on the answer you want to deactivate.

  6. Click on Deactivate Answer.

  7. Acknowledge the warning.

  8. Click Confirm.

The answer is deactivated in the project survey and evaluates to False in any affected content matching conditions or rules. This can have the effect of marking certain content for removal in projects with the answer selected (such as Weaknesses, Countermeasures, How-tos, and Additional Requirements).

Any answers implied by the deactivated answer continue to be selected in projects.

Reactivate an answer

Reactivate an answer so that users can select it in the survey. To reactivate an answer follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Global Roles→Customization→Customize content.

Steps:

  1. Open the Library→Project Survey page.

  2. Search for the section containing the question and click its name.

  3. Click on the subsection containing the question.

  4. Click on the question from the list.

  5. Click on the answer.

  6. Click on Reactivate Answer.

The answer is now selectable in the project survey.

Reactivating an answer does not automatically include its implied answers to projects. Users must open a project survey, select the answer and re-save the survey to automatically include any implied answers.

results matching ""

    No results matching ""