MS Forms - Advanced Settings

Introduction

MS Forms is an app available with the university's O365 license. You can create surveys, gradable quizzes, and polls, and easily see results as they come in. Polls can be set as anonymous or to record user information (name and date of completion) within the results. This article reviews advanced settings of the app after the form or quiz has been initially created and shared. 

For help initially creating and sharing a poll or quiz with MS Forms, see the article "MS Forms - Getting Started."

Please note: forms are saved as you create them automatically. If you delete a question, it will be permanently deleted along with any response data that's been collected for it.There is no undo option on MS Forms at this time. 

Table of Contents


Add Branching Logic to Questions

Add branching logic to a survey or quiz so that a respondent is sent to a specific question after responding in a specific way to an initial question. It means that only questions that are relevant to the respondent will display. If the questions don't apply based on the set branching logic, a respondent is redirected to a specific set of questions or skips a set of questions altogether.

Please note: branching logic can only be added after all questions leading up to and connected after a branch have been added to the form or quiz. It is recommended to map out where questions should lead in advance, and wait to add branching logic until all questions have been finalized in the form to avoid broken branches.

  1. Go to the question for which you want to add branching.
  2. Select the "More settings for question" icon (looks like an ellipsis) to open a drop-down list. 
  3. Choose the "Add branching" option to open the "Branching options" page. All questions will display and a "Go to" drop-down will appear next to each question/response option that can be branched. 
  4. Select the "Go to" drop-down list next to the question that you want to branch.
  5. Select the question that you want to branch to from the drop-down of options.
     
    1. Please note: you can only branch to a question that succeeds the initial question prompting the branch; you cannot send someone back to an earlier question.
  6. Repeat steps 4-5 to insert additional branches to your survey or quiz. If you want a particular question assigned as the final one in the survey or quiz, select the drop-down list next to that question, and then select End of the form.
     
    1. Please note: you can reset all branching options to their default settings at any time. Select the "More options" icon (looks like an ellipses) that appears next to the "Branching options" header that appears at the top of the page, and then choose "Reset."

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Copy a Form's Template

When you create a copy of a form, only the questions, format, settings, and layout are copied. No existing responses are copied to the new form. MS Forms by default gives the new form the same name as the existing form with the added tag of (Copy) at the end. You can change it from there to what you want.

  • Go to the MS Forms homepage and find the form you want to copy.
  • Hover your mouse over the needed form and a "More options" button will appear (looks like an ellipsis).
  • Click the "More options" button to open a drop-down list. 
  • Select the "Copy" option.

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Share a Form to Create a Duplicate/Copy of the Template

When you create a duplicate/copy of a form, only the questions, format, settings, and layout are copied. No existing responses are copied to the new form. MS Forms by default gives the new form the same name as the existing form with the added tag of (Copy) at the end. You can change it from there to what you want.

  • Open the form you want to make a copy of.
  • Click the "Share" button to open a window of options.
  • Click the "+ Get a link to duplicate" button under the "Share as a template" header.  A unique link to the form or quiz will appear in a textbox.
  • Click or tap the "Copy" button next to the textbox.
  • Paste the link into the web address area of a new tab on your browser and hit the "Enter" key. You'll be taken to a preview page of the new copy of the form. 
  • Click the "Duplicate it" button that appears in a ribbon at the top of the preview page to finish creating the new copy of the form. 

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Stop Sharing a Form or Quiz with Collaborators

Please note: once you complete the actions below to remove the collaborate link, it's unusable for anyone that tries to click or tap on it. This specific link can't be recreated or reactivated; a new link will need to be created. 

  • Open the form or quiz which has the collaborate link.
  • Click the "Share" button to open a window of options.
  • Go to the "Share to collaborate" header.
  • Select the "Trash" button next to the text box that displays the link, a confirmation pop-up will appear.
  • Select the "Remove link" button in the confirmation pop-up to permanently remove the collaborate link, or select "Cancel" if you change your mind and don't want to remove the collaborate link.

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Export Responses to an Excel Spreadsheet

  • Open the form.
  • Click the "Responses" tab.
  • Click the "Open in Excel" button" below the overall summary of responses, a dialog box will open. 
  • Select "Open" to open the spreadsheet with the data to view, but not save a copy to your desktop, or "Save" to download a copy to your device's "Downloads" folder (or the folder you have designate to send downloads, depending on your browser/settings). 

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Format Text

Highlight a word or words in your title, description, or questions to prompt the advanced editor to open, and then choose any of the following: Bold (keyboard shortcut - CTRL/Cmd+B), Italic (keyboard shortcut - CTRL/Cmd+I), Underline (keyboard shortcut - CTRL/Cmd+U), Font colorFont sizeNumbering, or Bullets.

Please note: clicking the textbox will not open the advanced editor; the specific text you want to format must be highlighted.

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Change a Form's Theme

  • Select the "Theme" button in your form, a window will open with theme ideas and suggestions that you can use by clicking on the tile option you'd like to select.
  • Click the "Customize theme" icon (looks like a plus sign) and select the "Upload image" and/or "Customize color" icons.
     

Upload image

  • Select the tab header for the following image options: 
     
    • Image Search: search for images on Bing.
       
      • Enter the name of the image you're looking for.
      • Select the "Searchicon (looks like a magnifying glass).
      • Select the picture you want.
      • Click the "Add" button.
         
        • Please note: when you search for clip art and pictures online, you're responsible for respecting copyright laws and Bing's license filter can help you select what to use.
    • OneDrive: select to open a listing of your folders and files on your O365 OneDrive.
       
      • Find and select the picture you want to add.
      • Click the "Add" button.
    • Upload: add a picture from your computer or an external drive connected to your device. A file picker will open when you select this tab.
       
      •  Find and select the picture you want to add.
      • Click the "Open" button.

Customize color

  • Type the Hex value of the color you want to use in the "Hex #" textbox.

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Delete a Background Image

  • Select the "Theme" button in your form.
  • Click the "Edit" icon (looks like a pencil).
  • Click the "Trash" icon that now covers your image (looks like a garbage can).

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Add a Picture to a Question

  • Select the question you want to add a picture or image.
  • Select the "Insert media" icon on the right side of the question.
  • Click the "Image" icon, a menu of image options will appear. 
  • Select the tab header for the image option you need: 
     
    • Image Search: search for images on Bing.
       
      • Enter the name of the image you're looking for.
      • Select the "Searchicon (looks like a magnifying glass).
      • Select the picture you want.
      • Click the "Add" button.
         
        • Please note: when you search for clip art and pictures online, you're responsible for respecting copyright laws and Bing's license filter can help you select what to use.
    • OneDrive: select to open a listing of your folders and files on your O365 OneDrive.
       
      • Find and select the picture you want to add.
      • Click the "Add" button.
    • Upload: add a picture from your computer or an external drive connected to your device. A file picker will open when you select this tab.
       
      •  Find and select the picture you want to add.
      • Click the "Open" button.

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Add a Video to a Question

Videos that are published to MS Stream or YouTube can be embedded with questions. Videos hosted on other websites (including LEARNscape) can not be embedded with questions at this time. To direct a user to a video on a website other than MS Stream or YouTube, you want to copy and paste the permalink to that site in the main textbox or subtitle of that question. 

  • Select the question you want to add a video link to.
  • Select the "Insert media" icon on the right side of the question.
  • Click the "Video" icon, a menu of image options will appear. 
  • Copy the permalink of the video hosted on MS Stream or YouTube, and paste it to the "URL" textbox.

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