This page deals with creating conditional rules when managing TouchPoints, Collection Types, and Referral Forms.
A conditional rule is used to customize the workflow within a form. They are used to relate two or more elements so that specific actions performed within the form trigger other actions and/or elements. A good example might be showing or hiding particular questions based on a user’s response to a previous question. Another might be setting a default answer to a series of questions based on a previous answer.
For example, a question on a TouchPoint asks "Did the client receive income from any source in the past 30 days?" A conditional rule can be set up so that if "Yes" is selected, another question appears asking for the Types of Income Received.
It is important to note that no two conditional rules can create a conflicting action.
For example, the conditional rule from above is set up but then another conditional rule is set up where the Types of Income Received question is set to be hidden if "No" is selected for the question "Did the client receive any donations in the past 30 days?" These rules will conflict with each other if both answers (Yes for the first, and No for the second) are selected. Essentially, the condition will not know which one to choose (show or hide Types of Income Received) and the rules will not work appropriately.
When working with Conditional Rules and Multi-subject level responses, such as Collections, or Participants (Multiple), it is expected that some Conditional Rules will not appear to activate on the All tab until selecting an individual Participant. Conditional Rules that use Cross-reference elements as a measure are part of this expectation. A good rule of thumb is that if the question element is a Cross-reference that auto-fills, such as an Element Cross-reference, or a Demographic Cross-reference, it may not activate the Conditional Rule on the All tab right away.
Limitations
The following element types will NOT be selectable when creating conditional rules:
Page
Message/Instruction
Section Header
Signature
Grid
Phone Number
Address City
Address Company
Address County
Address Field
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
Address Person
Address State
Address Zip Code
Email
SSN/SIN
We recommend reading:
In-Depth Set Up Instructions
Navigation Bar > "Site Administration" > Manage TouchPoints, Manage Collection Types, or Manage Referral Forms
Click on the "Question Settings" button and select "Conditional Rules" from the drop-down menu.
In order to set conditional rules, the form must first have questions to apply them to.
You will see the following options:
1. Return button – Return to managing the TouchPoint, referral form, or Collection type.
2. New Conditional Rule – Create a new conditional rule.
3. Search/Filter – You can search through all conditional rules for that particular form by either the rule name or the questions used in the rule.
4. Edit – Edit the rule.
5. Disable – Disable the rule.
6. Delete – Delete the rule.
7. Enable – Re-enable a rule that has been disabled
Click the "New Conditional Rule" button.
Give the new rule a descriptive name.
Select a question and measurement from the drop-down menus. This will create the "if" statement of your rule.
Measurement Explanation Example
Equal To
Checks if the question is equal to a selected answer.
This example checks to see if Attendance is equal to Present.
Not Equal To
Checks if the question is NOT equal to the selected answer.
This example checks to see if Attendance is not equal to Absent.
Less Than
Checks if the question is less than the selected answer.
This example checks to see if the Date of Next Contact is less than 1/16/2015.
Less Than or Equal To
Checks if the question is less than or equal to the selected answer.
This example checks to see if the Date of Next Contact is less than or equal to 1/16/2015.
Greater Than
Checks if the question is greater than the selected answer.
This example checks to see if the Date of Next Contact is greater than 1/16/2015.
Greater Than or Equal To
Checks if the question is greater than or equal to the selected answer.
This example checks to see if the Date of Next Contact is greater than or equal to 1/16/2015.
Empty
Checks if the question has no value in it.
This example checks to see if the comment field has been left blank.
Not Empty
Checks if the question has any value in it.
This example checks to see if the comment field has anything in it.
Contains
Checks to see if a text field contains a certain word or phrase.
This example checks to see if the comment field has the word "test" in it.
Equal to Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is equal to the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is the same as the answer given for Question B.
Not Equal to Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is NOT equal to the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is not the same as the answer given for Question B.
Less Than Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is less than the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is less than the answer given for Question B.
Greater Than Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is greater than the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is greater than the answer given for Question B.
Less Than or Equal to Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is less than or equal to the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is less than or equal to the answer given for Question B.
Greater Than or Equal to Question
Checks to see if the answer given to the first question is greater than or equal to the answer given for the second question.
This example checks to see if the answer given for Question A is greater than or equal to the answer given for Question B.
7. You can click the plus symbol to add additional conditions. Click the minus sign to remove a condition.
8. Select the "Any" or "All" from the drop-down menu to set how many of the conditions have to be met in order to apply.
Any means that when there are multiple conditions, the user only has to complete one to meet the condition.
All means that when there are multiple conditions, the user has to complete them all to meet the condition.
9. From the drop-down menus, decide the action that should be performed and which question it will be performed on. The following actions can be performed, depending on the element type involved:
Show: Shows a second question when a first question is answered in a particular fashion. If the first question is NOT answered in the correct fashion, the second question will be hidden.
Hide: Hides a second question when a first question is answered in a particular fashion. If the first question is NOT answered the the correct fashion, the second question will be shown.
Make required: Makes a second question required when a first question is answered in a particular fashion. If the first question is NOT answered in the particular fashion, the second question will be required or not required based on non-condition settings.
Make not required: Makes a second question not required when a first question is answered in a particular fashion. If the first question is NOT answered the the particular fashion, the second question will be required or not required based on non-condition settings.
Set default for: Sets the answer to a question to the value you have specified when another question is answered in a particular fashion. It is based on what a user inputs otherwise. Users are still able to edit the value.
Set to empty: Sets the answer to a question to blank when another question is answered in a particular fashion. It is based on what a user inputs otherwise. Users are still able to edit the value.
Filter list choices: Changes the choices in a list-type question to ones you have specified when another question is answered in a particular fashion. The full list will show otherwise.
10. You can click the plus symbol to add additional actions. Click the minus sign to remove an action.
11. Click "Save" to create your new rule.
We recommend reading:
Known Issues
If you are trying to edit conditional rules for a disabled touchpoint element, you will be met with a robot error. If possible, re-enable the element to be able to edit conditional rules properly.