Custom tags (customa - customz)

If you examine the Standard_ and Results style templates, you will find tags named [/customa],[/customb], etc.. When the template is used to create a questionnaire or response page, these fields are replaced with certain user-defined values. These values are set in the Questionnaire, Response, or Place pages.

The function and default value for each of these tags is defined in a section at the end of the template, in a section bracketed by <vwf=spotform> and <vwf=endspotform> tags. The HTML between these tags is not included in pages created with these templates, but rather is displayed in the place Settings page. Thus, when a place is designed, these custom settings, which are used to define font, size, colors, etc., can be set once and applied to all questionnaires in the place right from this page.

Similarly, on the Results template, there are <vwf=spotform> and <vwf=endspotform> tags. The HTML between these tags is included in the response page, where the questionnaire designer can change attributes directly.

It is also possible to move the HTML in both templates to the section bracketed by <vwf=pollform> and <vwf=endpollform> or <vwf=rsltform> and <vwf=endrsltform> . In this case, the HTML appears in the Setup / General and Setup / Response pages instead, and each questionnaire can have unique settings. It is even possible to split the HTML between these two sections, effectively making some options apply to all questionnaires in one place and letting other options be customizable in the individual questionnaire.

In all these sections, custom tags may include a second argument, which is the default value for that field, and is recommended.

When a questionnaires or a place is copied, its custom values are copied as well.

If a place has custom settings, but they are no longer used because the template you are now using doesn't have any, a checkbox appears in the Place page that allows you to remove any prior values that may be lingering around. The same applies to questionnaire pages.

The [/comment] and [/endcomment] tags are used in these sections to allow inserting instructions for the ViewsFlash designer. When a page is created from these templates, everything between these tags is removed.

So, when you create a place using this template, the Setup / General page now includes these questions which define the customa through customz fields and their meaning in this questionnaire. Thus, the person who is designing a survey now has the option to modify the colors, font type and size, etc., without having to either modify the style template or the settings on the place. Furthermore, each Style Template can include its own uses of the customa through customz fields, independently of any other Style templates, making for an extremely flexible scheme while reducing complexity to the questionnaire designer.

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