Citizen Space activity set-up - detailed instructions

Below are detailed, step-by-step instructions for setting up a new activity in Citizen Space. You can also refer to our Quick Start Guide.

For basic instructions on setting up a new activity, see this article instead.

The steps in this article are as follows:

Log in

If you aren't logged in to your Citizen Space site, first log in. 

Add a new activity

Select the 'Add Activity' link at the top of the 'Manage Activities' page to get started.

top of Manage Activities page with Add Activity link highlighted.
  1. Enter the title of your activity. This will be displayed on all of your activity's pages, and is searchable via internet browsers (unless it's private rather than public). You can edit this title later.
  2. If you are a Site Admin or belong to more than one Workspace (learn more about different types of Citizen Space users) then you will need to select the Workspace you'd like the activity to be in from a drop-down menu. If you only belong to one Workspace, then the activity will automatically be created in your assigned Workspace.
  3. The final part of the activity's URL is automatically generated based on its title, with a limit of 50 characters. However, you can make changes to it using the Edit button. For more information on this, please see our article on creating and editing URLs.
  4. Now select the type of activity you want to create. Once you have selected this it can't be changed, so choose carefully.
  5. Select the 'Add Activity' button at the bottom right of the page. This takes you to the next screen, which is the new dashboard for your activity. 
Add Activity with fields highlighted.

Enter activity information

  1. Select the 'Edit Activity Details' link. This will take you to the next screen, where you can complete the Overview page details of your activity.

    Top of Dashboard with Edit Activity Details highlighted.

  2. You can edit the title or URL here if you want to, or leave them as they are. Please note that if you change the title at this stage, the last part of the URL will not automatically change. If you want to edit the URL you will need to use the Edit button.

    Edit activity url.

  3. If you want to make your engagement activity private, you can do that here by selecting the 'Make this activity private'box. A private activity is not searchable by the public, and won't appear on your site homepage. Please note that you can't edit the URL of private activities. Learn more about private activities.

    Private Activity checkbox on Edit Activity Details.

  4. Scroll down to the 'Overview' section. The Overview page is the first page of your survey, and acts as an introduction. Here you should write some clear, concise paragraphs that explain what your survey is all about. You can include images and rich media as well as text. 

    Overview on Edit Activity Details.

  5. You can also enter text to explain your reasons for engaging with your respondents and to let them know why it's important for you to hear from them in the 'Why your views matter' text box. 

    Why Your Views Matter on Edit Activity Details.

  6. The 'Call to Action Heading' text defaults to 'Give us your views.'. This text appears above the link on the Overview page which takes respondents to your questions. You can change this text to whatever suits your activity, for example you could change it to 'Fill in your details' if you are using Citizen Space to share a registration form.

    Call to Action Heading on Edit Activity Details.

  7. The contact information entered appears on the right of the Overview page. This will normally be the person or team that respondents can contact to discuss the survey. You must enter at least a phone number or an email address here.

    Contact Info on Edit Activity Details.

  8. Enter the start and end dates for your survey. You can set up a survey at any point before the specified start date. Citizen Space will automatically move 'forthcoming' surveys to 'open' status at 00.00am on the start date you've entered. Likewise, a survey will automatically move to 'closed' status at 00.00pm on the end date you've entered.

    Dates on Edit Activity Details.

  9. Add information on any events related to your survey.

    Events section in Edit Activity Details.

  10. If you would like to include links to websites related to your survey, enter them here.

    Related Links on Edit Activity Details.

  11. If you would like to include links to other related surveys within Citizen Space, enter them here.

    Related Activities on Edit Consultation Details.

  12. In this section, you can upload documents that give respondents further information about your survey and why you are engaging with them. They will be able to view and download these documents from the bottom of the Overview page.

    Related Documents on Edit Activity Details.

  13. Enter the 'What Happens Next' text. When your survey closes, the Call to Action box text (see 11) is automatically replaced with the 'What Happens Next' text.

    This text is optional, but it's good practice to let your respondents know how the information they've given you will be used.

    What Happens Next on Edit Activity Details.

  14. If Areas are enabled on your Citizen Space hub, you can select which Areas apply to your survey. 

    Areas on Edit Activity Details.

  15. Select which Audiences apply to your survey. 

    Audiences on Edit Activity Details.

  16. Select the Interests which apply to your survey.

    Interests on Edit Activity Details.

You must select at least one Area (if enabled), Audience and Interest in order to publish your survey. Respondents can search for surveys by Area, Audience or Interest, so these details help people to find activities that are relevant to them.

  1. Select the Save button. At this point you will either see this:

Changes saved. All required information has been completed.

Or this:

Admin message stating changes saved. Some fields still require completing in order to publish this activity.

If some fields still require completing, the box at the top shows you which ones you need to add before you can publish:

Error message that states there are fields still needing completing in order to publish, in this case phone or email.

Enter the missing information, and select the Save button again.

  1. Now that all of the information has been added in, it's time to go back to your dashboard.

    Activity dashboard with the link to the dashboard highlighted.

  2. In step 4, you chose an activity type. The type you selected appears as option 2 on your dashboard. You will complete the set-up of your survey by selecting option 2 and adding pages, questions and answer components.

    Top of Dashboard with Online Survey editing link highlighted.

Complete survey set-up

The following articles will help you to complete your survey set-up:

Manage theme

You can change your survey's logos and banner image by choosing option 3, 'Manage Theme'. We have detailed instructions on managing the theme of your survey.

Top of Dashboard with Manage Theme link highlighted.

Preview your survey

You've now finished setting up your survey - but the work isn't quite over yet! We strongly suggest you a good amount of time previewing it to spot any mistakes or things that could be improved for a respondent. Previewing is a vital part of setting up a good survey.

You can preview it by selecting the Preview Activity link on the dashboard.

Top of Dashboard with Preview Activity link highlighted.

Read this article for more on previewing your survey.

You can also share a preview link of your survey with non-Citizen Space users, for them to check it over and test it out.

Publish your survey

If you're happy with your survey, you can now publish it by using the green 'Publish' button on the dashboard.

Top of Dashboard with Publish button highlighted.

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