Create and Manage Follow-Up Questions

A follow-up is a question nested under a parent question in the same block. It can appear for every respondent who reaches the parent or only when the parent answer matches a trigger. Use follow-ups for short probes such as “Please explain,” “How many?”, or a detail requested only from respondents who selected a particular answer.

Use Flow branching instead when an answer should route respondents into a different block, treatment path, or end screen.

1. Step 1: Open the parent question. In Block Builder, expand the question that should control the follow-up.

   Step 1: Open the parent question

2. Step 2: Open its options. Scroll to the bottom of the question options and choose Add Follow-up Question.

   Step 2: Add Follow-up Question

3. Step 3: Write the follow-up. Choose its question type, prompt, validation, and answer settings as you would for a root question.

4. Step 4: Set “Show when.” Choose a trigger that matches the parent question and select the answers, values, or rules that should reveal the follow-up.

5. Step 5: Preview both outcomes. Test one parent answer that shows the follow-up and one that hides it.

   Step 5: Preview both paths

You can also drag a question to an indented insertion position beneath another question in the same block. The indented placement attaches it as a follow-up rather than leaving it as a root question.

• Specific answers: Multiple Choice, Dropdown, Drag to Order, and selected Heatmap zones.
• Text match: Short Answer or Text Chat parents; configure the text rules and case behavior.
• Value range: Slider parents.
• Selected answers: Grid Matrix cells.
• Card placement: Card Sort categories and cards.
• Points range: Constant Sum items and allocation ranges.
• Always: An unconditional sub-question shown whenever its parent is reached.

Always is rarely the right choice for a conditional probe. Prefer the parent-specific trigger so respondents are not asked an irrelevant follow-up.

• Reorder: Keep the parent and its follow-ups together. Root-question move shortcuts do not reorder follow-up questions.
• Detach: Choose Detach in the follow-up’s “Show when” panel to convert it back into a root question.
• Move between blocks: Detach the follow-up relationship first. Parent and child questions cannot remain linked across different blocks.
• Delete: Delete only the question you intend to remove, then verify the remaining parent/follow-up structure in Preview.
• Recover: Restore an accidentally removed question from survey trash.

• Page breaks: Use the follow-up’s page-break controls when it should begin on a separate respondent page, and verify the transition in Preview.
• Randomization: Follow-ups stay attached to their parent. Do not design a randomized sequence that separates a dependent probe from the answer it uses.
• Changed parent options: Recheck Specific answers triggers after renaming, recoding, or removing a parent answer.
• Exports: A hidden follow-up normally produces no answer for respondents whose parent response did not trigger it. Account for that structural missingness during analysis.

• Add and Edit Answer Options
• Branching and Skip Logic for Research Surveys
• Randomize Survey Questions and Answer Options
• Version History and Trash Recovery