Survey Responses

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Survey Responses

View, manage, and export survey responses. Track completion rates, send email notifications, and analyze user feedback from your WB Surveys.


Accessing Responses

Navigate to WP Admin → WB Surveys → Responses

View all survey submissions in one centralized location.


Response List View

The responses page displays all survey submissions across all surveys.

List Columns

ColumnInformation
SurveySurvey title with link
RespondentUser name or email (guests)
StatusCompleted or Started
Started AtTimestamp when begun
Completed AtTimestamp when finished
IP AddressRespondent’s IP
ActionsView, Delete

Filter Options

Filter by Survey: Dropdown to show responses for specific surveys only.

Filter by Status:

  • All — Show both completed and started
  • Completed — Only finished surveys
  • Started — Abandoned/incomplete surveys

Filter by Date Range: Select start and end dates to narrow results.

Apply Filters: Click Filter button to refresh the list with your criteria.


Viewing Individual Responses

Click View on any response to see detailed answers.

Response Details

Header Information:

  • Survey title
  • Respondent name/email
  • Submission status (Completed/Started)
  • Started timestamp
  • Completed timestamp
  • IP address
  • User agent (browser/device)

Answers Section: All questions with user responses displayed in order:

Question TypeDisplay Format
TextPlain text answer
TextareaMulti-line text answer
Multiple ChoiceSelected option(s)
CheckboxChecked items list
DropdownSelected value
RatingStar/number rating
File UploadDownload link

Response Actions:

  • Export — Download this response as JSON
  • Delete — Remove permanently

Response Statistics

View survey performance metrics at the top of each survey’s response page.

Key Metrics

MetricCalculation
ViewsTotal survey page loads
StartsUnique users who began
CompletionsFinished submissions
Completion Rate(Completions / Starts) × 100

Interpreting Stats

High completion rate (80%+):

  • Survey is engaging and clear
  • Appropriate length
  • Well-designed questions

Low completion rate (below 50%):

  • Survey too long
  • Confusing questions
  • Technical issues
  • Timing/expiration problems

High starts, low completions:

  • Survey abandonment issue
  • Consider shortening
  • Review question order
  • Check for required fields blocking progress

Exporting Responses

Export survey data for analysis in spreadsheet or data tools.

CSV Export

From Admin Panel:

  1. Navigate to WB Surveys → Responses
  2. Filter to desired survey
  3. Click Export CSV button
  4. File downloads automatically

CSV Format:

  • First row: Column headers (question titles)
  • Subsequent rows: One response per row
  • Includes metadata: ID, user, timestamps, status

JSON Export via REST API

Endpoint: GET /wp-json/wbsurvey/v1/responses/export/{survey_id}

Parameters:

ParameterTypePurpose
survey_idintSurvey to export
statusstringFilter: completed/started/all
start_datestringFilter from date (Y-m-d)
end_datestringFilter to date (Y-m-d)

Example Request:

curl -X GET "https://yoursite.com/wp-json/wbsurvey/v1/responses/export/42?status=completed"

Response Format:

{
  "survey_id": 42,
  "survey_title": "Customer Satisfaction",
  "export_date": "2026-02-14",
  "total_responses": 150,
  "responses": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "user_id": 5,
      "email": "user@example.com",
      "status": "completed",
      "started_at": "2026-02-10 10:30:00",
      "completed_at": "2026-02-10 10:35:00",
      "ip_address": "192.168.1.1",
      "response_data": {
        "question_1": "Very satisfied",
        "question_2": "5 stars"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Email Notifications

Configure automated emails for survey events.

Admin Notifications

Triggered when: A survey is completed

Sent to: Admin email address (from WP settings)

Email Content:

  • Survey title
  • Respondent name/email
  • Completion timestamp
  • Link to view response in admin

Enable/Disable: Navigate to WB Surveys → Settings → Notifications

Toggle Admin Notification on Completion

Respondent Confirmation Emails

Triggered when: A user completes a survey

Sent to: Respondent’s email address

Email Content:

  • Survey title
  • Thank you message
  • Copy of their responses (optional)
  • Next steps or call-to-action

Enable/Disable: Navigate to WB Surveys → Settings → Notifications

Toggle Send Confirmation to Respondent

Email Placeholders

Customize email templates with dynamic content:

PlaceholderReplaced With
{survey_title}Survey name
{user_name}Respondent name
{user_email}Respondent email
{completion_date}Date completed
{response_url}Admin view link
{site_name}WordPress site name
{site_url}Site homepage URL

Example Template:

Hi {user_name},

Thank you for completing our {survey_title} survey on {completion_date}.

Your feedback helps us improve {site_name}.

Best regards,
The {site_name} Team

Managing Responses

Deleting Individual Responses

From Response List:

  1. Hover over response row
  2. Click Delete link
  3. Confirm deletion

From Single Response View:

  1. Open response details
  2. Click Delete button
  3. Confirm deletion

What Gets Deleted:

  • Response record from database
  • All answer data
  • Response meta fields
  • Decrements survey completion count

Note: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

Bulk Operations

Select Multiple Responses:

  1. Check boxes next to responses
  2. Select Bulk Actions dropdown
  3. Choose action: Delete
  4. Click Apply

Available Bulk Actions:

  • Delete — Remove selected responses

Safety Tip: Always export before bulk deleting.


Response Data Storage

Database Tables

Main Response Table: wpwbsurveyresponses

ColumnTypePurpose
idbigintUnique response ID
survey_idbigintSurvey post ID
user_idbigintWordPress user (0 for guests)
emailvarcharRespondent email
ip_addressvarcharIP address
user_agenttextBrowser/device info
response_datalongtextJSON of all answers
statusvarcharcompleted/started
started_atdatetimeBegin timestamp
completed_atdatetimeFinish timestamp
created_atdatetimeRecord creation

Response Meta Table: wpwbsurveyresponse_meta

Stores additional metadata for responses.

ColumnPurpose
response_idLinks to main response
meta_keyMeta field name
meta_valueMeta field value

Privacy Considerations

GDPR Compliance

User Rights:

  • Right to access their responses
  • Right to delete their data
  • Right to export their data

Implementation:

  • Use WordPress privacy tools
  • Add survey responses to data export
  • Include responses in erasure requests

IP Address Storage

IP addresses are personally identifiable information.

Legal Basis Required:

  • Legitimate interest (fraud prevention)
  • Consent (disclosure in privacy policy)
  • Legal obligation (varies by jurisdiction)

Best Practices:

  • Disclose IP collection in privacy policy
  • Consider anonymizing after X days
  • Provide option to disable IP logging

Troubleshooting

Responses not appearing

  • Check survey status is published
  • Verify responses submitted successfully
  • Clear admin page cache
  • Check database table exists

Export file empty

  • Filter may be excluding all responses
  • Survey has no completed responses
  • Permission issue generating file
  • Check PHP memory limit

Email notifications not sending

  • Verify SMTP configuration
  • Check spam folder
  • Test with WP Mail SMTP plugin
  • Review email logs
  • Confirm recipient email valid

Completion rate incorrect

  • Stats calculate on page load
  • Clear transient cache
  • Check for database errors
  • Verify counter increments on submit

Documentation by Wbcom Designsdocs.wbcomdesigns.com

Last updated: February 14, 2026