Push surveys

Important: Pushing surveys are superseded by Update a version from draft.

Pushing is the process of transferring survey information from Experience Cloud to the Survey engine.

All Medallia Experience Cloud data is kept in a database, including survey specifications, company and unit data, field and AltSet definitions, survey records, and more. For performance, surveys are managed by a separate system called the Survey engine. When a respondent requests to take a survey, the engine identifies the appropriate survey specification, and then creates and presents the HTML page. Finally, it collects the survey responses and transfers them back to Experience Cloud. The survey includes the appropriate design instructions, and possibly includes data about the unit the customer interacted with, such as the name or location.

When a survey is ready to use, its version and the rest of the supporting data are pushed to the Survey engine.

all data are stored in the express database, while survey data are temporarily stored in the survey engine until the survey is submitted

Supporting data includes (but is no limited to):

Translations (and locales) of fields or AltSets used in the survey.
Survey designs (looks and feels and customizations).
AltSet changes, such as changing a definition or adding an alternative.
Unit changes.
Language dropdown conditions on the welcome page.
Survey parameters (to use in the survey's URL).

Pushing options

There are several options for pushing survey specs and data to the Survey Engine. Most options are on the Survey specifications screen. The options include:

Make this spec the default for invites: Declares a spec version to be the default specification. All new invitations use the default specification when the invitation is created. Changing the default immediately affects all new invitations. In the Specs list, the name of the default specification begins with [Def].
Re-push selected survey spec: Overwrites the specification's supporting data only; it does not affect the specification on the Survey Engine. Do this once to ensure the data are current, and the use the Auto-Re-push option to automatically update the data for live surveys on production systems.
Update and push selected survey spec: Overwrites the specification on the Survey Engine. Only do this when there have been minor changes to the spec, such as wording changes or re-ordering nodes; otherwise, existing untaken survey invitations may have errors. It is better to create a new specification, and make the new one the default.
Transfer Survey Engine responses: The Survey Engine automatically submits survey responses to Experience Cloud as soon as possible, typically within seconds of the respondent completing the survey. However, the Survey engine can be backed up with submittals. Use this option to tell the Survey Engine to raise the priority for submitting responses for the specification. Generally you should never have to use this option.

During development you need to test surveys to validate appearance and results. Use these options to push testable surveys:

Create and push a test survey: Creates a real survey record and survey using random Unit and E-Fields. Submitting the survey commits the responses to the database and they appear in reports; do not do this on a production system!
Create and push a reusable survey: Creates a reusable survey: one that may be taken multiple times without affecting reports. Submitted survey responses are immediately junked and never included in reports. To see the survey, use /?test-[company-name] in the url to the survey engine, similar to this: survey.medallia.com/?test-orion. To see the survey based on another random record, re-push the survey.
Create and email test survey: Creates a real survey and invitation, and emails the invitation to you (the currently signed-in administrator). The survey uses random Unit and E-Fields.

In summary:


Scenario	Push action	On Survey engine
Minor changes to specification	Update and push	Overwrites the same specification; use with caution.
Changed supporting data, such as design or units.	Re-push	Overwrites supporting data only; no change to the specification
Switch new invitations to the selected specification	Make default	All new invitations use the default specification at the time when the invite is created.
Test a survey and see responses in Experience Cloud reports.	Create and push test survey	Allows a survey to be taken once, and the responses are recorded and reported in Experience Cloud; random E-Field values. Do not do this on a production instance.
Test a survey without sending responses to reports.	Create and push reusable survey	May take survey multiple times, but responses are "junked" in the Express database; random E-Field values
Test sending an email invitation including a survey.	Create and push email test survey	Emails an invitation for the (feed-based) survey to you (the currently signed-in administrator); random E-Field values.
Survey responses are not showing up in Experience Cloud.	Transfer Survey Engine responses	Moves responses from Survey Engine to Experience Cloud (happens automatically too).