What Happens When a Respondent Completes Your Survey¶
The moment a respondent submits their final answer, the survey needs to tell them something - that it's done, that their response was recorded, and what (if anything) happens next.
The Default Completion Experience¶
By default, a respondent who finishes your survey sees a completion state confirming they're done - there's no ambiguity about whether their response went through. This happens automatically with no configuration required.
Redirecting to an External URL¶
If you need respondents to land somewhere specific after finishing - back to your own website, to a panel provider's own completion page if you're running Panel Recruitment, or to a thank-you page you've built elsewhere - you can configure a redirect URL in your survey's settings. Opionate validates that the URL you provide is a proper web address before accepting it, so a malformed link gets caught at setup rather than failing silently for respondents.
When You'd Use a Redirect¶
A redirect is especially relevant if you're running Panel Recruitment (see Introduction to Panel Recruitment), where the panel provider's own workflow often expects respondents to land back on a specific confirmation URL after finishing, so their participation registers correctly on the provider's side. It's also useful any time you want to route respondents onward - to a thank-you page with more information, a related offer, or just back to your own site.
What Happens If You Don't Set One¶
Without a redirect configured, a respondent simply sees the default completion state and the experience ends there - there's nothing broken about not setting one; it's an optional setting for when you specifically need respondents to go somewhere else afterward.
FAQ¶
Is a redirect required for a standard survey?
No - most surveys work fine with the default completion state and no redirect at all.
Can I customize the completion message itself, separate from a redirect?
Check your survey's settings for available completion message options - a redirect and a customized on-page message are separate considerations.
Does a redirect work the same in Chat Interface and Traditional Form?
Yes - completion and any configured redirect happen the same way regardless of take experience.
If I'm using Panel Recruitment, do I need to set the redirect myself?
Check your Panel Recruitment wave setup for whether a completion redirect is required or automatically handled - this can depend on your specific configuration.
Does a respondent who exits early (without submitting) trigger the redirect?
A redirect is tied to actual survey completion - a respondent who leaves without submitting a final response doesn't reach the completion state or any configured redirect.
For the fuller picture of the respondent journey up to this point, see How Respondents Resume an In-Progress Survey.