Table of Contents
Using URL Parameters
Using URL Parameters
This article will walk you through how to use URL parameters in Great Question to prefill survey fields and candidate attributes.
Who this is for
This guide is for:
- Admins setting up surveys and attributes
- Creators who want to save participants time when filling forms
- Teams bulk-sending invitations from external platforms (e.g. email marketing tools)
What you’ll learn
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to:
- Prefill survey fields and candidate attributes using URL parameters
- Construct URLs with custom attributes
- Use hidden fields (e.g. referrer tracking) for better reporting
Prerequisites
Make sure you have:
- Access to Candidate Attributes in your account
- A survey or screener set up in Great Question
- Attributes mapped to the survey questions you want to prefill
Step-by-step Instructions
1. Understand where URL parameters work
- Supported for all studies when using Invite via link.
- Not supported when candidates are invited directly via email (except for name and email).
2. Supported parameters
- Name and Email (always supported)
- Any custom attributes you configure (e.g., plan, role, location)
3. Map survey fields to custom attributes
- Go to your Survey editor
- At the bottom left of each form field, set the mapped custom attribute
- Example: Map the question “What payment plan are you on?” to a
planattribute
4. Enable candidate attributes to be set via URL
- Navigate to Settings → Custom Attributes
- Select the candidate attribute you want to populate
- Click the Pencil icon to edit
- Check “Can be set via a url parameter”
- Click Confirm
5. Construct your study URL with parameters
- Append parameters using standard query strings (URL encoding supported).
- Example:
https://greatquestion.co/great/u2cmeUiP/form?plan=enterprise&name=PJ&[email protected] - This pre-fills the survey with:
- Name: PJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Plan: enterprise
6. Use hidden referrer tracking
- Add a
referrerparameter to track where participants joined from. - Example:
https://greatquestion.co/workspace/some-study?referrer=facebook - Alternatively, create your own attribute (e.g.,
origin) and apply the same way:
https://greatquestion.co/workspace/some-study?origin=facebook
- Use bulk sending via your marketing platform to include personalized parameters for each participant.
- Always test URLs in an incognito browser session before sharing widely.
- Keep parameter names simple and consistent (e.g.,
plan, origin).Troubleshooting URL Parameters
Issue | What's Happening | How to Fix It |
Prefilled data not showing in the survey | The attribute isn’t enabled for URL population, or the field isn’t mapped correctly. | Go to Settings → Custom Attributes → edit the attribute → ensure “Can be set via a URL parameter” is checked. Then confirm the survey question is mapped to that attribute. |
URL parameters not working at all | The link is malformed (missing | Double-check URL formatting — parameters should follow |
Custom attributes not populating | The attribute name in the URL doesn’t match the system name exactly. | Verify the attribute key in Settings → Custom Attributes matches the one used in your URL (case-sensitive). |
Only name and email prefill, not other fields | Name and email are always supported, but other fields require mapping. | Go to your survey editor and make sure each form field is mapped to a custom attribute. |
URL parameters work in testing but not for invite links | Direct email invites strip query parameters for security reasons. | Use Invite via link or distribute via external email platform (e.g., HubSpot, Mailchimp). Prefill only works for link-based invites. |
Hidden tracking parameters (e.g., referrer/origin) not appearing in exports | Hidden attributes weren’t created or mapped to candidate attributes. | Create a custom attribute (e.g., |
Prefilled data disappears after submission | Candidate profile didn’t exist prior to submission, and data wasn’t stored. | Ensure your study is configured to create new candidate records when submitted via link. Check under Study Settings → Recruitment. |
Values not saving to the candidate profile | Attribute is not linked to candidate data (e.g., only tied to the survey field). | Revisit survey field mapping and confirm each question is mapped to a candidate attribute, not just a temporary form field. |
Spaces or special characters break the URL | Parameter values weren’t URL-encoded. | Encode special characters (e.g., |
Prefilled fields showing incorrect data | Parameters reused from previous test links or cached data. | Open the link in incognito mode or clear cache before testing to avoid auto-filled or cached field data. |
Bulk email tool strips query parameters | Some tools automatically sanitize URLs for security. | Check your marketing platform’s URL handling settings. Whitelist |
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