Create a custom opinion-scale template

👥 Only review admins can create and manage answer templates.

Opinion-scale templates, called answer templates in 15Five, provide a solution for review admins who want to use their own opinion scales in review questions, rather than rely purely on 15Five's default answer template (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree). This tool enables customers to create, save, and reuse opinion scales, saving you time when setting up question templates for a review cycle. In this article, we'll provide step-by-step guides on how to use this tool.

In this article, you will learn...

• How to create a new answer template
• How to set a default answer template
• How to apply an answer template to a question

Create a new answer template

You can create an answer template directly from the 'Template configuration' page, or during the process of creating or editing a question template. These templates can be reused and applied to review questions.

Via the 'Template configuration' page

1. Click Best-Self Review® in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
   
2. Click into the 'Template configuration' tab at the top of the page.
   
3. Scroll down to the 'Answer templates' section of the page and click Add answer template.
   
4. Select a name for your answer template. Make sure you provide an easily recognizable name for the template, as this name will be what appears in the dropdown list during the process of applying an answer template to a question.
   
5. Decide whether or not you want this answer template to be the default. 
   
6. Provide scale names and labels.
   
   Some things to note as you update scale labels:
   • The scale labels at the top correlate with the lowest rating (e.g. strongly disagree, very unsatisfied, etc.)
   • You can add 3-7 points on the opinion scale. Remove a point by clicking the X to its right, or add a new point by clicking +Add label
   • Use the dynamic answer format preview to see what the answer template will look like to review cycle participants.
     
7. When you're done, click Create answer template.
   
8. You'll be directed back to the 'Template configuration' tab, where your new answer template will appear in the 'Answer templates' section.

During the process of creating a question template

Review admins can also add new answer templates as they create or edit a question template.

1. Click Show advanced options when adding or editing an opinion-scale question on a question template.
   
2. Click Add a new answer template.
3. You'll be directed to the answer template creation page. From here, follow steps 4-8 in the previous section of this article to create your answer template.

Set a default answer template

15Five's default answer template (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree) is applied to opinion-scale questions by default. However, you can change the default to any custom answer template you create.

You can set an answer template as the default during the process of creating the answer template (see step #5 in the previous, "Create a new answer template" section of this article). But if you want to set an already-created answer template as the default, you can do so by following the steps below.

1. Go to the 'Template configuration' page and scroll down to the 'Answer templates' section.
2. Click '...' to the right of the answer template you want to be the new default, then select 'Edit' from the dropdown menu.
   
3. Check the box next to "Make this my default answer template" (located under the template name).
   
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save answer template.
   

Change a question's answer template

Review admins can select the answer template they wish to use as they add opinion scale questions to their question templates.

1. Go to the 'Template configuration' page and either create a new question template, or open the question template you want to edit from the 'Question templates' section. Please note that you cannot edit default or in-use question templates.
2. If you're editing the answer template for an existing question, click the settings gear to the right of the question and select 'Edit' from the dropdown menu.
   If you're creating a new question, click Add new question.
3. From the question editing screen, click Show advanced options.
   
4. Under 'Select an answer template,' choose the name of the template you want to apply to the question.
   
5. When you're done, Save your changes.

Related resources 📖

• How to create a Best-Self Review® cycle
• How to manage Best-Self Review® feature settings
• How to create a question template
• Video walkthrough 🎥: How to create a Best-Self Review® question template (4 min 35 sec)
• Role-based guide: I'm a review admin