Settings — Questionnaires
Settings ▸ Matters ▸ Questionnaires is where your organization builds the questionnaires it sends on matters. It needs the Matter Planner add-on.
The list page
Section titled “The list page”The page has two tabs.
Your questionnaires
Section titled “Your questionnaires”One row per questionnaire your organization made or copied:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Opens the questionnaire. Any other versions are linked underneath. |
| Used for | Client tasks, intake, or estate planning. |
| Version | The version the row leads with — the draft if there is one, otherwise the newest. |
| Status | Draft, Published or Archived. |
| Sent on matters | How many times any version has been sent on a matter. |
New questionnaire starts an empty draft.
Athenty defaults
Section titled “Athenty defaults”Ready-made questionnaires from Athenty. You can View them, but not change them. Make a copy creates a draft that belongs to your organization, with all the same sections and questions, which you can then change.
Building a questionnaire
Section titled “Building a questionnaire”Open a draft to see its sections, each with its questions listed in order.
- Add section / Add question add to the end.
- The up and down arrows change the order. They work with the keyboard.
- The pencil edits a section or question; the bin deletes it.
- Edit details changes the name, description and what it is used for.
Question settings
Section titled “Question settings”| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Question | The question, written the way you would ask it out loud. |
| Help text | Optional guidance shown under the question. |
| Answer type | Short answer, long answer, yes / no, choose one, choose several, number, amount, date, a person on the matter, document upload, or a group of questions. |
| Choices | For “choose one” and “choose several”: the list people pick from. |
| Answer required | People can’t submit until they answer it (when it is shown). |
| Inside group | Puts the question inside a group in the same section. |
| Allow more than one entry | For a group: people can answer its questions several times — for example, once per item. |
| Add the person to the matter as | For “a person on the matter”: the role the picked person is given on the matter. |
| When it is shown | Always, or only when another question has a certain answer. |
A preview at the bottom of the panel shows how the question will look.
When a question is shown
Section titled “When a question is shown”Choose Always shown, or Only when another question has a certain answer, then pick the question and the answer — for example, “Do you have children?” is Yes. The answers you can compare with depend on the other question’s type.
Some questions copied from an Athenty default use a condition that combines several answers. The panel shows these as Advanced condition — kept as is: they can’t be edited here, and saving the question keeps them unchanged.
Publishing and versions
Section titled “Publishing and versions”| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being built. Anything can change. It can’t be sent yet. |
| Published | Ready to send on matters. It can’t be changed. |
| Archived | No longer offered on new matters. |
Publish makes a draft the version that is sent on new matters.
Published and archived versions never change. To change one, choose Edit as new version: Athenty makes a new draft with the next version number and the same questions. Publish it when it is ready, and the previous published version is archived automatically.
Matters it was already sent on keep the version they were sent with, so answers already given are never affected by a later change.
Each questionnaire can have only one draft at a time. If you choose Edit as new version while a draft already exists, Athenty opens that draft instead.
If publishing is refused
Section titled “If publishing is refused”Athenty checks the questionnaire before publishing it and lists anything to fix, with the section or question it is in. Common reasons:
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| No sections, or no questions | Add at least one section with one question. |
| A list with no choices, or the same choice twice | Add choices, and make each one different. |
| An empty group | Add a question to the group, or delete it. |
| A condition that tests a question that no longer exists | Edit the question and choose a new condition. |
| A question with no text | Write the question. |
Who can do what
Section titled “Who can do what”Owners and admins see this page. Changing questionnaires also needs permission to manage the Matter Planner; without it, the buttons stay visible but are turned off, with a note saying who to ask.