Display logic

Display logic allows you to control the visibility of parts of your survey based on specific conditions being met. Display logic can be applied to list items, questions, or blocks.

For instance, you can apply Display logic to a question with a rule like this:

Condition: If Age < 18
Action: Show Q1

In this example, question Q1 is shown only when the respondent's answer to the Age question is less than 18.

Once a condition is applied, the element remains hidden by default and is only displayed when the condition evaluates as "true."

Conditions are the rules that determine whether something is displayed or hidden.

Configuring Conditions works just like Skip logic. Using the dropdown logic builder, you can define the following settings to create a Condition:

Data source: Select the question or variable that provides the data.
Operator: Choose the comparison operator (e.g., includes any, is answered).
Inputs/Values: Enter the value(s) to compare against.

For a detailed walkthrough of logic building, refer to the Skip logic help documentation.

To add Display logic to a question or block:

Click the Display logic tab on the element.
Click the + Display logic button.
Configure the Condition using the dropdown logic builder.

Add Display logic to a list item with the instructions below.

Once configured, the question or block will only appear to respondents if the Condition evaluates as "true."

One common use of Display logic is to reveal additional questions on a page based on a respondent's answer to an earlier question.

To set this up:

Add both questions to the same page.
On the second question, configure a Display logic condition that references the first question.

With this setup, the second question will only appear if the respondent's answer to the first question satisfies the condition, causing it to evaluate to “true.” By default, the second question remains hidden until this condition is met.

Display logic can be an effective alternative to Skip logic for skipping around a question. Here’s why:

Simplicity: Questions with Display logic are hidden by default, requiring only a single condition to skip the question. In contrast, Skip logic may require multiple conditions to achieve the same result.
Integration: Display logic is tied directly to the question. If the question is moved within the survey flow, its logic moves with it automatically. Skip logic, however, exists as a separate element and would need to be manually adjusted when survey flow changes.

Page-level functionality
If a question with Display logic is the sole content on a page and its condition evaluates to "false," the entire page will not be displayed to respondents.

Performance considerations
While Display logic is useful for showing or hiding individual questions, skipping over multiple questions or pages is less efficient with Display logic compared to Skip logic. For optimal performance, we recommend using Skip logic when skipping respondents to new locations in the survey and reserving Display logic for managing visibility of single questions or blocks.

In addition to hiding entire questions, Display logic can be used to conditionally show or hide individual list items (answers) within a question.

However, there is an important distinction to note: item Display logic does not allow for dynamic visibility based on selections made within the same question. While question-level Display logic enables you to show or hide other questions on the same page dynamically, item-level Display logic is restricted to conditions set on responses from other questions.

Inside the options menu () of a list item there is an option for Item display logic. Click it to open the Item display logic manager for the list items of the current question.

Item display logic is scoped (specific) to the current question. AKA, the item display logic configured on the current question does not transfer to other questions if the list is reused.

In the manager, items of the selected list appear in the left side panel and the conditions are configured on the right.

Item display logic is configured in the same way as question Display logic and Skip logic. Again, for more details on how to configure logic, see the Skip logic documentation.

When item Display logic is applied to a question, the survey records which items were displayed to each respondent. This information is saved in the survey data download under a column labeled [QuestionName]_ItemsDisplayedList.

The data is formatted as a comma-separated list of item numbers corresponding to the items shown to the respondent.

Discover Help Guide

Display logic

Introduction

Conditions

Applying display logic

Use cases

Show or hide questions on the same page

Display vs. Skip logic

Item display logic

Applying item logic

Items shown variable