Ever taken a survey that actually felt like it was written for you? That’s not magic—it’s question piping. If you use surveys to gather real feedback (not just check a box), learning how to personalize questions on the fly is worth your time. This guide is for people who want their Alchemer surveys to sound less robotic and more human—without getting lost in a maze of settings.
Let’s cut through the noise and get you up and running with question piping that actually works.
What Is Question Piping (and Why Bother)?
Question piping lets you take an answer from one question and slip it right into another question, later in the survey. For example, if someone picks “Customer Support” as their most-used feature, you can follow up with “What did you like about Customer Support?” instead of the generic “What did you like about that feature?” It’s small, but it matters—people notice when surveys actually listen.
If you’re using Alchemer, question piping is one of the best ways to make surveys feel less like a form letter and more like a real conversation.
Why use it? - Makes your questions more relevant, which gets you better data. - Helps keep people engaged (less drop-off). - Saves you from clunky, one-size-fits-all follow-ups.
Who should skip it? If your survey is three questions long, or if you’re not collecting much open-ended feedback, you might not need piping. But if you want to dig into “why” and “how,” it’s a no-brainer.
Step 1: Know When (and When Not) to Use Question Piping
Before you start tinkering, ask yourself:
- Are my follow-up questions generic or boring?
If so, piping can help.
- Do I need to reference someone’s earlier answer to get context?
Piping is your friend.
- Is my survey already confusing or too long?
Piping won’t fix that—start by trimming the fat.
Pro tip: Don’t pipe just because you can. Overcomplicating things usually backfires. Use it where it makes the survey clearer or more personal.
Step 2: Set Up the Survey Structure
You need at least two questions: 1. The source question (where the answer comes from). 2. The destination question (where you want to “pipe” that answer in).
Example: - Q1: “Which product feature do you use most?” (Single-select) - Q2: “What do you like most about [that feature]?”
Make sure your source question is set up so the answer is easy to reference. Stick to single-select or dropdown questions if you’re just getting started—multi-select piping gets messy fast.
Step 3: Find the Piping Syntax in Alchemer
Alchemer uses a placeholder system. You drop a variable—like [question("value"), id="1"]—into your follow-up question, and it pulls in the respondent’s answer.
How to find the variable:
- In the survey editor, click the “Insert” menu (or look for the curly braces {} icon).
- Select “Piped Text.”
- Find your source question and pick the value you want (usually “Answer Text”).
- Alchemer will spit out something like [question("value"), id="1"].
Copy this code. That’s your magic sauce.
Honest take:
Alchemer’s interface tries to make this easier, but the syntax can be clunky. Double-check your IDs—if you change the question order, the IDs can change.
Step 4: Add Piping to Your Follow-Up Questions
Now, paste the piping variable into your destination question. Instead of writing:
“What did you like about that feature?”
Write:
“What did you like about [question("value"), id="1"]?”
Or, if you want to get fancy with formatting:
“You said you use [question("value"), id="1"] most. What do you like about it?”
Don’t overthink it:
Just drop the variable where it makes sense in the sentence. If the preview looks weird, tweak your wording—not everything needs to be piped.
Step 5: Test Like You Mean It
Most errors with piping come from typos, wrong IDs, or moving questions around after you’ve set up the pipe.
Here’s what to check:
- Use Alchemer’s “Test” or “Preview” mode.
- Walk through the survey as if you’re a real respondent.
- Try different answers for your source question—does the follow-up update?
- Look for weird placeholders or blank spots. If you see [question("value"), id="1"] as-is, something broke.
Pro tip:
Test on both desktop and mobile. Sometimes formatting breaks in one but not the other.
Step 6: Handle Edge Cases (Or Don’t)
Some things to watch for:
- No answer selected:
If your source question is optional and someone skips it, the piped text will be blank or look strange. Either make the source question required or add default text, like:
What did you like about [question("value"), id="1", default="the feature you mentioned"]?
- Multi-select answers:
If you let people select multiple options, piping will dump them all in—sometimes in a weird format. Unless you know how to wrangle the output, stick to single-select for piping.
Stuff to ignore:
- Overly complex piping chains (piping from a piped answer from another piped answer). This will confuse you and your respondents.
- Piping into answer options themselves, unless you have a good reason and have tested it thoroughly.
Step 7: Keep It Human
Just because you can insert someone’s answer everywhere doesn’t mean you should. Too much piping can make the survey feel robotic or forced. Use it to clarify—not to show off that you know how the feature works.
Good examples: - “You said you use the Mobile App most. What do you like about it?” - “Why did you rate Customer Support as 9 out of 10?”
Bad examples:
- “Regarding [question("value"), id="1"], please elaborate on your experience with [question("value"), id="1"] in the context of [question("value"), id="1"].”
(See? That’s unreadable.)
Pro Tips and Common Pitfalls
- Keep your survey logic simple.
The more you nest piping, branching, and conditions, the harder it is to debug. - Label your questions clearly.
“Q1: Favorite Feature” is better than “Q1.” - Preview after every major change.
Don’t wait until the end to test. - If in doubt, ask a coworker to take your test survey.
Fresh eyes catch broken pipes.
Wrapping Up: Make It Personal, Not Painful
Question piping in Alchemer isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overdo. Focus on making your surveys sound like you’re actually paying attention—not just parroting back answers. Start simple, test everything, and don’t stress about using every feature. The best surveys are the ones that make sense to real people.
Keep it straightforward, iterate as you go, and remember: nobody likes a survey that feels like it was written by a robot. Happy piping.