Where a one-line field earns its place
Use it when the set of possible answers is open but each answer is short. Company names are the classic case. You could never list every company, and people type theirs in two seconds.
It also works as a follow-up. Someone rates a delivery two stars; the next screen asks «What went wrong, in a few words?». You get a phrase you can read at a glance, not an essay.
Skip it when the answers repeat. If 80 people will write «Moscow», «moscow» and «Msk», a list of cities gives you clean counts; free text gives you cleanup work.
Short answer examples that stay short
- What is your job title?
- Which tool do you use for this today?
- One word that describes our service?
The field size hints at the expected length. A one-line box tells people you want a phrase, so write the question to match. If you need a paragraph, the long answer block is the honest choice.
Field settings and the view on a phone
The block has two settings of its own: the hint shown inside the empty field and a maximum length. The length limit is enforced by the input itself, so a respondent simply cannot type past it. Without your own hint, the field shows «Your answer».
On a phone it is a normal text input that opens the keyboard on tap. The question counts as answered once there is any text that is not just spaces.
In quiz mode a short answer can be scored. The answer is trimmed and compared without regard to case by default, and you can accept several correct spellings.
Results show the share of positive, neutral and negative answers, the average length, a word cloud and sample answers.
What you can set
- hint inside the empty field
- answer length limit