Create an external activity

Invite community members to complete an activity that was created in an external application.

1. Open the Surveys app and click New Project.
2. Under External Activity, click Create.
3. Enter the internal-facing name for the activity (maximum 255 characters) and click Create.
   Tip:

   • Use a meaningful name that will help you remember the objective of the research, the timeframe in which the activity occurred, and the research platform that the external activity was created in.
   • The member-facing activity name is set when you Create an invitation or create an activity link, and can differ for each set of participants.
4. In the Activity Link field, paste the activity link from the external application.

   This link can be edited at any time. The edited link will work for all future distribution emails as well as previously delivered ones.

   This step is required if you are deploying from the Alida platform. However, it's not necessary if you are deploying the activity outside of the Alida platform.

5. Figure out how you're going to track participation data.
   There are two ways to do this:

   • Add participation data collection links to the activity you created.

     This method works for external surveys that you are deploying from the Alida platform. The completed, disqualified, and over quota links can be used to record member participation.

     Note: Your external application must have redirect functionality to track participation successfully.
   • Import participation data from an external activity into the Alida platform.

     This method works for any activity type (survey, focus group, in-depth interview, and so on) that is deployed outside of the Alida platform. You can import and re-import participation data while the activity is still open, or import participation data once at the end.

6. If you are deploying the activity from the Alida platform, create and send invitations and reminders.
   • Create an invitation
   • Create a reminder