Creating an open response field after a multiple choice question that asks users to "specify other"

If you have a multiple choice question that includes "other" (or something similar) as an answer option and, if that answer is selected, you need your surveyor or respondent to specify what "other" is in their case, you can do so in the following way:

1. Let's say that your multiple choice question is named ${multchoicefield} and, in your choice list, the internal value for the option "other" is 99.

2. After your multiple choice field, create a text field. (Note that the text field needs to appear on a separate screen from the multiple choice field, so you should not put the multiple choice field and text field on the same screen).

3. In the label column for this text field, you can put the following (or similar) question text: "Please specify other:". 

4. In the relevance column for this text field, put the following expression (make sure to modify this expression to use the actual name of your multiple choice field): 

selected(${multchoicefield}, 99)

And that's it! Now, during the survey, if your surveyor selects the "other" answer option, and then swipes forward to the next screen, they will see a text field prompting them to specify other. 

The above expression will even work for select_multiple questions if multiple answers are selected along with other.

If you are still unclear about how to create a specify other field after a multiple choice question or you followed the steps above and are still unable to get your form to behave the way you want it to, don't worry. If you are a user on a paid SurveyCTO server with access to support, you can submit a support request from the My requests link in the top right of this page. Someone from our team will help you investigate further. Please just make sure to attach an Excel copy of your form.

If you're a community user and hence don't have professional support, you can post the issue, along with your Excel form, to the community forum for assistance from other community members.

Also see this article which helps diagnose a related common issue: Why doesn't the "Specify other" text field appear when more than one answer option is selected?

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Functions and operators referenced in this article: selected(). For a full list of SurveyCTO functions and operators, please read this help topic. 

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