Import & Export Surveys

Community Surveys allows you to export complete surveys for backup, migration, or duplication across Joomla installations. This guide covers everything you need to know about importing and exporting surveys.

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Overview

The import/export feature allows you to:

• Backup surveys — Create portable copies of your surveys
• Migrate surveys — Move surveys between Joomla installations
• Duplicate surveys — Copy surveys with all questions and settings
• Share templates — Distribute survey templates to other users

What's Included in Export

The export includes the complete survey structure: all questions, answer options, conditional rules, page breaks, and survey settings. Responses are not included in the export.

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Exporting Surveys

Export a Single Survey

1. Navigate to Components → Community Surveys → Surveys

2. Find your survey and click Edit (or click the title)

3. Click Reports in the toolbar

4. Select Export Survey from the options

5. The survey downloads as a JSON file

What's Included in the Export

Element	Included	Notes
Survey settings	✅	Title, description, access, dates
All questions	✅	Text, settings, order
Answer options	✅	All choices for each question
Conditional rules	✅	Skip logic, show/hide conditions
Page structure	✅	Page breaks and grouping
Custom CSS	✅	Survey-specific styling
Notifications	✅	Email notification settings
Category assignment	❌	Assigned on import
Responses	❌	Use response export for data
Media files	❌	Uploaded images not included
Integration settings	❌	Re-configure after import

Export File Format

The export creates a JSON file structured like:

{
  "survey": {
    "title": "Customer Satisfaction Survey",
    "description": "Annual customer feedback survey",
    "settings": { ... },
    "questions": [
      {
        "text": "How satisfied are you?",
        "type": 21,
        "options": { ... }
      }
    ],
    "conditionalRules": [ ... ]
  },
  "exportVersion": "7.0",
  "exportDate": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
}

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Importing Surveys

Import a Survey

1. Navigate to Components → Community Surveys → Surveys

2. Click Import in the toolbar

3. Click Choose File and select your exported JSON file

4. Configure import options:

   Option	Description
   Category	Select destination category
   Published	Set initial publish state
   Rename	Optional: give survey a new title

5. Click Import to complete

6. The survey appears in your surveys list, ready to edit

Post-Import Checklist

After importing a survey, verify:

• Category — Assigned to correct category
• Access level — Matches your site's user groups
• Conditional rules — Test skip logic works correctly
• Question order — Pages and questions in correct order
• Integrations — Re-configure Google Sheets/Webhooks
• Email settings — Update notification recipients
• Media files — Re-upload any images if needed

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Common Use Cases

Migrating to a New Server

Scenario: Moving your Joomla site to a new host

1. Export all surveys from the current installation
2. Install Community Surveys on the new server
3. Import surveys one by one or use bulk import
4. Re-configure integrations and email settings
5. Test each survey before going live

Response Data

Survey exports do not include responses. To migrate response data:

1. Export responses as CSV/Excel from the old site
2. Keep a database backup for historical reference

Creating Survey Templates

Scenario: Building reusable survey templates

1. Create a "master" survey with common questions
2. Export the survey
3. Import it each time you need a new survey
4. Rename and customize for specific needs

Suggested templates:

• Customer satisfaction baseline
• Event feedback template
• Employee engagement core questions
• Product feedback structure

Duplicating Surveys

Scenario: Creating a variation of an existing survey

1. Export the original survey
2. Import it immediately (same site)
3. Rename the new copy (e.g., "Survey Q2 2025")
4. Modify questions as needed

Quick Duplicate

You can also duplicate surveys directly from the survey list using the Duplicate option in the Actions menu.

Sharing Between Team Members

Scenario: Sharing survey designs with colleagues

1. Export the survey to JSON
2. Share the file via email, cloud storage, etc.
3. Colleague imports on their Joomla installation
4. Each site has its own independent copy

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Troubleshooting

Import Fails

Issue	Cause	Solution
Invalid file format	Not a valid JSON file	Ensure file is unchanged from export
Version mismatch	Exported from newer version	Upgrade Community Surveys first
Missing fields	Corrupted export file	Re-export from original site
Upload error	PHP upload limits	Increase upload_max_filesize

Questions Missing After Import

1. Check the JSON file contains all questions
2. Verify no special characters causing parse errors
3. Try importing to a fresh Community Surveys installation

Conditional Rules Not Working

After import, conditional rules may need adjustment if:

• Question IDs differ between installations
• Referenced questions were not imported
• Rule references missing answer options

Solution: Review and re-save conditional rules in the question editor.

Styling Not Applied

Custom CSS styles are included in the export, but:

• CSS may reference external resources not available
• Template conflicts may override styles
• Custom CSS needs review after import

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Bulk Operations

Export Multiple Surveys

Currently, surveys export individually. For multiple surveys:

1. Export each survey separately
2. Create a ZIP archive of all JSON files
3. Name files descriptively (e.g., customer-feedback-2025.json)

Bulk Import

For bulk imports:

1. Import surveys one at a time
2. Verify each import before proceeding
3. Keep a log of imported surveys

Feature Request

Bulk import/export is on our feature roadmap. Please submit feedback for priority requests.

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Version Compatibility

Export From	Import To	Compatible
7.x	7.x	✅ Yes
7.x	6.x	✅ Yes
6.x	7.x	✅ Yes
5.x	7.x	✅ Yes

*6.x surveys can import to 7.x but may require manual adjustment of new features.

Upgrading Exported Surveys

If you have surveys from older versions:

1. Install the old version on a test site
2. Import your surveys there
3. Upgrade to the latest version
4. Re-export from the upgraded installation

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Best Practices

Backup Strategy

1. Regular exports — Export important surveys monthly
2. Before major changes — Export before editing complex surveys
3. Version naming — Include dates in filenames (e.g., survey-2025-01-15.json)
4. Multiple locations — Store exports in different locations

Export Naming Convention

{survey-name}-{version}-{date}.json

Examples:
customer-satisfaction-v2-2025-01-15.json
employee-survey-annual-2024.json
event-feedback-template-v1.json

Documentation

Keep notes with your exports:

• Purpose of the survey
• Target audience
• Key conditional logic
• Required integrations
• Custom configuration needed

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Related Topics

• Creating Surveys
• Conditional Rules
• Survey Integrations
• FAQs