Introduction:
To meet the demand of the cluster research community, the Digital Solutions team of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence has deployed a survey tool to help cluster members, including ACCs and partner institutions, conduct online surveys.

Continue reading or read pdf of the entire release note here...

About the Survey Tool:    
The survey tool is based on LimeSurvey, an Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for conducting online surveys. The tool is customized and installed on one of the Digital Solutions servers, maintained by ITS of the University of Bayreuth. The FOSS GNU General Public License gives Digital Solutions complete control of the survey features and the data collected. The backend database is MySQL and the server is Apache2 web server running on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. The current version is Limesurvey 3.25.3.
Characteristics:
•    Multilingual surveys in more than 50 languages.
•    Responses statistics and charts.
•    Export responses in HTML, PDF, Excel.
•    Import/export surveys in *.lss, *.isa, *.tsv, *.txt file formats.
•    Export survey data in *.CSV, *.txt, *.xml, pdf, SPSS formats.
•    Preview/Print surveys.
•    A standard cluster Theme to structure and organise surveys.
•    No limit to numbers of responses.
•    Survey Data is retained in the cluster according to our Policy Guidelines.

Policy Guidelines:
•    Digital Solutions will NOT create or design surveys. We only maintain the survey tool.
•    To access the survey tool users must complete the Survey Request Form (SRF).
•    Only one account will be created per user. 
•    For a group of surveyors (collaborating on a survey) only one account will be created.
•    At any given time, only 2 (max) surveys can be activated per user or group of surveyors.
•    Test or inactive Surveys will be deleted within 30 days by the admin.
•    Surveys can be active for a maximum of 90 days. 
•    Survey data must be downloaded from the server within 2 weeks after deactivation.

Access details:
If you want to conduct an online survey, please complete the Survey Request Form (SRF) and email it to africamultiple-digital@uni-bayreuth.de with the Subject: ‘’Survey tool access’’. You can also complete and submit the SRF online. Upon approval, you will be automatically sent login details.
You can then login to the survey tool here...
If you forget your username or password, use the ‘’Forgot your password?’’ function on the website to reset your login details or email the administrator sulayman.sowe@uni-bayreuth.de.
If you are getting errors when you create a survey, please email the administrator describing, in detail, the type of error you are getting. Attach a screenshot of the error. If your survey participants cannot access the link/URL of your survey, please email the administrator describing, in detail, the type of error your participants are getting. Attach a screenshot of the error
Get help:
The Limesurvey Free and Open Source (FOSS) community have numerous resources you can consult to help you learn how to use the tool to develop professional surveys. 
The Digital Solutions team will also be organising webinars to introduce the tool and answer any questions users may have. If you need help in setting up your surveys, please contact us.
The following links will help you get the most out of Limesurvey:
1.    Limesurvey Questions Type: Questions types manual  
2.    Limesurvey forum: Q&A and Forums  
3.    Limesurvey bug tracker for reporting problems: Limesurvey bugs