Manage Participant Attributes
VeySur has a fixed set of system attributes for every participant: First Name (nameFirst), Last Name (nameLast), Email (email), Language (language), and Token (token). For survey-specific data, custom attributes can be defined: named string fields (up to 256 characters) scoped to a single survey.
For a full field-level reference see Participant Attributes.
System vs custom attributes
Section titled “System vs custom attributes”| System | Custom | |
|---|---|---|
| Predefined | Yes | No, user-defined |
| Per-survey scope | No, shared across all surveys | Yes |
| Multilingual labels | No | Yes |
| Editable in admin forms | Yes | Yes |
| Exported in CSV | Yes | Yes, appended after system columns |
| Internal flag | No | Yes, hides from participant signup |
Open the attribute management panel
Section titled “Open the attribute management panel”- Open your survey and go to the Participants tab.
- Click the Manage Attributes button in the toolbar.
The panel shows system attributes (read-only) followed by any custom attributes you have defined.
Add a custom attribute
Section titled “Add a custom attribute”- In the Manage Attributes panel, click Add Attribute.
- Enter a valid attribute name (letters, digits,
_,$; cannot start with a digit; max 64 characters; cannot shadow a system attribute or JavaScript reserved word). - Optionally check Required if participants must provide this value.
- Optionally enter an Example value to guide CSV importers.
- Click Save.
Internal attributes
Section titled “Internal attributes”Check Internal on an attribute to make it admin-only. Internal attributes:
- Do not appear in the participant signup form
- Are included in CSV export columns and accepted during CSV import like any other custom attribute
- Remain readable and editable from the admin Participants tab
Use this for values you populate via import or API that participants should not see or fill in. Internal attributes remain available when building conditions.
Add multilingual labels
Section titled “Add multilingual labels”- Use the language selector at the top of the panel to switch language.
- Click the label or description field of the attribute you want to translate and enter the text.
- Save the translation.
When the survey-taking flow shows attribute prompts, it uses the participant’s language, falling back to the survey’s default language, then to the attribute name if no label is configured.
Reorder attributes
Section titled “Reorder attributes”Drag the handle on the left of each custom attribute row, or use the reorder buttons, to reorder. The order determines the column order in CSV exports.
Rename a custom attribute
Section titled “Rename a custom attribute”Click the attribute’s name field and edit it. When you leave the field, a confirmation dialog warns you that renaming updates the stored key in every existing participant record and cannot be undone. Confirm to proceed.
This is destructive. The old key is removed from all participant records and replaced with the new key. Any CSV or API integrations that use the old name will need to be updated.
Delete a custom attribute
Section titled “Delete a custom attribute”Click the Delete (trash) icon on the attribute row. A confirmation dialog warns you that deletion permanently removes the stored value from every participant in this survey and cannot be undone.
This is destructive. All participant records lose the value for this attribute.
Attributes and publications
Section titled “Attributes and publications”When you publish a survey, VeySur freezes the current attribute definitions (names, Required flags, Internal flags, and language labels) into the publication snapshot. Participants who sign up under that publication always see the frozen set.
Changes you make to attributes after publishing (adding, deleting, renaming, toggling Internal/Required, editing labels) take effect only in new publications; the active publication is unaffected.
Note. If you add a required attribute after publishing, existing participants are not prompted for it. Create a new publication to apply the new attribute set.
See Publications for how snapshots work.
CSV import/export
Section titled “CSV import/export”The participant CSV export appends one column per custom attribute (by name) after the standard system columns. The column header is the attribute name, making the file round-trip-safe on re-import.
During import, any column whose header matches a defined custom attribute name is loaded into that attribute on each participant. Values longer than 256 characters are truncated. Existing attribute values on a participant that are not present in the CSV are left unchanged (partial update).
See Invite Participants for full CSV import/export instructions.
Survey import/export
Section titled “Survey import/export”Custom attribute definitions are included in VSST and VSSA survey exports, so the attribute schema transfers when you export a survey template and import it elsewhere. VSSP publication exports include definitions via the publication snapshot.
See Import / Export for format details.