# Add Questions to a Survey

The Questions page is where you design your survey by adding questions, defining response options, and organizing the question order.

## Navigate to Survey Questions

After saving a new survey, PEARS takes you to the Questions page. You can also access it from the survey detail page by clicking **Questions** in the progress panel.

## Add a Question from the Question Library

The Question Library is the primary way to add questions to a survey. It contains questions that have been used across surveys in your organization, allowing you to reuse existing questions for consistency.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Click Add Question**

On the Questions page, click the **Add Question** button. The Question Library opens.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Search and filter the library**

Use the search bar and filters to find questions. You can filter by:

* **Author** — Narrow the library by who authored each question:
  * **My Questions** — Only questions you created.
  * **Questions Created By My Organization** — Only questions authored within your current organization. This is the default when the library opens, so users see a clean library of just their own org's content first.
  * **My Organization's Questions** — Questions your organization has used, including any that were imported or shared in from elsewhere.
* **Question type** — Filter by graphable types, text types, or demographic types.
* **Indicator** — Filter by linked SNAP-Ed indicators.

Select one or more questions from the results.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Add selected questions**

Click **Add** to add the selected questions to your survey. The questions are copied into your survey and can be customized without affecting the originals.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## Create a Custom Question

If the Question Library does not contain a suitable question, you can create a custom question.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Open the custom question form**

In the Question Library, click the **Custom Question** link below the search results.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Choose Question or Text**

Select whether the item is a **Question** (collects responses) or **Text** (provides instructions or supplemental information without responses).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Select a Question Type**

Choose the type of question from the dropdown. Question types include:

* **Text-based types** — Open-ended text responses.
* **Graphable types** — Multiple choice, rating scales, and other types that can be charted in reports.
* **Demographic types** — Automatically generate answer options and must match specific requirements to ensure data calculates correctly in PEARS.

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** Graphable question types allow PEARS to generate visual charts and summary statistics from the response data.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Enter the Question Text**

Type the question text in the text field. You can add formatted text, include images with captions and alignment options, and provide alternate text for pre/post surveys.

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** Question text cannot consist of images only. You can optionally set a **Field Name** to control how the question displays in exports.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Add Response Options (if applicable)**

For multiple choice or rating scale questions, add the response options that participants can choose from:

* Enter the option text.
* Optionally assign a **numeric value** to each response option for scoring purposes.
* Optionally upload an **image** for visual response options.
* Optionally mark the **correct answer** for knowledge-based questions.

Click **Add Option** to add additional response options.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Link to Indicators (if applicable)**

If your organization uses SNAP-Ed indicators, you can tag individual questions with the indicators they measure. This allows PEARS to connect survey responses to action plan outcomes.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Save the Question**

Click **Save** to save the question. Repeat the steps above to add all questions to your survey.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**CAUTION:** It is best to edit custom questions as soon as possible after creating them. Once a custom question has been added to other surveys, editing may become unavailable.
{% endhint %}

## Manage Questions

* **Reorder questions** — Use drag-and-drop or the ordering controls to rearrange questions.
* **Edit a question** — Click on a question to modify its text, type, or response options.
* **Delete a question** — Click the delete button to remove a question.
* **Lock a question** — Questions can be locked to prevent editing after responses have been collected.

![Screenshot: The Questions page showing a list of survey questions with drag handles for reordering, pencil icons for editing, delete buttons, lock icons, and the Add Question button at the top](/files/DqVzIcwJy5TmKjPiGjKl)

{% hint style="warning" %}
**CAUTION:** Once a survey has collected response data, its questions can no longer be modified. Make sure all questions are finalized before marking the survey as active and collecting responses.
{% endhint %}

## Continue to the Next Step

Click **Save and Continue** to proceed to the [Permissions](/plan/surveys/survey-permissions.md) page.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://support.pears.io/plan/surveys/add-survey-questions.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.