How to publish your study ⏻
Publishing a study means choosing how people reach it. Everything else on the Publish page follows from that one choice, and it also updates your study plan. Open any study and click Publish in the left nav. Changes save as you go, and you can switch methods at any time.
Pick how people reach your study
Four cards sit at the top of the Publish page. Pick one and the rest of the page changes to match.
| Method | What it is | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Study link | A URL you send yourself, or a study invite | Nothing |
| Web Intercept | An invitation that appears on your website | A JavaScript snippet |
| App Intercept | A WebView layer inside your iOS or Android app | An app release |
| Both intercept and study link | Both routes feeding one set of responses | JS, an app release, and a study link |
The link method works right away. Intercepts reach people already on your site or in your app, and they need code in place once. You can switch any time without losing what you have set up.
Study link
Study link is the default and by far the most common way to publish. If you are sending study invites to a large audience or inviting participants from Pool, this is the right method and usually no further action is required.
What you get:
- A URL in the form
ethn.io/sl/15789, where the number is your study ID. Use Copy to grab it, or View study link to open it in a new tab. - A Turn the study on toggle. Anyone with the link can take the study while it is on.
- A Cookie option under Options & views. Leave it on to set a cookie that prevents a participant from submitting more than one response.
- A Study views count showing how many times the study has been shown.
Send the link by email, post it on social media, or share it with your pool.
Web intercept
Pick Web Intercept and a three-tab panel appears: Installation, Targeting, and Options. Work through them left to right. A colored dot on a tab means something still needs your attention. A number on a tab counts the rules you have set there. Preview in the top right of the panel shows the intercept as a participant would see it.
The right rail tracks study views and splits intercept impressions into Global JS Web Intercept, JS ID Web Intercept, and App Intercept, so you can tell which route traffic is coming through.
Installation
This tab decides which snippet runs your intercept. You have two choices.
Global JS is the recommended option. One snippet goes on every page of your site, added once, usually through your tag manager. After that, future studies launch without a developer. Create and edit these codes under Studies › Settings › Manage Global JS, then pick the code you want from the dropdown on this tab.
Study-specific JS runs this study alone and carries its own JS ID. It works, but every new study means another request to a developer.
Until Ethnio sees your snippet on a live page, the tab shows a Code not detected banner. Send the snippet to a developer, then use Check code status to confirm. This is the last step before going live.
Targeting
Targeting decides who sees the intercept and where it appears. With no rules set, the tab warns you that the intercept can appear on every page. Add at least one rule to narrow it down. All rules must match for someone to see the intercept.
Read all about targeting here: https://help.ethn.io/article/121-targeting-overview-location-devices-browsers-etc
Options
The main setting here is display interval, the percentage of your site visitors who see the intercept. It runs from 0.001% to 100% and defaults to 100%.
On a high-traffic site, turning this down is the usual way to keep volume manageable. Changing it does not touch your JavaScript and needs nothing from a developer.
The cookie option works the same way it does for study links, keeping one participant from submitting more than one response.
Collision management
Because you can assign unlimited studies to the same Global JS code, two intercepts could end up competing for the same visitor. The Collision management panel at the bottom of the Publish page catches that before it happens.
It names the Global JS code in use and runs three checks:
- Whether URL targeting is on. With it off, the intercept can appear anywhere that code is installed, which drives up views and makes collisions likely.
- Whether other turned-on studies share this Global JS code.
- What the display interval is set to.
A green No conflicts badge means nothing is competing with this study right now. Anything flagged here is worth fixing before you turn the study on.
App intercept
App Intercept puts the intercept inside your iOS or Android app as a WebView layer. Targeting and options work the same way they do for web intercepts.
The difference is the timeline. An app intercept needs a WebView or WKWebView layer shipped in an app release, so loop in your mobile team early and plan around their release schedule. See App intercepts: implementation using WebView or WKWebView for the implementation details.
Both intercept and study link
This option runs an intercept and a study link side by side, with everything landing in one set of responses. It is the right pick when you are recruiting from live traffic and from an invite list at the same time and you want a single study to report on.
It needs whatever each route needs on its own, so a JS snippet for the web intercept and an app release if you are also intercepting in an app.
Preview, then turn the study on
Use Preview to see the study the way a participant will before anyone else does. When it looks right, flip Turn the study on. The status indicator in the top right of the study header switches to On, and the study starts accepting responses through whichever method you picked. A few things to check in the header while you are there: the study ID and name, the study type, the length, the response quota, the incentive amount, and the study lead. The Auto Saved marker confirms your changes are stored.