---
url: "https://questionstar.com/help/branching-and-display-logic/skip-display-logic-basics/"
title: "Skip Logic and Display Logic in Online Surveys"
description: "Skip and display logic in QUESTIONSTAR, simply explained: how to control exactly what respondents see — for shorter, more relevant surveys."
lastmod: "2026-07-08"
type: "help"
---

# Skip and Display Logic: The Basics

## About Skip and Display Logic

QUESTIONSTAR gives you two powerful features you can use to tailor the flow of your survey and respond precisely to your respondents' answers:

- [**Skip Logic**](../verzweigungslogik/) — to skip specific questions or pages
- [**Display Logic**](../anzeigelogik/) — to show individual questions or pages only under certain conditions

Both tools help you make your survey **more relevant, shorter and more focused** — and thereby improve data quality, since respondents only see the questions that are genuinely relevant to them.

## Skip Logic — targeted routing

With [**Skip Logic**](../verzweigungslogik/) you define **which page respondents are routed to**, depending on a particular answer given on the current page. In other words: when leaving the page with the question, QUESTIONSTAR checks whether a defined branch should take effect.

Typical use cases:

- Respondents who aren't interested in a particular product skip the entire block of questions about it.
- Only applicants see questions about training — existing employees are automatically routed to the next relevant section.
- People who choose Option A land on a different survey page than those who select Option B.

Skip logic is especially useful when **entire pages or sections are to be skipped** — that is, for **broader control of the survey flow**.

> 💡
> 
> **Example:**
> In the first question, respondents indicate whether they use the product as a **private customer** or as a **business customer**.
> Depending on their choice, they're routed to different pages:
> – Private customers answer questions about everyday usability. (Several pages)
> – Business customers get questions about integration, scalability and support. (Several pages)
> 
> **→ Skip logic ensures that everyone sees only the block of questions relevant to them.**

## Display Logic — targeted visibility

Display Logic[**, by contrast,**](../anzeigelogik/) is used to control **whether a particular question or page is shown at all** — based on one or more previous answers.

Typical use cases:

- An additional text input question appears only if "Other" was selected earlier.
- A reason is only asked for if the rating was negative.
- An entire block of pages is shown only if the person belongs to a particular target group.

Display logic is ideal when you want to **show or hide individual questions or pages depending on context** — that is, for **finer control within the survey**.

> 💡
> 
> **Example:**
> On one page, respondents indicate which areas of knowledge they're familiar with. For each area of knowledge there's a separate page asking for further details. Using display logic, you define a condition for each of these pages: **"Only show this page if the corresponding area of knowledge was selected earlier."** If the area wasn't selected, the associated page is automatically skipped and not shown to the respondent.

## What's the difference?

|  | Skip Logic | Display Logic |
|------|------|------|
| Effect | Controls which page the respondent is routed to | Controls whether a question/page is visible |
| Timing | Takes effect when leaving the page | Takes effect when answering the question / loading the page |
| Ideal for | Skipping larger sections | Showing individual questions or pages conditionally |
| Example | If A → straight to page X | If A → question/page Y is shown |

> 💡
> 
> **In short:**
> – If you want to skip **longer blocks of questions** — especially when they span several pages — use [**Skip Logic**](../verzweigungslogik/).
> – If you want to show or hide **individual questions or pages** in a targeted way, use [**Display Logic**](../anzeigelogik/).