Integration with panel services
About the integration with panel services
Panel services are typically used when you need a specific target group — for example, people with certain demographic characteristics, professional background, interests or experiences. The panel provider takes care of selecting suitable respondents for you and supplies the number of qualified participants you need.
So that the panel provider can steer the process correctly, it needs to know which participants:
- took part in the survey successfully (Success),
- could no longer take part because quotas were already filled (Quotafull),
- or were disqualified (Screenout).
For this, the panel provider usually gives you three specific URLs to which you should redirect participants depending on the case, for example: https://panelservice.com?code=success&respondentID=[ID] https://panelservice.com?code=quotafull&respondentID=[ID] https://panelservice.com?code=screenout&respondentID=[ID]
As you can see, these URLs contain:
- a static part that indicates the status (success, quotafull, screenout)
- and a dynamic parameter for the individual participant ID that the panel provider passes when calling up your survey.
In this article, we'll show you step by step how to set up these redirects correctly in QUESTIONSTAR.
Note: The parameter names and values can vary from one panel provider to another — for example reason=1 instead of code=success or user=[uid] instead of respondentID=[ID]. Additional parameters can also appear (e.g. quotaID=2).
If you're unsure, simply forward this help article to your panel provider — they'll give you the exact URLs you need to enter in QUESTIONSTAR.
Configuring participation links
As soon as your survey enters the field phase, the panel provider calls up your questionnaire via an individual link — a unique participant ID is usually passed as a URL parameter, e.g.: https://survey.questionstar.com/4c531388?respondentID=123
This ID — including the parameter name and its value — is captured and stored automatically by QUESTIONSTAR. It is then automatically re-appended to the relevant URL on every redirect (e.g. at the end of the survey, on a screenout, or when a quota is reached).
What you need to do: Simply share the link to your survey with the panel provider. You'll find it in QUESTIONSTAR on the "Distribute Survey" view under the "Link" item in the left-hand menu.
From this point on, the participant identifier is no longer relevant for setting up the redirects — you don't need to insert it manually into the redirect URLs. QUESTIONSTAR handles this automatically in the background.
Note: The panel provider can freely choose the parameter name (e.g. respondentID, user, pid). QUESTIONSTAR keeps this name and value exactly as it was passed in the link — including on the redirect.
If you're unsure, simply point the panel provider to this documentation.
Redirect on successful participation
Here's how to set up the redirect after the survey is completed successfully:
- Open the survey settings and navigate to the "At the End of the Survey" section.
- Select the "Redirect to a specific URL" option.
- There, enter the panel's target URL without the respondent ID — e.g.:
https://panelanbieter.de?code=successQUESTIONSTAR adds the ID parameter (e.g.&respondentID=123) automatically on exit.
Redirect on quotafull
When a certain quota is reached and no further participants with certain characteristics should be admitted, you can set up an automatic redirect for this as well:
- Switch to the "Distribute Survey" view.
- In the left-hand navigation menu, select the "Quotas" item.
Create the desired quota, e.g.: "100 male respondents aged 21 to 50".
Note: When defining complex quota conditions, watch out for common reasoning errors in the use of AND and OR combinations. You'll find more on this in our help article: Common mistakes with display logic
In the "When the quota is reached" section, select the "Redirect to URL" option.
Note: Panel services usually expect a direct technical response via the URL. Avoid selecting other options (e.g. your own quotafull page). If in doubt, clarify the desired behavior with your panel provider.
Now enter the panel's target URL without the respondent ID, e.g.:
https://panelservice.com?code=quotafullQUESTIONSTAR adds the respondent ID automatically in the background.Note: If your survey contains several quotas, additional parameters may need to be passed — for instance to identify the respective quota, e.g.
"aID=3.
Redirect on screenout
For screenout scenarios — that is, when participants don't meet certain criteria and should therefore be excluded from the survey — you proceed similarly to the quotafull redirect.
The key difference:
- Set the maximum number of participants to 0. This defines that not a single respondent with these characteristics should take part — e.g. if someone has had no experience with your product in the past 12 months and therefore can't give an informed opinion.
- In the "When the quota is reached" section, set the "Redirect to URL" option and enter the panel provider's screenout URL — without the respondent ID, e.g.:
https://panelservice.com?code=screenout→ The respondent ID is appended automatically by QUESTIONSTAR on redirect.
Note:
- If there are several screenout conditions, some panel providers use additional parameters — e.g.
screenoutID=2. Clarify this with the provider in advance if necessary. - Avoid other options where possible in the "When the quota is reached" area — since panel providers usually expect a precise URL-based response.
Example questionnaire:
The example discussed in this article is implemented in this questionnaire:
Copy it into your account to review the details of the implementation.
Sharing the current quota fill level with the panel provider
So that your panel provider can assess how many more participants to send, it needs access to the current quota fill level. QUESTIONSTAR provides a clear live report for this, which you can simply pass on.
To do this, on the quotas view click the "Open quota filling report in new tab" button, copy the link from your browser's address bar and send it to your panel provider (see example).
Tip: If needed, you can show your survey respondents the current quota fill status in the questionnaire. The details for this are described in this help article.