Kirsten Pijpers
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Research Services & Software
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Release of SSI Web v8
Over the past two years, the Sawtooth Software developers have been working on remodeling SSI Web with a new foundation and a number of improvements to the infrastructure such as data management, importing and exporting, survey authoring, etc. Find a list of new features at the bottom of this page!
Order your new license or product upgrade now!
New release plan
The release of SSI Web v8 is different from other product releases in the past. Previously, Sawtooth Software would wait to release the final version until they had added the entire set of features planned for that version. Subsequent releases were then simply bug fixes or the occasional new minor feature. With v8, Sawtooth Software will release new features as they become available rather than waiting for larger blocks of features to be completed. Each fully-tested release will add to the features released in the previous phase. This development process will allow us to bring you new features much more quickly than in the past, and be more responsive to the changing needs of our customers.
Jump in now or later? It's up to you!
The new base platform (SSI Web v8 Release 1) offers substantial improvements and has been through rigorous testing and a multi-month beta period. We believe that many of you will want to jump in now rather than wait for the entire project to be declared "feature-complete". Some users will choose to upgrade now, to take advantage of the many improvements that have already been made to the software. As the features that have been planned for v8 are added, these new capabilities will be available to you free of charge because you have already paid for the complete version 8 upgrade. Others may choose to wait and upgrade later when additional new features provide sufficient value to justify the cost of the upgrade.
New features
One of the most important new features of v8 is the ability to have multiple versions of the software installed at the same time. This makes it possible to use newer versions of v8 without having to uninstall version 7 or older versions of v8. We hope this will allow users to work with the most recent release of the software, while maintaining older projects still in field. (Note that you can still only have one copy of version 7 installed at a time.)
The following features are included in the first release of version 8.0.
- Looping
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The new looping function allows you to repeatedly ask a set of questions for each item in a list, while only requiring you to create the questions once. This feature helps simplify questionnaire authoring when the same series of questions must be asked for each brand, family member, shopping trip, menu item, etc. on a list. It provides advanced features for organizing looped data in more efficient ways when exporting data.
- Semantic Differential Question Type
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The new Semantic Differential question type uses paired list items to elicit responses on a scale. One common use of this type of question is in psychological profiling (Which of these describes you best? Happy - - - - - Sad). This question type also supports slider bars. Questions may be structured as slider questions without requiring that they be semantic differential scales.
- Export Improvements
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- List Recode: List values can be recoded when exporting data based on lists. Currently, lists are automatically numbered sequentially from 1 to n and the numbering cannot be changed by the user. When exporting the data, these values can now be modified to reflect a different numbering system.
- Batch Export: Set up all your exports once and then export all necessary files with just a few mouse clicks. It supports multiple export profiles.
- Filtering: Current software only filters based on completion status when exporting/analyzing data. This new feature allows advanced filtering based on any respondent data.
- Open End: The Open End data export now provides the option to export answers grouped either by respondent or by question. Previous versions only exported answers grouped by question.
- Auto Upload Improvement
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In addition to uploading survey files, the auto upload feature now can remove completed studies and clean up survey files no longer needed on the server.
- Survey Authoring Improvements
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- Copy & paste questions, lists, skip logic, etc. between multiple instances of SSI Web open at the same time. Previous versions allowed you to copy and paste, but only within one instance of SSI Web. This feature allows users to essentially set up question libraries and makes it easier to work between two or more studies at the same time.
- Import/Export Quota Cells and Skip Logic
- Database
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Databases are now used to store data both on the web server and locally on your PC. Web server supports both MySQL and Microsoft SQL databases. We believe this shift will provide greater data integrity and fewer data problems, and will also provide the ability to link online data with other programs that require real-time database access.
- Cross-tabs in Admin Module
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The ability to do cross tab reports in the Admin Module is now added. Run multiple reports at the same time, save reports for later use, produce bar and pie charts of your data, and even download .csv files with cross-tab results. The original marginal reports are still available, but have been upgraded along with the new cross-tab function.
- Side-by-side Installation
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Use the latest version of SSI Web without having to uninstall your old versions.
- CBC Improvements
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- Advanced Design Module now supports up to 250 attributes (previous limit was 30)
- Conditional relationships (price/display) can now include all of your attributes (previous limit was 4 attributes per relationship) (Note that this also applies to CVA.)
- Time per task is now included in CHO file export
- JQuery
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Sawtooth Software is now using JQuery instead of MooTools as JavaScript library. This should provide more power and flexibility in writing JavaScript and creating dynamic elements in your survey.
- MaxDiff Export Option
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Some users have expressed the need to export the position numbers of the items selected as best and worst in MaxDiff exercises, particularly for identifying straightliners and other patterns of responses.
- Ranking Question Update
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This question type now supports the ability to specify a minimum and maximum number of items to rank. Previous versions allowed users to specify a maximum but not a minimum.
- Numeric Question Update
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This question type now supports the ability to specify a non-contiguous acceptable number in addition to the standard min-max range. As an example, one could specify "0-10, 99" as acceptable answers to a numeric question.
- SSI Script Updates
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- ToolTip text popup function: This new SSI Script feature allows you to display a popup tool tip for specified text. When the respondent moves their mouse over the top of this text a box will be displayed with "HelpText" in it.
- GetValue / SetValue function: These script commands allow you to create a variable, and then change its value at different points in a survey.
- Copy Lists from SSI Web to the Windows clipboard
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Previously, lists of items couldn't be copied to the clipboard and pasted into other programs. Now, lists of items may be copied and pasted elsewhere.
- Lists now support internal labels
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This feature has been in conjoint products for many years, but was not available in lists. Now, users can specify two types of item labels: text to display to respondents (HTML), and alternate text (internal labels) that is displayed when exporting list items, displaying lists while working within SSI Web, etc.
At this time, while we can promise new features in each new version of SSI Web v8, we cannot make any promises regarding which features will be included in any phase or in the final release of V8. Many features that are officially “in the works” are discussed on the SSI Web product blog, located at http://www.sawtoothsoftware.com/product-blog/category/ssi-web/.
Want to know more? Don't hesitate to give us a call or drop an email!
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