Received Data & Pre-event Surveys
Let guests answer in advance, get a QR or text code, and scan it at the event so their answers and photos are already in the survey.
Let guests answer a pre-event survey, get a QR or text code, and scan it at the event with the Data Receiver question to pre-fill answers, photos, AI results, and drawings, skip queues, and customize the Scan QR button.
How it works
Received Data connects two surveys. Guests fill in a pre-event survey from home and receive a personal code. At the event, the Data Receiver question in your live survey reads that code and pre-fills the later questions, so the guest skips typing, taking photos, and waiting in line.
Pre-event survey link
A public link guests open on their own phone. When they finish, they get a QR code, a text code, or both.
Data Receiver question
A question in the event survey that scans the QR code with the camera or accepts the typed code.
Automatic mapping
Each later question is filled from the received field named like its title, including image questions.
Saved with the response
Everything received is stored with the survey response and sent in the survey webhook, so nothing is lost.
The full flow, step by step
This is what you and your guests do from the first invite to the finished print:
- 1
Build the event survey
Create the survey guests use at the event. Add a Data Receiver question first, then the questions you want pre-filled.
- 2
Build the pre-event survey
Create a second survey with questions whose titles match the ones in the event survey (for example the same Name, Email, and Photo titles).
- 3
Turn on the pre-event link
In the pre-event survey settings, switch on Allow pre-event link, choose the event and the event survey, and save.
- 4
Share the link
Send the public link or its QR code to your guests by email, social media, or a ticket page.
- 5
Scan at the event
The guest opens the event survey at the kiosk, scans their QR code or types the text code, and their answers appear instantly.
Setting up the pre-event link
Open the survey guests fill in beforehand, go to its Settings tab, and switch on Allow pre-event link. The options below appear underneath the switch.
Screenshot placeholder — The pre-event link settings: event, survey used at the event, code expiry and what guests see
- 1
Choose the event
Pick the event the code belongs to. The public link is built from this event and the survey.
- 2
Choose the survey used at the event
Select the live survey that contains a Data Receiver question. Only surveys with one are listed.
- 3
Set expiry and display
Choose how long codes stay valid (default: never) and whether guests see the QR, the text code, or both.
- 4
Save the survey
The link only works after the survey is saved with the option on.
- 5
Copy the link
Use the Copy button, or download the link as a QR code, and share it.
Single-use codes
On by default. Each code can be redeemed once. Turn it off to let the same code be reused, for example for a family or a group badge.
Email me my code
Optionally let guests send the code to their inbox, once per code, from your verified email domain.
Show confirmation screen
After a guest submits the event survey, show a confirmation screen instead of continuing automatically. Shown only when Allow pre-event link is on.
Skip questions after the Data Receiver
Once the code is accepted, the pre-filled questions are hidden and the survey submits straight away. Shown only when Allow pre-event link is on.
Good to know: each code is created on the server so it cannot be forged. Guests need an internet connection to receive their code; if they are offline, their answers stay on their device until they reconnect. Guests can also tap Fill in again for another person.
At the event: the Data Receiver question
Place the Data Receiver question first in the event survey. It shows a Scan QR code button and an option to type the code. When a valid code is accepted, the guest sees a success message and the mapped questions are filled in.
Screenshot placeholder — The Data Receiver question settings with automatic field mapping
- 1
Add the question
Choose Add Question and select Data Receiver.
- 2
Pick the input methods
Allow QR scanning, manual code entry, or both, and add a label and help text.
- 3
Keep automatic mapping on
Each later question is filled from the field named like its title. Use the advanced list for extra or custom fields.
- 4
Test as a guest
Open the survey preview, enter a code from a pre-event submission, and check the results.
Skip the rest
With Skip questions after the Data Receiver on, a guest scans once and the survey submits automatically, which is ideal for a fast kiosk line.
Show the answers instead
With the skip option off, the guest still sees the questions that follow, but pre-filled image questions show the received picture instead of asking again.
Name the questions in both surveys the same way. The key is the question title in lowercase with underscores, so "Your Photo" becomes your_photo. Titles with no Latin letters or numbers fall back to the question's position, such as question_3, so keep those questions in the same position in both surveys.
Photos, uploads, AI and drawings
Automatic mapping also works for image questions. The pre-event survey stores the image link, and the Data Receiver fills the matching question with it, so guests do not retake a photo or wait for AI again. These question types are supported, in their normal and dynamic versions where they exist:
Photo Capture and Upload Photo
The received image is used as the guest's photo. If the original was kept before AI, it is saved too.
Image Select
The image link of the chosen option is received as the answer.
In-line AI Processor
The AI image the guest picked in advance is used, with no new generation and no extra AI credits.
Post-AI Processor
The processed, AI output, and background-removed results are all restored, so the finished cutout is ready.
Drawing
The preview image and the strokes are restored, so signatures appear exactly as drawn.
Screenshot placeholder — The Data Receiver mapping list showing photo, upload, AI and drawing questions
If you build codes yourself (for example through the received-data webhook), use these payload keys for image answers. The base key is the question title in lowercase with underscores:
key
The final image link (https), for photo, upload, image select, in-line AI, and the drawing preview.
key_original
The photo before AI was applied, when one exists.
key_processed, key_ai_output, key_no_background
The three results of a Post-AI Processor.
key_strokes
The drawing strokes as JSON, so the signature can be edited and mapped onto the design.
Online only: image links are used only when the device is online. Offline, text answers are still filled, but image questions are asked as normal. Payloads are stored as image URLs, never as raw files.
Turn on Skip questions after the Data Receiver when the pre-event survey already collected every photo, so guests go from scan to print without touching a camera.
Translations and wording
All guest-facing text is editable in the survey's Translations tab, so you can run the flow in any language.
Data Receiver section
Scan and cancel buttons, the "or enter your code" text, code placeholder, submit and change buttons, success and offline messages, and the invalid, expired, used, camera, and generic errors.
Received Image Label
The caption shown under an image that arrived from the code, for example "Received from your code".
Pre-event link section
Every screen of the pre-event page: verification, creating the code, offline notice, the finished code, copy, download and print buttons, the email option, and error messages.
The Scan QR button text can also be set from Customize Scan QR Button. The admin area itself is available in several languages from your account settings.
Managing codes in Received Data
Open Received Data in the admin menu to see every code for an event.
Screenshot placeholder — The Received Data page listing codes with their source, status and expiry
Status at a glance
Each code shows its source, such as Pre-event survey, and whether it is Active, Used, or Expired.
Search
Find a code or guest quickly by searching for the code.
Revoke or delete
Revoke a code to treat it as expired, or delete it for good if it was issued by mistake.
Create your own
Add codes manually, or let another system (a microsite, CRM, Zapier, or n8n) create them through the inbound webhook.
Troubleshooting
Common questions when a code does not behave as expected:
Code not recognised
Check the code and the event. Codes are tied to one event, and a revoked code shows as expired.
Code already used
Single-use codes can be redeemed once. Turn off Single-use codes if guests should be able to reuse them.
A question was not pre-filled
The question must come after the Data Receiver, and its title must match the key. Check the mapping list for the exact key.
Images are asked again
Image questions are filled only when online and when the code contains a valid https image link.
Later questions still appear
Switch on Skip questions after the Data Receiver, which is available once Allow pre-event link is on.
Related guides
See the Data Receiver question for every setting, Workflow Surveys for building and linking surveys, Manage Responses for the saved answers, and the brand activation recipe for a complete example.