Question Formatting

The sd_question() function has many optional arguments for modifying the appearance and behavior of questions. This page demonstrates some of the formatting options.

Markdown formatting

Markdown is supported for question labels and option labels.

Question labels

The label argument for any question type can accept markdown formatting. For example, the question below uses the * symbol to make some words bold, italic, and bold italic.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type   = 'mc',
  id     = 'markdown_label',
  label  = "**This** is a question *label* supporting ***markdown***:",
  option = c(
    "Option A" = "option_a",
    "Option B" = "option_b",
    "Option C" = "option_c"
  )
)
```

Output

This is a question label supporting markdown:

Option A

Option B

Option C

*

Option labels

Markdown formatting is also supported for the option labels in question types that have options, such as mc, mc_multiple, mc_buttons, and mc_multiple_buttons. For example:

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type   = 'mc_buttons',
  id     = 'markdown_buttons',
  label  = "The 3 options below support markdown:",
  option = c(
    "*Option A*"     = "option_a",
    "**Option B**"   = "option_b",
    "***Option C***" = "option_c"
  )
)
```

Output

The 3 options below support markdown:

Option A Option B Option C

*

HTML formatting

HTML formatting is supported for the option labels in question types that have options, such as mc_buttons and mc_multiple_buttons. This allows you to insert mixed content to achieve more complex labels, including plain text, markdown, and HTML code.

For example, here is a question with some complex labels for a choice question that include markdown and HTML code to embed images.

Code chunk

```{r}
# Define the option vector
html_button_options <- c("option_1", "option_2", "option_3")

# Define option labels that include markdown and HTML code to embed images
names(html_button_options) <- c(

  "**Option 1**<br>
   <img src='https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surveydown-dev/template_conjoint_buttons/main/images/fuji.jpg' width=100><br>
   **Type**: Fuji<br>
   **Price**: $ 2 / lb<br>
   **Freshness**: Average",

  "**Option 2**<br>
   <img src='https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surveydown-dev/template_conjoint_buttons/main/images/pinkLady.jpg' width=100><br>
    **Type**: Pink Lady<br>
    **Price**: $ 1.5 / lb<br>
    **Freshness**: Excellent",

  "**Option 3**<br>
    <img src='https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surveydown-dev/template_conjoint_buttons/main/images/honeycrisp.jpg' width=100><br>
    **Type**: Honeycrisp<br>
    **Price**: $ 2 / lb<br>
    **Freshness**: Poor"
)

sd_question(
  type   = 'mc_buttons',
  id     = 'html_buttons',
  label  = "A sample survey question using `mc_buttons`",
  option = html_button_options
)
```

Output

A sample survey question using mc_buttons

Option 1

Type: Fuji
Price: $ 2 / lb
Freshness: Average Option 2

Type: Pink Lady
Price: $ 1.5 / lb
Freshness: Excellent Option 3

Type: Honeycrisp
Price: $ 2 / lb
Freshness: Poor

*

Size formatting

Use the width, height arguments to change the size of the question.

For example, the question below uses the width and height arguments to change the size of a text area question.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = "textarea",
  id    = "change_width",
  label = "This text area has width set as 40% and height set as 100px:",
  width = "40%", 
  height = "100px"
)
```

Output

This text area has width set as 40% and height set as 100px:

*

In addition, matrix type questions have an additional size argument:

• matrix_question_width

This controls the width of the question column in matrix questions. The option column width is automatically calculated based on the remaining space.

By default, matrix_question_width is set to NULL, which automatically sizes the question column based on the length of the longest question text.

You can override this by setting matrix_question_width to a specific value. The parameter accepts several formats:

• Percentage string: "40%"
• Numeric string: "40"
• Numeric value: 40

All three formats above result in a 40% width for the question column.

For example:

sd_question(
  type = "matrix",
  id = "satisfaction",
  label = "Rate your satisfaction:",
  option = c(
    "Very unsatisfied" = 1,
    "Unsatisfied" = 2,
    "Neutral" = 3,
    "Satisfied" = 4,
    "Very satisfied" = 5
  ),
  question = c(
    "Overall experience" = "experience",
    "Customer service" = "service",
    "Product quality" = "quality"
  ),
  matrix_question_width = "40%"  # Question column takes 40% of width
)