Below are detailed, step-by-step instructions for setting up a new consultation in Citizen Space. You may also wish to download our Quick Start Guide to refer to.
For basic instructions on setting up a new consultation, see this article instead.
Log in
If you are not logged in to your Citizen Space, first log in.
Add a new consultation
To get started with adding a consultation, go to the Manage Consultations page and select the 'Add Consultation' link.
Follow the instructions below to do the initial set up of your consultation:
1. Enter the title of your consultation. This title will be displayed on all pages of your consultation, and for public consultations this is searchable via internet browsers. You may edit this title later.
2. If you are a Site Administrator (learn more about different types of Citizen Space users) then you will need to select the Department you would like the consultation to be in from a drop-down menu. If you are not a Site Admin then the consultation will automatically be created in your assigned Department.
3. The final part of the consultation URL is automatically generated based on the consultation title, with a limit of 50 characters. However, you can make changes to this using the Edit button.
For more information on consultation URLs, please see this article on creating and editing URLs.
4. Now, select which type of consultation you want to create. Once you have selected this it can't be changed, so please choose carefully.
5. Select the Add Consultation button at the bottom right of the page. This takes you to the next screen, which is the new Consultation Dashboard for your consultation.
Enter consultation information
6. Select the Edit Consultation Details link. This will take you to the next screen, where you can complete the overview page details of your consultation.
7. You may edit your consultation title or URL here, if you wish, or leave them as they are. Please note that if you change the title at this stage, the last part of the URL will not automatically change. If you wish to edit the URL you will need to use the Edit button.
8. If you wish to make a consultation private, you can do that here. A private consultation is one that is not searchable by the public, nor will it appear in your consultation hub homepage. To make your consultation private, select the Make this consultation private box. Please note that you will not be able to edit the URL of private consultations. Learn more about Private Consultations.
9. Scroll down the page to the Consultation Overview section. Here you should write some concise paragraphs that define what your consultation is about. You can include images and rich media as well as text. This overview appears on the first page of your consultation once it has been published, and so acts as the introduction to your consultation. You may also wish to write details about any offline events, attached documents and the timings of the consultation, such as when it will close, when results will be published etc.
10. This is optional, but you can also enter text to explain your reasons for consulting in the Why We Are Consulting text box. This helps respondents further understand the purpose of the consultation and may also help citizens to understand how your organisation works.
11. The 'Give us your views' text appears above the link on your overview page which takes respondents into your consultation questions. Here you can change this text to whatever suits what you are doing e.g. you could change it to say "Fill in your details" if, for example, you are using Citizen Space to share a registration form.
12. If you are a Site Admin, select the individual who will own this consultation from your list of Users. If you are not a Site Admin, you will automatically be assigned as the Owner of the consultation.
13. The contact information entered here will appear in the sidebar of your consultation, this will normally be the person/team that respondents can contact to discuss the consultation. You must at least enter a phone number or an email address, but these could be a general switchboard number and enquiries email address, if appropriate.
14. Enter the relevant start and end dates for your consultation . You may set up a consultation at any point before the start date that is specified. Citizen Space will automatically move 'forthcoming' consultations to 'open' status at 00.00am on the start date entered in this section. Likewise, a consultation will automatically move to 'closed' status at 00.00pm on the end date entered.
15. If you would like to include links to websites that are related to your consultation, enter them here.
16. Likewise, if you would like to include links to other related consultations, enter them here.
17. In this section, you may upload documents that provide respondents with further information about your consultation. This is very helpful as it can provide a deeper insight into what your consultation is about and why you are consulting than the overview text on your introduction page. Respondents will be able to view and download the documents from your consultation.
18. Enter your 'What Happens Next' text. When your consultation is open, underneath your overview and 'Why We Are Consulting' text, there will be a box with a link that (unless edited) reads 'Give Us Your Views - Online Survey'. Respondents use this link to go through to the consultation. When the consultation closes, this link box is automatically replaced with your 'What Happens Next' text.
NB This text is not mandatory, but it's useful for interested respondents to know what your organisation's plans are and when they can expect to learn how the information they submitted will be used.
19. If Areas are enabled on your Citizen Space hub, you can select which Areas apply to your consultation. To select more than one, or to select all Areas, see the instructions on screen.
20. Select which Audiences apply to your consultation. To select more than one, or to select all Audiences, see the instructions on screen.
21. Select which Interests apply to your consultation. To select more than one, see the instructions on screen.
You must select at least one Area (if enabled), Audience and Interest in order to publish your consultation. Respondents may search for consultations by their location/ postcode, type of Audience and Interest(s), so these details help people find consultations that are relevant to them.
22. Select the Save button. At this point you will either see this:
Or you might see this:
If some fields still require completing, you will see a message about which ones you need to address:
Enter the missing information, and select the Save button again.
23. Now that all of the information has been added in, it's time to go back to your Consultation Dashboard and finish up.
24. In Step 4, you will have set which type of consultation you are running. The type you selected will now appear as option 2 on your consultation dashboard. At this point, you need to complete the set up of your consultation by selecting this consultation type and entering some more information.
Refer to the following articles to complete your set up:
- An Online Survey Consultation
- A Postal/Email Consultation
- An External Link Consultation
- An Offline Consultation
25. You may like to customise how your consultation looks and here you are able to customise the logos or image displayed at the top of the consultation - the theme. You will see the option to do so in your consultation dashboard called 'Manage Theme'. We have more detailed instructions on managing the theme of your consultation.
Preview your consultation
You are now done setting up your consultation - but the work isn't quite over yet! We strongly suggest you a good amount of time previewing it to help you spot any mistakes or things that could be improved for a respondent. Previewing is a vital part of setting up a good consultation.
You can preview it by selecting the Preview Consultation link on the dashboard.
Read this article for more detailed help on how to use all the previewing features in Citizen Space.
You are also able to send a preview of your consultation for sign-off by another colleague. This article will guide you on how to do this, How do I send a preview of my consultation to a non-Citizen Space administrator for sign-off?
Publish your consultation
If you are happy with your consultation, you may now publish it by using the green 'Publish' button on the dashboard.
