How to Create Surveys Using SurveyMonkey API in PHP

API Authentication and Setup

• First, you need to acquire authorization by implementing OAuth 2 for secure access to SurveyMonkey's API. This involves redirecting users to a consent page and obtaining an access token.

 

• Once you have the access token, include it in your HTTP headers for authentication. In PHP, you might use a library like cURL or Guzzle for making requests:

$accessToken = 'YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN';
$ch = curl_init('https://api.surveymonkey.com/v3/surveys');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array(
    'Authorization: Bearer ' . $accessToken,
    'Content-Type: application/json'
));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
$surveys = json_decode($response, true);

Create a Survey

• To create a survey, you must send a POST request to the SurveyMonkey API's survey endpoint. Construct the survey JSON object with details like survey title, type, and sections.

 

• Here's an example using cURL in PHP:

$surveyData = json_encode(array(
    'title' => 'Customer Feedback Survey',
    'pages' => array(
        array(
            'title' => 'Page 1',
            'description' => 'Tell us about your experience.',
            'questions' => array(
                array(
                    'headings' => array(
                        array('heading' => 'How satisfied are you with our service?')
                    ),
                    'family' => 'matrix',
                    'subtype' => 'rating',
                    'answers' => array(
                        'rows' => array(
                            array('text' => 'Very Unsatisfied'),
                            array('text' => 'Unsatisfied'),
                            array('text' => 'Neutral'),
                            array('text' => 'Satisfied'),
                            array('text' => 'Very Satisfied')
                        ),
                        'cols' => array(
                            array('text' => 'Satisfaction')
                        )
                    )
                )
            )
        )
    )
));

$ch = curl_init('https://api.surveymonkey.com/v3/surveys');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array(
    'Authorization: Bearer ' . $accessToken,
    'Content-Type: application/json'
));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $surveyData);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$newSurvey = json_decode($response, true);

Retrieve Surveys

• After creating a survey, you may want to retrieve and list all the surveys. Use a GET request to access the list of surveys.

 

• Parse the returned JSON to display or further manipulate the surveys:

$ch = curl_init('https://api.surveymonkey.com/v3/surveys');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array(
    'Authorization: Bearer ' . $accessToken,
    'Content-Type: application/json'
));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$surveys = json_decode($response, true);
if (!empty($surveys['data'])) {
    foreach ($surveys['data'] as $survey) {
        echo 'Survey Title: ' . $survey['title'] . "<br>";
        echo 'Survey ID: ' . $survey['id'] . "<br>";
    }
}

Handle API Rate Limits and Errors

• SurveyMonkey API has rate limits; ensure your application handles these properly. Interpret HTTP status codes and error messages for better error handling.

 

• Incorporate logic to pause or slow down requests when a "Rate Limit Exceeded" status is received:

$responseCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($responseCode == 429) {
    // Handle rate limit exceeded
    echo 'Rate limit exceeded. Please wait a bit before retrying.';
} else if ($responseCode >= 400) {
    // Handle other API errors
    $errorDetails = json_decode($response, true);
    echo 'API Error: ' . $errorDetails['error']['message'];
}

Additional Customizations

• To customize survey invitations, follow a similar pattern to create collectors and send survey invitations through designated API endpoints.

 

• If you want to gather more detailed responses, set up webhooks to listen for completed survey events and store those responses in your database.