Documentation · CheckTick

Welcome to CheckTick! This guide will help you get started with creating surveys, understanding account types, and using the API.

What is CheckTick?
Account Types - Individual vs Organization
Quick Start - Create your first survey
Using the API - Programmatic access
Next Steps

What is CheckTick?

CheckTick is a secure, privacy-focused survey platform designed for:

Healthcare research
Clinical audits
Patient feedback
Quality improvement projects
Educational assessments

Key Features

Secure: Optional encryption, audit trails, GDPR-compliant
Flexible: Custom questions, conditional logic, multi-language
Data governance: Automatic retention policies, access controls
API access: Programmatic survey creation and data export
Self-hosted: Run on your own infrastructure (optional)

Account Types

CheckTick offers two account types, each suited to different use cases.

Individual Accounts

What is it? A personal account for solo users.

Best for: - Individual researchers - Solo practitioners - Personal projects - Students - Small-scale surveys

Features: - Create unlimited surveys - Collect unlimited responses (subject to server limits) - Optional encryption (personal passphrase) - Full API access - Export data (CSV, JSON, Excel)

Limitations: - No team collaboration (can't assign other users) - Single owner per survey - No organization-level encryption - No shared survey groups

Pricing: Free (for self-hosted) or see hosted pricing

Organization Accounts

What is it? A team account for groups, organizations, or institutions.

Best for: - Healthcare organizations - Research teams - Educational institutions - Clinical departments - Multi-user projects

Features: - Everything in Individual accounts, plus: - Team collaboration: Multiple users with different roles - Organization-level encryption: Centralized data protection - Shared survey groups: Organize surveys by project/department - User management: Assign owners, editors, viewers, data custodians - Centralized audit logs: Track all team activity - Group ownership: Surveys can be owned by organization

User roles in organizations:

Role	Create Surveys	View Data	Download Data	Manage Users
Organization Owner	✅	✅	✅	✅
Survey Owner	✅	✅ (own surveys)	✅ (own surveys)	✅ (own surveys)
Editor	✅ (if permitted)	❌	❌	❌
Viewer	❌	❌	❌	❌
Data Custodian	❌	❌	✅ (assigned surveys)	❌

Pricing: Contact for organization pricing

Choosing Between Individual and Organization

Factor	Individual	Organization
Team size	Just you	2+ people
Data sharing	Manual export/sharing	Built-in collaboration
Access control	Single owner	Role-based permissions
Encryption	Personal passphrase	Organization-wide passphrase
Audit requirements	Basic logs	Comprehensive audit trails
Cost	Free (self-hosted)	Organization pricing

Can I upgrade later? Yes, you can convert an individual account to an organization account. Your existing surveys will be migrated.

Quick Start

Step 1: Create an Account

Go to your CheckTick instance (e.g., https://checktick.example.com)
Click "Sign Up"
Choose account type:
Individual: Just fill in your details
Organization: Provide organization name and details
Verify your email
Log in

Step 2: Create Your First Survey

Click "Create Survey" button
Enter survey details:
Name: E.g., "Patient Satisfaction Survey"
Description: Brief overview of purpose
Survey Type: Choose template or start from scratch
Add questions:
Click "Add Question"
Choose question type:
- Text (short answer)
- Text Area (long answer)
- Multiple Choice
- Checkboxes
- Dropdown
- Number
- Date
- Scale (1-5, 1-10, etc.)
- File Upload
Set question options:
- Required vs. optional
- Help text
- Conditional logic (show if...)
Organize questions:
Drag and drop to reorder
Group related questions into sections
Add page breaks for multi-page surveys
Configure settings:
Access: Public, private, or link-only
Timing: Start and end dates
Responses: Allow multiple submissions or one per user
Thank you message: Custom completion message
Preview your survey:
Click "Preview" to test
Submit test responses
Verify logic and flow
Publish:
Click "Publish Survey"
Copy the survey link
Share with participants

Step 3: Collect Responses

Sharing your survey:

Public link: Share URL directly
Email invitation: Send personalized invitations
QR code: Generate QR code for print materials
Embed: Embed in website or portal

Monitoring progress:

View response count on dashboard
Check completion rate
Monitor daily submissions
Set up email notifications for new responses

Step 4: View and Analyze Data

Go to survey dashboard
Click "View Responses"
See response summary:
Total responses
Completion rate
Average time to complete
Response timeline chart
Individual responses:
Browse responses one by one
Filter and search
Delete individual responses (if needed)
Aggregate data:
View charts and graphs
See response distribution
Calculate averages and totals

Step 5: Export Data

Close survey (required before export):
Click "Close Survey"
Confirm closure (responses locked)
Click "Export Data"
Choose format:
CSV: For Excel, R, Python, SPSS
JSON: For programmatic processing
Excel: Formatted workbook with multiple sheets
Enter purpose (data governance requirement):
E.g., "Annual report analysis"
If encryption enabled:
Enter passphrase to decrypt
Download file
Store securely (see Data Governance guide)

Using the API

CheckTick provides a comprehensive REST API for programmatic access.

Why Use the API?

Automation: Create surveys programmatically
Integration: Connect to other systems
Batch operations: Create multiple surveys at once
Custom workflows: Build custom data collection tools
Data export: Automate data downloads
Analysis pipelines: Feed data directly to analysis tools

API Authentication

CheckTick uses API tokens for authentication.

Creating an API Token

Log in to CheckTick
Go to Account Settings → API
Click "Create API Token"
Name your token (e.g., "Python script", "R analysis")
Copy token (shown only once!)
Store securely (password manager, environment variable)

Example token: ct_1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef

Security notes: - Never commit tokens to git - Don't share tokens - Rotate tokens periodically - Revoke tokens when no longer needed

Using Your Token

Include token in Authorization header:

curl -H "Authorization: Token ct_your_token_here" \
     https://checktick.example.com/api/v1/surveys/

Or in Python:

import requests

headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Token ct_your_token_here'
}

response = requests.get(
    'https://checktick.example.com/api/v1/surveys/',
    headers=headers
)

API Endpoints

List Surveys

GET /api/v1/surveys/

Response:

{
  "count": 5,
  "next": null,
  "previous": null,
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "uuid-1234",
      "name": "Patient Satisfaction Survey",
      "slug": "patient-satisfaction-survey",
      "status": "published",
      "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "response_count": 23
    }
  ]
}

Get Survey Details

GET /api/v1/surveys/{survey_slug}/

Response:

{
  "id": "uuid-1234",
  "name": "Patient Satisfaction Survey",
  "description": "Collecting patient feedback",
  "status": "published",
  "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "q1",
      "text": "How satisfied are you?",
      "type": "scale",
      "required": true,
      "options": {
        "min": 1,
        "max": 5
      }
    }
  ]
}

Create Survey

POST /api/v1/surveys/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "New Survey",
  "description": "Survey description",
  "questions": [
    {
      "text": "What is your name?",
      "type": "text",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "text": "How satisfied are you?",
      "type": "scale",
      "required": true,
      "options": {
        "min": 1,
        "max": 5,
        "labels": {
          "1": "Very dissatisfied",
          "5": "Very satisfied"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Response: Created survey object

Submit Response

POST /api/v1/surveys/{survey_slug}/responses/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "data": {
    "q1_name": "John Smith",
    "q2_satisfaction": 5
  }
}

Response: Created response object

Export Data

GET /api/v1/surveys/{survey_slug}/export/?format=csv

Parameters: - format: csv, json, or xlsx - purpose: Required - reason for export

Response: File download (CSV, JSON, or Excel)

Note: Survey must be closed before export.

API Examples

Python: Create and Publish Survey

import requests

API_BASE = 'https://checktick.example.com/api/v1'
TOKEN = 'ct_your_token_here'

headers = {
    'Authorization': f'Token {TOKEN}',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

# Create survey
survey_data = {
    'name': 'Diabetes Patient Feedback',
    'description': 'Collecting feedback from diabetes clinic',
    'questions': [
        {
            'text': 'What is your age?',
            'type': 'number',
            'required': True
        },
        {
            'text': 'How long have you had diabetes?',
            'type': 'text',
            'required': True
        },
        {
            'text': 'Rate your clinic experience (1-5)',
            'type': 'scale',
            'required': True,
            'options': {
                'min': 1,
                'max': 5
            }
        }
    ]
}

response = requests.post(
    f'{API_BASE}/surveys/',
    json=survey_data,
    headers=headers
)

survey = response.json()
print(f"Survey created: {survey['slug']}")

# Publish survey
requests.post(
    f'{API_BASE}/surveys/{survey["slug"]}/publish/',
    headers=headers
)

print(f"Survey URL: https://checktick.example.com/s/{survey['slug']}")

Python: Export Survey Data

import requests
import pandas as pd
from io import StringIO

API_BASE = 'https://checktick.example.com/api/v1'
TOKEN = 'ct_your_token_here'

headers = {
    'Authorization': f'Token {TOKEN}'
}

# Close survey first
survey_slug = 'patient-satisfaction-survey'

requests.post(
    f'{API_BASE}/surveys/{survey_slug}/close/',
    headers=headers
)

# Export data
params = {
    'format': 'csv',
    'purpose': 'Data analysis for quality improvement report'
}

response = requests.get(
    f'{API_BASE}/surveys/{survey_slug}/export/',
    params=params,
    headers=headers
)

# Load into pandas
df = pd.read_csv(StringIO(response.text))
print(df.head())
print(f"Total responses: {len(df)}")

R: Fetch and Analyze Data

library(httr)
library(jsonlite)
library(dplyr)

API_BASE <- 'https://checktick.example.com/api/v1'
TOKEN <- 'ct_your_token_here'

# Export data
response <- GET(
  paste0(API_BASE, '/surveys/patient-satisfaction-survey/export/'),
  query = list(
    format = 'json',
    purpose = 'Statistical analysis'
  ),
  add_headers(Authorization = paste('Token', TOKEN))
)

data <- content(response, as = 'parsed')

# Convert to dataframe
df <- data$responses %>%
  lapply(function(r) as.data.frame(r$data)) %>%
  bind_rows()

# Analyze
summary(df)
mean(df$satisfaction_rating)

Bash: Automated Survey Creation

#!/bin/bash

API_BASE="https://checktick.example.com/api/v1"
TOKEN="ct_your_token_here"

# Create survey
curl -X POST "$API_BASE/surveys/" \
  -H "Authorization: Token $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Weekly Audit Survey",
    "questions": [
      {
        "text": "Number of patients seen",
        "type": "number",
        "required": true
      },
      {
        "text": "Any incidents?",
        "type": "boolean",
        "required": true
      }
    ]
  }' | jq '.'

API Rate Limits

To prevent abuse, the API has rate limits:

Individual accounts: 100 requests/hour
Organization accounts: 1,000 requests/hour

Rate limit headers in response:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 95
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1642589400

If rate limit exceeded:

{
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "retry_after": 3600
}

API Versioning

CheckTick uses URL versioning: - Current version: /api/v1/ - Future versions will use /api/v2/, etc.

Old API versions are supported for at least 12 months after new version release.

API Documentation

Full API documentation available at: - Interactive docs: https://checktick.example.com/api/docs/ - OpenAPI spec: https://checktick.example.com/api/schema/ - PDF guide: See API Documentation

Next Steps

Tutorials

Creating Surveys - Detailed survey creation guide
Data Governance - Understanding data protection
Encryption - Setting up data encryption
Collections - Organizing surveys into groups
API Guide - Comprehensive API tutorial

Advanced Features

Conditional Logic: Show questions based on previous answers
Prefilled Data: Import datasets for prepopulated surveys
Multi-language: Create surveys in multiple languages
Email Notifications: Get notified of new responses
Custom Themes: Customize survey appearance
OIDC SSO: Single sign-on integration
Webhooks: Real-time response notifications

Self-Hosting

Want to run CheckTick on your own infrastructure?

Getting Help

Documentation: docs.checktick.example.com
GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
Discussions: Ask questions
Email: [email protected] (for hosted instances)

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Simple Patient Feedback Survey

Create individual account
Create survey with 5-10 questions
Generate QR code
Print QR code on posters in clinic
Patients scan and complete survey
After 1 month, close survey
Export CSV data
Analyze in Excel/SPSS
Delete survey after analysis complete

Time: 30 minutes setup, 5 minutes export

Time: 2 hours setup, 30 minutes monthly export

Workflow 3: Automated Weekly Audit

Create API token
Write Python script to create survey weekly
Schedule script with cron
Clinicians receive email with survey link
Complete audit survey each week
Script exports data Friday night
Automated report generated and emailed
Old surveys deleted after 6 months

Time: 4 hours initial setup, fully automated thereafter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CheckTick free?

Self-hosted: Yes, completely free and open-source
Hosted: Contact for pricing

How many responses can I collect?

No hard limit
Depends on server capacity
Typical installations handle 100,000+ responses without issues

Is my data secure?

Optional encryption (AES-256)
Audit trails for all data access
Automatic data retention policies
GDPR and NHS compliance features
Regular security updates

Can I use CheckTick for clinical data?

Yes, CheckTick is designed for healthcare: - Meets NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit requirements - Supports Caldicott Principles - GDPR-compliant - Optional encryption for sensitive data - Research ethics committee approved (at many institutions)

Important: You are responsible for ensuring your specific use case complies with applicable regulations.

Can I migrate from SurveyMonkey/Google Forms/etc.?

Yes! While there's no automatic migration tool: 1. Export your old survey questions 2. Recreate survey structure in CheckTick 3. Import historical data via API (if needed)

Can I customize the look of surveys?

Yes: - Custom themes (colors, fonts, logos) - Custom CSS (for self-hosted instances) - White-label options - Embedding in your own website

See Themes Guide

Does CheckTick work on mobile?

Yes, fully responsive: - Surveys work on any device - Touch-friendly interfaces - QR code scanning - Mobile-optimized forms

Can I schedule survey availability?

Yes: - Set start and end dates - Schedule automatic publication - Automatic closure after end date - Timezone support

What languages are supported?

CheckTick supports 13 languages: - English, Arabic, Chinese, Welsh, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Urdu

See Internationalization Guide

Summary

You now know: - ✅ The difference between Individual and Organization accounts - ✅ How to create your first survey - ✅ How to collect and export data - ✅ How to use the API for automation - ✅ Where to find more help

Ready to get started?

Create an account
Build your first survey
Share with participants
Analyze your data

Welcome to CheckTick! 🎉

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