# Collect open-ended responses

You'll give visitors room to explain in their own words, either with a text question or an Other option alongside your answer choices.

Available on the Grow, Scale, and Pro plans.

Let visitors explain what they need in their own words. A **Short text** or **Long text** question asks everyone on a flow path for an explanation. An Other write-in gives people an alternative when none of your listed choices fits.

You'll need editing access to your project. To show the question on your site, you'll also need a [flow](https://rightmessage.com/help/creating-flows), a widget that can appear there, and the RightMessage snippet. Connect an email platform only if you'd like to save the answers to contact records there too.

## Ask for an explanation

1. Open **Questions**, choose **New question**, then **Long text** for paragraphs or **Short text** for one line.
2. Write your prompt under **What do you want to ask?** and add a helpful **Placeholder**.
3. Leave **Required** off if people should be able to skip.
4. Enter an **Internal name**, then choose **Create question**.
5. Open your flow, add a **Question** node, and choose the saved question from the library.

Creating a question in the library doesn't add it to a flow. For a relevant follow-up, put it on the matching single-answer branch. [WorkForge](https://workforge.rightmessage.com) could ask which growth problem matters most, then ask for an explanation only when someone chooses audience understanding.

![Growth Challenge question preview with four business-growth answers](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/segmentation-growth-question.light.webp)

![Long text follow-up question asking how audience understanding holds back business growth](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/segmentation-growth-followup.light.webp)

![Understanding my audience better answer branch leading to a long-text follow-up question](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/segmentation-growth-flow.light.webp)

Visitors use the next button to submit, or skip if the question is optional. Enter submits a Short text answer but adds a line break in Long text. Both types start optional with the placeholder **Type your answer**. Neither has a question-level minimum or maximum length setting. The [Short text](https://rightmessage.com/help/question-type-short-text) and [Long text](https://rightmessage.com/help/question-type-long-text) references cover their field settings.

## Offer an Other answer instead

If you want an explanation only when the listed choices don't fit, add an Other write-in to the choice question.

1. Open the question's **Setup** tab and turn on **Add an "Other" write-in**.
2. Set **Label** to wording such as "Something else".
3. For a single-answer question, choose **Short text** or **Long text** under **Answer box**, then write the **Follow-up prompt**.
4. Set the optional **Placeholder** and button-label override.
5. If you've connected an email platform, choose a separate **Save write-ins to** destination so you can use the explanation in your follow-up.

Don't use the same destination for the structured choice and its write-in. The editor warns if they conflict. [Shared question settings](https://rightmessage.com/help/question-settings-reference) explains how Other appears with radio buttons or multiple answers.

## Read what visitors tell you

1. Preview the text and try the skip or Other path.
2. [Publish your changes](https://rightmessage.com/help/publishing-your-changes).
3. Submit a test answer on your site.
4. Open **Responses** and filter to the question.
5. If you've mapped the answer, check the contact's field in your email platform too.

Platform limits can mean the field contains less text than the full write-in saved in RightMessage. A saved response alone doesn't tell you whether the visitor was identified or whether your platform accepted the update.

It's working when you can read the submitted explanation in **Responses** and, if mapped, in the expected contact field. Next, [review your responses](https://rightmessage.com/help/manage-and-export-responses) before changing your choices. Themes summarize a sample, and adding a useful Other theme as a new answer affects future visitors, not earlier write-ins.