Creating a Smart URL to automatically generate an assessment

Overview

Assessment Manager allows privacy officers to create an auto-link that automatically generates assessments of a particular kind. You can place this link on your company intranet or email it directly to respondents. When a respondent clicks the link, the system automatically creates a new, unique assessment configured specifically for that respondent with pre-set parameters.

What you can do
Generate a smart URL that auto-creates assessments for respondents
Customise URL options such as publishing behavior, respondent settings, and security encoding
Distribute a shortened or encoded URL to respondents via email or your intranet
Generating the URL
1
Click Create Assessment to open the Create Assessment page as described in Creating an Assessment. Select the desired assessment template and fill in the other fields with the values you want the auto-generated assessments to have.
2
Click the Generate Assessment URL link.
Create Assessment page showing the Generate Assessment URL link
3
The Generate Assessment URL window appears with the generated link at the bottom (1). Configure the available options as needed (see URL Options below), then copy the link.
Generate Assessment URL window with the generated link highlighted
⚠ Important: Each time you change any setting in this window, the generated link changes. Always copy the link after you have finished configuring all settings.
URL Options

Use the following options to customize how assessments are generated when the URL is visited.

Recipient is Respondent Only (2)

Set to System Default by default. If the assessment is intended for non-system users, change this setting to Non-System User (12) and add the non-system users. If the Assessment Link Authentication setting is enabled, set Non-System User PIN Setting (13) to Persistent PIN, One-Time PIN, or No PIN (factory default). When set to Persistent or One-Time PIN, non-system users must enter the 6-digit PIN sent to them by email to access the assessment. See Enabling the Assessment Link Authentication setting.

Recipient is Respondent Only setting showing Non-System User and PIN options
Edit Assessment Name (3)

Allows users to customise the assessment name when using a smart URL.

Set Current User to Recipient (4)

The system automatically overwrites the Default Respondent and Approver fields to be the user who clicked the assessment link.

Publish Assessment When URL Visited (5)

The system automatically publishes the assessment after the user clicks the link. If unchecked, the assessment is saved in an Open (Draft) state, which is usually not the desired outcome. The Template, Assessment Name, and Assessment Owner fields on the New Assessment page must be filled before you click Generate URL — otherwise this checkbox will be disabled.

Go to Survey When Published (6)

Directs respondents immediately to the Survey page of the generated assessment so that no further steps are needed. The Publish assessment when URL visited checkbox (5) must be enabled for this option to become available.

Assessment Config (Advanced) (7)

Select an assessment configuration where your assessment workflow, email templates, respondents, approvers, and other settings are specified.

Include (8)

Specifies which settings from the New Assessment page are transferred to newly generated assessments. The Approver (first only) and Default Respondent checkboxes are pre-checked by default. If you changed the assessment's default workflow in Advanced Settings, you can also specify that this change must apply to auto-generated assessments.

Do Not Allow Changes to These Settings (9)

When enabled, users who click the link cannot modify the settings from the New Assessment page. The settings that are locked are controlled by the Include checkboxes (8).

Encode the URL (10)

The system encodes the link for security purposes.

Shorten URL (11)

Creates a shortened version of the URL that may be more convenient to distribute to respondents.

Assessment Naming

Because all assessments in the system must have a unique name, only one assessment will be created with the exact name specified on the New Assessment page. Each subsequent assessment's name will be appended with a unique number.

If respondents are permitted to edit the assessment name, consider instructing them to follow a specific naming convention to ensure both uniqueness and ease of use. For example: "Employee Privacy Assessment – David Gonzalez – Marketing".

✓ Tip: A good naming convention includes identifiable details such as the respondent's name, department, and assessment template name. This makes it easy to search for and manage assessments generated via smart URLs.
TrustArc  ·  Generating a Smart URL for Assessments  ·  support.trustarc.com