Adding Respondents to a Distribution : SMDS Help Desk

The primary reason for manually adding Respondent information to a Distribution is to send email messages to individual email addresses. A new Distribution List of Respondents is automatically created for each Distribution. The newly created Distribution List will be labeled with the same name as the Distribution for which it was created.

Important Note: Before you begin any of these procedures, ensure that pop-up windows are enabled on your web browser.

Using an Existing Distribution List

If you do not already have the Distribution Information page displayed, access it by clicking on the drop-down menu icon in the upper right corner of the page. Hover over the word DISTRIBUTION. Click on MANAGE DISTRIBUTIONS.
With the list of Distributions displayed, click on the name of the Distribution you want to access.
With the Distribution Information page displayed, click on the button labeled Add New, which is located at the bottom of the page.
A pop-up window is displayed. Click on the radio button labeled Use an existing Distribution List. Click on the drop-down menu icon and click on the name of the Distribution List you want to use.
Click on the button labeled Go.
The Distribution Information page is displayed. Scroll down to the section labeled Respondents. Displayed is a list of Respondents included in the Distribution.

Creating a New Distribution List by Selecting Individual Respondents

With the Distribution Information page displayed, click on the button labeled Add New, which is located at the bottom of the page.
A pop-up window is displayed. The radio button labeled Create New is selected by default. Click on the button labeled Go.
The Add Respondent(s) to Distribution page is displayed. Notice that the name of the Distribution is displayed at the top of the page. This will be the name of your new Distribution List.

Adding a Respondent from the Current List

To add an individual Respondent from the current list, click within the search box labeled Find a Respondent. Type in the name of the person and click on the search icon.
When the Respondent information is displayed, click within the checkbox located to the left of the person’s Last Name. Click on the button labeled +Insert, which is located at the bottom of the page.
The Distribution Information page is displayed. Within the section labeled Respondents, the new addition can be seen.

Adding Multiple Respondents from the Current List

To add multiple Respondents from the current list, start by sorting the displayed list. Click on any one of the column headers at the top of the page to change the order in which the list of Respondents is displayed.
For this example, we will sort the list by email addresses. Click on the column header labeled Email.
Click within the checkbox located to the left of the person’s Last Name. You can select as many Respondents as you want.
When you have selected all the Respondents you want to include in the Distribution List, click on the button labeled +Insert, which is located at the bottom of the page.
The Distribution Information page is displayed. The added Respondents can be viewed at the bottom of the page.

Adding a New Respondent

To create a new individual Respondent, click on the button labeled +New Respondent, which is located in the upper right corner of the page.
Helpful Hint: You must either input the person’s First and Last Names OR create an Alternate ID for the Respondent. You do not need to do both.
The SPECIFY RESPONDENT page is displayed. Click within the text box labeled First Name and type in the person’s first name.
Click within the text box labeled Last Name and type in the person’s last name.
Click within the text box labeled Alternate ID and type in the characters you have selected for the ID.
Click within the text box labeled Email Address and type in the person’s email address.
Please Note: If you would like to include address and additional demographic information about the Respondent, complete the remaining steps within this section.

If you do not want to include address and demographic information at this time, skip down to Step 10 within this section.
If you want to include the Respondent’s address, click on the button labeled +Add Address.
The address fields are displayed. Complete the *Required Fields, either by typing in the information or by selecting options from the drop-down menus.
If you would like to input additional information about the Respondent, click on the drop-down menu icon located to the far right of the page.
Additional fields are displayed. Complete as much information as you have available, either by typing in the information or by selecting options from the drop-down menus.
When you have finished entering in all the information, click on the button labeled Save, which is located at the bottom of the page.
The Add Respondent(s) to Distribution page is displayed. If you want to add the newly created Respondent record to your Distribution, click within the search box, type in the person’s name or Alternate ID and click on the search icon.
Click within the check box to the left of the person’s Last Name. Click on the button labeled +Insert.
The Distribution Information page is displayed. The name is included in the list of Respondents.

Importing Respondent Information

If you have a large number of Respondents you would like to enter into SMDS, you can import the information by using an Excel spreadsheet, rather than entering each person’s information manually.

Helpful Hint: Download the Excel spreadsheet template using the steps below, complete the information within the spreadsheet and then return to the Distribution Information page and complete the import process.

With the Distribution Information page displayed, click on the button labeled Add New, which is located at the bottom of the page.
A pop-up window is displayed. Click on the radio button labeled Import Respondents. Click on the button labeled Go.
The Import Respondents page is displayed. Click on the hyperlink labeled Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet template.
Depending on how your computer is configured, the Excel spreadsheet file will be downloaded and may open immediately. Click on the button labeled Enable Editing, which is located at the top of the page. Click on the tab labeled Instructions and take a moment to read through the information.

Helpful Hint: Save a copy of the Excel spreadsheet to your computer before you begin inputting information. This way you will be less likely to lose any of your work.
Click on the tab labeled Sheet1. The first row of the spreadsheet displays the names of the fields within SMDS that will be populated. The second row of the spreadsheet displays sample data to guide you when entering Respondent information. It is important to enter the information using the format displayed.
The first three columns of the spreadsheet are labeled in bold red (FirstName, LastName, Alternate Id). These are required fields and must contain information. You can either input an Alternate ID OR the First Name and Last Name of the Respondent.
Once you have entered all the information you want to include and saved the spreadsheet, return to the SMDS Import Respondents page for your Distribution. Click on the button labeled Choose File.
A pop-up window is displayed. Navigate to the location on your computer where you saved the spreadsheet file. Click on the name of the file and then click on the button labeled Open.
Click on the button labeled Upload.
The list of Respondents is displayed. Review any Error/Warning messages. If an Error or Warning is displayed, you will need to return to your spreadsheet file and correct the information within the spreadsheet. Once the corrections are made, repeat steps 7, 8 and 9 to upload the spreadsheet again.
If no Error/Warning messages are displayed, you can select all the Respondent records by clicking within the checkbox located in the column header. Once all the records have been selected, click on the button labeled IMPORT.
The Distribution Information page is displayed. The list of imported Respondents is displayed at the bottom of the page.