Managing Tokens (Invitation Codes) in LimeSurvey and Avoiding the “Access Code” Screen.

Objective

• Understand why the "Access code" screen appears in your survey.
• Prevent this screen from displaying to your respondents during testing or sending.
• Master sending personalized invitations with tokens.

1. Why does this screen appear?

The "Access code" screen appears in two situations:

1. Participant table + token generation : as soon as you import participants and click "Generate codes", the survey enters closed mode. A token then becomes mandatory to access the questionnaire.
2. Generic link vs personalized link : if you use a generic link (without token), LimeSurvey displays the screen requesting the code. If the link already contains the token, the questionnaire opens directly.

Note: Generic link: …/index.php/123456 (no token) vs Personalized link: …/index.php/123456?token=ABCD1234 (token included).

2. Invite your respondents without blocking

To ensure no respondent sees the "Access code" screen, follow this procedure:

1. Import your addresses : load your contacts in CSV, XLSX format or add them manually from the Participants tab.
2. Generate the codes : from the Participants tab, click "Generate codes".
3. Write the invitation : ensure the message contains the {SURVEYURL} tag. LimeSurvey will automatically place the link with each participant's token there.
4. Send a test : to yourself first to verify that the link works and that the token is properly included.
5. Send invitations : then, later, follow up with only non-respondents.

Result: Each respondent clicks on their unique link; the "Access code" screen never displays for them.

3. Preview without seeing the "Token" screen

Two approaches depending on the survey stage:

Before activation

Simply click "Preview questionnaire". LimeSurvey adds &newtest=Y internally, and the access code screen automatically disappears.

After activation

Two options allow you to test without seeing the block:

1. In the participant table, open the "…" menu for a contact, then click "Launch survey with this token". You test exactly what a respondent will see.
2. Copy the URL from the "Link" column and open it in a private window: complete browsing without code entry.

4. Test without tokens if necessary

If you need to temporarily disable the token filter:

Option 1: create a test participant

Create a test participant, copy their ?token=… link and open it in a private window. Complete browsing guaranteed without code entry.

Option 2: temporarily disable the filter

Go to "Settings > Publication & access > Allow only users with a token" and toggle to "No". The survey becomes public during your verification. Set it back to "Yes" before official sending to maintain individual tracking.

Option 3: delete the participant table

Temporarily delete the participant list. Without participants, the questionnaire becomes 100% public. You can re-import the list later.

5. Tracking best practices

• Always use {SURVEYURL} in your invitation messages for your sends.
• Do a test invitation before any bulk send: verify that the link properly includes the token.
• Never copy the generic URL from the browser into your emails or messages.
• Keep tokens if you need to follow up with non-respondents, limit to one response per person, or associate responses with participants.

Need help?

For any difficulty, contact the LimeSurvey team via: Cellule.Web@ulb.be