Getting started with Channels

Create a channel

  • Navigate to the “Channels” tab in the Pinnion authoring console.
  • Click the “New Channel” button at the top right side of the screen.
  • Give your Channel a name. Your use case will determine how you choose a name.
    • Choose a name your users will recognize when using a Pinnion channel based app, or a channel landing page.
    • Choose a descriptive name you and your team can relate to such as “Webpage sidebar A” when using Channels to embed in your website.
    • Choose a name relevant to one of your apps such as “Green-mothers panel App” when linking a channel to an application with Pinnion embedded.
  • Configure access settings
    • Public allows access to the channel without a password, and is the recommended setting.
    • Password Required is useful when using the Pinnion channel based app, a channel landing page, or when other authentication is not built into your application.
  • Add a Channel description
    • In most cases this is used for internal notes about the purpose of the channel.
    • In cases where you are using the Pinnion channel based app, or when you have chosen to use this field within your app this field will be visible to your channel members. In these cases the field can be used to explain the nature of the channel, or to provide instructions.
  • Add a Channel Image which will be visible within your console, on channel landing pages and in the pinnion Channel based Apps.
  • Under “Additional Options” you can set parameters to assist you in managing ownership within your organization. You can also flag the Channel as a “Test Channel” for internal use with the Pinnion Channel based apps when performing pre-release testing before live distribution for any of your projects.
  • Click “Save” at the lower right of the screen to create your Channel.

Advanced Channel Configuration

Once you have saved your Channel you can access it from your channels list on the “Channels” tab. When you do you will see that several additional sections have been added.

The “Details” section presents you with the information you entered when creating the channel. In this section you can update or view that information. There is also a new pane on the right hand side of the screen that allows you to see all of the projects associated with the channel, and filter based on their status.

The “Members” section allows you to manage your members, import external sample, or update member information.

This section must be configured by Pinnion to match your needs before you can use it.

The “Embed” section allows you to configure and copy links to your channel for distribution on the web or via direct link.

  • Embed Code — This code can be used to create an iframe that is embed-able anywhere on the web.

iframe src=”https://secure.pinnion.com/pepl/embedChannel.php?channelname=sample+channel+1&channelkey=7e4323aea978adc05826a1c0e371d43e” width=”330″ height=”490″ style=”border:none;background:#DDD” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”>Pinnion: sample channel 1

    • The sample code above is shown with the dimension settings in RED. You can adjust these to set the desired size of the frame where it will be embedded. In all cases, if you have set the dimensions for your survey to be different from the channel dimensions, the Channel dimensions will override. If the same survey is available through several links, the dimensions for each will follow the same rule, and if some of the links are not Channel links, then the survey dimensions will determine the size. (it is important to note that regardless of the dimensions for a channel or survey, if a respondent starts one of your Pinnions on a touch enabled mobile device, the dimensions will be adjusted to match their device screen area such that there will never be any horizontal scrolling, and vertical scrolling will be used when necessary.)
    • Display “Most recent Pinnion” This option will only display a single Pinnion within the frame at any time. If you release two Pinnions that are assigned to the same channel, and are active at the same time, the most recently active Pinnion will be displayed. To display more than one Pinnion select  “List of active Pinnions”.
    • Display “List of active Pinnions” This seting adds a list of pinnions within your iframe whenever there are more than one active Pinnions associated with the channel. This can be useful if you want your users to have a single landing page for viewing relevant Pinnnions. This is also useful when embedding Pinnion in an existing App as a web-view.
  • Direct Link — This link can be used for email,QRcode, linking through social media, or any other method of distributing a link to a channel landing page. The page will include a list of all active Pinnions in the channel.

Contact us for assistance with advanced settings to configure your channel or channel landing page.

The “Profile Survey” section allows for easy segmentation of your channel members.

  • Create a profile survey for new members invited to join your channel.
  • Author a profile survey to match the data you have already collected on panelists you wish to import to the Channel. This allows you to use the data for sample selection. It also allows you to continue to grow your panel by presenting new members with the profile survey in order to add them to the panel base you already have.

Assigning Surveys to your Channel

  • Once you have created a Survey to assign to your Channel visit the “Include” screen in the survey authoring flow.

  • Here you can:
    • Select one or more of your Channels to which the survey will be published.Channel Select Dropdown
    • Determine how many responses to collect before automatically closing the survey.
    • Determine if new Channel members who join after the survey is live will see this survey.
    • Specify advanced distribution criteria based on data in the demographic Survey for the channel. (Only when distributing to a single Channel, and only for Channels with demographic Surveys)