Create a Custom Network

This article applies to: UserTesting 

On this page:

• Create a Custom Network
• Build the profile form
• Referral codes
• Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for Custom Network

Create a Custom Network

1. On the Dashboard, select Contributor networks from the navigation menu on the left.
   
2. Go to the Custom Network tab, then click Create network.
3. Fill out the following information: 
   1. Network name: Enter a name for your network that contributors will see.
   2. Internal name: If your team or account refers to the network by another name or a name you don’t want contributors to see, enter it here.
   3. Company name: Enter the company name that contributors will see.
   4. Select the Show PII checkbox if you want everyone on the account to see Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and include it in network exports.
   5. Select the Don't pay contributors checkbox if you don't want UserTesting to compensate your contributors.
4. After creating your network, upload your logo on the Branding tab to appear in emails to contributors.
   
   Note: The minimum logo size is 64 x 64 (px), but we recommend a 100 x 100 (px) logo to ensure the logo is centered.

Build the profile form

• The profile form builder lets you add questions for people to answer when they join your network. These questions are called attribute types. 
• You can also specify the format of answers to the attribute types. For example, you might ask people to provide their favorite color and restrict answers to 15 characters.
• You must add at least one attribute type to the profile builder.
• All attribute type questions must be answered, so make sure you provide an option people can select when none of the answers for single-select or multiselect questions apply to them, such as "0" or "N/A."
• Anyone with the profile form URL can join your Custom Network.
• You will be able to filter based on attribute, along with other demographic filters, when you add your Custom Network to your audience builder.

To build the profile form, follow these steps:

1. Select the Custom Network you want, then click the Attributes tab.
   
2. Drag and drop the Attribute types to the left to build the profile form:
   1. Textbox: People enter anything—limited to 170 characters.
   2. Single select: People select only one item from a list.
   3. Multiselect: People select one or more items from a list.
   4. Whole number: People enter positive whole numbers.
   5. Decimal: People enter positive numbers with decimals.
3. Enter questions as you add attributes to the form.
4. Give the question a filter name so you can select it from the test builder page whenever you create a test.
   
   Note: There is no filter name for the free-form Textbox attribute. You can see people's answers when looking at their profiles, but you can't filter by Textbox answers.
5. Fill out the Options menu (...) once you add an attribute to the form.
   1. Select Show options to include PII in the network data checkbox. Choose Show options again to hide the checkbox without deselecting it.
   2. Select Duplicate to make a copy of the attribute with all the information you added.
   3. Select Delete to delete the attribute. 
6. When you are done, click Save.
7. Click Get link. This provides a link that you can send to the people you want to join your network. 
8. Click Copy link. If you need to copy the link again later, choose Invite from the network’s Options menu (…), then choose Copy Link.

Once some people complete their profiles, you’re ready to launch tests to your new network. For Contributor Support, visit the Custom Network Support center. 

Referral codes

• Use referral codes to invite, among others, people from different social platforms, those who attended a conference, or members of a loyalty program.
• When launching a test, you can select people based on the referral code they used to join a network from the list of filters in the audience builder.
  

To use referral codes, follow these steps:

1. Choose Invite from the Options menu (...) and click Copy link.
2. Paste the link into a text editor, such as Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on macOS. Invitation links always end with /join: https://app.usertesting.com/networks/LkLudXXs/join
3. Type ?RID= at the end of the link, followed by a referral code:
   https://app.usertesting.com/networks/LkLudXXs/join?RID=facebook
   https://app.usertesting.com/networks/LkLudXXs/join?RID=linkedin
   https://app.usertesting.com/networks/LkLudXXs/join?RID=meetup2020
4. Email the invitation link with the referral code to anyone you want to join.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for Custom Network

• You can request Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for each attribute you add to the profile form.
• When you create a Custom Network, you can set the network’s PII status by selecting Include PII in network data.
  • This lets anyone on your account with access see PII when looking at a profile.
  • PII and email addresses are also included when you export a network.
  • If you did not set the network’s status to Include PII in network data, no one can see it.
  • Important: Once someone joins a Custom Network, you cannot go back and change the PII status to hide PII or exclude it from exports.
• For each question you add to the profile form, you can select This is PII.
  • To comply with GDPR or CCPA, you need to select This is PII for each question requesting PII.
  • This protects any PII people provide in their answers, such as names or phone numbers.
• UserTesting stores all PII in a secure way and deletes it when you delete a person from a network or when a person asks to be forgotten.
• See Understanding Personally Identifiable Information and Collecting contributor insights under HIPAA for more information.

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