Need Help With Well Sorted?

Well, we're only an email away! Hopefully the video or FAQ below will help, but if not,
please come say 'hello', using the following email address:

hello <at> well-sorted.org

Alternatively, maybe our How-To videos will help you out:


Finally, answers to the most common questions are below:

What are Cookies and Do You Use Them??

Cookies are small pieces of data that are created and stored on your device. We use cookies on this website in order to transfer information between pages (such as what study you are viewing) and to ensure that you can remain logged in. We do not have advertisers, and do not share these cookies with third parties. Please note this website (like many on the internet) uses Google Analytics. More information on the cookies GA uses can be found here.

Can I/My Participants Add Items After Sorting Has Begun?

Unfortunately not! As people have already started sorting items, you cannot go back and add items. After all, it wouldn't be fair for those who have already sorted!

What Is The Maximum Number Of Items Per Study?

Theoretically, a Well Sorted can have an unlimited number of items per study. Their is a limit, however, on the number of items a participant can comfortably sort. The more items in a study, the longer and more difficult the sorting stage becomes. We usually recommend having no more than 75 items in a study as that will take people an average of 15 minutes to sort. You are welcome to have more if you have dedicated participants, however!

How Do I Add My Own Items?

To add your own items, you first need to turn off the web form. If you click the '2 - Add' button on the study Control Panel, you will see a tick box labelled 'Allow Others To Submit Items'. Untick this box and save your study. When you return to your Control Panel you should see a link to 'Add Study Items Manually' where the link to the web form used to be. Clicking this link will take you to a new page with instructions on how to add items individually, or in bulk.

Can I Check Who Has Submitted What?

Yes, both for items and sorts! If you click either progress wheel on the Control Panel, you will be taken to a page which shows who has submitted what. The one over the '2 - Add' button will show you what items have been submitted and either show the email address of the submitter, or say 'Study Owner'. The one over the '3 - Sort' button will show who has sorted by whatever user name they entered, usually their Email Address. It will also show details about when and how long it took them to sort.

Can Participants Submit Different Numbers of Items?

Yes, although it requires more input from the study owner. The easiest way to do this is to set your web form to allow 4 answers per participant and put a note in the web form text that they should simply put N/A in the title and description boxes they don't want to use. N.B: If you do this you MUST delete the N/A items before moving to the sort stage, as described below.

Can I Delete Unsuitable Responses?

Yes, easily! We recommend you always check your responses before moving to the sort stage and before viewing your results. If, like in the previous question, people have submitted N/A answers, you should delete them before continuing. To do this, click on the progress wheel over the '2 - Add' button. On the View Items page, you should see a delete column. Simply tick the items you want to delete and click the 'Delete SELECTED Items' button at the bottom of the page. You can do similar for sorts by clicking the progress wheel over the '3 - Sort' button, too!

Help! My Participant Has Made A Mistake! Can I Fix It?

Probably! As long as the sort hasn't already started, the best thing to do is delete their items, as described above, and then let them resubmit them. Once the items are deleted, resend them the web form link and they should be able to resubmit easily.

Can I Directly Edit Items Already Submitted?

No, you can't directly edit items in the system. This is to ensure that the participants trust in the process as they know the organiser can't alter what they've added. For items you've added manually, you can delete the incorrect item and add a new one, as per the instructions above, as long as sorting hasn't begun.

Can Participants Submit More Than 4 Items?

Yes, although in most cases we don't recommend it. If you are bulk adding items as a study owner, or only have a very small number of participants, please see the question about adding your own items. If you have more than a couple of participants and want them to add more items, simply direct them to use the webform more than once, with different email addresses. N.B: Please be aware that, as explained in a previous question, too many items will make the sort very difficult for your participants!

Can I Submit Commercially Sensitive Information to Well Sorted?

No, we wouldn't recommend it! Well Sorted is designed for academic and related uses, and as such is designed for working on data which is already in the public domain. If you want to discuss this further, or have any questions about this, please get in touch with us first!