{"id":24937,"date":"2023-03-01T20:16:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T20:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/?post_type=knowledgebase&#038;p=24937"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:25:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:25:39","slug":"question-identifier","status":"publish","type":"knowledgebase","link":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Identifier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Purpose of data identifiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Each survey question in Refiner has a Data Identifier. The identifier plays an important role as it determines how survey response data is stored in your Refiner account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever a new survey response is received, Refiner will check if a data field with the same identifier already exists in the <a href=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/segmentation\/user-traits\/#traits-index\">User Traits Index<\/a> of your environment. If no data field matches the identifier of your question, a new one will be created automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changing identifiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When creating a new question, an identifier is created automatically based on the question title. After saving a survey, the identifier is &#8220;locked&#8221; and won&#8217;t change anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose to manually change identifiers by unlocking the input field. Changing the identifier will have consequences on how upcoming survey responses are stored in your Refiner environment.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"854\" height=\"477\" src=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png 854w, https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58-800x447.png 800w, https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58-768x429.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 854px) 100vw, 854px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Questions with identical identifiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use the same identifier across different surveys. By using the same identifier, you&#8217;ll make sure that similar response data from different surveys is stored in the same User Trait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend that each question in one survey has its own unique unique identifier. It might make sense to use the same identifier in multiple questions if you set up a complex survey flows using <a href=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/advanced-options\/logic-jump\/\">Survey Logic<\/a>. In a normal survey scenario, a unique identifier for each question is the way to go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Purpose of data identifiers Each survey question in Refiner has a Data Identifier. The identifier plays an important role as it determines how survey response data is stored in your Refiner account. Whenever a new survey response is received, Refiner will check if a data field with the same identifier already exists in the User [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","knowledgebase_tag":[],"class_list":["post-24937","knowledgebase","type-knowledgebase","status-publish","hentry","knowledgebase_cat-customization"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","ab-block-post-grid-landscape":"","ab-block-post-grid-square":"","gb-block-post-grid-landscape":"","gb-block-post-grid-square":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>Purpose of data identifiers Each survey question in Refiner has a Data Identifier. The identifier plays an important role as it determines how survey response data is stored in your Refiner account. Whenever a new survey response is received, Refiner will check if a data field with the same identifier already exists in the User Traits Index of your environment. If no data field matches the identifier of your question, a new one will be created automatically. Changing identifiers When creating a new question, an identifier is created automatically based on the question title. After saving a survey, the identifier&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"","author_info_v2":{"name":"Moritz Dausinger","url":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/author\/user\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Data Identifier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Data Identifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Purpose of data identifiers Each survey question in Refiner has a Data Identifier. The identifier plays an important role as it determines how survey response data is stored in your Refiner account. Whenever a new survey response is received, Refiner will check if a data field with the same identifier already exists in the User [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Refiner Documentation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T13:25:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\",\"name\":\"Data Identifier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-01T20:16:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-07T13:25:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-17.44.58.png\",\"width\":854,\"height\":477},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Data Identifier\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/\",\"name\":\"Refiner Documentation\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Refiner Documentation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-Group-8.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-Group-8.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":61,\"caption\":\"Refiner Documentation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Data Identifier","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/refiner.io\/docs\/kb\/customization\/question-identifier\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Data Identifier","og_description":"Purpose of data identifiers Each survey question in Refiner has a Data Identifier. 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