Hello everyone,,
I'm working on a project for an Asian government body. As part of the project, I need to run a survey to collect some data. I was going to use a survey platform like Survey Gizmo or Qualtrics. But the government is now saying that I cannot use a platform that isn't hosted on domestic servers due to sensitive information and privacy issues. So that essentially leaves me with... nada.

So then I found out about LimeSurvey. And then I read that to install and implement it locally, I need an Apache, mySQL and PHP combo. I don't know what any of those mean or what any of those do.

Can someone ELI5 about what I'm supposed to do to get LimeSurvey set up? I'm a complete noob.

Is LimeSurvey even an appropriate solution for me? Is there something easier and better?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi,
1. nearly each webhosting package contains php and MySQL.

2. If you want to install LimeSurvey locally - on your own computer, only to create surveys, to test them, etc,
you need a server software.
The most popular is XAMPP. www.apachefriends.org
X= placeholder for Windows or Linux
A = Apache
M = MySQL
P = PHP
P = Perl
So just install XAMPP and everything is ready to install LimeSurvey.
But remember: a local installation is local, no access from outside.

3.

Is LimeSurvey even an appropriate solution for me? Is there something easier and better?

a. appropriate solution? We do not know your requirements, but if you read the manual about the several question types and workarounds and the forum about interesting solutions, I should say YES.
b. easier? Of course you have to learn, but so many people (especially students who use LS just once for their thesis) here show that you can set up a survey really fast.
c. better? There might be other products that are "better", but in most cases you have to pay a few thousands anuallly. LimeSurvey is free.

4. What does ELI5 mean?

Best regards
Joffm

Any reason, why this is the third time, the exact same questiontext is posted here?
With three different accounts?

www.limesurvey.org/cbprofile/jayeshkaka
www.limesurvey.org/cbprofile/jamesbarnes