Please help us help you and fill where relevant:
Your LimeSurvey version: [3.27.2+210608]
Own server or LimeSurvey hosting: LimeSurvey hosting
Theme: customized 
==================
Hi,

I would like to ask about email forward function and how the token works. 
If I send the email via survey participant table, this person from my table is able to fill out the survey, and there will be tone automated generated token right?
What if I want this person forward my invitation email to other co-workers and enable them to fill out the survey? How does it work? It's possible just through clicking the attached link?

Thanks!!
Qiyu

It's possible just through clicking the attached link?

Yes and No.
It depends on your settings.

The usual scenario is:
The partcipant clicks the link and starts to answer the survey.
Now there happens some unexpected and he stops the survey to continue later.
And now the click on the link leads exactly to the place where he stopped.

Now imagine what would happen if a second participant with the same link clicks it in the meantime. He will barge in the survey of the other one.

You can avoid this by some settings
But now all these participants will always start a new survey though he only wants to continue the interrupted one.

If you want to achieve  some kind of snowball system, you may read about "public registration".
Participants with a token click the link.
And the may provide a generic link (without the "token=asdfghj") to the other ones.
If these click  or enter this link they get to the registration page.

Joffm

Hi Joffm,

thank you again for your detailed explanation. So, if I use the participant table with public registration, which turned the mode to close access, the additional forwarded users are able to fill out the survey but they need to register with their email address.
If I don't use the participant table, just send the link via my own email, then I'm not able to track the record, and participants are not allowed to stop the survey, cause every time when he clicks the survey, it will lead him to a new start page. The only advantage is that other forwarded participants do not need to register with their email.
Do I understand it correctly?

If I don't use the participant table,  just send the link via my own email, then I'm not able to track the record, and participants are not allowed to stop the survey,

1. Then it is an open survey, and you do not know who answers.
2. Of course they are allowed to stop and continue later.
Here there is a different method.
If you had tried it out, you probably would have seen in the upper right corner the link "Resume later".
This leads to a new page
 

where the participant enters a username (like "Fitzliputzli-Tralala") and a password (like "1234567"). 
And if he fears to suffer from Alzheimer desease and to forget these credentials, he also may enter an email address to get these credentials by mail.

When he later reopens the survey he will see this link "Load unfinished survey".
After clicking this he gets to the page where he enters his chosen credentials to continue the survey where he left it before.
 

But the best, create a small sample survey where you try it out.

Joffm

 

And for the participant table solution, you mentioned we can avoid barge in someone else's survey by doing some settings, could you explain more here? The only drawback is that participants cannot leave the page and later continue it. But then forwarded participants don't need to register, right? Thank you!

Sorry, one last question, if we use the participant table and the email address of the specific person is not available, is it still possible to send this person invitation link manually? Thank you!

If you have a token table, the participants who receive the forwarded link are not the ones in the table. You do not know anything about them.
No big difference if I forward a link with a token or a link witout a token. Everybody with this link can participate.
The token system is broken.

So it is more or less the same as if you set up an open survey.

So - if you want to have this snowball system, create it as open survey. 
Send the invitations with the generic link to anybody you know (either to his email address, or by WhatsApp or SMS, or...)

And you can decide: With or without registration.
But do not forget: Your target group.
If you forward the link without registration it is too easy to forward to people who are not involved.
If they have to register, there is more inhibition threshold.

Joffm


 

All clear now! Thank you so much!