Please help us help you and fill where relevant:
Your LimeSurvey version: 6.17.6 (260604)
Own server or LimeSurvey hosting: own
Survey theme/template:
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The "+" / Create survey button points to:
/index.php/surveyAdministration/createSurvey
This immediately creates an empty survey record in the database named "Untitled survey" — before the user has entered anything. If the user clicks it by accident or changes their mind, the empty survey stays in the system.

Preferably, I would like to use this url. 
/index.php/surveyAdministration/newSurvey
This first opens a dialog asking for the survey title and basic settings, and only creates the database record on save.

Since we have many users (students/researchers), the system is getting cluttered with abandoned "Untitled survey" entries.

Questions:
Is there any setting (global settings, config.php, permissions) that makes the create button use newSurvey instead of createSurvey? I couldn't find one.

If not, what is the recommended way to change the button target? Admin theme override, a surveymenu_entries modification, a small plugin hooking into the menu rendering, or simply a webserver-level redirect (createSurvey → newSurvey)?

Or is this considered intended behavior / a known issue worth reporting on the bug tracker?
Any pointers appreciated. Thanks!

To be honest, I would actually consider this a bug. Open a bug report. Better chances that the developers see it anyway.

Did you check with 6.17.7?
In my installation the "+" button only opens a submenú with "create", "copy" and "import".
The button at the right opens the usual mask.

But I remember to have seen your described behaviour in one of the previous versions.

Joffm 

I have two servers, running now exactly the same versions:
6.17.7 (260610)
and get different links for the same button.

newSurvey and create survey. Check the urls at the button. Crazy

That IS crazy.

Is one a version that has been setup recently from scratch and the other one comes from oder version?

I am wondering how this can happen.

Both in the Community Version 6.17.7. as in the Cloud Version 6.17.7. I see this menu


This is quite different from your screenshot.


Did you create new menues?

Joffm

You were right, previously we did change the Help menu item, to suit to our own demand, but only that file. 

Now we figured out, that we should modify the adminmenu.php (application/views/layouts ) and it goes back to normal. It works now.
I gave up to understand why it has happened, but highly appreciate your guiding.