# Response Editing {#response-editing}


MQUAD allows authorized users to edit submitted responses when corrections are needed. All edits are tracked with full version history.


## Editing a Response {#editing-a-response}


1. Open the survey and navigate to the **Responses** tab.
2. Find the response you want to edit (use filters to locate it quickly).
3. Click the response to open it, then click **Edit**.
4. Modify the desired fields. The form shows the existing values.
5. Optionally add an **Edit Reason** (recommended for audit compliance).
6. Click **Save Changes**.

The updated response replaces the previous values in the dataset. The original values are preserved in version history.


## Edit Permissions {#edit-permissions}


Not all users can edit responses. Permissions are controlled through:

- **Survey-Level Setting** — Survey creators can enable/disable editing under **Settings > Response Editing > Allow Editing**.
- **Role-Based Access** — The following roles can edit responses by default:
  - **Survey Admin** — Full edit access on any response in the survey
  - **Survey Editor** — Can edit responses, but cannot edit approved responses without re-approval
  - **Survey Member** — No edit access (view only)
- **Response-Level Locking** — Approved responses can be locked against editing. Toggle **Lock Approved Responses** in survey settings.

When editing is done, the original respondent is not notified unless **Notify Respondent on Edit** is enabled.


## Audit Trail for Edits {#audit-trail-for-edits}


Every edit creates an audit entry with:

- **Timestamp** — Exact date and time of the edit
- **Editor** — Who made the change
- **Question** — Which question was modified
- **Old Value** — The previous answer
- **New Value** — The updated answer
- **Edit Reason** — The reason provided by the editor

To view the audit trail, open the response and click **Edit History**. Each entry shows the full before-and-after snapshot.


## Version History {#version-history}


MQUAD maintains a complete version history for every edited response:

1. Open the response and click **Version History**.
2. You'll see a timeline of all saved versions.
3. Click any version to view its full snapshot.
4. Click **Restore This Version** to revert to a previous state.

Version history stores:

- The original submission
- Every subsequent edit
- Who made each change
- The reason for each change

Restoring a previous version creates a new edit entry (it does not delete intermediate versions). This ensures no data is ever lost.


## Best Practices {#best-practices}


- Always provide an edit reason for audit compliance
- Review the edit history before making further changes to ensure you're working from the correct version
- For sensitive studies, enable **Lock Approved Responses** to prevent post-approval modifications
- Use bulk edit mode for applying the same correction across multiple responses (e.g., fixing a consistent data entry error)