Ranking

Free feature

Ranking is available to all Fomr users.

The Ranking component allows respondents to order a list of items by dragging and dropping them into their preferred sequence. This format works well for understanding priorities, preferences, and relative importance.

A ranking component with numbered, draggable items

When to use Ranking

Ranking is ideal for:

• Priority ordering (most to least important)
• Preference ranking
• Feature prioritization
• Task ordering
• Comparative evaluation
• Any question where relative order matters

Tip

Ranking works best with 3-7 items. For longer lists, consider breaking them into categories or using a different approach like rating individual items.

Adding a Ranking component

1. Open your form in the editor

2. Drag the Ranking component from the left sidebar onto your form

3. Click the component to select it and configure its settings

4. Add your items in the settings panel

Configuration options

Question label

The main question or prompt displayed above the ranking items.

Tips for effective labels:

• Clearly state what should be ranked
• Indicate the ranking direction (most to least, first to last)

Examples:

• “Rank these features from most to least important”
• “Order these tasks by priority (highest first)”
• “Rank your preferences from favorite to least favorite”

Supporting content

Add helper text, an example image, or a divider between the question’s title and its input: drag a Text, Image, or Divider component onto the question and drop it on the line that appears under the title. Supporting text comes with full formatting and answer piping. Learn more in Supporting content.

Items list

The list of items to be ranked by respondents.

The items list being edited

To manage items:

• Click to add new items
• Drag to set the starting order — the order respondents see when the question loads
• Click the delete icon to remove items
• Edit item text directly
• Paste multiple lines of text to add several items at once — each line becomes its own item, blank lines are skipped, and supported text formatting is preserved

Tips for items:

• Keep item text concise and clear
• Use parallel structure (all nouns, all phrases, etc.)
• Ensure items are comparable
• Limit to 3-7 items for best usability

Random order

Toggle Random order to shuffle the items each time the form is loaded. This counters the pull of the starting order: without it, the first items you listed tend to be left near the top.

Because every item always holds a position, a respondent who submits without dragging anything submits the shuffled order they were shown. Use random order when items have no natural sequence; leave it off when the starting order is meaningful.

Layout style

By default, the question follows the option layout set for the whole form in the Design panel — see Option layout. Turn on Layout style to give this question a layout of its own:

Layout	Description
List	Full-width items stacked in a vertical list
Bordered	Compact outlined items that hug their text, stacked and left-aligned
Inline	Bordered items that flow side by side and wrap onto new lines

The Layout style setting enabled with the List, Bordered, and Inline options

The layouts change only how items are arranged:

• Position numbers appear next to every item in every layout
• Dragging to reorder works in every layout — in Inline, the ranked order reads left to right, wrapping onto the next line

Save as form default applies this question’s layout to the whole form and turns the override off. Turning Layout style off returns the question to the form’s layout.

Colorful

Turn on Colorful to give each item its own color. Fomr derives ten distinct hues — the form’s option colors — from the theme’s primary color and hands them out by position: first place gets the first hue, second place the second, and so on. After ten items the sequence starts again from the first hue.

The Colorful setting enabled on a ranking question with the Bordered layout

The hue appears on each item’s position badge, and in the Bordered and Inline layouts on the item’s outline as well. Colors stay with positions as items move: whichever item a respondent drags into first place takes on the first hue. Changing the theme’s primary color regenerates all ten hues.

Required

Toggle whether the question is marked as required.

When enabled, an asterisk (*) appears next to the question label. Every item always has a position, so there is no incomplete state — respondents who leave the list untouched submit the items in the order they were shown, and a required ranking never blocks submission.

How ranking works

One ordered list

The items are always shown as a single ordered list with a position number next to each one. There is no separate pile of unranked items to pick from: every item holds a position from the moment the question loads, and the list respondents see is already a complete answer. They reorder it until it matches their preference, or submit it as is.

Drag and drop

Respondents rank items by:

1. Clicking and holding anywhere on an item
2. Dragging it to the desired position
3. Releasing to drop it in place
4. Repeating until satisfied with the order

Visual feedback

• Every item shows its current position number
• The dragged item is visually highlighted
• The other items shift to show where the dragged item will land
• Position numbers update in real-time

Mobile support

On touch devices:

• Touch and hold to start dragging
• Drag to reposition
• Release to drop
• Works smoothly on phones and tablets

Tips

• Limit the number of items — Ranking more than 7 items becomes cognitively difficult. If you have more, consider grouping or using a different approach.
• Make items comparable — All items should be the same type of thing (all features, all values, all tasks) so ranking makes sense.
• Clarify the ranking direction — Always indicate whether #1 is best/most important or worst/least important.
• Use clear, concise item text — Long item descriptions are hard to compare and drag on mobile.
• Consider the starting order — Respondents can submit the list exactly as shown, so the order you set influences responses. Turn on Random order or use alphabetical order to reduce bias.
• Explain the purpose — Help respondents understand why you’re asking for rankings and how the data will be used.

Ranking vs. Rating

Aspect	Ranking	Rating
Output	Ordered list	Individual scores
Comparison	Forces relative comparison	Items rated independently
Ties	Not possible	Possible (same rating)
Best for	Understanding priorities	Measuring absolute preference
Cognitive load	Higher (must compare all)	Lower (evaluate one at a time)

Use Ranking when:

• You need to understand relative priorities
• Ties aren’t meaningful
• You have a manageable number of items

Use Rating when:

• Items should be evaluated independently
• Ties are acceptable
• You have many items to evaluate

Accessibility

The Ranking component is built with accessibility in mind:

• Keyboard navigation support
• Screen reader compatible
• Clear visual feedback during drag
• Touch-friendly on mobile devices
• Focus states are clearly visible

Handling responses

Ranking responses in your form results:

• Show the full ordered list as submitted by the respondent — every item, in the order it was left
• Include position numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Can be analyzed for aggregate preferences
• Are included in exports with position data

Responses collected before drag-to-reorder ranking may list only the items the respondent ranked at the time. They keep displaying in results and exports as they were recorded.

Analyzing ranking data

Common ways to analyze ranking responses:

• Average position: Calculate the average rank for each item
• First place votes: Count how often each item was ranked #1
• Top 3 frequency: How often each item appears in top 3
• Comparison matrices: How often item A was ranked above item B