LimeSurvey bugs and feature requests - Issues

20510: Survey copy no longer transfers survey-level plugin settings (regression since 6.1.3)

Fri, 08 May 2026 22:09:57 +0200

When copying a survey, survey-level plugin settings (stored in lime_plugin_settings with model = 'Survey') are no longer transferred to the copied survey. The copy receives default values instead of the settings configured on the original survey.
This is probably a regression. The behaviour was working correctly in LimeSurvey 6.1.3: copying a survey correctly duplicated all survey-level plugin settings to the new survey ID. In current versions of LimeSurvey 6 the copied survey shows only plugin default values.

This can cause serious issues to many users relying on automated work-flows by creating survey copies. We know at least 5-6 customers alone which have tools in place to copy surveys with important plugin settings e.g. for course evaluation or project status surveys. With the plugin settings broken, work-flows like email sending or other plugin related features are fully broken.

AI generated code details:
Support for copying plugin settings was originally introduced in October 2017 via commit cfbe597, which resolved feature request 09235. The implementation works by including a block in the XML export of a survey (surveyGetXMLStructure() in application/helpers/export_helper.php) and re-importing it under the new survey ID (XMLImportSurvey() in application/helpers/admin/import_helper.php).
Starting with LimeSurvey 6.14, the survey copy workflow was refactored: the dedicated Copy tab was removed and replaced by a modal dialog. It is suspected that the $exclude parameter passed to surveyGetXMLStructure() during the copy operation now includes plugin_settings, or that the new code path bypasses the plugin settings export/import entirely. The export code itself (export_helper.php) still contains the plugin settings query and has not been removed.
Verification of the regression can be done by checking whether lime_plugin_settings receives any rows for the new survey ID after copying.

20509: debug=2 : Implicitly marking parameter $managingUser as nullable is deprecated

Wed, 06 May 2026 11:18:18 +0200

Set debug 2,
Go to user manager

20504: change text : Disable question script for XSS restricted user

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:46:37 +0200

In the security menu, the choice for this option is ambiguous.
And the translation into French (and perhaps other languages) doesn't help in making the right choice.

I suggest:
Changing the text of the option
Disable question script for XSS restricted user
to:
Disable the use of XSS scripting in questions for users with restricted rights:

Which would read in French:

Désactiver l'utilisation de script XSS dans les questions pour les utilisateurs avec des droits restrictins:

Then the help text:
If you disable this option: user with XSS restriction still can add script. This allows user to add cross-site scripting javascript system.

Then add the word "WARNING" in bold at the beginning of the sentence, as in the "Force HTTPS" section.

Which would read:
WARNING: If you disable this option: user with XSS restriction still can add script. This allows the user to add cross-site scripting to the JavaScript system.

This will avoid any misunderstandings.

20503: Using quick add for multilingual label sets fails on save (works fine on question level)

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:44:14 +0200

When copying content from my Microsoft Excel file (attached) with answer code, English translation and Spanish translation, everything works fine when using the quick add feature at question level. I simply copy-paste all the three columns and the answer labels are saved correctly for both languages.

When doing the same for a label set using English and Spanish language and the quick add feature to copy-paste the same content, there is an issue when saving the data. If you just copy-paste the content and then preview the Spanish labels before saving, everything looks correct, but once you have clicked save, the Spanish translation shows English labels only, see screenshots.

20500: Some files in upload shown in git diff

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:56:10 +0200

Files without extensions are shown in git status

20498: Condition expression are not updated when use regenerate OR update question code OR up

Wed, 06 May 2026 16:55:33 +0200

When adding a condition using the condition editor, updating the question code must update the expression shown. It's not the case.
And there is no way to reset except export/import or copy (or update each conditions).

20497: more complex filtering of large participant lists

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:34:30 +0200

For scientific puroposes, we are addressing a database of over 18.000 enterprises in Austria, which are uploaded into Limesurvey.
Handling of such large lists becomes awkward in LS:
1) There seems to be no way to filter email addresses with logical-operators (e.g. office@maler-den.at OR grg.sek@gix.com) nor a grep()-function.
2) If I want to select all participants via the check box in the column names area, only those rows visible on the page are selected.
3) If I increase the numer of rows (say to 10.000) the browser starts to lag significantly. At times I am not sure wheter the system stops to respond at all. - Also: the column names header does not move while scrolling. To know what information each column contains, one has to scroll all the way up while losing the row of interest.

Proposed fixes:
a) if I want to mass edit my participants I do not need to see each entry. An enumeration of selected cases would be enough thus elminiating a visual representation and therefore foregoing a lagging browser if large lists need to be visible
b) introduction of an elaborate search option where fields can be filtered in complex manner (logical operators and regex-functionality)
c) "Select-all" after filtering should really select all cases, even those not visible on the same page

20496: Unable to activate new editor version on demand

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:14:12 +0200

When update editor version , it don't update

20493: Retrieving the invitation email containing the tokenized URL issued through public registration

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:57:33 +0200

When public registration is enabled, participants receive an invitation email containing a tokenized response URL after registering their email address. If this email is lost for any reason, there is currently no way for the user to retrieve the response URL by themselves.

Even if the user attempts to register again with the same email address on the registration page, no email is resent because the address has already been registered. This behavior is also documented in the manual.

However, under the current behavior, a participant who registered their email address but later deleted the invitation email may no longer be able to respond. No new email is sent, and the screen does not indicate that the address has already been registered.

Therefore, it may be preferable that when the same email address is entered again, the system resends the exact same email that was originally sent at the time of first registration. Alternatively, the page could display a message such as “already registered,” together with a way to contact the administrator or a “resend” button, so that participants have some self-service method to recover the original invitation email.

20488: Landing page: "This survey includes 10 to 18 questions".

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:56:59 +0200

Hello,
I can offer you only the original string in German because of the setup of my survey.

"In dieser Umfrage sind 18 Fragen enthalten."

In translation it would be something like this: "This survey includes 18 questions."

If the survey has filters (if clauses) there are not 18 questions for all users. Some of them might see less of 18.

The users should know the minimum and maximum number of questions.

"This survey includes to questions."

As an alternative, if you don't like to expose the value, try this: "This survey includes up to questions."

Regards,
Christian

20487: Format of "Non-numerical answer option prefix" not specified to users

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:02:02 +0200

Hello,
in the personal accounts settings there is the field "Non-numerical answer option prefix".

I tried to set it to another value and got the message that the format does not fit or need to be right. But I don't know what the format is because the error message does not tell it.

Expected behavior:
Make the expected format clear.
Communicate the format before an error appears.

Sidenote: On my system the prefix is by default set to "AO" (two letters). I am not sure if this is default to LimeSurvey or just to my instance. If it is upstream default please take it as an extra bug report. The prefix is followed by numbers; e.g. "AO01" (letter A, letter O, number 0, number 1). Having letter O and number 0 side by side makes it hard to read.

20485: Force plain text in text fields (questions, answers, description)

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:10:13 +0200

Hello,
this is my first issue in this project and also with using Mantis bug tracker. So please let me know if I can optimize it somehow.

When creating a survey several text fields are offered: Question, Answers, Survey description, Survey introduction text, Survey outro (thank you) text, etc

When I copy and paste (e.g. form MS Word) text in to that field, the full formatting is kept and translated into HTML. This is ugly and inconsistent in most cases.
But even if I use "Ctrl+Shift+V" (plain text insert on Windows) or copy and paste from a plain text editor (e.g. Geany, which is like notepad) some HTML (e.g. h2-tags) are created.

I need to edit each of that fields manually, in its source view.

I would like to have a "plain text" button in the text editors widget. Or much better, I survey wide setting to force plain text or make texts plain text by default.

Regards,
Christian

20482: Add one click unsubscribe functionality

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:27:08 +0200

Email providers increasingly require one click unsubscribe (rfc8058) be present on emails for deliverability. This feature adds the following:

POST endpoint to perform the opt out
Required email headers for invitations/reminders

I also did a small refactor of OptOut token emailstatus across the codebase to bring repeated logic into the model

PR inc

20481: debug=2 : Implicitly marking parameter $data as nullable is deprecated

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:26:52 +0200

When log in in and when using KCFinder with PHP 8.4.19 get Implicitly marking parameter $data as nullable is deprecated

20479: CDbCommand fails because String data, right truncated: 1406 Data too long for column 'token'

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:52:09 +0200

We are running a LimeSurvey instance with a large number of users and surveys. We are receiving messages about an issue that occurs exclusively with survey 317.

Occasionally, responses cannot be saved due to a token (?) exceeding the allowed length. We have not yet identified the root cause, but we do know that clearing the browser cookies resolves the issue. This workaround, however, is not satisfactory. The problem occurs only intermittently and does not affect most submissions.

Here are the logs that are sent to the survey administrator by email.

First example
```
DONNÉES A SAISIR:
token: AT-4168-TrnJm-lbeJD-Stz0aYG8i8vFeeKLLe9k-svx-cas-212p
317462X41549X675990: N/A
317462X41549X675982: N/A
317462X41549X675983: N/A
317462X41549X675989: N/A
317462X41549X675984: N/A
317462X41549X675985: N/A
317462X41549X675986: N/A
317462X41549X675987: N/A
317462X41549X675988: N/A
317462X41549X675991: N/A
317462X41549X675990: N/A
317462X41549X675982: N/A
317462X41549X675983: N/A
317462X41549X675989: N/A
317462X41549X675984: N/A
317462X41549X675985: N/A
317462X41549X675986: N/A
317462X41549X675987: N/A
317462X41549X675988: N/A
317462X41549X675991: N/A

CODE SQL QUI A ÉCHOUÉ:
CDbCommand n'a pas pu exécuter la commande SQL: SQLSTATE[22001]: String data, right truncated: 1406 Data too long for column 'token' at row 1

#0 /srv/survey/htdocs/vendor/yiisoft/yii/framework/db/ar/CActiveRecord.php(1083): CDbCommand->execute()
#1 /srv/survey/htdocs/vendor/yiisoft/yii/framework/db/ar/CActiveRecord.php(811): CActiveRecord->insert()
#2 /srv/survey/htdocs/application/models/LSActiveRecord.php(457): CActiveRecord->save()
[...]
```

Second example
```
DONNÉES A SAISIR:
token: N/A
317462X41549X675990: firstname lastname, firstname.lastname@gmail.com
317462X41549X675982: Y
317462X41549X675983: Ja'i pris de cours de francais pendant 7 ans à l'école.
317462X41549X675989: J'ai l'occasion de pratiquer avec mes collègues à l'haute école et dans les courses.
317462X41549X675984: B1-B2
317462X41549X675985: Je m'appelle Alice, j'ai 17 ans et j'étudie soins infirmière.
317462X41549X675986: Après mes études je veux travailler et faire expériences dans différent institutions dans le système de santé publique.
317462X41549X675987: Au premier moitié de l'année dernière j'ai travaillé comme assistante médicale des animaux.
317462X41549X675988: Pour moi ça dépend de la vie que j'ai dans le moment de cet décision.
317462X41549X675991:
317462X41549X675990: firstname lastname, firstname.lastname@gmail.com
317462X41549X675982: Y
317462X41549X675983: Ja'i pris de cours de francais pendant 7 ans à l'école.
317462X41549X675989: J'ai l'occasion de pratiquer avec mes collègues à l'haute école et dans les courses.
317462X41549X675984: B1-B2
317462X41549X675985: Je m'appelle Alice, j'ai 17 ans et j'étudie soins infirmière.
317462X41549X675986: Après mes études je veux travailler et faire expériences dans différent institutions dans le système de santé publique.
317462X41549X675987: Au premier moitié de l'année dernière j'ai travaillé comme assistante médicale des animaux.
317462X41549X675988: Pour moi ça dépend de la vie que j'ai dans le moment de cet décision.
317462X41549X675991:
MESSAGE D’ERREUR:
Les données n‘ont pas pu être enregistrées car la réponse n'existe pas dans la base de données.
```

The second example says that an answer is not in the database. Deactivating and then reopening the survey may partially resolve the issue; however, we continue to receive emails similar to the first example.

20477: Yes/No/Uncertain array question type uses wrong type description

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:18:29 +0200

"Yes/No/Uncertain" is listed at the question type selector. But since this array question actually uses a rating type scale, the answers are ordered
Yes - Uncertain - No

The question type description is wrong and needs to be adjusted.

20469: I can not uninstall plugins that I installed

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:36:25 +0100

Looks like I as superadmin don't have permission to uninstall a plugin that I installed.

20468: Check whether an answer has been entered when the respondent types “false”

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:22:18 +0100

Hello

I have a very simple text field question and want to check in the following question whether an answer has been entered. The various tests return valid results EXCEPT in one case: if the respondent enters “false” in lowercase.

My tests :
{Q00}
{Q00.code}
{Q00.NAOK}
{Q00.value}
{Q00.valueNAOK}
{Q00.shown}
{strlen(Q00)}
{strlen(Q00.code)}
{strlen(Q00.NAOK)}
{strlen(Q00.shown)}
{if(!is_empty(Q00), "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(Q00 + "" != "", "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(Q00 != "" || Q00 == "0", "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(!is_empty(Q00.code), "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00.code)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(!is_empty(Q00.NAOK), "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00.NAOK)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(!is_empty(Q00.value), "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00.value)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(!is_empty(Q00.valueNAOK), "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00.valueNAOK)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}
{if(!is_empty(Q00.shown), "Pas vide", "Vide")}
{if(strlen(Q00.shown)!=0, "Pas Vide", "Vide")}

The only valid test is the one using “.shown”; all the others fail.

20460: Request: “Multiple Others” option with dynamic input fields + reusable responses

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:40:31 +0100

Hello,
We are submitting this feature request because one of our projects requires advanced functionality related to checkbox-type questions.
1. “Multiple Others” option for checkbox questions
We would like to have a new feature allowing the addition of a “Multiple Others” option.
When selected, users would be able to:

Display one or more free‑text input fields
Add extra fields dynamically using an “Add a line” button (ideally with customizable label)
Enter multiple custom responses that can later be reused individually

2. Reusing entered responses in other questions
All selected choices—including each item entered in the “Multiple Others” dynamic fields—should be reusable as answer options in:

- Other checkbox questions
- Matrix rows
- Labels in “multiple text fields” question types

Purpose
This functionality would enable more flexible and adaptive surveys where respondents can generate multiple custom answers that remain usable throughout the questionnaire.
Questions
Could you please indicate:

Whether such a development is feasible within LimeSurvey’s current architecture?
A potential timeline or estimate for when such a feature could become available?

Thank you for considering this request.

20457: tableExists helper function returns outdated result due to cache

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:18:21 +0100

We ran into the issue where on survey activation with closed-access mode and public registration allowed, a database error was thrown if the survey had been activated in open access mode previously. The database error stated that the final_tokens_ table already existed. Digging deeper, the SurveyAccessModeService->newParticipantTable method was called twice under these exact conditions, once via SurveyActivate->activate and once via SurveyAccessModeService->changeAccessMode. Obviously on the second call the table already existed and $survey->hasTokensTable should have caught that, but no.

So long story short, the tableExists helper in application/helpers/common_helper.php used cached results on the second call, meaning $survey->hasTokensTable was still false and an unsuccessful attempt was made to create the final_tokens_ table once more.

20451: Survey permissions panel no more appears after an update to 6.16.12

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:58:09 +0100

Hi.

I try to update our limesurvey platform this morning via comfortupdate, from 6.16.8 to 6.16.12 version.

After this update, I can no more access to the survey permissions panel !!!!

I have no other choice to return to the old version 6.16.8.

Am I alone in this case ?

Thank you by advance

20447: Low security : uiser can set any existing theme when save survey

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 08:06:44 +0100

When save survey : any theme can be set

20441: Plugin API Access in RemoteControl

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:41:21 +0100

We need an API access to plugins. Its an AI driven jungle out there.

I propose we do 2 API endpoints that can be linked to plugins:

1) an endpoint that describes what internal api usages are served by plugins (documentation/formats/pesmissions needed etc)
2) one generic endpoint to call any of the plugin api actions with the specs given by 1

This will give an option to have that all also exposed via an MCP to agentic with tool descriptions etc.

Since its a security sensitive thing, I propose to add a global allow flag disabled by default that will allow/deny all plugin api access.

20440: list_response_exports in RemoteControl

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:31:06 +0100

## Summary
Add a RemoteControl method to list available `export_responses` document types (core + plugin formats).

## Problem
`export_responses` requires `sDocumentType`, but clients currently cannot discover valid values from the API.
This forces hardcoding and makes plugin-provided formats hard to use reliably.

## Proposal
Add:

`list_response_exports(sessionKey)`

Return each available export type with metadata:
- `type` (value for `export_responses`)
- `label` (human-readable)
- `pluginClass` (provider)

## Example Response
```json
[
{"type":"csv","pluginClass":"Authdb","label":"CSV"},
{"type":"spsssav","pluginClass":"ExportSPSSsav","label":"SPSS (.sav)"},
{"type":"spsssav_custom","pluginClass":"SpssExport","label":"SPSS (.sav) Custom"}
]

## Why

- Removes hardcoded assumptions in API clients
- Makes plugin export formats discoverable
- Reduces invalid export calls

20439: Really need clean page title in admin part

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:04:42 +0100

When navigating in LimeSurvey , all paghe have the same title