Step by Step Guide to Building a SurveyMonkey API Integration in PHP

Hey there, fellow developer! Ready to dive into the world of SurveyMonkey API integration? You're in the right place. We'll be using the ghassani/surveymonkey-v3-api-php package to make our lives easier. Let's get started!

Introduction

SurveyMonkey's API is a powerful tool that lets you programmatically create surveys, collect responses, and analyze data. With the ghassani/surveymonkey-v3-api-php package, we can harness this power in our PHP applications without breaking a sweat.

Prerequisites

Before we jump in, make sure you've got:

• A PHP environment set up (you're a pro, so I'm sure you've got this covered)
• Composer installed (because who doesn't love dependency management?)
• A SurveyMonkey account with API credentials (if you don't have this, hop over to SurveyMonkey and set it up real quick)

Installation

Let's get that package installed! Fire up your terminal and run:

composer require ghassani/surveymonkey-v3-api-php

Easy peasy, right?

Configuration

Now, let's set up our API credentials and initialize the SurveyMonkey client:

use SurveyMonkey\SurveyMonkey;

$api_key = 'your_api_key_here';
$access_token = 'your_access_token_here';

$client = new SurveyMonkey($api_key, $access_token);

Basic API Operations

Let's start with some basic operations. Here's how you can retrieve your surveys:

$surveys = $client->getSurveys();
foreach ($surveys as $survey) {
    echo $survey['title'] . "\n";
}

Want to fetch details for a specific survey? No problem:

$survey_id = 'your_survey_id';
$survey_details = $client->getSurveyDetails($survey_id);

And grabbing those valuable responses is just as simple:

$responses = $client->getSurveyResponses($survey_id);

Advanced Operations

Feeling adventurous? Let's create a new survey:

$new_survey = $client->createSurvey([
    'title' => 'My Awesome New Survey'
]);

Adding questions is a breeze:

$client->createQuestion($new_survey['id'], [
    'headings' => [['heading' => 'What's your favorite color?']],
    'family' => 'single_choice',
    'answers' => [
        'choices' => [
            ['text' => 'Red'],
            ['text' => 'Blue'],
            ['text' => 'Green']
        ]
    ]
]);

Handling Responses

Got your responses? Great! Let's parse that data:

foreach ($responses as $response) {
    foreach ($response['answers'] as $answer) {
        // Process each answer
    }
}

Want to export to CSV? Here's a quick way:

$csv = $client->getSurveyResponsesInBulk($survey_id, [
    'format' => 'csv'
]);

file_put_contents('responses.csv', $csv);

Error Handling and Best Practices

Always wrap your API calls in try-catch blocks. The SurveyMonkey API can throw curveballs!

try {
    $surveys = $client->getSurveys();
} catch (\Exception $e) {
    echo "Oops! " . $e->getMessage();
}

And remember, the API has rate limits. Be kind to it, and it'll be kind to you.

Example Use Case: A Simple Dashboard

Let's put it all together and create a basic dashboard to display survey results:

$survey_id = 'your_survey_id';
$survey = $client->getSurveyDetails($survey_id);
$responses = $client->getSurveyResponses($survey_id);

echo "<h1>{$survey['title']}</h1>";
echo "<p>Total Responses: " . count($responses) . "</p>";

foreach ($survey['questions'] as $question) {
    echo "<h2>{$question['headings'][0]['heading']}</h2>";
    // Display answer statistics here
}

Conclusion

And there you have it! You're now equipped to integrate SurveyMonkey into your PHP applications like a boss. Remember, this is just scratching the surface. The ghassani/surveymonkey-v3-api-php package and the SurveyMonkey API have a lot more to offer.

Keep exploring, keep coding, and most importantly, keep asking questions (pun intended). Happy surveying!