Refining your themes (or starting from scratch)

• Navigate to the Edit Resultstab of the Results Dashboard
• To create a new theme set Click the 'New' button. Give your new theme set a name and click “Create.”
• If you are using a theme set template as your starting point (recommended), click the “Options” button, click “Duplicate theme set,” select the theme set you would like to work on, enter a name for the copy you are creating, and click Save.
  
• In the “Theme set builder” sidepanel, use the dropdown menu to select the thoughts you want to view either by status or by current theme.
• To create a new theme or summary theme (more information below), click “Create new” and select the appropriate option. Give the theme or summary theme a name and click Save. 
• To sort thoughts into themes, click the checkbox(es) associated with the thought(s) and either drag and drop the thoughts into the theme or click the theme you would like to sort it into. The thought is automatically assigned to that theme. If you are assigning a single thought you can simply click and drag rather than clicking the checkbox first.
  • Tip: Use keywords in the search bar to pull up a list of related thoughts. You can then select ‘All’ and assign them to a theme en masse.
• To unassign a thought from a theme, click the “x” in the theme name displayed on the thought..
  
• A thought can be assigned to up to two themes, but you can create multiple theme sets.

Summary Themes

If you are working with a large number of themes and would like to organize them under larger categories, Summary Themes can help.

• Click 'Create new”' in the “Theme set builder” sidepanel and select 'Summary theme'. Give the summary theme a name and click Save.
  

• Now, when you create a new theme, you will be prompted to select the summary theme it is associated with.
• To move an existing theme into your summary theme, click the menu icon to the right of the theme name and select “Edit theme”. Select the appropriate summary theme and click Save.
  

• You can create up to 20 summary themes for high-level ideas and 20 sub-themes within each summary theme to focus on the details. 
• Use summary themes for high level,
  • Strategic planning buckets
  • SWOT categories
  • Positive and negative sentiment
• Only delete empty summary themes. Deleting a summary theme will delete all sub-themes as well.

You can also use the Options button at the top of the page to change the name of your theme set or delete a theme set.

When you are working through your participant thoughts, remember, theming not only helps pull out participant priorities, but also underlying values and beliefs. Looking at your results from this values-based perspective can point you in the direction of new solutions and innovative ways to bring your community together. 

Theming also helps you understand the language that resonates with your participants so you can close the loop even more effectively. Draw on participant language when you report back and they are sure to feel like their voices were heard.