JATOS General Single Worker problem
Hi there!
Apologies for the long post below, but the sum-up is that the methods of confirming/previewing are not working for me when I'm testing them out, and I just don't want to risk there being problems during data collection.
Basically every participant will have a link that passes their Prolific/Sona ID parameters like this. I would ideally like them to confirm first before starting because I have had problems with participants not realizing that the study will start straight away despite the instructions and thus avoid this kind of issue.
I have been testing out that the experiment works as it should by using a test batch where I created a General Single Worker Link and then adding the parameter at the end manually, e.g., "PROLIFIC_PID=123". Of course I have to clear my cookies when trying more than once given the link type, but what I discovered is that this does not seem to work well when I try the link version with the "confirm first" option. If I close the page without starting the experiment, it's fine and I can bring up the link again, but if I do start the experiment and then clear my cookies or use a different browser to try again, there is an error that says "This study link is valid only once". Essentially I'm trying to "pretend" to be different participants with different ID parameters at the end of the link, and so this makes me think that the study link would only work for one participant one time. As I said, perhaps I've got something wrong in testing it out.
I have also tried the preview method, but this also doesn't work for me. I open the link, then close it (either before the experiment loads all the way or at the first page of instructions), and can see that that result in my test batch is correctly labeled as "pre" as its state. However, when I go back to the link again, there is an error that says "A problem occurred: It's not allowed to reload this component. Study is finished." I do have reload turned off as it needs to be, but I don't see why that should impact the preview method?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Comments
Hi!
The first issue you describe, the one with the "confirm first" option, is a bug. Thank you for pointing this out. General Single links with "confirm first" currently can be used only once altogether. I did a fix already. It will be part of the next release.
The second issue, the one with the preview method, I cannot reproduce. If I select 'Allow preview' I can use the study link as often as I want as long as I do not go beyond the first component. Are you sure you use the actual study link (the short URL, e.g. https://my.jatos.org/publix/WjECimr41MK) and not the URL JATOS redirects you to start the first component (looks similar to this https://my.jatos.org/publix/34a8fd11-e61d-4439-8a40-e9def633696b/68f56359-6cc9-43bd-a4c1-754e464594f4/start). The latter one would explain the 'reload' error you get.
Best,
Kristian
Hi Kristian
Thanks a lot for your quick response! I'm somewhat relieved to hear it was a bug for the confirm first option was identified so it can be fixed. Cheers!
For the preview method, I am sure that I am using the right link. In fact, here it is since it's a test https://jatos.mindprobe.eu/publix/K3Au509BEaD -- I am not sure if this will help to show you but hopefully you can reproduce what I'm seeing.
Interestingly, it's not showing as "pre" anymore in my dashboard, just "data retrieved" when I quit at the first component of the loading screen. But it still has the same error message when I visit the link again.
Thanks again for your help!
Vanessa