Any survey question that collects free text can have a validation pattern attached. Instead of accepting anything the visitor types, the question checks that the answer matches an expected shape — a phone number, an order number, a ZIP code, whatever the question is actually asking for — and rejects an obviously wrong answer before the survey submits.

You do not need to know regex to use this. Most formats you'd ever need are available as a ready-made preset you just pick from a list. Regex is only needed for a genuinely custom format none of the presets cover.

Setting it up

1. Open the question in the survey editor.
2. Under Validation, open the Validation preset list.
3. Pick the preset that matches what you're collecting. Common presets include:

(Additional presets cover letters-only, alphanumeric, integer-only, and a few other common formats.)

1. If nothing fits, choose Custom Regex at the bottom of the list, then enter your own pattern in the Validation pattern field that appears.
2. Optionally set a Validation message — the exact wording shown to the visitor if their answer doesn't match (e.g. "Please enter your order number, like ORD-10042"). Leave it blank to use a sensible default message for the preset you picked.
3. Save the question.

Validation runs live as the visitor answers, so a bad format is caught at the point of entry — no follow-up cleanup needed after the fact.

What validation does and doesn't check

A validation pattern only checks the shape of the answer — does it look like a phone number, an order number, a ZIP code — matching the pattern character-by-character. It does not confirm the value is real, current, or exists anywhere:

• A correctly-formatted phone number can still be disconnected.
• A correctly-formatted order number can still not exist in your system.
• A correctly-formatted email address can still not belong to anyone.

Use validation to catch obviously wrong input at the point it's collected — a typo, a missing digit, a name typed into a phone field — not as a substitute for checking the value against your own system afterward.

Writing your own pattern (Custom Regex)

If you do need a custom pattern, keep it simple and specific to the shape you expect, rather than trying to also verify the value is correct. A pattern that's too strict will reject legitimate answers you didn't anticipate (extra spaces, a different but valid separator); a pattern that's too loose won't catch much. When in doubt, start from the closest built-in preset and adjust it rather than writing one from scratch.

Related reading

• Using the Phone Number Question Type — a dedicated question type with built-in phone validation and no setup required, for the common case of just collecting a phone number.
• Surveys in Velaro — the full survey question-type reference.
• Custom Fields Guide — the same preset/custom-regex validation approach, applied to contact and conversation custom fields instead of survey questions.