# Appearances

The appearance column in the survey sheet lets you control how a question is displayed to the user. It does not change the question type, but modifies how it's rendered on screen.

Below are the supported appearance values:

**minimal** Displays a compact dropdown or minimal version of the input. Often used with select\_one questions to reduce space.

**compact** Renders select options as compact buttons instead of long lists. Great for quicker selection.

**field-list** Used with groups to display all the questions in that group on the same page.

**label** Used with select\_one or select\_multiple to display only the label of the choice, without a button, checkbox, or radio input. Useful for visual layout tweaks.

**likert** Formats select\_one choices in a Likert-style layout, useful for agreement scales or rating responses.

**horizontal** Displays choices in a horizontal row instead of the default vertical stack.

**month-year** Allows users to select only the month and year. Commonly used with date fields when day-level accuracy is not needed.

**signature** Displays a signature pad where the user can draw their signature. Works with image or draw-type questions.

**draw** Enables the user to draw on the screen, often used for sketches or maps.

**multiline** For text questions, shows a larger input box allowing multi-line responses, like a comment box.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.ngsurvey.com/projects/import-export/xlsform/survey-sheet/appearances.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.