> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://conveo.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set Up a Diary Study

> Configure repeat participation, entry-specific questions, and scheduled breaks with clear return behavior.

Use a diary study when the same participant should return for several entries, such as recording experiences across a product trial. Repeat entries are separate completed interviews. A pause partway through one interview is a different workflow: the participant returns to the same unfinished entry.

## Enable repeat entries

1. Open **Advanced settings → Security & access**.
2. Turn on **Allow multiple completions**.
3. Set **Maximum entries per participant**, or leave it empty for no entry cap.
4. Use a recruitment panel that supplies participant IDs consistently.

Repeat participation depends on recognizing the participant. Do not assume an unidentified open-link visitor can be connected to earlier entries. Keep the same identifying information and recruitment route across returns.

With **Allow parallel entries** off, an ongoing interview normally returns the participant to that session. After an interview completes, a 60-second grace period prevents an immediate new entry. A maximum-entry cap counts completed, visible, non-deleted interviews for the recognized participant; hiding or deleting interviews can change the count.

The entry cap is separate from [panel limits and quotas](/docs/setup-to-launch/recruiting-participants). Confirm recruitment and incentive arrangements for all intended entries rather than assuming a per-entry target guarantees return participation.

## Allow several entries at once

**Allow parallel entries**, under **Security & access**, is available when multiple completions are enabled and is off by default. Keep it off for a sequential diary. Turn it on when participants need separate unfinished entries for concurrent activities, such as tracking two product-use occasions.

Returning participants with a started entry can choose which entry to continue or start another, subject to admission limits. Entries opened without a participant reply are not presented as meaningful choices. If several started entries already exist, a chooser can still appear even after parallel entries are turned off; switching off the setting does not discard existing interviews.

Entry-number routing counts completed entries. Starting another interview while an entry is unfinished does **not** necessarily advance to the next entry number: parallel interviews can follow the same entry-number route. Avoid using parallel entries when each open interview must correspond to the next sequential diary task.

## Ask different questions on different entries

Use [diary entry routing](/docs/setup-to-launch/question-routing#diary-entry-conditions) to show questions or sections on selected entries. For example, ask onboarding questions on entry 1 and experience questions on later entries.

Answers from earlier interviews are not automatically available as current-entry routing answers. Use supported participant properties and entry-number conditions, and test the full route. An entry-number test simulates the selected entry; it does not create real participant history.

## Add a scheduled pause

Open a question's **No pause after** control and enter:

* **Pause statement:** required guidance for the moderator's break announcement. It is not a promise of verbatim playback.
* **Duration:** a preset of 1, 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, or 1 hour; alternatively enter a custom positive duration in minutes.
* **Lock resume until timer expires:** whether a break within an unfinished interview prevents early resumption.

Choose **Add pause**. Reopen the duration control to edit or remove the pause. Each question has at most one configured pause. Duplication preserves the pause configuration.

### Pause within an unfinished interview

When more questions remain, the interview stays unfinished and the pause screen shows the return time. Without enforcement, the participant can resume early. With enforcement, resumption is blocked until the timer expires, including attempts to bypass the pause screen by navigating directly to the interview.

### Break after the final question of an entry

When no questions remain and another diary entry is expected, the current interview completes and the closing message announces when to return. **This break does not enforce a waiting period between separate entries**, even if the question's timer-enforcement setting is on. The standard 60-second repeat-entry grace period still applies.

If the participant has reached the maximum entries, the interview ends normally. When entry identity is unavailable, Conveo also avoids promising a next entry it cannot determine.

## Test and monitor the program

Test the first, middle, and final entries and both kinds of pause. Confirm that routing leaves the expected questions in each entry and that the participant can use their return link. See [Testing your study](/docs/setup-to-launch/testing-your-study).

Review completed-entry counts and missing returns in the [interview grid](/docs/interview-data/interview-grid-and-transcripts). The study's **Abandonment timeout** is an inactivity threshold, not a schedule for sending participants back into the study. Do not assume a pause creates an invitation or reminder campaign.