This article is intended for buyers. If you’re a supplier, check out our supplier help articles here.
Introduction
Your question library simplifies survey creation by providing a collection of pre-formatted questions for you to create your questionnaires with. When setting up your question library, there are two main things to be aware of; categories and question types.
This article will cover:
What is a category
How to create a category
Managing your categories
What is a question
How to create a question
Managing your questions
Categories
What is a category
Categories enable well-organised Question Libraries, grouping questions under distinct headings like Financial, Security, Sanctions & Trade Control, Technical, or General Information. This simplifies your questionnaire-building process, providing clarity for suppliers when responding to the questions. While categories are not mandatory, they are highly recommended.
How to create a category
Navigate to the Pre-qualification tab.
Click on Questions on the left hand side.
Locate the ‘+’ button in the CATEGORIES section on the left-hand side.
A pop-up window will appear for adding a new category.
Choose a name for your category and click Save.
Repeat this process to create as many categories as needed.
✏️ Please Note: The default setting of 'Uncategorised' will be automatically applied to questions that have not been added to a specified category. Questions can only be added to a single category.
Managing your categories
Once you have created your categories you will have the ability to edit or delete them.
Click on the Pre-qualification tab.
Click on Questions on the left hand side.
On the left-hand side, locate the CATEGORIES section.
Hover over the category you want to modify and click on the ‘...’ button
You will see options to Edit or Delete the category.
The Edit option allows you to change the category name.
The Delete option prompts you to assign any existing questions to a new category before removal.
✏️ Please Note: Any edit will automatically change the category name and may affect the order in which the categories appear.
Questions
What is a question
Questions in supplier pre-qualification serve as a tool for evaluating a supplier's capabilities, assessing compliance with standards, and mitigating risks. They provide essential information for making informed decisions. There are 7 different question types you can choose from when building your question library, choosing the right question type ensures that the format fits the type of information you’re hoping to gather. Click here (hyperlink to different types of questions article) to explore the types and see how they can work for you!
How to create a question
To create a question, follow these simple steps:
Click on the Pre-qualification tab.
Click on Questions on the left hand side.
Click on the + New Question button in the top right corner.
Using the drop down select your question type - there are 7 different options to choose from, refer to this article (hyperlink to different types of questions article) for a detailed breakdown: Short-answer (text or number only); Long-answer; Multiple choice; Checkboxes; Address/Location; Date/Time; Document.
Type in your question; e.g. ‘Do you have an ISO27001 certificate?’
Add your question to a category by clicking on the Category drop down and select your desired category.
Once your question is created, it will appear in alphabetical order in the assigned category.
Managing your questions
Once your questions have been created, you will have the ability to edit them. This allows you to revise questions and keep them up-to-date as the needs of your business and questions you want to ask change.
Click on the Pre-qualification tab.
Click on Questions on the left hand side.
Hover over the question you want to revise and click on the “...” button, then press Edit question.
From here you can edit your question, the answer type, the supplier response options and the category.
✏️ Please Note: If any of the questions in your questionnaire have been revised in the question library, you can send those changes to suppliers by publishing a questionnaire revision. Refer to this article here (hyperlink) on Revising a questionnaire.
For the next step, learning how to create and send Pre-qualification questionnaires please click here.
For further queries, please use our live chat feature or email support@deepstreamtech.com