Creating Sections, Requirements and Questions

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Content Creation Methods.
  • Create sections, requirements and understand attributes.
  • Create conditions within content.

Content Creation Methods

This unit focuses on creating content within guided sourcing events. Content can be the questions that are asked to the suppliers, or the line items and lots that contain pricing elements. The project owner has several options in the system to create event content.

Event content can be:

  • Create manually in the user interface.
  • Copied from past events.
  • Copied from the sourcing library.
  • Imported from a spreadsheet.
  • Inherited from the template.

Creating Sections

Sections

Sections are used to organize information in the event and are helpful when you navigate and monitor the event.

You can create sections within both the Items that need quotes and Questions, requirements and attachments panels.

Open the Add dropdown menu and select Selection.
  • Sections can be inherited from the template and can be edited or removed.
  • In addition to any inherited sections, you can add your own.
  • All sections are assigned numbers in the numbering schema.
  • You can add any of the other content components inside a section, including another section called a nested section. To add a component within a section, select the checkbox next to the name of the section. Choose Add and choose the type of component that you want to add.

Creating Sections

Sections require a Name and include the following settings:

  • Team Access Control determines internal access.
  • Description is where you can enter the main text and information with different fonts, colors, and sizes. This field is optional.
  • Can participants see this section? can be changed to No if a section is internal only.
Add section screen. Enter a name, select Access Controls and enter a description.

Questions, Requirements and Attachments

The Questions, requirements, and attachments panel provides information to and solicits information from suppliers:

Questions

Questions can be added to an event to request information from suppliers.

Open the Add dropdown and select Question. The Add Question popup appears.
  • Response Type
    • Responses can be collected in a variety of formats, including text, numbers, decimal numbers, percentage, quantity, money values, Boolean values, dates, and addresses.
    • Short and long answer text is also accepted.
    Open the Response Type dropdown.
  • Is Response Required? - Choose whether a response is required from the supplier, owner, or neither. If a response is required, the supplier cannot submit the bid until the response is provided.
  • See All Options

    The See all options hyperlink at the bottom of the menu expands the question creation to full screen, displaying all options.

    See All Options screen. Here, the screen expands to show all options.

Requirements

The Requirement component allows you to include any items that your suppliers will read but do not require a response.

  • Requirements are statements added to an event to communicate information about your expectations.
  • Reference documents can be attached when needed.
Open the Add dropdown and select Requirements.

Sometimes companies have internal information or instructions within events that should not be visible to participants. Text that is created in a template can include different fonts, sizes and colors to draw attention to project owners that sections or text needs to be updated within their event.

Set the font color, size, and highlight for your note to make a non-visible requirement. Then set Visible to Participant to No.

Attachments

Attachments can be added to an event to provide additional information to participants.

  • You can attach up to 10 files simultaneously from your desktop or the Sourcing Library.
  • Can include attached reference documents.
Open the Add dropdown and select Attachment.

Adding Questions and Selecting Answer Types

Adding Prerequisites

Is this a prerequisite question to continue with the event?

Prerequisites, which are questions that suppliers must answer before seeing event contents or submitting responses. You can also configure a prerequisite so that an event owner must approve a supplier's response for the supplier to continue.

Prerequisite questions can act as gating questions to prevent participants from accessing the event or submitting a response until they have satisfactorily answered any prerequisite question.

  • There are two options: Yes or No.
  • If this is set to yes, participants cannot continue with the event until the project owner accepts their response.
  • Participants see prerequisite questions and are prompted for responses during the Review and Accept Prerequisites phase, before they select lots for bidding.

    Regular questions (not prerequisite questions) are displayed to participants when they enter the event.

Bidder Agreement

The Bidder Agreement is set as an access gate, preventing participation in standard templates. This is generally standard, legally binding language to participate in the event.

The bidder agreement text is maintained by Customer Administrators within the Branding Settings section under Customization Manager.

Adding and Editing Prerequisite Questions

Conditional Content

Conditions

Conditions that are applied to questions, requirements or sections make them visible or invisible depending on a specific answer to a separate event question.

Initially, the participants cannot view content that is hidden by a condition. When the participants answer a question where their answer controls what other content will be displayed, the page refreshes and conditional content appears.

You can define the conditions at the event level or at the template level. The conditions applied from the template can be edited or deleted at the event level.

Conditions can only be based on answers to questions. No other content type can be used to create a condition.

Procedure

When editing the event, follow the steps below:

  1. Create a question.
    • Questions that have the following types of answers are not supported for creating conditions:

      • Long answer
      • Address
      • Attachment
      • Product questionnaire
      • Factory
  2. Select Manage Conditions.
  3. Select Create New.
    Manage Conditions screen. Create a condition to proceed.
  4. Next to Condition Name, Create a clear name of the condition and optional description.
  5. Create a row to make new criteria based on your questions.
    1. In the Expression, select the and/or operator which will be used if multiple rows/questions are used within the expression.
    2. Select the question you want to apply the condition to and choose the answer value.
      Add a Condition name and Description. Select an expression.
    3. Select Create.
      The condition is successfully created.

See Defining or Editing an Expression for a Condition for more information about the expression builder capabilities and supported operators.

For a video demonstration on creating event requirements, questions, and visibility conditions, watch this video.

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