In this article, we will guide you step by step on how to pair the input data from a questionnaire in Partner Tools with an actual document. The use case we will focus on is the use of a .json formatted template for the connection.

Important note: When working with questionnaires in Partner Tools, you always have a choice between .json or .docx template. In cases where you know that your questionnaire will contain tables, uploads, or looped questions, we recommend you to use the solution with .docx type templates and stencil code combinations.

If this is the case for you and you want to learn more about connecting a .docx template to your questionnaires, click here.

Why do I have to connect a questionnaire with a template?

Partner Tools fetches the input from a questionnaire and provides you access to manipulate those inputs in the Templates tab. The two systems work in tandem and need to be synchronized to function as you want. 

As a result of filling in the required questions in your questionnaire, all respondents will reach a final step that will allow them to download a document, based on the type of data input they have entered.

By connecting your questionnaire to a template in Partner Tools environment, you assure to have the base of that document. You will have the option of inserting the question's input into the template and combining that with any other text input and different types of formatting which you want to display in the final document.

To offer you a base for achieving that, we have created the following step-by step-guidance. 

In order to be able to follow the steps below, you first need to create the questionnaire in Partner Tools that you want to use and connect it to a particular document template. If you have not done that yet and need more information on how to complete the questionnaire setup, click here to read our article.

How do I create a new questionnaire and allow .json template?

1. Click on the blue button called New questionnaire, which is located under the Company questionnaires section of the landing page, following right after Users
2. In the pop-up window you can set up the following details of your new questionnaire:
3. Start with typing in the title which will for example describe shortly the essence of the questionnaire 
4. Select a language from the drop-down list (English, Danish or Norwegian) for the questions which you want to include 
5. Select whether the questionnaire should be with Public or Private visibility rule.
6. To allow the .json format of the template which you want to connect to the questionnaire, later on, you need to turn the New editor on already in this window:
   
7. Click on the blue button called Create to confirm the settings. This will automatically lead you to a new page where you will be able to start creating your new questionnaire from scratch. There will be two different tabs on that page: Questionnaire and Templates:

Questionnaire tab:

Use the Questionnaire tab to define the landing and success page, specific questions, their sequence, logic, and special settings which will help you create your questionnaire precisely as you need:

NOTE: If you want to get access to the preview function of the questionnaire which allows you to see how it will look like for all respondents who will fill it in, just click on the small eye icon located on the right-hand side of the screen, under the title of your questionnaire.

From the page you will be redirected to, you will be able to test the questionnaire by filling in its fields.

6. To start the creation process, you first need to create a new page. In order to do so, just click on the Questions Page located under Start page on the left-hand side of the screen. Each questions page you will create represents an individual section in the questionnaire. Within the Questions page, you can now add different types of questions (depending on the type of input or selection) and questions groups which allow you to assign multiple questions to a particular group by simple drag and drop. To add any of the above, just click on the Add new button within the questions page you want to include them:

7. To achieve the best final result, you can structure your questionnaire by adding all question pages, groups, and individual questions you need to ask the recipient in order to get all the data input needed from them for the final document.

To read more about the settings and logic that can be used to design your questionnaires in Partner Tools, click here to read our article. 

Templates tab:

How to connect a questionnaire with a .json template in Partner Tools?

Once you have created all the questions needed in order to populate your template, you can proceed with connecting the questionnaire with your template in Partner Tools.

The Template you connect to a questionnaire will include the text input you want to add combined with data input fetched directly from the respondents' answers to your questions. The final outcome is a document that the respondent will be able to download as a result of completing the questionnaire form. 

Here are the steps you have to follow:  

• Once you are logged in Partner Tools (you can log in here), then go to the Templates tab located next to the Questionnaire tab you normally use to create all your questionnaires
• Click on the template that you would like to connect your questions with. The format of the template will be .json if you followed the steps above. If for any reason the template is in .docx format instead, you have two options: 
  - Contact your dedicated implementation specialist who can enable the .json templates format for you
  - Click here to read our article on the needed customizations you need to follow to connect successfully .docx template format to a questionnaire
  You furthermore have the option to connect several templates at once which allows you to create multiple documents from the same questionnaire.
  All the questions you have defined during the creation of the questionnaire will be available on the left-hand side of the screen under Questions list.
  The right side of the screen will be blank by default. This is the workspace you will use for the creation of your template connected to your questionnaire:
  

Use Smart fields and NCE logic to customize your template

Intelligent and intuitive document creation is now available to you. With the use of JSON format of your templates, you get to work with exclusively designed No-Code-Editor (NCE logic). This allows you to easily add Smart Fields to a template which then merges your questionnaire answers directly into the final document.

With the No-Code-Editor Logic you can use conditional presentation controls to the template, making it possible to dynamically control what content should go into the final document, based on the questionnaire's answers provided by the respondents.

• To start with the customization of your template's document, you have to simply click on a question from the questions list, represented by a Smart Field, and then drag and drop it in the respective blank space in your document's template on the right-hand side:

• The No-Code-Editor offers you all the formatting options you would normally use in text-editing software, but this time gives you the complete toolset to customize your template connected to a Partner Tool questionnaire. You can combine the input of your respondent's answers with any text input and make sure to add the formatting for the final design you want to achieve:

Remember to click on the Save button in the upper right-hand corner, upon each change you want to be kept in the final template.

Note: Tables, looped questions, and uploads are not supported in the No-Code-Editor. 

Using migrated templates

If you already have a pre-existing .json template that you want to connect to your questionnaire in Partner Tools, you can easily "migrate" the ready template into the respective questionnaire by connecting them together. All of this can be done directly in Partner Tools.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Create a new template: from the Templates tab under the respective Questionnaire in Partner Tools to which you want to connect the template, click on Add new template
• Give your new template a name: Choose a name for the new .json template and complete the creation step
• Migrate the template by copying the text input you need into the new Partner Tools template: Copy the text input from your own template and then Paste it into the No Code Editor under the Templates tab in Partner tools
• Apply design: You can use the No Code Editor as any other text formatting software to apply the desired formatting customizations to your template and combine that with the answers input from any of the questions in the questionnaire you will connect the template to

Once the text input is in the right place, on the right-hand side of the workspace in Partner Tools, you can combine it with any of your questions by applying the No Code Editor features. Here is a short video showing how to perform the above steps:

How can I test JSON templates?

Once you have connected your questionnaire with the .json template in Partner Tools under the Templates tab, you can test the looks of the final result which will be displayed when the respondent accesses it back from the Questionnaire tab.

Click on the small eye icon at the top navigation bar and you will be redirected to the preview page of your questionnaire:

The page you will be redirected to is the actual questionnaire you have created and all your respondents would get access to it. Use the preview environment to test the entire workflow by filling in the answers to all required questions, make sure to test the logic applied to the sequence of displaying the questions ("Loop and show this question" logic) and note down any changes you would like to see. 

Once you type in the answers to all required questions, you will be able to test the document which will be autogenerated as a final result of the input in the questions fields data, combined with the data you have inserted in the template. These are the exact demonstrations of how the respondents will be interacting with your questionnaire in the future:

The document you will be able to download at the end of the test is based on the template you connect to your questionnaire in Partner Tools. It will be available in the exact same formats as the ones you have specified in your Download page setup during the general questionnaire creation. 

What happens when the final questionnaire document is generated?

The main difference compared to a .docx template format which you will experience while working with a .json template connected to your questionnaire, is the ability to directly open the document in Contractbook. This is an additional feature that allows your respondents to generate an editable draft from a questionnaire.

Each respondent who finishes your questionnaire will have a Contractbook account created with the imported document as a new draft. And all Smart Fields from the template in Partner tools will be converted into editable fields in the Contractbook draft.

Having the document automatically transferred to a data-rich format by saving it under your account in the main app and automatically turning all Smart fields into Editable fields is a feature that will save you and your respondents a lot of time when working on your questionnaires and legal documents.

If you need more details regarding the creation step, here is our article which can be used as a guide.

If you still need additional information or assistance, reach out to us at any time via our Online Support Chat or by sending us an email.