Run AutoFill on Microsoft Word

AutoFill is a search tool that retrieves, and optionally inserts, RFP answers by matching the text in questions to a content record's properties or content. You can run AutoFill on Microsoft Excel or Word questionnaires. Other participants will not see inserted suggestions until you complete AutoFill for the slice or cell.

Note: AutoFill's automatic learning functionality can be disabled at the user level to prevent bad behaviors, such as incorrect answer suggestions to questionnaire responses. For example, you might disable AutoFill learning temporarily for new users until they become familiar with Qvidian. To disable AutoFill automatic learning, which is enabled by default, deselect the “Add search term to the library content when AutoFill suggestion is accepted and AutoFill is completed” setting found in your desired user's Application Permissions.

Caution: The file size limit of automatically inserted (auto populated) AutoFill answers is 300 KB; the limit for manually inserted AutoFill answers is 750 KB. If you would like to insert a larger file, you can drag and drop it from the library. If your organization routinely works with larger content records and would like to increase the file size limit, please contact Support. Increased files sizes will decrease the speed of AutoFill.

Caution: The file size limit of automatically inserted (auto-populated) AutoFill answers is 10 MB and has no limit for manually inserted AutoFill answers.

The AutoFill file size limits have been removed for the manual insert method and raised to 10 MB for auto-insert.

  1. Do one of the following:
    1. To run AutoFill for selected slices, select one or more slices, right click, and select AutoFill from the menu.
    1. To run AutoFill for the entire questionnaire, click the AutoFill Options AutoFill Options button icon at the top of the page and select the Run AutoFill option.
    2. Note: If you have tables in your RFP, the following message will display: "Tables have been detected. Results for tables will not be shown. Select table(s) separately for AutoFill to process them." 

  2. The AutoFill panel will open and display the Settings tab, where you can set up your AutoFill configuration.
  3. Tip: When you set up and run AutoFill, the configuration is remembered. If you want to use the same settings, you can skip the setup and click Run AutoFill.

  4.  Under Answers, select one of the following:
    • Insert top answer from the Library: Automatically inserts the top suggested content record into the file beneath each question slice and lists the top 5 suggestions in the dashboard. You can choose to replace the top suggestion.
    • Show top 5 answers from the Library: Lists the top 5 suggestions from the library, allowing you to manually select the desired answer. You can add one or more suggestions manually.
  5. Note: If running AutoFill on Word tables, select the number of cells and the direction from the question cell in which to add the content using the Insert answers in area(s) dropdown menus (e.g. to add content to the cell directly below the question cell, select "1", and then select "Down").

  6. Choose a Language to search, if you store content in multiple languages. The search will only return records tagged with the selected language in the record's properties.
  7. Select the content record properties to run the search against:
    • Title: Title of the content record.
    • Keywords: Keywords are words or phrases manually assigned to content records to categorize them.
    • Search terms: Terms are automatically added to content records to improve search results.
    • Content: The text in the content.
  8. To search custom terms, enter text into the search bar and clicking the Search Search button button or pressing Enter.
  9. Note: To clear the Search box, click the X in the field.

  10. Click the Folders tab to narrow your search results.
  11. Tip: AutoFill's Folders tab uses Search Mode functionality. For more information see, Search Mode Folders.

  12. Click the Filters tab to narrow your search results.
  13. Tip: AutoFill's Filters tab uses Search Mode functionality, including suggested filters. For more information see, Search Mode Filters.

  14. Click Run AutoFill. As AutoFill returns the results for each selected slice, the left side border of the slice will turn purple, the progress will be indicated on the right side of the RFP title bar and the AutoFill panel displays in the dashboard. Once the AutoFill process is complete, a dialog displays. You do not need to wait for all the results to be returned to begin working with suggestions.
    • If you chose to automatically insert records, the top suggested result will be inserted beneath each selected question slice.
    • If you chose to have the top answers suggested, do one of the following: 
      • Click the Insert icon for the desired slice(s).
      • Drag and drop the suggestion into the question slice(s).
    • If the top suggestion is a non-Word file, the suggestion will not be automatically inserted. Click the Download Download icon icon. Once the file has completed downloading, open it and copy the desired content. Right-click the blank answer slice and select Edit Inline and paste the copied content directly into the slice and click Save.
  15. Note: A blue checkmark displays on the record(s) that are inserted into the questionnaire.  Click the Remove response checkmark on any suggestion in the AutoFill panel to remove it from the cell. When you remove a suggestion, the cell returns to its previous state.

    Tip: If you choose not to use any AutoFill suggestions, you can cancel AutoFill for individual questions or the entire questionnaire by clicking the AutoFill Options AutoFill Options button icon at the top of the page and select the Stop and Cancel AutoFill option.

  16. Click Complete. If you chose to run AutoFill on the entire document, click the AutoFill Options AutoFill Options button icon at the top of the page and select the Complete All AutoFill Responses option.
  17. Note: To discard suggestions for selected slices, click the Discard button at the bottom of the AutoFill panel. To discard suggestions for all slices in the file, click the AutoFill Options AutoFill Options button icon at the top of the page and select the Discard All AutoFill Responses option. Once discarded, the purple border will be removed and suggestions will no longer display when the slice or cell is clicked.

Next tasks:

Once you have finished running AutoFill, you may want to: