How to Build a Custom Questionnaire in Whistic

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Steps 
  • Step 1: Accessing the Questionnaire Builder Tool 
  • Step 2: Creating a New Questionnaire
    • AI Enabled Builder
    • Duplicating and/or Using Existing Questions
  • Step 3: Adding Questions
  • Step 4: Incorporating Logic
  • Step 5: Reviewing and Testing Your Questionnaire
    • Archiving a Questionnaire (All Versions)
    • Archiving Versions (One or More Versions) 
• Editing an Existing Custom Questionnaire
• Importing a Previously Archived Custom Questionnaire 

• Tips for Effective Questionnaire Design

• Tips for Building a Questionnaire to use with Vendor Summary
• FAQ

Summary

Welcome to Whistic's improved Custom Questionnaire builder feature! This guide will walk you through the steps to create and edit your own custom security questionnaires, including how to incorporate logic for a more dynamic assessment process. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Accessing the Questionnaire Builder Tool

• Log in to your Whistic account
• Navigate to the Questionnaires tab
• Scroll down to the Custom “Questionnaire Drafts” section
• Select “Create New Questionnaire”

Step 2: Creating a New Questionnaire

• Questionnaire Title (Required) - Enter a name for your questionnaire (50 characters or less)
• Questionnaire Description (Required) - Enter a brief description (50 characters or less) of your questionnaire (this will be presented to the recipient on the Questionnaires tab)
• Section Title (Required) - Enter the Section Title

AI Enabled Builder

Let AI work its magic and transform your spreadsheet into a custom questionnaire. Below are a few tips to ensure your import is a success: 

• Supported File Types - We currently support .xlxs files, no other files are supported at this time
• The AI feature will pull in the following items from the sheet that is imported:
  • Questionnaire Name
  • Section Headings
  • Question Text

To make sure all of these items are included in your custom questionnaire when using the AI import feature, please follow these simple steps to set up your .xlxs file in a way that captures all the items:

• Questionnaire Name = Book Title
• Sheet Title(s) = Section Heading(s)
• Question Text = Add your questions and let AI assist with the question type and more!

Steps:

• Click Questionnaires tab from the left menu 
• Scroll down to the Custom Questionnaire Drafts section and click Create New Questionnaire
• Click the Import button
• Click Upload Questionnaire and select the file
• Click Start and let AI do the magic!

 

Duplicating and/or Using Existing Questions

Want to duplicate or pull questions from an existing questionnaire? No problem!

This will override the current questionnaire in the Questionnaire Builder if items are already present, so we recommend completing this step first!

• In the top right corner of the builder, select "Use Existing"
• Then select the existing questionnaire you would like to use 
• Click "Upload"
• This will pull in all questions from the existing questionnaire that was selected
• Review the information and add/delete more questions if needed
• Provide a Questionnaire Name 
• And finally, publish!

Note - If the existing questionnaire has logic, you will need to manually add the logic to the newly created questionnaire.  Logic and compliant answers will not be pulled over at this time.  We hope to introduce these in a future iteration of this feature.

Step 3: Adding Questions

• Click ‘+’ to insert a question
• Type your question in the provided field
• Select the question type (e.g., multiple choice, text, boolean)
• Set Compliant Answers (only one compliant answer can be selected and file uploads nor Text questions can have compliance set)
• Use the toggle at the bottom to disable 'Not Applicable' answers 
• Scoring on questions can be added after the questionnaire is published. Details Here. 
  • Note - Without compliance answers, you cannot leverage the Score Builder or Vendor Summary
• Repeat these steps to add more sections and questions as needed
• Once all questions have been added then “save draft”

Recommendation
Fill out all Section Titles, Control Titles, Control Descriptions, and Questions before adding logic. Once all of these have been added, scroll to the top right and “Save Draft”. Then add the logic, scroll to the top “Save Draft”. Lastly, see if any errors are displayed at the top of the questionnaire and correct errors, then “Save Draft” and then “Publish”.

Step 4: Incorporating Logic

• To add logic to a question, select the question and click on the pencil icon next to “Display” and change the Display to "Conditional" 
  • Definitions - 
    • Always - The question will always be displayed and is not hidden behind logic
    • Conditional - The question will be displayed based off the condition that is defined
    • Never - The question will never be displayed to the recipient when completing the questionnaire
• Show When: Choose the condition that will trigger the logic (e.g., if a specific answer is selected).
  • For ease, Whistic has incorporated a Search bar to search the question, should you have a large questionnaire!
• Is: Specify the action to be taken when the condition is met (e.g., yes, no)
• Click "Save"
• Scroll to the top and click "Save Draft" 
• NOTE: N/A will be an option on the recipient's end for Yes/No and Multiple Choice questions. N/A is not an option for document upload or text questions.

Step 5: Reviewing and Testing Your Questionnaire

• Once you have added all your questions and logic, review the questionnaire for any errors or adjustments needed (if any changes, please save the Draft again to ensure new progress is saved as this page does not auto-save)
• Scroll to the top and “Publish” the questionnaire
• At the top of the Questionnaire tab (under Custom Questionnaires) you will see your new “Published” questionnaire 
• Hover over the questionnaire you just published and click “self-assessments” to test the flow of your questionnaire
• Make any necessary edits for clarity or flow by editing the draft and republishing the questionnaire (see the next section for more information) 

Recommendation
We recommend that you archive any published questionnaire(s) and/or version(s) that you do not intend to use.

Note: Before you archive any version or questionnaire, please check that there are no outstanding requests for the questionnaire or version as this may impact users' ability to return the questionnaire. 

Archiving a Questionnaire (All Versions)

• Proceed to the Questionnaires tab
• Scroll down to Custom Questionnaire Drafts 
• Click "edit" on the questionnaire you wish to archive
• At the top, select Archive
• Should you need the questionnaire unarchived, please reach out to Whistic Support for assistance

Screenshot below (Archiving a Questionnaire from the editor)

Archiving a Version (One or Multiple)

• Proceed to the Questionnaires tab
• Locate the questionnaire at the top under Custom Questionnaires
• Click "self-assessment" 
• The next page will display all published versions with the date that it was published (newest displayed at the top)
• In line with the version name there will be an "Archive" button
• Click Archive to archive that specific version 
• Should you need the questionnaire version unarchived, please reach out to Whistic Support for assistance

Note: If there is only one version published, you will need to use the Archiving a Questionnaire option above. 

Screenshot below (Archiving a Version from the Questionnaires Tab)

 

Editing an Existing Custom Questionnaire

Need to edit an existing custom questionnaire? No problem! Use the steps below to get started.

• Proceed to the Questionnaires tab
• Scroll down to Custom Questionnaire Drafts 
• Click "edit" on the questionnaire you wish to edit
• Begin making changes. If you are changing the question type on a question that has a Compliant Answer set, please complete the steps outlined in the Changing Question Type with Compliant Answer bullet below.
• Once all changes have been made, please "Save Draft"
• Click "Publish"
• Go back to the Questionnaires tab and locate the questionnaire under Custom Questionnaires at the top of the screen
• Click "self-assessments" 
• At the top of the screen, you will see a new version with your most recent updates
• Changing Question Type with Compliant Answer - If you are changing the question type from boolean to another and there is a compliant answer set, then the change needs to be made as follows:
  • Step 1 - Clear the Compliant Answer field (you can do this on one or more questions if you are changing the question type)
  • Step 2 - Select Save Draft
  • Step 3 - Change the Question type (you can change the type on one or more questions)
  • Step 4 - Select Save Draft
  • Step 5 - Select Publish (once all changes are complete)

Changing Question Type that has Compliant Answer screenshot

Note: Any changes that have been published will create a new version. 

Importing a Previously Archived Custom Questionnaire

Sometimes questionnaire imports will give an error if you've archived the questionnaire previously within Whistic and then go to try and import it later on. A simple, slight questionnaire name change will help as a workaround to upload successfully.

Please try these steps: 

• • Click on the 'Questionnaires' tab from the left-side menu
  • Go to the bottom of the page, to the section titled "Custom Questionnaire Drafts"
  • Click the "Create New Questionnaire" button
  • Click the button in the top right that says "Manual Import"
  • Here you can enter the 'new' questionnaire name and import the questionnaire 
    • Tips to keep in mind when importing:
      1. Consolidate multiple worksheets onto the first tab/worksheet of your document.
      2. The first row must include the column headers.
      3. Ensure each row has data and that there are no merged cells.
  • You should be all set if you click 'Next' and everything is formatted correctly and the new questionnaire name is entered

Tips for Effective Questionnaire Design

• Keep questions clear and concise
• Ensure the logic flow makes sense and enhances the assessment experience
• Regularly update your questionnaire to reflect any changes in compliance requirements or security standards

Tips for Building a Questionnaire for Vendor Summary / Whistic AI

If you plan to use your custom questionnaire for Vendor Summary (where Whistic AI will attempt to answer the questionnaire using the available sources), consider these additional recommendations:

• Test your questions against your Knowledge Base or against the information you have collected previously for one or more of your vendors using Smart Search.
  Is Whistic AI able to definitively answer the question? If not, try rewording the question. 
  For example, questions that specify exact time frames often result in an "Unknown" from AI. (e.g., "at least every 45 days" or "at least bi-annually") If you don't need to know the exact cadence, consider asking if a process is performed "regularly." 
• Avoid using your organization's name in the question, as that will also most often yield an "Unknown." 
• Questions that can be answered using a Yes / No or multiple choice answer make it easier to determine compliance. Because many Industry Standard questionnaires (like the CAIQ and the CIS) use Yes/No questions, asking the question this way will help Whistic AI to be able to definitively answer the questions using existing resources, reducing the number of answers that you need to manually review or send to the vendor for clarification.

FAQ

• How can I set multiple compliant answers for multiple-answer option questions?
  • At this time, only one compliant answer can be selected when building a custom questionnaire in the Whistic Platform. 
• How can I set compliant answers for Text and File Upload questions?
  • At this time, we only support compliant answers for multiple choice and boolean question types. 
• How come the score builder is blank when attempting to set up scoring for my custom questionnaire?
  • This may be due to one of the following: 
    •  Compliant answers are not set. Please ensure that all questions that you wish to set up scoring for have compliant answers set. 
    • The most recent version with compliant answers has not been published. 
• Why is my new custom questionnaires not publishing?
  • Should you bump into any issues, the Whistic Platform will display any errors at the top of the questionnaire that may be limiting the questionnaire from being published. Please correct the errors and try again. 
• How come there are no questions to choose from when attempting to use the conditional display for logic?
  • If you have questions that should be displayed (under the Show When drop-down) when configuring logic, please go to the top of the questionnaire and click "Save Draft" and try again. 

Need help? Contact the Whistic Support team [e-mail].