An interview in HotDocs Advance is an interactive, step-by-step experience used to collect the information required to assemble one or more customized documents. Each interview is generated from the template you select and presents the specific dialogs, questions and answer fields designed by the template author.
Whether you are creating a work item, generating a quick document or re-opening an existing work item to update information, the interview is the central place where you provide or modify the data uses to build final documents.
When you launch an interview, Advance presents a structured sequence of dialogs. Each dialog contains question fields where you provide information such as names, dates, selections, text or other data requested by the template.
How an interview is generated:
Once you complete the interview, Advance processes:
to assemble one or more customized documents. You can then download the documents directly from the work item.
When you create a work item, you can choose to launch the interview immediately. You can work through each dialog in sequence, providing as much information as you have available.
You can return to an interview after the initial document assembly to correct or update answers, supply additional information and produce updated documents. Advance regenerates the output documents using your new answers.
Quick documents also use interviews. In this case, the interview opens as soon as you choose your template and begin the quick document. A quick document does not create a persistent work item and cannot be re-opened.
Interviews typically present dialogs in sequence, but the interface may allow you to:
Navigation options depend on the template's structure and any required or conditional questions.
Advance automatically saves your progress as you move through dialogs. If you leave a work item interview before completing it you can resume it later.
Before finishing the interview you can view a summary of your responses and resolve incomplete or required fields.
Template authors may include error messages, warnings or instructions to help guide accurate data entry.
After completing the interview, Advance assembles one or more customized documents. If the template includes multiple document variants, your interview responses may determine which documents are produced.