Multi-Column Answer Support in Iris Projects
Last updated: October 19, 2026
Plenty of questionnaires want more than one answer per question. A security spreadsheet might have a Yes/No column, a Comments column and an Evidence column on the same row. Iris handles these as one question with several answers. It writes an answer for every column, and each answer keeps its own status, reviewers, confidence and history, so a Yes/No can be approved while the comment beside it is still being edited.
This article covers how those questions look and behave inside a project. For how the columns get set up in the first place, see Staging Area and Question Mapping.
Where the extra answers come from
When you upload a spreadsheet, the staging area marks which cells are questions and which cells hold answers. If a question's row has more than one answer or dropdown cell, Iris treats each one as its own answer and names it after the column header above it. That's all it takes. There is no setting to turn on, and single-answer questions in the same project look the way they always have.
Reading a question with several answers
Open a project and find a question with more than one column. Above the answer you'll see a row of answer names, one per column, under the heading ANSWERS · 2. Each name is the column header from your spreadsheet, such as Fit (1-5) or Vendor comment. If a column had no header, Iris falls back to Answer A, Answer B and so on. Hover a name to see its letter and the full header.
One question, two answers. Click a name to switch; the dot beside it is that answer's status.
A few things worth knowing:
Click any name to show that answer, or use the arrows at either end of the row. The left and right arrow keys do the same while the question is selected.
The dot on each name is the answer's status: green when approved, yellow while it still needs approval, red for Rejected or Missing Info, gray while the answer is pending.
About four names fit across the row. Past that, a +N button on the right opens a Jump to answer list.
In the top corner of the question, 2 answers sits beside one dot per answer. Hover the dots for a quick 1/2 approved without opening anything.
Iris remembers which answer you were on, so coming back to the question lands you in the same place.
Seeing every column at once
Two small buttons at the right of the filter row change how multi-answer questions are laid out. One answer at a time is the default described above. All answers at once opens every column under the question: dropdowns and dates sit in a compact strip at the top, and text answers follow as full editors. The buttons only appear in projects that have at least one multi-answer question, and Iris remembers your choice.
The same question with both columns open.
This is the view for working a whole row in one go. The question header gains actions for all of its columns: Approve all, Assign all and Regenerate all, with a running 1 of 2 approved beside them. If a filter is hiding some columns, those become Approve shown, Assign shown and Regenerate shown, and a note tells you how many columns are hidden with a Show all N columns link.
Half done. Approve all only touches what is still open.
Dropdown answers
Where your spreadsheet expected a choice from a list, the answer is a dropdown with the options from the original cell. Iris picks the option it believes is right. Click the field to change it, or the small × (Clear selection) to empty it. Changes save right away. Once the answer is approved, the dropdown locks until someone marks it as needing review again.
A dropdown answer offers the same options the spreadsheet did.
Each answer stands on its own
Everything on the right of the question applies to the answer you have selected, not to the question as a whole:
Approve approves this column only, and assigns it to you if it was assigned to someone else. With several reviewers the button reads Approve for me, then You approved · 1 of 2 until the others weigh in. An approved answer shows Approved; hover it for Mark as needs review to reopen it.
Reviewers are set per answer. Different people can own different columns of the same question.
Workflow, where it is enabled for your organization, is also per answer. A Yes/No column can use simple approval while the explanation next to it runs through a two-step review.
Confidence, Tags, Sources, Comments, Evidence and History all belong to the selected answer. Switch answers and they switch with it. See Confidence Scores.
Regenerate rewrites the selected answer only. In the all-at-once view, dropdowns regenerate with the whole question through Regenerate all.
One column approved, the other still waiting. The dots tell you at a glance.
Filters count answers, not just questions
The Status, Assignees and Confidence filters look at individual answers. A question is listed when any of its answers matches, and only the matching answers are shown under it. That is why these filters show two numbers in multi-answer projects, under a SHOWING Q · A heading: the first is how many questions match, the second how many answers across them. The ? next to the filters explains the same thing in the app.
The second number is the real amount of review work.
Focus Mode
Focus Mode shows one answer at a time with the same row of answer names above it. The left and right arrow keys move between answers, N and P move between questions, and A or Enter approves the answer in front of you. One thing to watch: approving jumps to the next question, not to the next column of the same question. If a question has three columns, step through them with the arrows before moving on.
Focus Mode on a question with two answers.
Assignments
On the Assignments page, your questions are grouped by project with the earliest due date for each group. The Answers column is how many answers in that question are assigned to you; a 2 means two columns, not necessarily all of them. Edit & Approve opens a window over the list with just your answers. Use the arrows or the left and right keys to move between them, approve each one, then press Esc or Close to get back to the list.
Assignments grouped by project. The Answers column counts the columns assigned to you.
If someone @mentions you in a comment on a specific answer, the link under My Mentions opens the project on that question with that answer selected and its comments open.
Bulk actions and export
Selecting questions and using Approve, Assign or Reassign from the bulk bar acts on every answer of each selected question. If a filter is hiding some columns, bulk approval approves only the columns you can see. Details are in Bulk Actions.
When you export, Iris writes every answer back into its own cell in the original spreadsheet, dropdown selections included. Answers that are blank or marked Missing Info leave the original cell untouched, so nothing in the customer's file is overwritten with an empty value.