Turn Your Word Document into a NEO LMS Quiz: An Extraction Workflow
Your questions already exist — in a Word document. Maybe it is a department exam, a chapter review, or a stack of past papers. The catch: NEO LMS has no "upload a Word document" button. (Quick note: NEO LMS is now called CYPHER LMS, renamed by its maker CYPHER LEARNING; you will still see "NEO" across older guides and the "Import QTI" control.) Because CYPHER LMS only pulls questions into a course's question bank through an imported QTI package, the real job is extraction, not upload: pull the questions out of the document, turn them into QTI, then import. This guide is the workflow.
First: understand the three ways Word questions are usually structured
How clean your conversion is depends on how the document already looks. Map your file to one of these:
| Document pattern | What it looks like | How it maps to QTI |
|---|---|---|
| Numbered list | 1. Question? A) ... B) ... with the answer bolded | Each numbered block → one item; bold line → correct answer |
| Table | Columns for stem, A–D, correct answer | Each row → one item; "correct" column → answer key |
| Heading + bullets | Question as a heading, options as bullets, answer flagged with * | Heading → stem; bullets → options; * → answer key |
The workflow, step by step
Make the document consistent
Pick one convention for correct answers — bold, an asterisk, or a dedicated column — and apply it everywhere. Number questions sequentially. One question per block, no split paragraphs.
Extract the questions
A converter reads the document and pulls out each stem, its options, and the marked correct answer. ExamParser takes the .docx you already have and structures every item without a rigid template.
Convert to a NEO-ready QTI package
The structured questions are exported as a QTI 2.1 zip. This is the file CYPHER LMS (NEO) can actually import — it carries question types and the answer key, which a raw document cannot.
Import into a CYPHER LMS course
Open the course, go to Assignments → add a quiz → Questions tab → Import QTI, and choose the zip. The questions land in that course's question bank immediately.
Word-specific traps that silently break conversions
- Embedded images. Diagrams and screenshots rarely survive a text conversion. Re-attach them inside CYPHER LMS or keep image-dependent items as manually built questions.
- Auto-numbering. Word's automatic list numbers are not data. If the correct answer was "option 3" only because of the visible number, make sure the converter keys off your explicit marking, not the visible count.
- More than six options. Standard QTI MC items cap at a handful of options. Trim or split questions that exceed the supported count before converting.
- Section headings mistaken for questions. A "Chapter 3 Review" heading can be read as a stem. Strip instructional text and headings that are not actual questions before converting.
- Mixed conventions. Half the document bolds the answer, half uses asterisks. Pick one and normalize — mixed signals are the top cause of miskeyed answers.
After import
- Preview before publishing — confirm images you re-attached show up and answer keys are correct.
- Keep the Word file as the editable source; re-run the extraction whenever you revise the questions.
- Reuse across courses by importing the same QTI into each course's question bank.
Meet the tool built for this
ExamParser is a converter for moving exam content between documents and LMS platforms. Its Word flow reads the .docx you already have, extracts each question and its answer key, and exports a QTI package CYPHER LMS (NEO) can import through Import QTI — no manual re-entry. The same source document can also feed Canvas, Moodle, and others.
Browse more import guides at examparser.com/blog/en.
Frequently asked questions
Does NEO LMS have a "upload Word document" button?
No. NEO LMS (now CYPHER LMS) has no Word import. The real path is: extract the questions from the document, convert them to a QTI package, then import that QTI into a course's question bank through Import QTI.
Will images and diagrams in my Word file come through?
Figures are the most common thing to drop. A text-based conversion carries the question text and answer choices; embedded images need to be re-attached inside CYPHER LMS or referenced by URL. Keep image-dependent items as separate, manually-built questions.
My Word questions use auto-numbering and bold for the answer. Will that survive?
Auto-numbering and bold are formatting, not structure. A good extractor maps "bold line = correct answer" or "asterisk = correct" into the QTI answer key, but it works best when the document follows one consistent convention. Mixed conventions are the top cause of miskeyed answers.
Can I convert a Google Doc the same way?
Yes. A Google Doc exported to .docx is the same input. Download it as Word, then run the same extract-and-convert workflow into a NEO/CYPHER QTI package.
Ready to extract your document?
Upload the Word file you already have — no reformatting required — and download a NEO-ready QTI package in minutes.
Try ExamParser →