If a seed is marketed as autoflowering, then it shouldn't need any photoperiod tweaking manually, if it does its not strictly an autoflower, although I know some autoflowering strains sometimes need the 12/12 trigger, to me they're a pain in the ass because you want either autoflower, or not, I don't like prancing around in between.
I've got a couple of autoflowering plants on the go at the moment, as the advice/info on them can be contradictory and its not very helpful. So my advice to you would be to try and filter the contradicting advice and let her grow to see if she starts flowering on her own. If she doesn't, then start considering a 12/12, for now though, just keep her in the light and check her regularly for signs she's switching over. Kinda learn by doing hands on etc, vastly more useful for learning.
I should also point out I have one grow space. My original plan was to have a seperate area for the autoflowers and the manual 12/12 females I'm growing, but it ended up being such a logistical hassle that I stuck the autoflowering grows in the same room as the 12/12. The results so far? They're growing fine. Ideally I'd like to have the autos in their own area with more than 12 hours of light a day, but so far they don't seem to mind in the slightest. I did this not because the auto's weren't "automatic", but purely out of practicality of managing grow space etc.
Autoflowers generally aren't good for providing clones, they tend to be one grow wonders it seems. In other words, when she's flowered and you harvest, thats it for that plant, and you start over with a fresh seed. I'm sure some strains may be clone friendly, but from my understanding thats generally not the case with auto's.
Even with conventional 12/12 female plants, you can re-veg them after harvest if you leave some lower buds and leaves, then place her into a vegetation room to heal and regrow. Its not guaranteed, but done right it has a high success rate. You can then re-grow that plant and then harvest, and so the cycle goes. Some plants can be re-vegged many times, others start suffering after a couple of re-vegges. Thats why people tend to clone a strong female plant while its in a strong vegetative state, to continue the strain, carrying on the same genetic potential as the mother. Eventually the main mother will be flowered out and harvested, and then the same continues with the clones etc to keep it going. I know its confusing to begin with.
Cannabis plants are annual plants, in the wild they rely on either giving out pollen (males), or receiving pollen (females). Survival relies on the female being pollenated, which then produces seeds which become new plants. After the reproductive process they tend to die, having completely their life cycle. Again, thats why people tend to take clones of a strong female, which become new plants from the same genetic origin etc.
If you're growing indoors, its a lot easier to control. In fact done right, you can have a perpetual harvest all year round, with one plant being harvested say every month. For that you tend to need healthy clones taken from a healthy mother. Obviously the work load increases exponentially, but in theory its good practice for never ending supply of good weed. In fact to me its the ideal, albight its not practical for many peeps.
Generally budget for 3 months per plant, and while many can do it like clockwork, there is a degree of skill involved. Back to the auto issue ... budget for it being a one cycle wonder before needing replacement.
What makes an autoflower and auto, is its cross bred with a ruderalis strain (a type of wild cannabis thats from hardy and remote environments that rely less on photoperiod for survival).
