Document Control: Steps for performing common tasks

  1. folders are required to hold documents
  2. read and write access rules are created at folder level and then cascade down to all the documents in that folder
  3. ability to check-out/check-in and to manage documents is dictated by two rules. First, the user must at least have Add Docs selected on their Permissions page in Admin. Second, they must have write access to the folder that the documents are in. Without the two they will not be able to manage the documents in the relevant folder
  4. all documents require Approval Types which dictate the approvers and their sequence. Any user in the system can be an approver
  5. the Super Admins are the default administrators of the entire system and will have default write access to all folders even though they might not have been formally assigned that right. They are also the only users with access to the Admin function in which users are added
  6. a user who checks-out a document is the only one who can check it in
  7. all notifications are sent by email as well as listed on the Documents tab of the Dashboard and in the Activities folders in the module

To add a user:

  1. click Admin on the top toolbar and choose Manage Users
  2. click Add New User
  3. enter a username with at least six alphanumeric characters and a password with at least eight alphanumeric and special characters. The password is case sensitive
  4. enter the user’s details, including first name, last name and email address (each user’s email address MUST be unique and also must differ from the Super Admin’s address)
  5. Click on Submit

Now the Permissions page automatically opens. To make that user a document administrator which means that they can add, check-out/check-in, edit and delete documents in folders that they have Write access to:

  1. click on Documents to open the Document Control permissions. Click on Admin, and Add Docs is automatically selected
  2. If you don’t want the user to have access to the Set-Up function then do not select Set-Up
  3. if you don’t want that user to create, move, edit and delete folders then do not select Add Folders
  4. click Submit at the bottom of the page
  5. repeat to add additional users

Groups are used to assign Read and/or Write access to folders. There are two default groups being Everyone (all your users which cannot be edited) and Admin (the original Super Admin and any others you add). Multiple additional groups can be created as follows:

  1. click Documents on the top toolbar
  2. Click the Set-Up tab at the top of the page and click Manage Groups on the left
  3. click Add Users to a Group at the top, enter a name for the group, add one or more users to the group by moving them over to the right. Note, that if this a group is for assigning Write access to a folder then all its user members MUST be in red. Click Submit at the bottom of the page
  4. repeat as necessary to create additional groups

To create an Approval Type, which are approvals rules that are then associated to one or more documents:

  1. in Set-Up, click Approval Types and then Add Approval Type at the top
  2. enter a name describing the approval type (for example, QMS Documents)
  3. select Super Admin from the list of approvers on the left and move them over to the right
  4. then select one more user who must subsequently approve the document
  5. on the Approval Sequence drop-down list select Sequential. This will mean that there will be an order in the approvals with the top one being notified first and then going down the list of approvers until the one at the bottom at which time the approved document is published
  6. on the Number of Approvals drop-down list leave the default display which is the total number of selected approvers
  7. click Review Date and leave the selected review delay of 12 months. This is when the Write users are notified at specific intervals that they need to review the validity of a document
  8. click Reminder so that each approver receives reminders at 1 day intervals after the preceding approval is completed…unless they have approved the document
  9. click Submit

Each approver is informed when a document is available for review and approval on their Dashboard and by email.

To create custom fields for categorising documents, having documents automatically numbered and to facilitate searches:

  • click Set Up, then Fields and then New Fields on which a Number field is available as a text box by default…you can edit or remove it…or leave it as is
  • we will change it to an automatic numbering system. So click on the edit icon under the Action column of the Number field. Select Automatic Numbering in Field Type and click Submit
  • you can now create multiple automatic numbering system. Enter a name for that numbering, a prefix that stays fixed and the number 1 on the Start Number field. Click Submit and then repeat the process as many times as you wish. Use drag and drop to change the order
  • repeat to add a second custom field if required this time either as a text box or a drop-down list

To create a folder and assign document access rights to it:

  1. click the Documents tab on the top toolbar
  2. click New Folder at the top of the page and enter a folder name
  3. select Yes to Convert to PDF. This will convert any MS Office documents, and certain other file types, to a PDF on publishing
  4. leave Everyone on the Read Access right-hand box. These users will have read only access rights to the documents in this folder
  5. leave Admin on the Write Access right-hand box. These users will be able to add/check out/check-in and manage documents in this folder if they are all in red. Super Admins by default are in red and the other users need to have all least the Add Docs permissions in Set-Up >Manage Users > Permissions. Write Access users have priority over Read Access users even if a user is in both groups
  6. click Submit and see the folder is listed on the left
  7. create additional folders either under other folders by highlighting the relevant folder and then clicking on New Folder at the top or as a node folder by refreshing the page and then clicking on New Folder. Folders can be moved around using drag and drop and will take the access rules of any folder they are moved under

To import a document:

  1. click the New Document icon and on the Individual Upload tab choose the folder you want the document to be held in from the Folder Name drop-down list
  2. choose the approval rules you want the document to follow by selecting Admin Approval from the Approval drop-down list. Mouse over the ? mark above to see the properties of the selected approval type
  3. either click on Choose File and select the document to import, or drag the document into the same space
  4. change the document name, if required, and have the document assigned a unique number by selecting an option from the Number drop down list
  5. the default starting version for the document is 1.00 but this can be changed to another number from the Version drop-down lists
  6. change the specified review date (which is determined by the settings on the approval type) at the bottom if required
  7. click Send for Approval

The document is now uploaded into your isoTracker account and pushed into the workflow assigned by the approval type. Note that the document will not be listed in the destination folder until it has been successfully approved.

To approve an imported document:

  1. click the on Dashboard on the top toolbar
  2. under the Documents tab, click Required Approval and then click the name of the document you want to review
  3. in the Approval section of the document’s properties page, click the document link and view the document being approved
  4. then choose Approve from the Your decision drop-down list
  5. click Submit

Once you’ve approved a document, as there is only a single approver in Admin Approval, the approved document is immediately published and listed in the folder to which you imported it. If the folder has Convert to PDF selected then the listed published document may display twirling arrows in the Action column which will disappear in less than 1 minute when the PDF conversion process has been completed

To make changes to a document, it needs to be checked out, have the changes made and then checked back in and sent for approval:

  1. click the Properties icon under the Action column for the document, open the Check Out/Check In tab and click the yellow Check-Out button
  2. in File Download the document displays in its native format, activate Track Changes, if it is a MS Word document, make your changes to the document, then save it somewhere you will remember and close the document
  3. click on Dashboard on the top toolbar, open the Document Check-In listing on the Documents tab and click on the name of the relevant document
  4. browse to and select the updated document, choose the next version from the Next Major Version (2.00 if the previous version is 1.00) or Next Minor Version (1.01 if the previous version is 1.00), enter a version comment and click Send for Approval

The document is now assigned the new version and pushed into the approval workflow. If you open the document’s folder, you will notice a red N next to the document’s name. This is to show that although the current version is available, a new version is going through the approval process.

To approve the new version of the document:

  1. click on Dashboard on the top toolbar
  2. under the Documents tab, click Required Approval and then click the name of the document you want to review
  3. in the Change Request/Approval tab of the document’s properties page, click the document link and view the new version
  4. if you are happy with the changes then select Approve from the Your decision drop-down list and click Submit
  5. the approval of the new version has now been completed and it is published in the folder and pushes the prior version into archive
  6. once the PDF conversion has been completed open the document and see the revised header also that the Track Changes have been accepted prior to the PDF conversion

To track the document’s history, open its properties and click the History tab on the right of the page.

If you are the Super Admin, or another user who has the as least the Add Docs permission in Set-Up > Manage Users > Permissions AND with write access to the document, you will have the Archive tab, displayed on the right of the History tab, which lists the current and prior versions of the document. Click on one of the listed versions to open it in its native format.

A Change Request is the method that Read only users can request changes to a document:

  1. open the folder containing the document that requires changing
  2. click the Properties icon under the Action column on the right of the document listing
  3. open the Change Request/Approval tab
  4. type the details of the change request in the Change Request details box
  5. use the Attachment feature below to upload a copy of the new document…if you wish
  6. click Submit

The change request is confirmed and a second one cannot be issued on the document. Note that any user with Read and Write access to a document can issue a change request.

If you’re an approver of the document, you will be required to review and approve the change request. This is notified to you by email, on the Dashboard as a Change Request notification and in the Approval folder under Activities.

To review and approve a change request:

  1. on your Dashboard, click the Documents tab and click the Change Request link to review the change request
  2. to approve the request, select Approve from the Your Decision drop-down list and click Submit

Once a change request is approved, an Approved Change Request notification will be sent to the Write access users of that document which will appear on the Documents tab of your Dashboard. Click the link to access the Change Request object in the document’s properties.

To check out the document and update it in response to the approved change request:

  1. click on Approved Change Request on the Dashboard and then on the link to the document
  2. open to the Change Request/Approval tab and then select Check Out from the Your Next Decision drop-down list
  3. in File Download the document displays in its native format, open it and make your changes to the document, then save it somewhere you will remember and close the document
  4. click on Dashboard on the top toolbar, open the Document Check-In listing on the Documents tab and click on the name of the relevant document
  5. browse to and select the updated document, choose the next version from the Next Major Version (3.00 if the previous version is 2.00) or Next Minor Version (1.02 if the previous version is 1.01), enter a version comment and click Send for Approval

The document is now assigned the new version and pushed into the approval workflow. If you open the document’s folder, you will notice a red N next to the document’s name. This is to show that although the current version is available, a new version is going through the approval process.

To approve the new version of the document:

  1. click on Dashboard on the top toolbar
  2. under the Documents tab, click Required Approval and then click the name of the document you want to review
  3. in the Change Request/Approval tab, click the document link and view the new version
  4. if you are happy with the changes then select Approve from the Your decision drop-down list and click Submit
  5. repeat the process for the other approvers, if there are any, and when the approval has been completed the new version is published in the folder and pushes the prior version into archive
  6. wait for the PDF conversion to complete, then open the document and see the revised header also that the Track Changes have been accepted prior to the PDF conversion

If you are a document administrator AND have write access to the document, you can access previous document versions. To do this, access the document’s properties, open the History/Archive tab and click the Archive tab. You’ll see archived versions, as well as the current version, listed and you can open them by clicking on them. Prior versions of a document can be restored as a new version.

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