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. to check out/check in and manage documents, you must have Documents moved to the right-hand box and have Add Docs selected on the Manage Users page in Admin, and you must have write access to the folder that the documents are in
  4. all documents require Approval Types, which dictate the approvers and their sequence; any user in the system can be an approver
  5. Super Admin is the default administrator and has default write access to all folders; this is also the only user with access to the Admin function in which users are added
  6. the user who checks out a document is the only one who can check it in
  7. all notifications are sent by email, listed on the Documents tab of the Summary page, and listed in the Activities folders in the module.

To add a user:

  1. click Admin at the top right and choose Manage Users
  2. click Create New User
  3. enter a username and password, both with at least six alphanumeric 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).

To make that user a document administrator (which means they can add, check-out/check-in, edit, and delete documents in folders for which they have write access):

  1. click Document in the Administrator box on the left and move it to the box on the right; the Add Docs and Add Folders tick boxes below are automatically selected
  2. if you don’t want that user to create, move, edit, and delete folders, untick Add Folders
  3. click Submit & New at the bottom of the page
  4. repeat to add additional users.

Groups are used to assign Read and/or Write access to folders. There are two default groups – Everyone (all your users, which cannot be edited) and Admin (the Super Admin and any others you add).

  1. click Documents at the bottom of the page
  2. click Set-Up at the top of the page and click Manage Groups
  3. click Add Users to a Group, enter a name for the group, add one or more users to the group and click Submit at the bottom of the page.

To create additional groups:

  1. click Documents at the bottom of the page
  2. click Set-Up at the top of the page and click Manage Groups on the left
  3. click Add Users to a Group, enter a name for the group, and 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
  4. click Submit at the bottom of the page
  5. repeat as necessary to create additional groups.

An Approval Type is an approvals rule, which can then be associated with one or more documents.

To create an Approval Type:

  1. click Documents at the bottom of the page
  2. click Set-Up at the top of the page, click Approval Type, and click the Add Approval Type icon
  3. enter a name describing the approval type (for example, QMS Documents)
  4. select Super Admin and one or more other users who must subsequently approve the document from the list of approvers on the left and drag them over to the right
  5. select Sequential from the Approval Sequence drop-down list (this means each approver must approve a document before it passes to the next approver in the list, in sequence from top to bottom)
  6. accept the default selection, which is the total number of selected approvers, on the Number of Approvals drop-down list
  7. click Review Date and select the time within which the reviews must be completed from the drop-down list (or accept the default 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 24-hour 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 Summary page and by email.

You can create custom fields for identifying documents, to facilitate searches. When doing this, you can choose between three field types so that relevant documents are automatically numbered, or appear in a drop-down list.

If you choose to have documents automatically numbered, you can also create one or more automatic numbering systems.

To create a custom field with documents that are automatically numbered:

  1. click Set Up, click Fields, and access the New Fields tab; a Number field, which you can keep, rename, or remove) is available by default
  2. click the edit icon under the Action column of the Number field, select Automatic Numbering, and click Submit
  3. to create an automatic numbering system, enter a name, a prefix that stays fixed, and the number 1 in the Start Number field and click Submit ; repeat the process as many times as you wish and drag and drop entries to change their order
  4. repeat to add a further custom field if required.

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

  1. click the Documents icon at the bottom of the page
  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. remove Everyone from the Write Access box by highlighting it and clicking Remove Then move the Admin group over to the right-hand box using the Add button. Mouse over the Admin group and see that ALL users are in red as these are document administrators who can check-out/check-in and manage the documents in that folder as long as they have write access to the folder. Write Access users have priority over Read Access users even if a user is in both groups
  6. click Submit
  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 then the Individual Upload radio button
  2. choose the folder you want the document to be held in from the Folder drop-down list
  3. choose the approval rules you want the document to follow by selecting Admin Approval from the Approval Type drop-down list. Mouse over the ? mark on the right to the see the properties of the selected approval type
  4. either click the Browse button and select the document to import, or drag the document into the same space
  5. change the document name, if required, and have the document assigned a unique number by selecting an option from the Number drop down list
  6. the default starting version for the document is 1.00 but this can be changed to another number from the Version drop-down lists
  7. change the specified review date (which is determined by the settings on the approval type) at the bottom if required
  8. click Send for Approval.

The document is now imported 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 Summary icon on the bottom left of the page
  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 will 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 and click the yellow Check-Out button on the Check-Out/Check-In object
  2. in the File Download box, the document displays in its native format, click Open, 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 Summary at the bottom left, 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 the Summary icon on the bottom left of the page
  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 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 at the bottom of the page.

If you are the Super Admin, or another user who is a Document Administrator 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. scroll to the Change Request object and click the associated + (plus sign) icon
  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 Summary page as a Change Request notification and in the Approval folder under Activities.

To review and approve a change request:

  1. on your Summary page, 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 Summary page. 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 Summary page and then on the link to the document
  2. scroll to the Change Request object on which will be listed the Check-Out Click on the Check-Out button
  3. in the File Download box the document displays in its native format, click Open, make your changes to the document, then save it somewhere you will remember and close the document
  4. click on Summary at the bottom left, 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 the Summary icon on the bottom left of the page
  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 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, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the Archive tab. You’ll see archived versions, as well as the current version, listed and can open a version by clicking it.

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