Documents

On the homepage, you’ll find five links to frequently used features of the Shareflex Quality Document Management system.

Below, we explain each link/function.

Approved Documents

Provides access to all valid documents that the user is allowed to see (based on configured permissions).

Documents in Progress, Edit checked out documents

This function provides access to all documents currently checked out, indicating that individuals are actively working on them.

New Documents

Use this function to create new documents (more details explained below).

Records

The record component is essential as it provides a complete audit trail report of all changes made to a specific document. All changes to metadata are available, and it is possible to view previous versions of documents (files).

The record is also accessible from an approved document.

The record view history gives a report audit trail of all changes made to the main document metadata.

The yellow marked metadata fields indicate a change in the value between the 2 versions.

The “documents invalid” section of the record shows the previous version of the document, and the reason for revision is also displayed.

All workflows are displayed in the record, providing detailed insight into the approval process.

An example of a record audit trail workflow log is displayed below.

Process Landscape

In this section, the user can place a PowerPoint file to help them find the right data. The client is completely free to design the presentation and underlying links. This section does not contain smart programmed functionality.

Actions

The “Actions” section displays 8 tiles, each briefly discussed below.

Search in Approved

Access to all approved documents, with handy filters to find them.

My Documents

Documents created or edited by you. It is possible to select another person as an editor.

My Documents in Progress / Edit

This list shows all documents not yet approved for the logged-in person in the system, so documents in progress, new documents, or documents undergoing revision.

My Open Tasks

This list shows all workflow tasks that the logged-in user still needs to perform.

All Open Tasks

Insight into all workflow tasks for your organization.

Set Your Substitute

Specify the person who takes over your workflow tasks and rights in the application during your absence.

Manage Substitutes

Manage your substitutes, activate or deactivate substitute profiles.

Administration

The administrative part of this software, including workflows, permissions, notifications, document templates, clients, departments, etc., is set up by the application administrators.

The details are further described later in the document, under the management section.

Approved documents cannot be modified, hence the “Edit” button is not available. Go to the “Edit Documents” section to learn how a document can be adjusted.

An example of an approved document is depicted below. Most features of this form are self-explanatory; some important functions are explained below.

Max One (Word) Document per Set of Master Data

One (Word) document is by definition accompanied by one set of metadata or master data. The document is shown on the right, and the master data is on the left side of the screen. It’s not possible to link two main documents to a master data record. However, it’s possible to add attachments to the main record.

Attachments valid

Additional attachments may have been added to the record. These attachments follow the version change cycle. So if the main document is changed, the attachments also get a new version, even if these attachments are not modified.

Relationships Between Approved Documents

It is possible to establish relationships between documents in the application or with a URL.

The related documents and URL’s can be opened.

The purpose is to inform the user about other documents or web pages directly related to the content of the main document.

An approved document cannot be modified at all. It is only possible to create a change request for an approved document.

The document manager receives the following update mentioning the new change request:

Checked Out Document

If an approved document is in progress, you will see the following message. This means the document is still valid and will be changed soon.

Approval

The “Approval” tab shows the latest workflow operations that led to the approval of the last version.

History

The version number of the record is always 1.0; you can ignore this.

The changelog of the recently modified document only shows changes in the metadata fields. The adjustment of the validity period from 24 to 36 months is now displayed.

Record for audit trail purposes

This section is essential because the file provides a complete report of all changes made to a specific document. All changes to the metadata are available, and it is possible to view previous versions of the documents (files). The file is also accessible from an approved document.

The file does have a version number (where the main document is always version 1.0). In this example, the file has been modified 10 times because the associated main document has also been modified 10 times.

The “View History” button details exactly what has changed in the metadata.

The “View Change Log” button displays the same but in more detail with the old value and the new value of the change.

The “Invalid Documents” section of the file shows the previous version of the document, and the reason for revision is also displayed.

All workflows are shown in the file, providing detailed insight into the approval process.

To create new documents, go to the “New Documents” tile.

There are 2 options: creating a new document (using a template) and uploading a new document.

Creating a New Document (Using a Template)

The template templates must be created under ‘Administration’.

Choose to create a new document.

If the correct customer and document type are selected, the template for creating a new invoice will appear.

The new document appears in the list of new documents and can be edited.

Now you can continue working on this new record to prepare it for the document number and approval workflow.

Metadata needs to be entered in various places.

Before modifying the Word document, it’s wise to save the metadata record.

The Word document can be modified using this link.

In this example we add the logo to this word document.

A handy tip to show updates to the Word document from the main record is to press this button twice; then the right window part will be refreshed.

The document is now ready for the approval workflow process, which is described under the heading ‘Workflow New Documents’. Now, let’s first describe the second option, namely creating a new record by uploading a file.

Uploading a New Document

Choose to upload a new document.

The new document appears in the list of new documents and can be edited.

For editing, the same methodology applies as in the template example described earlier in this section.

Workflow New Documents

The first workflow that needs to be executed is to request a document number. This workflow is schematically depicted

below.

This workflow can be started using this button.

In the list of new documents, the status changes to 300 ….

The person entered in the reviewer field is now asked to give their approval. This workflow task can be found under the heading ‘My Outstanding Tasks’.

The complete workflow form is depicted below. We choose option 900 – Assign document number.

This workflow task then disappears from the list of outstanding tasks.

The new document is now included in the ‘Document Checked out’ list.

Publication Workflow

The publication workflow is covered in the ‘Edit Documents’ section.

Before an approved document can be modified, it must be checked out.

The document remains in the approved documents list, but the status is checked out, so the user is informed that a new version is in progress.

The change must be implemented in the list of documents in progress.

Open the relevant document and click ‘Edit’. In this example, metadata is modified, and a new version of the Word document is added.

The validity period is changed to 36 months, and the record must be saved.

Now, the document can be replaced by an upload.

Choose the modified file and select ‘Create’.

The record window closes, and the documents in progress are displayed.

The changelog of the recently modified document only shows changes in the metadata fields. The adjustment of the validity period from 24 to 36 months is now displayed.

The version number of the record is in this case 4.0 because the checked out record has been adjusted 4 times in this change.

The version log shows the same intel as the change log, only with some more details.

The record has not been updated after this change because the publishing workflow must be started.

The record also indicates that the associated document is checked out.

To make the changes active, the publishing workflow must be started.

The publication workflow is displayed in the schema below.

Workflow start form.

The workflow task is visible in the record, and the same task is also visible under the ‘My Tasks’ link on the home screen.

Forward to approver is chosen.

A new workflow task appears.

Forward to confirmer is chosen.

A new task appears, confirm.

Publish this document is chosen.

Now, the publication workflow is complete. The recently modified document disappears from the list of documents in progress and appears in the list of approved documents.

The right part of the screen now shows the modified document.

The file shows the change in master data/metadata.

The “invalid documents” section of the record shows the previous version of the document, and the reason for revision is also displayed.

All workflows are shown in the file, providing detailed insight into the approval process.

This workflow makes it possible to notify certain end users that they need to read a certain approved document.

A reading task is then created for each chosen user.

In this task the user will be able to confirm that he or she has read the document.

The notification workflow can also be started from within the task of the last step of the publishing workflow. This option will only appear when “Training Mandatory” was enabled for the document that is being edited.

It is not possible to start a publishing workflow when a notification workflow is already active, all reading tasks must be completed first. In addition to the reading tasks, the notification workflow also creates an administrative task, assigned to the configured Editor of the document.

This administrative task makes it possible to cancel active reading tasks.

In the Valid Documents list you can easily see if a notification workflow is active for a particular document, in which case the following icon will be present:

The software sends a daily update email with all relevant updates for the recipient. An example of the email is shown below.

If a document has expired due to the expiration period, the following workflow is applicable.

The document owner receives a message.

Shareflex applications consist of many different components, although they are all similar at a high level and have similar functions. These functions are explained in this section with a contract management application as an example.

Views

All views have the same functionality. The only difference between the different views is the columns and data they display.

Edit and New Buttons

Edit to edit 1 record, new dropdown to create new records, it is possible for the user to create multiple different types of new records/forms.

Quick Navigation to the Home Screen

By pressing >>, a menu is displayed to lead the user, for example, to the app’s home screen.

The result of pressing >> is shown in the images below.

Filters

By pressing the Filters button, advanced filters can be displayed at the top of the view. Placing the cursor in a filter field will immediately display the values in this column that can be used for filtering.

The end user can choose to save a personal filter, which will then be displayed on the app’s home screen.

The saved view is (only for the end user) displayed on the app’s home page. Clicking on this link will take the user to the view with the saved filters.

Export

Users can choose to export the content of the view by pressing the export button.

Document Preview in Contract Management Software SharePoint

By pressing the details button, a window is displayed in the right half of the view, where users can quickly view the file selected in the left part of the window in the view.

Right-Click Menu

Anywhere in the view, the user can show a menu displayed by right-clicking on the record.

Data Tabs

All data on a record form is displayed on convenient tabs at the top of the form.

Version history and revision changelog

The History tab shows the SharePoint version history, in which users can view and restore older item versions. It is also possible to export the entire version history, e.g. to Excel.

Because a document can be present in multiple locations at the same time (e.g. when someone is working on a new revision, which creates a copy), Shareflex Quality Documents also includes a separate revision change log in addition to the version history. This change log shows the differences between all document revisions.

The video below shows several functions available within the History tab.

The Shareflex platform manages assigning the correct rights to the data throughout the entire document lifecycle. This rights management is highly complex and technically documented in this part of the manual. The following roles and permissions are standard and accessible through the Administration sub-site.

– QM Administration, group for administrators

– QM Clearing is the user or group assigned a workflow task if the intended assignment is not possible due to errors or incorrect configurations.

– QM Contributor are individuals creating new content within the application.

– QM Readers are individuals who have the ability to view and read content.

– QM Reviewers are individuals tasked with reviewing both new and modified documents.

All users must be part of the QM Reading group; otherwise, they can create content but will not see it after saving.

Adding or removing users from these QM groups has an immediate effect on the end user’s permissions.