the register role guides — what each role can do, step by step

1Open the register #

Where Correspondence » Register

1. The register opens on its own when you enter Correspondence.
2. Sort by any column header; search across subject and reference.
3. Click a line to open the record.

You should see Every piece of correspondence in the organisation, at every classification you are cleared for — which, for this role, is all of them.

Worth knowing Type in the search box to narrow it, or use the column headers to sort. The view you build is in the address bar, so you can send it to somebody.

2See what the register is waiting on #

Where Correspondence » Overview

1. Open Overview from the sidebar.

You should see What is waiting, what is overdue, and what nobody has picked up — counted, not listed, so you can see the shape of the day.

Worth knowing Every tile is a filter. Click one and the register opens showing exactly what the tile counted.

3Set the filing vocabulary once #

Where Correspondence » Settings » Types

1. Sidebar » Settings.
2. Stay on the Types tab.
3. Click a type to edit it.

You should see This is what makes registering a letter two clicks instead of five — and one fewer field a clerk can get wrong at the counter.

4Decide who may read what #

Where Settings » Classification

1. Settings » Classification.

You should see Each level names the clearance a reader must hold — and that is now enforced, so a level you mark restricted really is.

Watch out Adding a level above 4 for a new restricted category: give it a clearance permission explicitly, because the number alone will read as 'less restricted than public'.

Worth knowing If you add a level above 4 for a new restricted category, give it a clearance permission explicitly. The number alone cannot express 'more restricted than public' once the standard four rungs are taken.

5Numbering refuses rather than inventing #

Where Settings » Numbering

1. Open the Numbering tab.
2. Each direction has its own sequence, its own format and its own reset.

You should see Nothing is registered until its direction has a sequence — the register refuses rather than handing out a number it cannot account for.

6Say how long each kind of record is kept #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Retention

1. Sidebar » Archive.
2. Read the retention schedule.

You should see Every record in the register is governed by one of these, and the rule is what a certificate of disposal cites.

Worth knowing A rule that ends in a transfer to the national archive must name the receiving authority, or the nightly sweep will refuse to act on it and tell you why.

7See what falls due before it does #

Where Archive » Due for disposal

1. Open the Due-for-disposal tab and widen the horizon.
2. Each row says which rule brought it here and why.

You should see Nothing is destroyed that nobody could have seen coming.

8Name who you correspond with #

Where Correspondence » Parties

1. Open Parties.
2. Ministries, companies and people, in both languages.

You should see A letter then resolves to a named body instead of a typed string, which is what makes 'everything from this ministry' a question with an answer.

9Answer 'who has seen this?' #

Where Correspondence » Reports » Access

1. Open Reports and read the access trail.

You should see Every view, download and refusal — each one gated at the record's own classification, so the log can never say more than the register would.

10Every picker knows who works here #

Where a letter » Route to

1. Open any Route-to, Forward-to or Signatory picker.

You should see Names, searchable. This list is what eleven screens in the module need to turn an id into a person.

11You sign decisions, not letters #

Where Correspondence » Decisions

1. Open a decision and look for Sign.
2. Then open an outgoing letter and look for it there.

You should see A decision is the register's own instrument and signing it is part of owning the register. A letter is signed by the person whose name is on it, which is why that action is not yours.

12Build the file plan #

Where Correspondence » Settings » File plan

1. Open Settings and the File plan tab.
2. Add a series, then files and sub-files under it — three levels at most.
3. Give a node a retention policy and a default classification, or let it inherit its parent's; then say which node each type files under.

You should see A new record takes its node's retention and classification. Changing or moving a node moves its records to the policy they now inherit; a classification change never touches records that already exist.

13Let incoming letters route themselves #

Where Correspondence » Settings » Assignment rules

1. Open Settings and the Assignment rules tab.
2. Add rules by type, sender, priority or how the letter arrived; they run from the top and the first match wins.
3. Use Try a letter to see which rule a letter would meet and who would get it — nothing is routed.

You should see A letter no rule matches stays with the clerk, and a person who routes it themselves always beats a rule.

1Register what arrived #

Where Correspondence » Incoming

1. Sidebar » Incoming.
2. Click Register mail.
3. Fill in the subject and choose who it is from.
4. Save.

You should see The envelope is on the register before it leaves your desk.

Worth knowing Subject and sender are all it needs. Everything else — priority, classification, how long it is kept — comes from the type you pick.

2Send it to the right desk #

Where a letter » Route

1. Open the letter you registered.
2. Choose Route.
3. Pick a person, a department, or a post.
4. Say what you want done: for action, for information, for review.

You should see All three reach somebody. Whichever you know is enough.

Watch out If you do not know who is in today, route to the POST — everybody holding that job will see it.

Worth knowing Routing to a post is the one to use when you do not know who is in today: everybody holding that job sees it.

3Work down your own desk #

Where Correspondence » My queue

1. Open My queue.

You should see What was routed to you, and what you owe somebody — with the tiles above counting exactly what the list below shows.

4Record that it actually arrived #

Where Correspondence » Deliveries

1. Sidebar » Deliveries.
2. Add a leg for each recipient.
3. Record the method and the tracking number.

You should see This is what you show an auditor who asks whether the letter arrived.

5Keep the directory correct #

Where Correspondence » Parties

1. Open Parties and correct an address or add a body you have started receiving from.

You should see You register mail from these organisations all day, so you are the person who notices when one has moved.

6Retention is closed to you #

Where Correspondence » Archive

1. Look for Archive or Retention in the sidebar.

You should see You address envelopes. How long a record is kept, and when it is destroyed, is not a counter decision — so the screen is not there, rather than there and refusing.

7So is the user list #

Where a Route-to picker

1. Open a Route-to picker and read what it shows you.

You should see Names and e-mail addresses — not who is locked out of their account and how many times they have failed to sign in. You need to address an envelope, not to audit a colleague.

8Search finds what you are cleared for #

Where Correspondence » Search

1. Search for a reference number you have not handled.

You should see Classified records you are not cleared for never appear — so a narrow search and a missing clearance look the same, and the page says so.

9Letter templates belong to the people who write letters #

Where Correspondence » Settings » Templates

1. Open Settings and click the Templates tab.

You should see The tab says you do not have permission to read letter templates — a plain answer instead of an empty list that looks as if the templates were lost.

1Draft what is going out #

Where Correspondence » Outgoing

1. Open Outgoing and start a new letter.
2. Add the addressees; a draft has no number yet.

You should see Drafts, letters awaiting approval and dispatched letters, in one list.

2Register it for a number #

Where a draft » Register

1. Open your draft and choose Register.

You should see OUT-2026-000NN — the number everybody quotes from here on, minted from the sequence for that direction.

3Say who must approve it #

Where a letter » Request approval

1. Open your registered letter.
2. Choose Request approval.
3. Search for the person who must decide and pick them.
4. Add a note saying what you want them to look at.
5. Send.

You should see Naming the approver is what makes the letter appear on their desk. Without it the letter would sit in 'awaiting approval' with nobody able to reach it.

Watch out Do not use the status menu to mark it approved. That door is closed on purpose: it would skip the person you named and the order they decide in.

Worth knowing If the dialog says the letter is already with somebody, look at Approvals — it has been raised once already.

4See what they decided #

Where Correspondence » Approvals

1. Open Approvals.

You should see Who has each letter, and what they said — including the reason behind a refusal, which is what tells you what to change.

5Memos and decisions are the same register #

Where Correspondence » Memos

1. Open Memos, or Decisions, or Circulars.

You should see An internal note is a registered record too: numbered, classified, retained and searchable like everything else.

6You do not approve your own letter #

Where your own letter, awaiting approval

1. Open a letter you sent for approval and look for Approve.

You should see The person who asks is not the person who decides. That is the whole point of the step, and the register records both sides of it.

1Your department's work, on one screen #

Where Correspondence » My queue

1. Sidebar » My queue.

You should see Anything routed to you by name, and anything routed to a department you manage.

Watch out An empty queue with work you know exists usually means you are not recorded as the manager of a department. Ask an administrator to set that; it is what the register scopes your sight on.

Worth knowing If this is empty and you expect work, check that you are recorded as the manager of a department — that is what the register scopes on.

2Confirm you received it #

Where My queue » a letter » Confirm receipt

1. Open a letter from your queue and choose Confirm receipt.
2. Say what actually arrived — 'two of two enclosures' is a useful note.

You should see An incoming letter is unread and unchangeable until the person it was sent to says it arrived. That person is you.

3Your register, not everybody's #

Where Correspondence » Register

1. Open the register.

You should see Narrowed to the departments you manage. A letter belonging to another department is not hidden from you — it is not yours.

4Pick up a complaint escalated to you #

Where Correspondence » Complaints

1. Open Complaints.
2. An escalated complaint arrives with the reason attached and its severity raised.

You should see Escalation puts the file on your desk, not just your name in a ledger.

5Another department's letter is not yours #

Where Correspondence » Register

1. Search the register for a reference belonging to a department you do not manage.

You should see Not hidden — not yours. The register narrows to what you are responsible for, and says so when a search comes back short.

1Everything waiting on you #

Where Correspondence » My queue

1. Open My queue.

You should see Approvals addressed to you by name, to a department you manage, and to a post you hold — all three in one list.

2Decide, with a reason #

Where Correspondence » Approvals

1. Sidebar » Approvals.
2. Open the letter.
3. Read it, then Approve or Refuse.
4. If you refuse, say what needs to change.

You should see A refusal without a reason is a dead end for whoever wrote the letter, so the register asks for one.

Worth knowing Decide here, not from the letter's own status menu — this is the door that records who decided, in what order, and why.

3Hand your decisions on while you are away #

Where Correspondence » Approvals » Delegations

1. Open Delegations and name who stands in for you, from when until when.

You should see Time-boxed and revocable: it ends on the date you set, and you can end it sooner.

4You do not write what you decide on #

Where Correspondence » Outgoing

1. Open Outgoing and look for a New letter button.

You should see Deciding and drafting are separate roles, so the button is absent rather than present and refusing.

5Search with the filters you may use #

Where Correspondence » Search

1. Open Search and click Filters.
2. Narrow by direction, state, type, priority, classification, tags, owner or dates.

You should see There is no Party filter: listing the party register is not part of your role, so the panel neither shows the filter nor asks the server for a list it would refuse.

1Read the schedule you execute #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Retention

1. Open Archive and read the retention rules.

You should see How long, counting from when, and what happens at the end — destroy, or transfer to the national archive, or keep for ever.

2See what falls due #

Where Archive » Due for disposal

1. Open the Due-for-disposal tab.
2. A record frozen under a legal hold shows as held, and is not destroyed.

You should see A preview, not a surprise: the sweep destroys nothing that has not been listed here first.

3Freeze a record against disposal #

Where Archive » Legal holds

1. Sidebar » Archive » Legal holds.
2. Place a hold.
3. Name the matter it is held for.

You should see The hold outranks the schedule. Nothing under one is destroyed, by you or by the nightly sweep.

Watch out A hold pauses disposal, not the clock. Release it and the record becomes due again — check the disposal date before you release.

4Account for every destruction #

Where Archive » Certificates

1. Open Certificates.

You should see What was destroyed, under which rule, by whom, and what it hashed to on the way out — so a later dispute about the contents has something to check against.

Worth knowing A certificate produced by the nightly sweep names 'Scheduled retention sweep' as the actor. That is the honest answer: nobody chose the moment, the schedule did.

5The archive is the register's closed half #

Where Correspondence » Archive

1. Open Archive.

You should see Closed and archived records, still readable and still searchable — an archive is not a deletion.

6You keep records; you do not rewrite them #

Where an archived record

1. Open an archived record and look for Edit.

You should see Custody is not authorship. And a record that has been disposed of refuses to be reopened at all — its certificate is permanent.

7Send records to the national archive #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Transfers

1. Open Archive and click Transfers.
2. Ready for transfer lists the closed records whose rule ends in a transfer and whose time has come.
3. Tick the ones going together and pack them into a batch; the batch keeps a manifest of what left.

You should see The receiving authority comes from the retention rule (by default the national archive of your country pack), so the custody trail says who took the records — a transfer is never mistaken for a loss.

Worth knowing A record on legal hold cannot be ticked until the hold is lifted.

8Start a transfer rule from the country pack #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Retention » New rule

1. Sidebar » Archive.
2. Click the Retention tab.
3. Click New rule.
4. Set At the end to Transfer to the national archive.

You should see The line under the action says the period comes from the country pack and is marked to verify: confirm it with the National Archives and your retention schedule before relying on it.

Watch out The pack value is marked to verify. Saving it is allowed, but confirm it with the National Archives first.

Worth knowing Editing an existing rule never changes its period by itself; only a new rule starts from the pack.

9See which records wait for a disposition review #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Transfers

1. Sidebar » Archive.
2. Click the Transfers tab.

You should see A transfer is a disposal, so while disposition reviews are switched on, a record that needs one — its rule asks for a review before disposal, or its classification is at or above the company's review threshold — says Waiting for disposition review and cannot be ticked until a review approves it. One waiting record no longer gets a whole batch refused.

Worth knowing A dash in the column means the record is not waiting for a review: it needs none, or a review already approved it.

10Print the transfer form, or make it as a PDF #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Transfers

1. Sidebar » Archive.
2. Click the Transfers tab.
3. Click a batch number in Transfer batches.

You should see The PDF is made by the server and also travels inside the package for the national archive, so what you print and what the archive receives are the same sheet.

Worth knowing If the PDF cannot be made the package is still made without it, and a message says why.

11Read the date the retention counts were taken #

Where Correspondence » Archive » Due

1. Sidebar » Archive.
2. Click the Due tab.

You should see The counts above it were taken on that date. It is a plain line, not a tile, because there is nothing behind it to open.

1Who looked, and who was turned away #

Where Correspondence » Reports » Access

1. Sidebar » Reports.
2. Open the access trail.
3. Filter by record, by person, or by result.

You should see 'Did anybody without clearance try to open this?' is the first question asked after a suspected leak, and this is where it is answered.

Watch out A refused count of zero covering a period before 12 September 2026 means 'not recorded'. Refusals were not written before that date.

Worth knowing A refused count of zero covering a period before 12 September 2026 means 'not recorded', not 'nobody tried'.

2How long the register takes #

Where Reports » Turnaround

1. Open the turnaround report.

You should see Registered to closed, by type and by department — the number to quote when somebody asks whether the registry is keeping up.

3What is late, and whose it is #

Where Reports » Overdue

1. Open the overdue report.

You should see Past its due date, with the person holding it named — not an id.

4How much came in and went out #

Where Reports » Volume

1. Open the volume report.

You should see By direction and by month, so a quiet quarter is visible as one.

5Who has been reading the classified material #

Where Reports » Classification access

1. Open the classification-access report.

You should see Allowed and refused, by level — the report an information-governance review asks for by name.

6Nothing here can be changed by you #

Where anywhere in the module

1. Open the register, a record, the approvals and the archive in turn.
2. Look for New, Edit, Approve, Dispose.

You should see None of them are there. Read-only is the role, not a setting somebody forgot to turn on.

7Read the audit and compliance digest #

Where Correspondence » Audit and compliance

1. Open Audit and compliance.
2. Pick the window, then read the tiles: coming due for disposal, disposed, legal holds, access by classification, records with no rule.
3. Open Who held it to see who held a record at a given moment, and Signatures to check a signature still matches its letter.

You should see One screen for the questions an inspection starts with.