Documents role guides — what each role can do, step by step
Step-by-step guides for the vault — the records manager who files and keeps, the employee who sees only their own, and the administrator who decides who sees what. 18 steps across 3 roles, every one of them carried out in the product before it was published here.
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Records Manager
Every document findable, and every one of them kept exactly as long as it should be.
Curates the vault: what is filed, how long it is kept, what is on legal hold, and who may see any of it.
What you will be able to do
- File into the right workspace, with retention applied for you
- Find a document by a word inside it, not by remembering the folder
- See what changed recently without hunting
- Know who can see what, before somebody asks
- Approve or reject a version before readers see it
- Ask a supplier for a document, and see what is about to expire
- Lock a file as a record, send a PDF for signature, share by a protected link
What this role can and cannot do
| Can | Cannot |
|---|---|
|
|
12 steps, each one carried out in the product on .
Open the vault #
Where Documents » Home
- From the launcher, click the Documents tile.
- Read the workspaces: each is a separate area with its own access.
You should see A workspace is the unit of access: people are given a workspace, not forty individual files.
Work inside a workspace #
Where Documents » a workspace
- Open a workspace.
- Use the folder tree on the left and the file list on the right.
- Open a file to see its versions and its history.
You should see Everything about a file — versions, who opened it, what was extracted from it — hangs off the file itself.
Watch out A new version never overwrites the old one; both stay, which is what makes 'we sent the wrong version' recoverable.
Find a document by what is inside it #
Where Documents » Search
- Open Search.
- Type a word from inside the document — an invoice number, a name, a clause.
You should see Text inside uploaded files is indexed, so you can find the invoice by its number rather than by where somebody filed it.
Watch out Scans uploaded before text extraction was switched on are not searchable until they are re-extracted.
Worth knowing If a scan does not come back, it was uploaded before text extraction was enabled — re-extract it from the document itself.
See what changed lately #
Where Documents » Recent
- Open Recent.
You should see The fastest way back to the thing you were working on yesterday.
Approve or reject a version waiting for review #
Where Documents » Review queue
- Open Documents, then Review queue.
- Open a file from the list and go to its Review tab.
- Press Approve, or write a comment and press Reject.
You should see Until a version is approved, people who only read the file cannot open it; once you approve, they see that version.
Watch out A rejection needs a comment — it is what the sender reads to fix the file.
Worth knowing You cannot decide a version you sent yourself — somebody else has to.
Ask an outside party for a document #
Where Documents » Requested documents » Request a document
- Open Requested documents.
- Press Request a document.
- Fill what you need, who to ask, the workspace and the due date; press Create the request.
| Field | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| What you need | The document in plain words — 'Renewed trade licence copy'. |
| Who to ask | The company or person who will send it. |
| Their e-mail (optional) | Leave it empty to copy the link and send it yourself. |
| Workspace / Folder | Where the file lands when it arrives. |
| Due date | When an open request turns Overdue. |
You should see The request waits in the list until the file arrives; an overdue one moves to the Overdue chip.
Worth knowing The person you ask needs no account — the link lets them upload that one document and nothing else.
See what is about to expire, and renew it #
Where Documents » Expiring soon
- Open Expiring soon.
- Click a tile: Expired, 7, 30 or 90 days.
- Press Renew on a row and give the new file and its new date.
You should see Trade licences, insurance policies and ID copies stop expiring unnoticed.
Watch out Renew keeps the old copy as an earlier version.
Worth knowing A document shows here when its document type has a date field named Expiry date and that date is filled in.
Lock a file as a record #
Where Documents » a document » Declare as record
- Open the document.
- Press Declare as record.
- Choose the type, an end date if any, a reason; press Declare as record.
You should see While it is a record the file cannot be renamed, moved, archived, edited or put back to an older version.
Watch out A regulatory record can never be unlocked — choose it only when the law says the file must not change.
Send a PDF for signature #
Where Documents » a document » Signatures » Send for signature
- Open a PDF.
- Open the Signatures tab.
- Press Send for signature, add the signers, press Send.
You should see Each signer gets a private link and needs no account; every signature is logged with the time and the address it came from.
Worth knowing Only a PDF can be signed — export a Word file as PDF first.
Share a file by a protected link #
Where Documents » a document » Sharing » Create link
- Open a document you manage.
- Open the Sharing tab.
- Under Public links press Create link, choose the limits, press Create link.
You should see The link stops working on its end date; with a code, five wrong tries lock it for 15 minutes.
Watch out Copy the link when it is shown — it cannot be read back later; revoke it and create a new one instead.
Worth knowing Only a person with Manage access to the document creates its links; anybody else is told whom to ask.
See what the person you asked sees #
Where The upload link of a request — opened without an account
- Open the request's upload link in a private window, as the person you asked would.
You should see The page carries your company's name (and logo, when set), what you asked for, who asked and when, the due date and how long the link works; further down, a short note on how the file is kept: the link is for them alone and takes one file.
Watch out The link works once: after the file is sent, or on its end date, it stops working.
Worth knowing A link opens only on your own company's address. When your company has virus checking on, the page also says every file is checked, and a file that fails the check is refused and nothing is kept.
Open a document straight from the search results #
Where Documents » Search » a result
- Open Search.
- Type a word from inside the document.
- Click a result.
You should see The document opens on its own page, with its Versions and Sharing tabs; ‹ › walks the other results.
Use cases — the work, step by step
Each one is a sequence somebody actually performs, with the screen behind every step. Every screen here was opened in the product as this role before it was published.
dailyFile something so it can be found again #
A document nobody can find is the same as a document nobody kept — and the type you choose decides how long it is kept for.
Open Documents and pick the workspace the file belongs to. The workspace is the access decision.
Documents » Home — verified: the page says “Document” Open the workspace and file it into the right folder; the file keeps its versions and its history.
Documents » a workspace — verified: the page says “Document” Prove it is findable: search for a word from inside it rather than its name.
Documents » Search — verified: the control is offered; the page says “contract”
weeklyFind what changed while you were away #
Recent is faster than remembering which folder somebody used.
Open Recent and read what was added or changed, newest first.
Documents » Recent — verified: the page says “Recent” Open anything unfamiliar and check who touched it last.
Documents » a workspace — verified: the page says “Document”
Nothing is hard-deleted here. Destruction happens through retention, and a legal hold stops it — which is the difference between an archive and a shared drive.
Employee
Your documents, and the ones people meant to give you.
Your own documents, and the ones shared with you — nothing else.
What you will be able to do
- See your own files in one place
- Open what a colleague shared with you
- Know that nothing else is visible to you — or you to anyone else
What this role can and cannot do
| Can | Cannot |
|---|---|
|
|
2 steps, each one carried out in the product on .
Open your documents #
Where Documents » Home
- Open Documents from the launcher.
You should see Nothing you should not have is listed — the vault decides that, not a folder name.
See what somebody shared with you #
Where Documents » Shared with me
- Open Shared with me.
You should see A share is a deliberate act with a record, not a link somebody forwarded.
Watch out If you cannot open something a colleague says they shared, they shared the workspace rather than the file, or the other way round.
Use cases — the work, step by step
Each one is a sequence somebody actually performs, with the screen behind every step. Every screen here was opened in the product as this role before it was published.
dailyFind the document a colleague sent you #
A share is a deliberate act with a record — not a link in an e-mail you have to keep.
Open Documents; you see your own workspace and anything you were added to.
Documents » Home — verified: the page says “Document” Open Shared with me for files somebody gave you specifically, with who shared them and when.
Documents » Shared with me — verified: the page says “Shared”
You see your own workspace and what was deliberately shared. The same rule keeps your documents out of everybody else's search.
Tenant Administrator
Shape the vault once: who gets a workspace, and what happens to a file over time.
Shapes the vault: workspaces, document types, retention and where the files are actually stored.
What you will be able to do
- Create workspaces, which are the unit of access
- Read who can see what, in one screen
- Recover something deleted by mistake
- Decide where the files are actually stored
- Give documents a type with its own fields, an expiry date among them
What this role can and cannot do
| Can | Cannot |
|---|---|
|
|
4 steps, each one carried out in the product on .
Create a workspace #
Where Documents » Home
- Open Documents.
- Create a workspace for the area — one per team, project or client.
- Add the people who need it.
| Field | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Name | What the area is called in conversation — 'HR', 'Client: Emirates Steel' — not a code. |
| Members | Who gets sight of everything inside it. This is the access decision; the files inherit it. |
| Description | One line so somebody else knows what belongs here and what does not. |
You should see Access is granted per workspace, so getting these boundaries right is most of the work.
Watch out A workspace per document is unusable; a single workspace for everything is a leak. One per team or client is the shape that works.
Read who can see what #
Where Documents » Access
- Open Access.
You should see One screen answers the question an auditor asks, instead of opening files one by one.
Recover something deleted by mistake #
Where Documents » Trash
- Open Trash.
- Restore what was deleted by mistake.
You should see Deleting is reversible; destruction is the retention sweep, and a legal hold stops that.
Watch out A legal hold stops destruction even after retention expires. Place it before the sweep runs, not after.
Give documents a type with its own fields #
Where Settings » Document management » Document types
- Open Settings » Document management » Document types.
- Add a type and its fields.
You should see On a document, the Fields tab then asks for exactly these fields.
Use cases — the work, step by step
Each one is a sequence somebody actually performs, with the screen behind every step. Every screen here was opened in the product as this role before it was published.
monthlyGive a new team the right sight of things #
Access is granted per workspace, so a joiner gets forty documents by joining one workspace rather than by being handed forty links.
Create the workspace for the team, project or client.
Documents » Home — verified: the page says “Document” Read the access screen afterwards — it answers 'who can see this' in one place.
Documents » Access — verified: the page says “Access”
urgentSomebody deleted something they should not have #
Deleting is reversible; destruction is the retention sweep, and a legal hold stops that.
Open Trash and restore the file.
Documents » Trash — verified: the page says “Trash” Check who could reach it in the first place, and fix the workspace membership rather than the file.
Documents » Access — verified: the page says “Access”
Access is granted per workspace rather than per file, so a new joiner gets the right sight of things by joining a workspace, not by being given forty documents.