Sections are created in the Settings page. Just click “Add section” and give it a name. Remember to also create the filters you need for that section. Click the “+” next to the section to add a filter. Also remember that the filters you create are the same as the tags you will be able to add to the documents and folders.
Sections shouldn’t change often, so pause and think about what kind of sections you need.
FAQ: When should I create a section versus using tags?
You should always use tags to represent assets, such as a vessel, customer, employee, property etc. You can have many of these (10s, 100s and 1000s) and they can grow dynamically (e.g. you acquire new customer).
E.g. a section called “Employee files” could have two filters, “Employee” and “Topic”.
A section represents the one property that all documents contained within it share. E.g. a section called “Tenders” means that all the documents stored here relate to tenders. But they might not share other properties like “customer” or “document type”.
Sometimes you want to group documents by certain processes or tasks, such as “inspections” or “certification”. These are normally tags belonging to a “topic” or “document type” filter in a section (e.g. “Construction”). Of course, if “certification” is a core function within your company, you can consider having this as a section instead of a tag.
Whether for example “contracts” is a document type within a section, or a section on its own, depends on the volume of contracts and how carefully they need to be managed. If there is a business unit dedicated to the management of these kind of documents, then you normally would have a section for them so that you can apply the right filters to stay organized.
FAQ: How many filters should I have?
Not too many because it increases the complexity of the classification (i.e. more work for those that need to store and tag documents). Complexity tend to reduce the number of documents being stored in the system and reduce the quality of the classification.
2-3 filters are normally a good setup.
Example setups (filters are indented):
Construction
o Project (n)
o Topic (As built, Inspection, Contract)
o Contractor(n)
Sales
o Customer (n)
o Topic (Contract, Tender, Sales presentation)
Operations
o Vessel (n)
o Topic (Contract, Manuals, Certificates)
o Customer (n)
Employee files
o Employee (n)
o Topic (Employment contract, case, termination)
FAQ: Do I need a tag for every kind of document?
No. Fewer tags are better than many. Only use tags when it’s important that you can easily filter and collect certain type of documents. For example, it’s very important that you can find and act on all “contracts”. But to have a tag called “other” is often superfluous.
FAQ: When should I create a section versus using tags?
You should always use tags to represent assets, such as a vessel, customer, employee, property etc. You can have many of these (10s, 100s and 1000s) and they can grow dynamically (e.g. you acquire new customer).
E.g. a section called “Employee files” could have two filters, “Employee” and “Topic”.
A section represents the one property that all documents contained within it share. E.g. a section called “Tenders” means that all the documents stored here relate to tenders. But they might not share other properties like “customer” or “document type”.
Sometimes you want to group documents by certain processes or tasks, such as “inspections” or “certification”. These are normally tags belonging to a “topic” or “document type” filter in a section (e.g. “Construction”). Of course, if “certification” is a core function within your company, you can consider having this as a section instead of a tag.
Whether for example “contracts” is a document type within a section, or a section on its own, depends on the volume of contracts and how carefully they need to be managed. If there is a business unit dedicated to the management of these kind of documents, then you normally would have a section for them so that you can apply the right filters to stay organized.
Example setups (filters are indented):
Construction
o Project (n)
o Topic (As built, Inspection, Contract)
o Contractor(n)
Sales
o Customer (n)
o Topic (Contract, Tender, Sales presentation)
Operations
o Vessel (n)
o Topic (Contract, Manuals, Certificates)
o Customer (n)
Employee files
o Employee (n)
o Topic (Employment contract, case, termination)
FAQ: Do I need a tag for every kind of document?
No. Fewer tags are better than many. Only use tags when it’s important that you can easily filter and collect certain type of documents. For example, it’s very important that you can find and act on all “contracts”. But to have a tag called “other” is often superfluous.