Best Practices for Adding and Configuring Content

As a Content Provider your primary responsibility is to add content and configure its various access rights to support the process flow of a given organization's document process.

Several articles in the Content Provider section of the help system provide detail on the various tasks involved in setting up and configuring content. This article, however, is designed to provide a series of steps and details in each that make up best practice for uploading, creating and configuring content for your Accounts and Users.

This article assumes that you have selected a particular Account for which you would like to configure content and, within that account, established Users and placed them into User Groups. Accounts are the entities which are given access to Products, and User Groups are the entities which are given access to Transaction Types (for Interviews) and Templates (for viewing/generating Documents).

This article will describe below the steps in the order that they should optimally be performed in order to create new content for a new Transaction Type, and configure a User Group to access an Interview and view and generate a specific document. This article uses an example of a fictitious bank and the creation of loan documentation. This is a simple scenario, and the system can accommodate a wide variety of content structures. The intent is to provice an understanding of the building blocks for content creation and configuration.

The steps for creation and configuration of content in order are as follows:

1. Create and Upload a Template

The first step in creating content for an Account's Users is to create and upload a Template that will produce a document in the desired document package. A Template is a collection of business logic and document language that will assemble a transaction-specific document using data within an Data Set created when one or more Users answer Interview questions. In our bank example, one document would be the Loan Agreement. To create and upload the new Template, follow these steps:

• Obtain the HotDocs Package File version for your desired Template - All Templates used on the Document Agility are created in a commercially available document assembly software called HotDocs. There are two ways to obtain the HotDocs Package File Version of a HotDocs Template:
  • If you are the creator of the HotDocs Template - From within your HotDocs Developer Template List, right click the Template you wish to publish, click Upload then click Save Locally. At the screen which follows click OK to save a local copy of the Package File for your Template (which has a file extension of .hdpkg). See the HotDocs documentation on Template Packages for additional details.
  • If you are solely the Document Agility Content Provider - Ask the HotDocs Template creator to provide the Package File to you by following the steps above.
• Access the Create Template screen - From the Content Administration Main screen, click the Create Template button in the top right corner of the Templates list. This will launch the Upload Document Template screen.
• Enter Basic Template Information - Enter a screen name and description for the Template. Keep in mind that the screen name you provide will be the default name for any document that is generated using the Template, so the name must make sense to your End Users. In our banking example, this Template is for Loan Agreements, so the Template name could be "Loan Agreement". We might create another type of loan agreement template for other content we maintain, but both loan agreements might need to be named "Loan Agreement" in order to make sense to End Users. In that case it would be very important to enter a detailed Description to differentiate the two Templates.
• Choose the HotDocs Template Package File to upload - Click the Choose File button and browse to the correct HotDocs Template Package File on your computer that contains the Template (possibly along with an Interview) you wish to upload.
• Select whether your Template Contains and Interview - If your Template Package File also contains an Interview, which is permissible to do in HotDocs, click the Contains Default Interview check box. This indicated to the system that the Template contains an Interview that can be connected to one or more User Groups.
• Upload the Template - Click the Upload button at the bottom of the screen to start the upload process. Once the Template is uploaded, you will return to the Content Administration Main screen.

2. Create a New Transaction Type

If you don't already have a Transaction Type to which you want to add your newly created Template, then you will need to create one. A Transaction Type is a . In our banking example, the Transaction Type would be a new loan transaction, so we might name it "Loan Transaction". The Transaction Type would then contain one Template for each Document that could be a part of the required package of document for that given Transaction Type. For our purposes, our previously created Template will be the only one we include in our Transaction Type.

To create a new Transaction Type, follow these steps:

• Access the Create Transaction Type screen - From the Content Administration Main screen, click the Create Transaction Type button in the top right corner of the Transaction Types list. This will launch the Create Transaction Type screen.
• Enter Basic Transaction Type Information - Enter a screen name for the Transaction Type. Keep in mind that the screen name you provide will be the name that End Users will select from their drop down list of available Transaction Types. Therefore the name must make sense to your End Users. In our banking example, this Transaction Type is for Loan Transactions, so the Template name could be "Loan Agreement".
• Select how to refer to Customers for this Transaction Type - When creating a new Transaction Type, a User will be able to add or associate and external Account to the Transaction. You can set up the name by which User's would refer to these external users by that is specific to the Transaction Type. Select the choice from the Refer to entities for which documents created as: drop down list that most closely matches what you'd like to call customers.
• Select whether your Transaction Type is Production or BETA - Transaction Types may be designated as either Production or BETA. Production Transaction Types are live for all Users to work with as soon as they are connected to a User Group through an Interview. BETA Transaction Type are similarly associated with a User Group, but will only be seen in the drop down list of available Transaction Types for those users who have been given the permission to Use BETA Transaction Types. You can change a Transaction Type's designation from one choice to another later on by editing it.
• Save the Transaction Type - Click the Create button at the bottom of the screen to create your new Transaction Type. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.

3. Add your Template to your Transaction Type

After creating the Template and the Transaction Type in which it will reside, you will then need to add the Template into the Transaction Type. To do this, follow these steps:

• Access your Transaction Type - From the Content Administration Main screen, in the Transaction Types list, click the Edit button in the row corresponding to the Transaction Type into which you want to place your Template. In our example select the Transaction Type you just created. This will bring up the Edit Transaction Type screen.
• Connect your Template with the Transaction Type - In Edit Templates in Transaction Type section of the page, select your Template from the Select Template: drop down list.
• Indicate any desired Conditionality - If your Template generates a Document that should be included in the document package only under certain conditions( rather than all the time), you can indicate this by entering conditionality. To do so, enter a variable name from the Interview into the Variable in Data Set text box and the value it should have to fulfill the conditionality into the Required Answer text box. PLEASE NOTE: The values you enter into either box are not case sensitive.
• Add the Template to the Transaction Type - Click the Add button to add the selected Template to the Transaction Type.
• Save your Selections - Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save your selections. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.

4. Create a Pricing Plan

If you don't already have a Pricing Plan you wish to use, then you will need to create one. A Pricing Plan is essentially a combination of a price per period of time and a number of document generations allowed over a period of time. Pricing Plans are used to define the basis on which you provide access to a Product for a given Account. In our banking example, we might set up a pricing plan of unlimited documents per year at a price of $3,000 per month.

  TIP - Document Agility is not an e-commerce system. When you set up a Pricing Plan that includes price per a period of time, this is for recording purposes only and will not be monitored, billed, charged or otherwise enacted through the system. The restrictions you place on document generations per period will be enforced through the system. If you wish to have restrictions on document creation, set up a Pricing Plan to include unlimited documents per some time period.

  TIP - Even if you don't intend to place restrictions on document generation for your Accounts, you must still set up a Pricing Plan to be used when you connect your Accounts to Products.

To create a new Pricing, follow these steps:

• Access the Create Pricing Plan screen - From the Content Administration Main screen, click the Create Pricing Plan button in the top right corner of the Pricing Plans list. This will launch the Create Pricing Plan screen.
• Enter the number of Document Generations - In the Enter Number of Document Creations area, either click the check box next to the Unlimited choice or enter a number of generations in the text box next to the word OR. Keep in mind that the restriction you set on document generations here will be enforced by the system for any Account that is connected to a Product using this Pricing Plan.
• Enter the time period for Document Generations (Optional) - If you wish to indicate a time period over which the number of document generations can take place, click the check box next to Restrict by Time Period? in the Enter Number of Document Creations area, then select the time period over which document generations can occur.
• Enter Pricing - In the Enter Pricing area, enter a dollar amount (in whole numbers) into the text box, then select the time period associated with the dollar amount next to the word Paid Per.
• Create the Pricing plan - Click the Create button at the bottom of the screen to create your new Pricing Plan. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.
   

5. Create a Product

If you don't already have a Product to which you want to add your newly created Transaction Type, then you will need to create one. A Product is essentially a collection of Transaction Types. You can think of a Product as a product which groups together one or more types of Transactions that Users can create. You can then give the Accounts under you access to the Product through a specific Pricing Plan.

In our banking example, we might create a Product called "Banking Transactions" under which your "Loan Transaction" would be placed.

To create a new Product, follow these steps:

• Access the Create Product screen - From the Content Administration Main screen, click the Create Product button in the top right corner of the Products list. This will launch the Create Product screen.
• Enter Basic Product Information - Enter a screen name for the Product. The screen name you provide here will not be displayed in area of the End User area of the system.
• Create the Product - Click the Create button at the bottom of the screen to create your new Product. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.
  
  

6. Add your Transaction Type to your Product

After creating the Transaction Type and the Product in which it will reside, you will then need to add the Transaction Type into the Product. To do this, follow these steps:

• Access your Product - From the Content Administration Main screen, in the Products list, click the Edit button in the row corresponding to the Product into which you want to place your Transaction Type. In our example select the Product you just created. This will bring up the Edit Product screen.
• Connect your Transaction Type with the Product - In Edit Transaction Type in Product section of the page, select your Transaction Type from the Select Transaction Type: drop down list.
• Add the Transaction Type to the Product - Click the Add button to add the selected Transaction Type to the Product.
• Save your Selections - Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save your selections. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.

7. Add an Additional Interview to the Transaction Type (Optional)

Interviews are groups of questions arranged in a specific order that are presented to Users to gather their data about transactions. A User Groups can be connected to a Transaction Type through a specific Interview - such that different User Groups can be presented interview for a given Transaction type that are customized to their role in the Transaction.

As previously mentioned, when you upload a Template, it may contain an Interview. This is one way to upload an Interview to the system to be used for a specific User Group. More often, Interviews are uploaded to the system as Additional Interviews that are associated with a specific Transaction Type. Thereby a Transaction Type can contain multiple Interviews that can then be connected with the various User Groups that can create the given type of Transaction.

To upload an Interview to a Transaction Type, follow these steps:

• Access the Additional Interviews module of your Transaction Type - From the Content Administration Main screen, in the Transaction Type list, click the Additional Interviews button in the row corresponding to the Transaction Type into which you want to upload your Interview. In our example select the Transaction Type you just created. This will bring up the Transaction Type Interview screen.
• Access the Upload New Interview screen - From the Transaction Type Interviews screen, click the Upload New Interview button in the top right corner of the Transaction Type Interviews list. This will launch the Upload New Interview screen.
• Enter Basic Interview Information - Enter a screen name and description for the Interview. Keep in mind that the screen name you provide will appear later in a list of Interviews from which you can select when connecting User Groups to Transaction Type, so be sure to select a descriptive name. In our banking example, you might upload an Additional Interview to be presented to an Account Management group, so the Interview name could be "Account Manager Interview".
• Choose the HotDocs Template Package File to upload - Click the Choose File button and browse to the correct HotDocs Template Package File on your computer that contains the Interview you wish to upload.
• Upload the Interview - Click the Upload button at the bottom of the screen to start the upload process. Once the Interview is uploaded, you will return to the Transaction Type Interviews screen. To return to the Content Administration Main Page, click the Close button at the bottom of the Transaction Type Interviews screen.

8. Connect a User Group to Transaction Type through an Interview

After uploading one or more Interviews (either with a Template or as an Additional Interview for a Transaction Type), you are ready to connect a User Group to a Transaction Type. Connecting User Groups to Transaction Types allows the Users in the given Group to participate in Transactions of that type using a specific Interview.

Connecting a User Group to a Transaction Type can be done either through editing the Transaction Type to enable access for a given User Group, or, from the other direction, by editing the User Group to enable access for a given Transaction Type. Editing the User Group to add Transaction Type access (if you have the required permission to do so) is the best practice method, since it allows you to configure additional setting that are not otherwise available. However, the ability to specify a Static Seed File to pre-populate an interview or provide a custom name for the interview access button can only be done through the Edit Transaction Type area.

To connect a User Group to a Transaction Type, follow these steps:

• Access the Manage Account Module - From the Link Menu at the top left corner of your screen, click the Manage Accounts link. This will bring you to the Manage Accounts screen, which displays your own account plus a list of the Accounts under your Account. From here you can see information on Accounts and perform various actions on them.
• Select the Manage User Groups module for the Account you wish to edit - From the Manage Accounts screen, in the Manage Account list, click the Manage User Groups icon  in the row corresponding to the Account you wish to edit. This will bring up the Edit Product screen.
• Access the User Group to which you will associate your Transaction Type - From the Manage User Groups screen, in the list of User Groups, click the Edit icon  in the row corresponding to the User Group to which you will add Transaction Type access. This will bring up the Edit User Group screen.
• Associate the User Group to a Transaction Type - In the Transaction Type Access section, select the Transaction Type you want to connect with this User Group from the Transaction Type drop down box. Next select the Interview through which this User Group will access the selected Transaction Type (i.e. this User Group's Interview for this type of Transaction) from the Associated Interview drop down box. Next in the Workflow Options area, select the capabilities you would like this User Group to have when working on this type of Transaction by clicking the check box next to the desired item. Possible choices include:
  • Assign - The ability for the Users in the Group to manually assign Transactions of this type to another User Group.
  • Finalize - The ability for the Users in the Group to mark Transactions of this
  • Generate Documents - The ability for the Users in the Group to manually assign Transactions of this type as being Finalized.
  • Publish Data Sets - The ability for the Users in the Group to generate document for Transactions of this type (depending also upon view/generating permissions detailed below).
  • Redraft - The ability for the Users in the Group to access the Interview for Transactions of this type.
• Grant Access to the Transaction Type for the User Group - Click the Grant Access button to associate the selected Transaction Type to the User Group through the selected Interview.
• Save your Selections - Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save your selections. You will then return to the Manage User Groups screen. You can then return to the Content Administration Main screen by clicking the Content Administration menu item in the main menu at the top right of the screen.
  
  

To specify a Static Seed File to pre-populate an interview or provide a custom name for the interview access button, follow these steps:

• Select a Static Seed File (optional) - In the Static Seed File: drop down box, select the static seed file (in Excel format) to pre-populate all interviews accessed by this User Group for this Transaction type.
• Provide a Custom Name for the Interview Button (optional) - In the Interview Button Label: text box, provide a custom name for the interview button when this Transaction Type is accessed by the User Group. You can either type in a text value, which will be used as the button name. Or you can enter a value enclosed by braces "{}" to indicate an interview variable whose current value will be used as the name of the button.
  
  
  

  TIP - When connecting User Groups and Transaction Type, the system enforces certainly restrictions. A User cannot be connected to the same Transaction Type through more than one Interview. To ensure this, the system will not allow you to connect any Transaction Type to a User Group, if a User in the Group is already connected to the Transaction Type through another Interview. If a User is in multiple groups and is connected to a Transaction Type already, these Transaction Types may be missing from your Transaction Type drop down list. 

  

9. Set Document viewing/generating rights for User Groups

The final step in configuring content for Users is to configure viewing and/or generation rights for User Groups. In the Document Agility system, multiple Document can be associated with Transaction type (i.e. multiple Templates can be contained within a Transaction Type). In our Banking example a corporate loan transaction might require several documents including a Loan Agreement, Collateral Statement, etc.

Document Agility allows Content Providers to configure rights for any given User Group to view and/or generate documents that are part of a Transaction. To do this User Groups must be given appropriate access rights to the Template(s) that make up the Transaction Type.

To configure Template viewing/generating rights for User Groups, follow these steps:

• Access your Template - From the Content Administration Main screen, in the Templates list, click the Edit button in the row corresponding to the Template for which you wish to give one or more User Groups rights to view and/or generate Documents created by the Template.
• Connect your Template a User Group - In the Edit User Group Access to Generate and View Documents Using this Template section of the page, select the desired User Group from the Select User Group: drop down list.
• Choose the desired viewing and/or generating rights - Just beneath the Select User Group: drop down list, select whether Users in the User Group should be able to View Only or Generate & View Documents created with the Template.
• Choose whether or not Users can Ignore Unanswered Questions - Just beneath the viewing/generating selection, choose whether Users can ignore unanswered questions in the Interview and generate incomplete Documents anyway. There are times when this ability may be desirable. For example, in the case of very long documents when the User wants to see language in the document in certain areas that are complete, even when other sections may not yet be complete. To allow ignore unanswered click, the check box next to the Allow to ignore unanswered option.
• Choose the desired Document Output Format - In the Selected Output Formats selection, choose the Document Output format(s) in which Users in the Group can generate documents using the given Template.
• Grant Access to the Template - Click the Grant Access button to add the selected viewing/generating rights to the selected User Group.
• Save your Selections - Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save your selections. You will then return to the Content Administration Main screen.

  WARNING - Be cautious in giving out the ability to ignore unanswered questions and produce an incomplete document. It's often advisable to give this permission only to Users Group in which the Users are administrative level users or subject matter experts.


Once these steps have been completed for a given Template, Transaction Type, Pricing Plan, Product and (optionally) Interview, you will have created a certain content user experience of members of a User Group. You can then follow these steps to enhance the user experience by:

• Adding additional Templates to a Transaction Type
• Adding Additional Interviews to a Transaction Type
• Adding Additional Transaction Types to a Product
• Providing Product access to additional Accounts