Walkthrough
Finalising a Document
In this guide, you'll learn how to publish a document as a final version, get approval from members and download as a PDF
Now that you’ve collaborated with others both inside and outside of Simul, it’s time to finalise the document.
Depending on your process, finalising the document could include:
- Publishing a version
- Getting approvals from members
- Downloading the document for further use (I.e. Signing, Submitting to governing bodies, etc)
Let’s explore how you can do each of the above in Simul.
Publishing a Version
Publishing a version in Simul does three things:
- Increments the version number (I.e. Goes from Version 0.0.7 to Version 1.0.0)
- Opens up the Approvals functionality
- Makes it available for people with Viewer permissions
It’s a good idea to publish a version at key milestones of the collaboration process, such as:
- When you finish a document, because it opens up the Approvals functionality
- When sending to a 3rd party (e.g. the client or opposing counsel) because it increments the version number and makes it easy to see the different stages of the document history (I.e. 0.0.X was initial drafting, 1.0.X was after client feedback, 2.0.X was after opposing counsel feedback, etc)
To publish a version, follow the steps below.
1. Select the version you wish to publish and click ‘Publish This Version’
Select the version you’d like to publish from the Version History, and then click the ‘Publish This Version’ button.
2. Select to publish as a Major or Minor version
Select whether you want to publish as a Major or Minor version. Publishing as a Major Version will increment the first part of the version number (I.e. Go from 0.0.7 to 1.0.0) while publishing as a Minor version will increment the second part of the version number (I.e. Go from 0.0.7 to 0.1.0).
There’s no right or wrong answer here, it really just depends on how you’re using version numbers to mark the milestones of the document.
3. Publish the version
Press the Publish button and you’ll see the version number in the Version History change (if it doesn’t, just refresh the page).
Getting approval from members
Sometimes it can be useful to have members approve versions before they are sent to clients, opposing counsel, etc.
In Simul, approvals are essentially a form of digital signoff that live with a specific version and show that each member has approved the version.
Here’s how to get approvals from other members:
1. Publish the version you want to get approved
Publishing a version (by following the steps in the section above) will make the Approvals functionality available on that published version.
2. Request approvals from members
On the newly Published version, click the ‘Request Approvals’ button.
In the popup that shows, enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to get approval from. The box should autocomplete with members of the document that match your initial input.
Once you’ve requested approval from a user, they will receive an email alerting them that they need to approve the version.
When they come into the document in Simul, they will see that their approval is required and will be able to either ‘Approve’ or ‘Reject’ by selecting the buttons.
Whatever they choose will sit with that version in Simul forever, meaning you’ll have a permanent record of who approved the version and who didn’t.
Downloading a document
As you approach the end of the collaboration process, you’ll often want to download the document and do something with it. This could include:
- Sending it to your client for review and signing
- Sending it to opposing counsel for signature
- Submitting it to a governing body or organisation (I.e. Submitting documentation on a medical device to a governing body, or submitting court documents to a court)
Depending on whether you want to download the document as a Word document or a PDF, follow the below steps:
Option 1: Download as Word document
To download your document as a Word document, simply select the version you wish to download and click the ‘Download This Version’ button.
Option 2: Download as PDF
To download your document as a PDF, following the below steps:
1. Publish the version you want to download
Select the version you wish to download and click the 'Publish This Version' button.
In the popup that appears, select to publish it as a Major or Minor version.
For the purposes of generating and downloading a PDF, it doesn’t really matter which you choose as both will make it available to download as a PDF.
To download the document as a PDF, simply select the ‘Download This Version’ option from the Actions Menu.
2. Navigate to the Published Versions screen
In the top right hand corner of the Document History page, next to the Members, is a 3 dot menu. Click on the 3 dots and then select ‘View Published Versions’
3. Download as a PDF
You’re now on the Published Versions screen. Unlike the previous screen which shows all versions of the document, this screen only shows Published Versions and does not have the options to do things like ‘Open in Word’ or ‘Import New Version’
To download the document as a PDF, simply select the ‘Download This Version’ option from the Actions Menu.
The Published Versions screen is what people with Viewer permissions to your document can see. They’re able to view the Published Versions and download a PDF, but are not able to edit the document at all
Read the next guide
Other Features
Now that you understand how to collaborate on a document end to end using Simul, check out some of the other features of Simul that can be useful
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