Managing Documents

Viewing Documents

Vault offers several different ways to view your documents. You can select a view in the left panel to view all documents, your documents, recent documents, and favorites. You can also select the layout type that Vault uses to display your list of documents.

Once you have located the document you want to view, click the document name to open the document and view its details.

Creating Documents

You can create new documents in Vault Quality Basics using the following methods:

  • Upload a document from a drive
  • Create a placeholder document
  • Create a document from a template
  • Create a new draft of an approved document
  • Import a document that has been approved externally

Uploading Documents

Complete the following steps to upload a document:

  1. In the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, click Create.
  2. In the Create Document dialog, select Upload and click Continue.
  3. On the Upload Files page, click Upload, select the document you want to upload, and click Open. Alternatively, drag and drop the document file you want to upload onto the Drag and drop files to upload here section on the Upload Files (Step 1) page.
  4. To remove a document from the list of files to be uploaded, click the delete icon () next to the document name in the right panel.
  5. Select Classify documents now if you want to classify the document. Otherwise, select Classify documents later if you want to edit the document to add the classification at a later date.
  6. If you selected Classify documents now, select the document’s classification from the Choose document type drop-down.
  7. Click Next. A message is displayed on the Upload Files (Step 2) page when the files have been successfully uploaded.
  8. Enter the document’s Name, Owning Facility, Owning Department, and Training Impact.
  9. Populate the remaining required fields. Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*) and are dependent on the document lifecycle of the selected document type.
  10. Enter any additional information as needed.
  11. Click Save. The system saves the document, generates a viewable rendition, and displays the document’s details.

Creating Placeholder Documents

A placeholder document is a document record in Vault that does not yet have an uploaded document. You can create a placeholder document record now and upload a document to the placeholder later.

Complete the following steps to create a placeholder document:

  1. In the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, click Create. The Create Document dialog is displayed.
  2. In the Create Document dialog, select Placeholder and click Continue.
  3. On the Upload Files page, select the document’s classification from the Choose document type drop-down and click Next.
  4. Enter the placeholder document’s Name, Owning Facility, Owning Department, and Training Impact.
  5. Fill in the remaining required fields. Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*) and are dependent on the document lifecycle of the selected document type.
  6. Enter any additional information as needed.
  7. Click Save. The system saves the document record and displays the document’s details.

Creating Drafts from Approved Documents

Complete the following steps to create a draft from an approved document:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the approved document you want to create a draft from.
  2. From the All Actions menu, select Create Draft.
  3. Select an action in the Create Draft dialog:
    • To create a new draft using the existing file, click Copy.
    • To upload a new file, click Upload, select the document file you want, and click Open.
  4. Optional: Enter a Version Description.
  5. Click Create. Vault creates a new document and assigns it the next minor version.

Importing Approved Documents

When you first set up Quality Basics: QualityDocs, you may need to import documents that have already been approved in your legacy system. In this situation, you can import the preapproved documents and bypass the standard approval process. This process is available to Vault Admins only.

Follow the document upload process to import the approved documents. During upload, populate the following fields on the Upload Files (Step 2) page:

  • Approved Date: Enter the date that the document was approved in the legacy system.
  • Imported Document?: Select Yes to indicate that the document is being imported as an approved document. Setting this field to Yes indicates that the document is an Imported Approved Document in the Document Information panel.
  • Previous Document Number: Enter the document number or other identifier that the document used in the legacy system. This allows you to search for the document in Vault using the document number you are accustomed to. This field is optional.

Once you are finished with the document upload process, select Mark Imported Document as Approved from the Workflow Actions menu to manually approve the document and bypass the standard approval process.

Working with Document Templates

Document templates allow you to quickly create new documents from a configured template. When you create a new document from a template, Vault copies the template file and uses that copy as the source file for the new document. This process bypasses the content upload process and allows for more consistent document creation.

Creating Document Templates

Complete the following steps to create a document template:

  1. In the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, click Create. The Create Document dialog is displayed.
  2. Select Upload and click Continue. The Upload Files page is displayed.
  3. Click Upload, select the document template you want to upload, and click Open. Alternatively, drag and drop the document template you want to upload onto the Drag and drop files to upload here section on the Upload Files page.
  4. From the Choose document type drop-down, select Governance and Procedure > Master Template or Form > Master Form Template.
  5. Click Next. A message is displayed on the Upload Files page when the file has been successfully uploaded.
  6. Enter the Name of the template.
  7. In the Template Document Type field, search for and select the document type for the template.
  8. Populate the remaining required fields and click Save. The system saves the template in a Draft state and displays the template’s details.
  9. To make the template available for use, process it through the standard Draft to Effective process. Once the template reaches the Effective state, it can be used to create documents.

Creating Documents from a Template

Complete the following steps to create a document from a template:

  1. In the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, click Create.
  2. In the Create Document dialog, select Document from Template and click Continue.
  3. On the Create Document from Template page, select the document type from the Choose document type drop-down. Note that Vault only displays document types that have an associated template.
  4. From the Choose template drop-down, select the template you want to use.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Enter a Name for the document.
  7. Populate the remaining required fields and click Save. The system saves the document in a Draft state and displays the document’s details.

Editing Documents

Complete the following steps to edit a document:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the document you want to edit.
  2. To classify an unclassified document, click Classify in the Information panel, select the document’s Type, Subtype, and Classification, and click OK. Vault adds the document’s classification.
  3. To reclassify a document, click Reclassify in the Information panel, select a new Type, Subtype, and Classification, and click OK. Vault updates the document’s classification.
  4. To upload a file to a placeholder document, click Upload File, select the file you want to upload, and click Upload. Alternatively, drag and drop the file you want to upload onto the This placeholder has no content section on the document page.
  5. To edit a document’s information click Edit Fields in the Information panel heading, edit the information as needed, and click Save. Vault saves the updated document information.

About Document Lifecycles

Once a document has been added to the Working Library, it can be processed through an appropriate lifecycle. The amount of control needed to move a document through an approval process determines which lifecycle it follows.

The following lifecycles are available and are dependent on the Document Type:

  • Initial to Final: This lifecycle provides limited document control.
  • Draft to Approved: This lifecycle provides document control through approvals.
  • Draft to Effective: This lifecycle provides the highest level of control and requires Document Change Control.

Managing Initial to Final Documents

Documents that follow the Initial to Final lifecycle do not require a formal review or Document Change Control to move to the Final status. They may require a Quality Check (QC) before moving to the Final status.

Manually Changing Documents to Final

Complete the following steps to manually change a document to Final:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the document you want to move to Final.
  2. From the Workflow Actions menu, select Mark as Final. Vault changes the document’s status to Final and displays it in the Quality Consumer > Library tab.

Sending Documents for QC Review

Complete the following steps to send an Initial document for QC review:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the document you want to send for review.
  2. Select Send for QC from the Workflow Actions menu.
  3. In the Start Workflow dialog, select the QC Reviewers. All Reviewers must complete their QC before the document can be moved to Final.
  4. Enter a Due Date for completion of the QC review and click Start. Vault changes the document status to In QC and assigns a Quality Check task to the selected reviewers.

Completing Quality Check Tasks

Complete the following steps to complete a Quality Check task:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Home tab, select the All Tasks view to view your assigned tasks.
  2. Click Show more on the Quality Check task to view additional task information.
  3. Click the document name or click Continue on the Quality Check task you need to complete. Vault opens the document and displays a task banner with the task due date and instructions.
  4. Determine whether the document passes or fails the QC review and click Complete.
    • If the document fails the QC, select Failed QC, enter a Reason for Failure, and click Complete. Vault marks the QC Review task complete and changes the document status back to Initial.
    • If the document passes the QC, select Passed QC and click Complete. Vault marks the Quality Check task complete, changes the document status to Final, and displays the document in the Quality Consumer > Library tab.

Managing Draft to Approved Documents

Documents that follow the Draft to Approved lifecycle require formal approvals but do not require Document Change Control. 

Documents using this lifecycle are created in the Draft state. Before sending Draft documents for approval, they can be sent to users for authoring, for example, when a document is created from a template but does not yet have the relevant content. This step is optional; you can send a Draft document for approval without requiring additional authoring.

Draft to Approval documents require approvals from both an Approver and a QA Approver before they can be changed to the Approved status. 

Sending Documents for Authoring

Complete the following steps to send a Draft document for authoring:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the document you want to send for authoring.
  2. From the Workflow Actions menu, select Send for Authoring.
  3. In the Start Workflow dialog, select the Authors and add optional instructions. 
  4. Select an Authoring Due Date and click Start. Vault assigns a Complete Authoring task to the selected Authors and changes the document status to In Authoring.

Completing Authoring Tasks

Complete the following steps to complete a Complete Authoring task:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Home tab, select the All Tasks view to view your assigned tasks.
  2. Click Show more on the Complete Authoring task to view additional task information.
  3. Click the document name or click Continue on the Complete Authoring task you need to complete. Vault opens the document and displays a task banner with the task due date and instructions.
  4. Review and edit the document as needed. The steps for editing the document are different depending on whether your site uses collaborative authoring.
  5. Once you have edited and reviewed the document and it is checked back into Vault, click Complete in the task banner. Vault displays a dialog asking you to confirm that you have completed the task.
  6. Select Authoring Complete, enter optional comments, and click Complete in the dialog. Vault marks the task complete, changes the document status to Finalizing Authoring, and assigns the authors a Review Authored Document task. 
  7. Once you have verified that the appropriate content has been added and the document is checked in, click Complete in the Review Authored Document task banner.
    • If the document requires additional work, select Additional Work Needed, enter an Additional Work Needed Reason, and click Complete. Vault marks the task complete and changes the document status back to Draft.
    • If the document is ready for approval, select Ready for Approval and click Complete. Vault marks the task complete, changes the document status to Ready for Approval, and prompts you to send the document for approval.

Sending Documents for Approval

Complete the following steps to send a Draft or Ready for Approval document for approval:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Working Library tab, open the document you want to send for approval.
  2. From the Workflow Actions menu, select Send for Approval.
  3. In the Start Workflow dialog, select the Approvers and enter optional instructions for the Approvers.
  4. Select the QA Approvers and enter optional instructions for the QA approvers.
  5. Enter an Approval Due Date for completion of the approval and click Start. Vault changes the document status to In Approval and assigns a Document Approval task to the selected Approvers. 

Completing Document Approval Tasks

For documents in the Draft to Approved lifecycle, an Approval and QA Approval are both required before the document status is changed to Approved. The Approver must approve the document before the QA Document Approval task is assigned to the QA Approver. 

Complete the following steps to complete a Document Approval or QA Document Approval task:

  1. From the Document Workspace > Home tab, select the All Tasks view to view your assigned tasks.
  2. Click Show more on the approval task to view additional task information.
  3. Click the document name or click Continue on the approval task you need to complete. Vault opens the document and displays a task banner with the task due date and instructions.
  4. For Document Approval tasks:
    1. Determine whether to approve or reject the document and click Complete.
    2. To reject the document, select Reject, enter a Rejection Reason, and click Complete. Vault marks the Document Approval task complete and changes the document status back to Draft.
    3. To approve the document, select Approve, select Approver for the Electronic Signature Approval Meaning, enter your User Name and Password, and click Complete. Vault marks the Document Approval task complete and assigns a QA Document Approval task to the QA Approver.
  5. For QA Document Approval tasks:
    1. Determine whether to approve or reject the document and click Complete.
    2. To reject the document, select Reject, enter a Rejection Reason, and click Complete. Vault marks the QA Document Approval task complete and changes the document status back to Draft.
    3. To approve the document, select Approve, select Quality Approver for the Electronic Signature Approval Meaning, enter your User Name and Password, and click Complete. Vault marks the QA Document Approval task complete, changes the document status to Approved, and displays the document in the Quality Consumer > Library tab.