Access Document Vault

To use Document Vault, start M-Files. There are several ways to start M-Files:

• Double-click the M-Files icon on Windows desktop.
• Double-click the M-Files icon in the taskbar.
• Double-click the M-Files icon in the system tray.
• Open File Explorer and find the M: virtual drive.

M-Files User Interface

The M-Files user interface can be divided into five main areas

1. Search bar and taskbar
2. Side list
3. All, Recent, Assigned, Checked out and Pinned menu
4. Central area
5. Metadata, Preview, and Filters tabs

Next to the search bar there is an icon taskbar with shortcodes to perform the following actions:

• Update M-Files
• Use the Create commands
• Access the help center
• Browse your user information

The side list contains the following modules:

• Create
• Go To
• Module Console

The module Create contains the following commands:

• Assignment
• Document
• Email
• Email Conversation
• View

Go To and the menu below the search box contain shortcuts to documents based on the following statuses:

• All
• Recent
• Assigned
• Checked out
• Pinned

When you click the shortcuts, the main area shows the components, which are collections of documents, or single documents, or matters with documents assigned. Use the lateral Metadata, Preview, and Filters tabs to browse information about a document, preview the document, or apply filters to a search.

Add a Document to M-Files

To add a document to M-Files:

1. Search for the document on Windows File Explorer.

2. Right-click the document and select Add to M-Files.

3. Enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

4. The people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel:

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

5. Click Create.

Note: If you need to add multiple documents to M-Files, select multiple documents and perform the procedure above.

Note: Although you can add people to Allow Edit Rights, Deny Access Rights, and Read-Only Rights, these fields are managed by eCounsel security access groups, so you can leave them blank.

Create a New Document

To create a new document:

1. Open the Create workflow by:

• Clicking the plus icon on the taskbar.

or

• Clicking Create > Document on the sidebar.

2. On Enter Class, select a document type from the dropdown list.

3. Select a template or a blank template. A blank template is a list of all available programs to create a document, for example: Word, Notepad, PowerPoint, etc.

4. Enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

5. The people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel:

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

   

6. Check Open for editing and click Create.

7. Edit the new document.

Note: Although you can add people to Allow Edit Rights, Deny Access Rights, and Read-Only Rights these fields are managed by eCounsel security access groups, so you can leave them blank.

Modify a Document

To modify an existing document, you need to be the author or have edit rights.

1. On M-Files, double-click on the document.

2. On the box that appears, select Check Out to open the document for editing.

3. When you have finished editing, close the document. On the Do you want to check in the document? box, click Yes.

By checking in the document, the changes made are stored in M-Files. You can work on your local copy of the document and check in the document until you finish the editing process, or you can check in every change you make even if the document is not ready. However, note that when a document is checked in, the document can be edited by other people with permissions.

Modify the Metadata of a Document

To modify the metadata of a document, you need to be the author or have edit rights.

1. On M-Files, click a document to select it.

2. On the right tabs, select the Metadata tab. The metadata appears to the right of the document.

3. Modify the metadata. Note that some fields can't be changed.

   • Name: This field can't change.

   • Matter: This field can't change.

   • Document Date: This field can't change.

   • Description: Modify a description.

   • Matter Number: This field can't change

4. The people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel:

   • Author: This field can't change
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

Any change to document metadata automatically creates a new version of the document.

Add Comments

To add comments to a document:

1. On M-Files, select a document.

2. Select the Metadata tab. The metadata appears to the right of the document.

3. On the top right, click the bubble message icon.

4. Enter the comment in the text box and then click Save.

Pin an Object or Document

You can pin an object or a document to save it to the Pin tab:

To pin a document:

1. Click the document and select the metadata tab on the right.

2. Click the Pin (tack) icon.

To unpin a document, click again the Pin (tack) icon.

 

Delete a Document

To delete a document:

1. On M-Files, select a document, right-click then select Delete.

2. Confirm that you want to delete the document. Check the Destroy permanently checkbox to delete permanently the document.