Working with Record History
When working with record history, you can perform the following tasks:
History entries may contain such information as payments made by involved parties, and automated assignments.
History records of a project may register such things as when the main assignees were changed and the dates when a lawsuit was filed. History records may be referred to as docketing or calendaring, narratives, logs, diaries, notes, or journals.
History records can be generated automatically or created manually. One of the more common uses of manual history records is to enter narratives associated with legal matters. For history entries that track changes made to a parent record, automated rules typically generate the appropriate history entries automatically when certain events occur in the parent record.
Most records have their own History link where you can create, search for, view, and delete all necessary history entries pertaining to the record. The History page behaves like a regular collection, and has a button that allows you to add new manual history entries.
From the History page on a record, change the View for the page.
Views on the History Page
|
View |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Recent History |
Displays history entries associated with this record. |
|
Recent Narratives |
Displays recent matter narratives associated with this record. |
|
By Date Range |
Displays a search filter for the entries associate with this record. |
Opening History Pages
Most records have their own History list page where you can create, search for, view, and delete all necessary history entries pertaining to the record. The History page looks and functions like a regular collection. Each history entry also has its own set of pages for displaying and editing its information.
You can access the history page of a record in the following ways:
- Through the Histories link in the All navigation pane. You can use this option when you want to search through all history entries in the database.
- Clicking the History link of a record while viewing or editing that record. This is a convenient way of viewing all history information pertaining to that specific record.
To open the pages of a history entry
- Click the History link in the left pane while viewing the record.
- Find the desired history record by examining the list of results. Click on the record's name.
If the parent record has a large number of history entries, and you do not wish to examine a large list to find the specific history entry you are interested in, you can click the Show Filter link to request a more filtered list of entries. - The corresponding History entry page appears in Read-only mode with its General page displayed by default.
- To change information in the entry, click Edit on the record toolbar to make the read-only fields editable.
- Click the link related to the information you would like to view or change.
History entry pages
History entries typically have the following links in the left navigation pane:
- General—Displays the general information of the history entry. See Viewing General History Information.
- Categories—Displays the categories added to the selected history entry. For more background information, see Setting Category Details.
- Documents—Displays documents associated with the selected entry. See Viewing Documents for more details.
- Security—Displays users and user groups who are given or denied access to the selected record. See Viewing Record Security for more details.
- Workflow—Displays the approvals or rejections log for the history entry.
Viewing General History Information
General history information is typically entered and displayed on the General page of the history entry. It includes the date and time when the entry was made, its default category, the name of the user who made the entry, the details of the entry, and the hyperlink to the record that created it.
The following table describes the items on the General tab of history entries.
General Page of a History Entry
|
Field or control |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Date |
Type the date or click the Calendar icon to specify the date on which the history entry is created. By default, the system displays the current date. |
|
Time |
Type the time or click the Time icon to specify the time in which the history entry is created. By default, the current time is displayed. By default, the system displays the current time that is read from the server. |
|
Description |
Type the appropriate details of the history entry. Make sure they are concise and to the point. Note: The first 250 characters are displayed as the Description for this entry in the search results. |
|
Parent Record |
Automatically displays a hyperlink to the record within which the history entry is created. |
Setting History Categories
Companies often find it useful to organize their history entries by categories. History categories are certain events that necessitate making the corresponding history entries. For example, in litigation, categories can be depositions, pleadings, amendments to petitions, notice of litigation, and notice of termination. These may include subcategories. All categories can be added, viewed and deleted on the Categories page of the history entry.
To set history categories
- Click on the Categories link in the left pane of the history entry page.
- Choose categories for this entry as described in Setting Category Details.
Creating Record History Entries
History entries are often generated automatically. Automatically generated history entries are added to the appropriate records according to the rules set by your administrator. However, you can also create history entries manually. This section describes that procedure.
To create a history entry for a record
- Open the record where you want to make a history entry (for example Appointment, Task, or Claim).
- Click the History link in the left pane. Your History search results appear.
- Click New.
The General page of a new History entry appears with the blank fields displayed for you by default. - Enter the appropriate values for the new History entry as described for the General page of a History entry.
- (Optional) Add other appropriate information on the other pages.
- Save the entry, as described more generally in Saving an Edited Record.
Points to Remember
- Any History entry can be made only from its "parent" record to which it is related.
- The information in the Description field should be brief and to the point so that users can easily distinguish among different history records in a list of search results.