If your firm uses NetDocuments for document storage you can link NetDocuments workspaces to matters and access NetDocuments directly from within the matter screen in Actionstep. Unlike Google Drive and DropBox where these repositories show up as "Drives" in the Actionstep documents page, NetDocuments has its own menu item under Documents so that it can display the native NetDocuments user interface. You can use NetDocuments in conjunction with Actionstep documents or as a complete replacement thereof.

How It Works

You simply link existing matter workspaces in NetDocuments to their corresponding matters in Actionstep. If you don't have a NetDocuments matter workspace you can create one from within the Actionstep matter.

To access the NetDocuments screen click on the documents  icon within the matter and select "NetDocuments"

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If you have not previously linked a NetDocuments folder to the matter then you can search for an existing, or create a new, workspace and link it to the matter.

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Once the matter is linked you will see the NetDocuments workspace.

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Admin Setup

In order to use NetDocuments your system administrator will need to do the following:

1. Install the NetDocuments Plugin

Go to our Integrations Page and install the NetDocuments plugin into your Actionstep system.

2. Enter Your NetDocuments Credentials

In Actionstep go to Admin > Plugins > NetDocuments Configuration

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3. Select a NetDocuments Cabinet

If you have more than one NetDocuments "Cabinet" then select the one that contains your matter documents.

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Note that matters workspaces in NetDocuments can either be identified by a single or double identifiers. Single identifiers will map directly to matter IDs in Actionstep.  If you are using a double identifier (Client, Matter) then you will need to link the client contact and matter ID in Actionstep.

Unlinking Matters

If a user accidentally links the wrong workspace to a matter an Administrator can unlink the NetDocuments folder by going to Admin > Plugins > NetDocuments Matter Mappings where you can filter on matters and unlink them. The documents will remain in NetDocuments after unlinking and you can link the same folder to another matter if needed.

Recommended setup in NetDocuments

NetDocuments can be customised in many ways (like Actionstep). We recommend that you set it up a certain way to get the best out of the integration with Action but this is not not meant to be a limiting way that you configure you system. You can configure it however suits you best.

Setting up your Attributes

You can configure your NetDocs Cabinet to link to both Clients and Matters (recommended), or Matters only. For More information about what Attributes are and how they work see the NetDocuments User guide: Define Profile Attributes

To set this up login to your NetDocuments account and go into the Admin section.

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Then click on Define profile attributes.

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Here you will define your document profiles. As NetDocuments has powerful full text searching, you usually do not need to have many profile fields. If you want to link both Clients and Matters then you should add both of these. You may want to add further options like "Document Type", for example.

Use the Add button to add a profile Attribute for "Client" and one for "Matter".

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On the Profile Attribute Definition screen for Client:  

Type will be Text (usually). Maximum length should be large enough to accommodate even long client names.

Link to Parent  should be set to "None".

Tick Use lookup table. (This is important for the Actionstep integration)

Tick Hide Lookup table.

You would normally want to tick Prompt if Empty to ensure documents aren't just dumped anywhere.

You can leave the remaining fields un-ticked.

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When Editing the  Matter Attribute do the same as above(for Client) with the one exception: use the Link to Parent to link the matter Attribute as a child of the Client Attribute.

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Define Workspace Templates

Go back to the Admin screen and click on your cabinet.

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Click on Define workspace templates towards the top left of the screen 

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Make sure that the Base workspaces on this attribute is set to "Matter".

Enter in a plural form of Matter ("Matters")

If you have setup a Documents Type Attribute you may want to choose it from Organise documents within workspaces by this attribute to that Document Type.

Tick the box for Enable workspaces for this cabinet and use the default.

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In the Templates Details part of this screen you can use the Workspace Title to define how the Workspaces in NetDocs that are created from Actionstep will be named. You can use this to define how they will be named, ie, client name then matter name. For instance:

[ParentDescription]: [MatterKey]- [MatterDescription] 

Will show the the Client_Name: MatterNumber - Matter Name, eg, Connor Smith: 198 - Sale of 45 Wilson Street.

Click Save Templates once you have made the changes.

See updated article in Actionstep Help Center: https://support.actionstep.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034136334-Using-the-NetDocuments-Integration-with-Actionstep