CARA Version 5

End User Manual

February 2020

This document is strictly confidential

and may only be read by licensed or
evaluating customers.
CARA Version 5 End User Manual

Table of Contents
1. Introducing CARA .......................................................................................................... 3
2. Login and Logout ........................................................................................................... 5
3. User Interface Design .................................................................................................... 7
4. Navigation Panel .......................................................................................................... 10
5. The Main View Panel ................................................................................................... 17
6. The Widgets and Preview Panel .................................................................................. 20
7. Menu Bar and Toolbar ................................................................................................. 25
8. The Context and Views Bar ......................................................................................... 27
9. The Versions and Search Bar ...................................................................................... 29
10. Viewing Documents .................................................................................................. 35
11. Creating Documents ................................................................................................. 44
12. Creating and Importing Templates............................................................................ 52
13. Editing Documents ................................................................................................... 56
14. Working with Documents .......................................................................................... 60

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1. Introducing CARA
What is CARA? CARA is a next generation content management platform. It is one of
the fastest, most configurable and user-friendly systems on the
market.

The Purpose of The CARA End User manual provides instructions for using the CARA
this Manual system. It describes the steps used to create, view, edit and locate
documents.

This manual is designed to compliment CARA training, serving as a

reference aid throughout and after.

Why Your CARA is highly configurable and tailored to the needs of each
Screens and organisation. Within an organisation it can be further configured to the
Menus May requirements of specific departments and groups of users.
Differ From the Menu text labels and accompanying menu icons can be customised
Manual or altered from the default. User interface panels and specific
functions can be enabled or hidden according to business need or
user permissions.
Therefore not all of the functionality described and shown in this guide
will be visible to all users or have the same labels or appearance.

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A Note About CARA can be used to manage content-less objects as well as

Documents and documents. Content-less objects typically have many of the same
Objects properties and options as documents and most end user functions
apply to both. For simplicity this manual primarily refers to documents
and their content when describing the use of functions .

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2. Login and Logout

Logging into CARA is browser based. Each organisation has a different web
CARA address for its own implementation of CARA.

1. Launch your browser and enter the address of your

organisation’s CARA environment as supplied by your IT support
department. This may have already been saved as a browser
shortcut for you.
2. The CARA login window launches, enter your username and
password.
3. Optionally select a language
4. Click Login.

Logging Out of The logged in user’s name is displayed in the centre of the top-most
CARA toolbar. Logout is available from the drop-down menu beside the
user’s name.

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Simply closing the browser completely is also a valid way to logout of

CARA. However only closing the browser tab which contains CARA,
leaving the browser open with other tabs, does not fully close CARA.

Users who are inactive for a period of time are logged out
automatically and returned to the login window. Each organisation
can choose the inactivity timeout period.

Changing Your The option to Change Password is available from the User Profile
Password and menu located beneath the user’s name in the top-most toolbar. Users
User Profile whose CARA password is automatically synchronised with their
network login via LDAP will not have the option to change their
password.

The User Profile page also allows a user to check their Email
Address, Notification Preferred Channel and Locale.

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3. User Interface Design

Main Panels The CARA user interface is organised into 3 main panels:
Described

1. The Navigation panel, located on the left-hand side, is where users

access the folders and other locations from which they will select
and browse for documents. Typically users are provided with a
browsable folder hierarchy and filters for focusing on sets of
documents which meet specific criteria.

2. The central Main View panel lists the documents selected from the
Navigation panel. Each document is listed on a separate line in the
Main View panel. Columns within the Main View panel display
document properties. Documents’ sort order and the properties
displayed as columns can be customised by each user individually.

3. The Widgets panel, located on the right-hand side, displays

detailed information about the document currently highlighted in the
Main View panel. Multiple widgets are available, each focuses on a
particular type of information, for example there are widgets that
display version history, content or relationships to other documents.
A default set of widgets are displayed when the user initially logs in

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and widgets can be added, removed and reordered by each user

according to their preference.

Toolbars The Toolbar area runs horizontally above the main panels and has 4
Described main sections:

1. The top row contains the main menu button, CARA logo and user
profile drop-down menu. Based on the user’s permissions, it may
also include options for accessing the Control Panel, Monitoring
and Utilities menus.

2. The second row is the Contexts and View Tabs bar. Views are
fundamental to how the CARA user interface is organised, views
are tailored to a specific document type and control most aspects of
the user interface such as main panel column layout, menu options,
filters and widgets. Users may have access to multiple types of
document and therefore multiple views. A context is a collection of
views and often represents a department within an organisation.
Users may have access to a just a single context or multiple.
Where users have access to multiple contexts, they choose a
context from the left-hand side drop-down list and then
corresponding view tabs are laid out across the bar. Users can
close and re-opened the views within a context as needed.

3. The third row of the toolbar area displays the Toolbar buttons
available to the user, such as those for creating or viewing a
document. Toolbar buttons are always context sensitive and
appropriate to the users permissions. Toolbar buttons are greyed
out when they require a selection or action to be performed, for
example the Properties button is greyed out if no document has
been selected.

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4. The fourth row of the toolbar areas contains the Version Filters
and tags drop-down list, as well as the main Search bar.

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4. Navigation Panel
Navigation The Navigation panel, on the left hand side of the user interface, is
Panel Details where users locate a source of documents, re-order those documents
and graph the displayed data.

Users can be provided with a browsable folder hierarchy, property

filters for narrowing down the displayed document list and tools for
graphing displayed document properties. They may also be provided
with any combination of these.

The Navigation panel can be minimized and resized as per user

preference. The top of the Navigation panel contains icons for
toggling between the different options.

Icons from left to right:

1. Collapse the Navigation panel.
2. Display the Navigation Tree.
3. Display Filters.
4. Add a filter (only visible when Filters are displayed)

Navigation Tree The Navigation panel contains the Navigation Tree, a browsable
hierarchy of folders that users locate documents from. Highlighting a
folder in the Navigation Tree displays documents contained within on
the Main View panel. Users can drill down through the folder
hierarchy, expanding and collapsing the folder tree as needed.

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If the Navigation Tree is not already visible, click the network icon to
toggle it on.

The Navigation Tree can contain multiple folder hierarchies, each

grouped and organised by different properties for user convenience,
these are referred to as Dimensions.

Dimensions The purpose and advantage of Dimensions is to allow users to

browse for documents by the properties which are most meaningful
for them. Also they mean that users are not restricted to only
browsing by a single folder hierarchy. The same user may have
multiple criteria which they find useful for browsing and selecting
documents by. It is important to note that the same documents may
appear within multiple Dimensions.

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For example one dimension could group documents into folders

based on their owner and then sub-folders based on status. Another
dimension could contain the same set of documents but group them
into folders based on other properties, perhaps department and then
region.

Any document property can be the basis of a dimension.

Filters Filters are pre-configured filters used to narrow the list of documents
displayed in the Main View panel. If Filters are not already visible,
click the funnel icon to toggle them on:

Multiple filters may be available, each based on a specified attribute.

Each filter panel can be closed, re-selected via the + Plus icon and
re-ordered via click and drag.
Each filter panel will automatically list all values for the selected
attribute contained by documents presently listed in the Main View
panel.
The number beside each value is the number of documents currently
in the Main View panel with that value.

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Icons at the bottom of each Filter panel are used to clear the filter
selection or change the display order of the property values.

Icons from left to right:

1. Clear Filter.
2. Sort by Amount Descending.
3. Sort by Amount Ascending.
4. Sort by Name Descending.
5. Sort by Name Ascending.

Ticking a property value results in only documents with that value

being included in the Main View panel results. When more than one
attribute is selected the results are cumulative, that is documents with
any of the selected values are included in the Main View panel
results.

Clicking the magnifying glass icon and entering a value in the

subsequent search field will remove values from the panel which do
not match. The search field is case insensitive and behaves as a
contains search without the need to use wildcard characters. Clicking
the magnifying glass icon a second time removes the search field and
any current filter restriction applied.

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Graphing Data Where a filter panel includes the graph icon, clicking this will produce
a bar graph of the selected data at the top of the Main View panel:

Holding the Ctrl key while clicking the graph icon will launch the
graph in a separate window:

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Hovering the mouse over a bar graph value will display a tooltip for
the data.

Use the X icon to close a filter panel. Closing the filter panel removes
any related filtering applied to the Main View panel results.

Mapping Data The Map filter is a special type of filter available within CARA. When
enabled for a view, it is selectable from the + Add Filter icon at the
top of the Navigation panel:

With the Map panel displayed click Show Map:

A location property such as city or country, will then be used to plot

the location of the documents listed in the Main View panel and the
map expands within the Navigation panel:

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The map view can be toggled to a Satellite view and Labels can be
enabled or disabled from the top left corner drop-down menu. Close
the map view with the X cross icon to return the Navigation panel to
the filter view:

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5. The Main View Panel

Main View Panel The Main View panel displays documents selected in the Navigation
Details panel or from search results.

When a folder has been selected in the Navigation panel, the folder
path is displayed at the top of the Main View panel.

Each row in the Main View panel represents an individual document.

Each column in the Main View panel contains an attribute of the
displayed documents.
Each view is based on a specific type and therefore each view’s Main
View panel will display a different set of columns. It is commonly the
case that the first column displays the documents’ name or other key
identifier.

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Searching by Each column has a corresponding search field directly beneath the
Column column heading, allowing users to easily filter the documents. These
Property search fields are case insensitive and behave as a contains search
without the need to use wildcard characters. The user does not need
to press Enter for the search to run, the results are filtered as the user
types, rapidly narrowing the displayed results list:

Customising Users can change the order of the columns via click and drag:
Columns

In addition to choosing the column order, users can mark columns as

visible or hidden by clicking the drop-down arrow at the end of a
column:

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When users make a change to the column layout or other user

interface elements, those changes are automatically stored centrally
and applied whenever the user logs in.

Search in Folder The Search in Folder field located at the top of the Main View panel
searches only within the displayed results, unlike the general Search
field within the toolbar area:

Pagination Where a large number of documents are to be displayed in the Main

View panel the results are paginated. Pagination controls and a
count of the total number of documents listed are placed at the
bottom of the Main View panel:

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6. The Widgets and Preview Panel

Widgets Panel The Widgets panel, located on the right-hand side of the user
interface, displays detailed information about the document currently
highlighted in the Main View panel.

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Preview Panel The right-hand side panel also contains a document content preview
option. The Display Preview panel displays PDF format renditions of
the currently highlighted document. If the Fit Width option in the
bottom-right corner has been selected, as the Display Preview panel
is resized the previewed content will be rescaled accordingly:

Icons are displayed for toggling between the Widgets and Display
Preview panels and for adding widgets:

Icons from left to right:

1. Collapse Widget panel.
2. Display Widgets.
3. Display Preview.
4. Select Widgets.

The Widgets and Display Preview panel can be collapsed and

resized as per user preference.

A default set of displayed widgets is configured per view. Users can

remove widgets individually, they can also add widgets via the + Plus
icon. Widgets can be re-ordered by drag and drop.

Standard The following widgets are available as standard within CARA. In

Widgets addition specific custom widgets can also be created for each

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organisation. Each organisation decides which widgets are

appropriate for their users and which are displayed by default:

1. Attributes
Displays document properties. Different document types will have
different attributes and each organisation configures which attributes
are visible.

2. Barcode
Automatically generates and displays a barcode for the currently
highlighted document. By default it is based on the Type and ID
attributes. The value which the barcode is generated from is
displayed underneath the barcode.

3. Content/Renditions
Content associated with the highlighted document is listed, which can
include the original source format as well as renditions in various
formats, such as PDF, and thumbnails.

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4. QR Code
Automatically generates and displays a QR (Quick Response) code
for the currently highlighted document. By default it is based on the
Type and ID attributes.

5. Thumbnails
Displays a small graphic rendition of the currently highlighted
document. Often used to help quickly identify graphical content based
objects such as logos. When generated for traditional documents
these are typically based on a first or cover page. If a rendition is
unavailable a placeholder logo, appropriate to the format, is displayed
instead:

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6. Versions
Displays available versions of the currently highlighted document.
Typically, by default, users see only the current versions of
documents in the Main View panel, with other versions being
available from the Versions widget.
Please note that the versions displayed are appropriate to the current
user, for example an organisation could decide to hide draft versions
of documents from all or some users.

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7. Menu Bar and Toolbar

Menu Bar The top row Menu bar contains several elements:
Details

1. A traditional main menu is located on the far left side. Users can
click the 3 dash icon to open the menu and navigate through sub-
menus:

Please note most functions are also made available to users via the
right-click menu and toolbar buttons

2. Logout and User Profile options are available from the central
drop-down list, which also displays the current user’s login name:

3. The options available on the right-hand side of the main menu bar
are dependent upon the user’s permissions. Administrators
typically see the Control Panel, Analytics and Utilities icons:

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4. The far-right side About icon displays the CARA version and
other system information when clicked. Support department
personnel will typically need to know the version numbers
displayed if issues are raised:

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8. The Context and Views Bar

Context and The second row on the toolbar area is the Context and Views bar:
Views Bar
Description

A context is a collection of views. Users may have access to a single

context or multiple. Where users have access to multiple contexts, they
select a context by clicking the far-left side drop-down list which
displays a list of the contexts available to them, then the corresponding
view tabs are laid out across the bar. The name of the current context
is displayed on the Contexts tab:

A view is a document specific layout of the user interface. Users may

have access to multiple types of document and therefore multiple
views. Each view is selectable as a tab. View tabs are laid out
horizontally beside the context tab they are associated with.
Users can close and then re-add view tabs from the far-right + Add
drop-down list, where views which are already open are greyed out:

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Toolbar The third row on the toolbar area is the main Toolbar. The toolbar
Details buttons displayed are configured per view and appropriate to the user’s
permissions level. The toolbar buttons are context sensitive, buttons
which require the selection of a document will be grey until a document
is selected:

Please note that in addition to standard document management

functions such as Create, Edit and View, within CARA toolbar buttons
which execute custom actions can also be configured and added to a
view.

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9. The Versions and Search Bar

Versions and The fourth row on the toolbar area contains the Versions and Tags
Search Bar drop-down menu and the main Search bar:
Description

The Version and Tags drop-down menu provides two separate options
for filtering the documents listed in the Main View panel, and both are
configurable per view.

Versions Users can filter the documents listed in the Main View panel based on a
Labels descriptive version label. The most common versions labels are display
only the Latest versions or display All versions. Other descriptive
version labels, such as Draft or Approved, can be configured.

It should be noted that even when a version label has been applied to
the documents listed in the Main View panel, other document versions

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available to the user will still be displayed in the dedicated Versions

widget when highlighting a specific document.

Tags Tags are shortcuts to sets for documents, intended for quick access to
common documents. The following tags are present by default:

All Documents – the All Documents tag is provided as a quick means

to toggle off any other selected tags.

Recent Items – documents the user has recently viewed or edited.

Subscriptions – documents which the user has requested change

notifications for.

Favorites – documents which the user has marked as a favourite,

particularly useful when a user needs to repeatedly access certain
documents, without the need to browse to their folder location.

Other tags can be customised per view. Any document attribute can be
the basis of a custom tag, for example displaying documents related to a
particular product, region, department, or created within a particular date
range.

When a Versions label and a Tag are both selected, the filtering is
cumulative and the drop-down field label describes those selected:

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Search Bar The Search bar is used to search for documents across the repository,
though users’ search results are always subject to their permissions,
users will not see documents in the search results which they have no
permissions to:

The Search bar is case insensitive and operates as a contains search,

without the need to enter wildcard characters. Which properties are
included in the search is configurable per view and can include any
document properties. Document Name is the most commonly included
property.

By default when a user enters text into the search field it will search
against all properties which have been set as searchable. However

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users can select to only search within a particular property selected from
the drop-down list, this is particularly useful when multiple properties
have been configured to be included and the same search term is likely
to be found in multiple properties:

When a specific property has been selected for searching, it is

highlighted in blue to the left of the search field. It can be removed and
the search returned to matching against all fields by clicking the white X
icon:

The search makes use of fuzzy logic, that is the search is first carried out
using the exact search term entered. However if no results are found the
search immediately switches to looking for close matches.

In the example below, the term Aspirin has been mis-typed and no
results matching exactly were initially found, then the search was
immediately re-run using fuzzy logic and appropriate results were
returned. The whole search, including the fuzzy logic part, took a small
fraction of a second and was seamless to the user:

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When the search results are returned, the search term used continues to
be displayed in the Search bar. To clear the search and return to listing
all documents click the X cross button at right-hand end of the search
field:

Searches can be applied to the content of documents by ticking Search

in Content:

If Highlights is also ticked, the matching text will be displayed in a pop-

up panel while hovering over individual documents in the search result:

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10. Viewing Documents

Viewing Viewing documents refers to viewing both their properties and
Properties content.
Overview
Core document properties are displayed in the Main View panel’s
document list:

Additionally the Attributes widget is typically displayed, showing

greater details of the currently highlighted document:

There is also the option to view the document’s properties form, which
has a more designed layout and groups related properties into
dedicated tabs or sections.

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Also a complete dump of a document’s properties can be obtained,

including system generated properties which are not usually
displayed or of interest to most users, by selecting Dump from either
the toolbar or right-click menu.

Viewing Content Viewing a document’s content also has several options, depending on
Overview permissions and purpose. Often users simply want to view the
document’s content in the original source format, such as MS Word or
MS Excel. This is usually appropriate for document authors. However
organisations often limit users who only have read access to a
specialised format such as PDF. When copies of a document are

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created in an alternative format, such as PDF, these are referred to

as renditions. When thumbnails are generated for displaying a
preview graphic, these are also referred to as renditions.

In most CARA environments renditions are generated automatically

when a document is checked-in.

The renditions widget can display both the original source format of a
document and rendition copies such as PDF or thumbnails.

The Display Preview panel, contained within the Widgets panel,

displays PDF format document content. If the Fit Width option in the
bottom-right corner has been selected, when the Display Preview
panel is resized the previewed content will be rescaled accordingly:

Renditions often include additional processing over the original

source format document, for example they may place watermarks on

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each page, include a bar code or QR code or have additional pages

inserted containing document properties. Renditions are often used
when a document passes through a process, either via a lifecycle or
workflow task or both.

Viewing the Highlight a document in the Main View panel and select Properties
Properties Form from the toolbar or right-click menu. Please note that typically users
will not be allowed to modify properties on the properties form without
having first checked out the document. Each document has a
properties form designed specifically, the screenshot below is one
possible example:

Note that in the above example there is a save button displayed,

however users with read only access would not be able to modify
property values and the save button would not be present.

Viewing an An Object Dump includes system generated properties, in addition to

Object Dump those manually entered by users or automatically set by naming rules.
System generated properties are grouped together at the top of the
Object Dump window.

A object dump can be useful when troubleshooting issues and may

be requested by support teams. To produce an object dump, highlight
a document and select Dump from the toolbar or right-click menu.

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The object dump is presented in a raw JSON format, it is not intended

as a general user feature:

The Object Dump window includes the option to Copy to Clipboard

for convenient pasting into an email or other document.

Viewing Content To view a document’s content in the source format, highlight a

in the Source document in the Main View panel and select View from the toolbar or
Format right-click menu.

The document will be downloaded to the user’s local PC and opened

in the associated editing application, such as MS Word or MS Excel.
Users should not edit or save a document in the editing application if
it has been only opened for viewing within CARA, as this will only
save the updated document locally and potentially create a non-
controlled copy.

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Viewing Renditions can be created in multiple formats, the most common is

Renditions in a PDF.
Separate To view a PDF rendition, highlight the document in the Main View
Application panel and select View PDF from the toolbar or right-click menu.

The PDF will open in the default application on the user’s PC which
has been associated with PDF format documents. This may be the
user’s browser or a dedicated locally installed application such as
Adobe Reader.

The Renditions widget indicates which formats of rendition are

available for a selected document.

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Viewing PDF PDF format content can be viewed directly within the CARA user
Content within interface. Highlight a document in the Main View panel and click the
the CARA GUI Display Preview icon in the Widgets panel. Clicking the Display
via Display Widgets icon toggles back to the Widgets view.
Preview

Icons from Left to Right:

1. Collapse Panel
2. Display Widgets
3. Display Preview

The Display Preview panel includes pagination and scaling options,

located on the bottom toolbar. If scaling has been set to Fit Width,
when the Display Preview panel is resized the previewed content will
be rescaled accordingly:

Displaying the CARA can be configured to record a detailed history of events that
Audit History occur on a document. Events can include standard document
management functions such as a document being viewed, edited or
versioned. It can also include events associated with workflow tasks
such as users reviewing or approving a document and e-signatures
can be recorded.

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Users can view the audit history of a highlighted document by

selecting Audit Trail Report from the toolbar or right-click menu.

The Audit Trail Report displays the event ID, Event name, User
Name, Time Stamp and IP Address:

Users can search for specific user events within the audit history by
using the Search field at the top of the Audit Trail Report window.
The search is case insensitive and is a contains search, wildcard
characters do not need to be entered:

Users have the option to Include All Versions, which displays audit
events from all versions of the selected document, instead of just the
specific version selected in the Main View panel.

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Where attribute values have changed, both the old and new values
can be shown in a separate window, accessed via the View link in the
Properties Change column:

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11. Creating Documents

Introduction Documents can be created using several different methods in CARA,
but commonly creating a document involves selecting the
classification of a document, filling out properties on a form and
editing the content in an appropriate editing tool such as MS Word or
Excel.

The classification of a document refers to the type of document a user

is creating and subsequently determines most aspects of the
document such as folder location, properties form, security and
lifecycle.

It is important to note that in CARA users typically do not manually

select the folder location that a document will be placed into. Instead
the classification that a document is given determines the folder
location. This prevents users accidentally placing documents in the
wrong location. Therefore it is not necessary for users to select a
folder before creating a document.

Documents may be classified by multiple properties, for example a

document could be assigned a department, product, region,
regulatory authority etc. and all could form part of the document’s
overall classification. Therefore users may be presented with multiple
choices to make when classifying a document:

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Property forms are document type specific and will often contain a
combination of properties to be filled out manually by the user, either
by free-typing or selecting from a drop-down list, and automatically
generated properties. Properties on a form are often organised into
tab or sections.
Properties which are marked with an asterisk must be completed
before the form can be saved and the user can move onto editing the
content.

While being edited, the content is located on the user’s local PC and
a lock is placed on the document object within CARA, preventing
other users from editing, this is referred to as being checked-out.
Once editing is finished the document is transferred to the CARA
system, a new version is created and the lock is removed, this is
referred to as check-in.

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Icons in the left-most column of the Main View panel indicate

documents which are checked-out. A key icon indicates the document
is checked-out by the current user. A padlock icon indicates the
document is checked-out by another user.

When documents are selected for viewing or editing, they are copied
to the user’s local PC. Users are prompted to selected their local
check-out location the very first time they select to view or edit a
document. Users can view the location of their local check-out
directory and change the location as preferred by selecting the
options from the toolbar. Users can access the documents in their
local check-out directory when offline via standard OS functions such
as the file browser.

Creating New 1. Select Create from the toolbar, the Create window opens:
Documents

2. Select a Classification. Classifications are department specific

and typically require the user to make choices at several levels,
each represented by a drop-down list, which will classify the
document.

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3. Select a Creation Method. The creation method refers to the

content of the document. Users will typically be presented with
one or more of the following choices:

a. Placeholder. A Placeholder is a document without a content file.

This is useful when a user knows at least some of the property
values the document will have, but does not initially have the
content file. The content file can be added at a later date.
Placeholders can be used to indicate documents which are
required or expected but are not yet available.
b. From Template. This is the most commonly used option. A new
content file will be created by copying a template which is
already present in the system, for example a MS Word or Excel
template document. The user selects the template from the
subsequent drop-down list. Templates are classified in the same
way as documents. Please see the separate section on importing
and creating templates.
Please note there is no blank document option for Creation
Method. Instead users select a template with a blank content file
in an appropriate format, such as .docx, that has been imported
for the purpose.
c. From eForm. Create a new document with an attached eForm
for displaying and entering additional information, instead of a
traditional content file.

4. Click Save, the properties form opens. Property forms are

organisation and type specific, the following is one possible
example:

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Property forms typically organise related properties into tabs.

Property fields may be free-text or drop-down list based. Any
properties which are marked with an asterisk are required and
must be completed before the form can be saved. Once the
property form has been completed click Save.
5. If From Template was selected as the Creation Method, a copy
of the chosen template is copied to the user’s local PC and then
opened for editing in the associated application, such as MS
Word:
6. Within the editing application, edit the document as usual and
Save once completed. Do not select Save As and then choose a
new location, as this could place the updated document in a new
location which is not visible to CARA for check-in. Close the
editing application.
7. Back in CARA, the newly created document is listed with a lock
icon. If further editing is required, select Edit from the toolbar or
right-click menu.
When editing is complete, select Check-in from the toolbar or
right-click menu.
8. The document is checked-in, the lock is removed and a new
version of the document is created.

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Importing 1. Select Import from the toolbar, the Upload Files window opens:
Documents

2. Click Browse to open your browser’s file upload tool. Locate and
highlight a document to be imported and then click Open,
returning to the Upload Files window.

3. Click Save. At this point the document is transferred from the

location selected above to the CARA servers. An upload progress
window is displayed briefly:

4. In the subsequent Import window select a classification for the

document and click Save. The number of classification choices
presented and the selections within are uniquely configured for
each organisation, the following is only one possible example:

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5. The document’s properties form opens, enter values into the

properties form as appropriate. Any fields with an asterisk are
required. Properties are typically grouped together into tabs, be
sure to check each tab for properties to complete. Like the
classification options, the properties form is customised per
organisation and the below is only one possible example:

6. Once complete click Save.

7. The document is imported into CARA and is displayed in the Main
View panel.

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A folder location and other configuration will have been applied to

the document automatically based on the classification chosen
8. The document can be quickly re-located by selecting Recent
Items from the Versions and Tags drop-down in the Navigation
panel.

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12. Creating and Importing Templates

Introduction Templates refers to the content templates users can select when
creating a new document. After selecting a Classification, users can
select From Template in the Creation Method panel and then a
specific template from the drop-down list:

Like normal documents, when a template is created or imported, a

classification is chosen, which determines which classification of
documents the templates can be used for.
Document classification commonly has a number of required levels,
for example there may be 2 levels of classification and both require a
selection to be made. Required levels are indicated by an asterisk
after the classification level’s name.
However the number of classification levels for a template does not
need to be the same as for documents, this is because a template will
sometimes be applicable to a wider classification of documents. For
example a document classification could require the selection of both
a product and a region, but a template for a product could apply to all
regions and therefore only requires the selection of a product.

Importing 1. Select Import Template form the toolbar or main menu, the
Templates Upload Files window opens:

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2. Click Browse to open your browser’s file upload tool. Locate and
highlight a document to be imported as a template and then click
Open, returning to the Upload Files window.

Please note that templates imported into CARA should be normal

document file formats, such as .doc or .docx. They should not be
actual template formats such as .dot or .dotx

3. Click Save, the Import Template window opens:

4. Select the Classification of the template. The template will only

be available for creating documents with a matching classification.
Click Save.

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5. The template’s properties form opens, enter values into the

properties form as appropriate. Any fields with an asterisk are
required. Properties are typically grouped together into tabs, be
sure to check each tab for properties to complete:

6. Click Save.

Creating New templates can be created from templates already present within
Templates CARA, these new templates can have a different name, classification
and property values. This is useful where an existing template is to be
re-purposed for a different classification or department.
There is no ongoing link between the original and the new template, a
update to one will not update the other.

1. Select Create Template from the toolbar or menu bar.

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2. In the Create Template window select a Classification.

3. For Creation Method select From Template, and then choose
the existing template the new template is to be copied from.
4. Click Save.
5. The template’s properties form opens. Enter properties values as
appropriate and click Save.

6. The new template is saved and available for new documents with
a matching classification.

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13. Editing Documents

Description After a document has been initially created or imported users will at
some point want to return to the document in order to edit or add to it.

In CARA, as with other document management systems, this involves

a lock being placed on the document while it is being edited,
preventing others users from making simultaneous and potentially
conflicting changes. This is referred to as check-out. When checked-
out the document’s content is copied to the user’s local PC.

Once the user has finished editing the document it is checked-in, that
is the updated content is transferred from the user’s local PC to the
CARA servers and the lock is removed. Typically a new version of the
document is created, this may be a minor or major version depending
upon the type’s configuration. The new version is generally given a
label such as “current” or “latest” indicating that it is the most up to
date version.

Check-out can be cancelled by the user at any time if they no longer

need or intend to check-in the document, making the document
available to other users to edit.

Editing of documents can be done with or without the CARA plugin

being installed on the user’s PC. The CARA desktop plugin
remembers the local location that documents are placed in when
being editing, making check-in and check-out simpler. If the CARA
desktop plugin is not being used, users will need to point towards a
local location when a document is check-in or checked-out.

Please note toolbar, menu bar and right-click context menu buttons in
CARA can be customised for different sets of users and documents,
therefore the menu options described below, and in particular their
location within the user interface, will vary between organisations.

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Editing a 1. Highlight a document in the Main View panel and select Edit
Document from the toolbar, or right-click menu:

2. If using the CARA desktop plugin, the document is transferred

directly to the user’s check-out location on their local PC and the
document is opened automatically in the appropriate editing
application such as MS Word.
If the CARA desktop plugin is not being used, the user’s browser
will open a window asking which application the document
should be opened with:

3. A lock is placed on the document within CARA, indicated by an

icon placed to the left of the document. The icon will be a key
symbol for the editing user or a padlock for all other users.

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4. The user edits the document in the editing application, such as

MS Word, using its functions as standard. Users should Save the
document within the editing application as needed. They should
avoid using Save As, as if they place the updated document
content in a new location this will not be seen automatically at
the time of check-in and the user will have to manually located
the file.
5. Once the user has finished editing the document, back in CARA
they will select Check-in from the toolbar or right-click menu.

6. If using the CARA desktop plugin, the document is transferred

directly from the user’s check-out location on their local PC.
If the CARA desktop plugin is not being used, the user’s is
prompted to locate the updated content file.

7. The user may be given the option to enter a Version Label for the
updated document.
8. The document is check-in, the lock removed and a the new
version of the document displayed in the Main View window.

Cancelling If a document has been checked-out, but the user no longer needs
Check-out to make or keep changes, check-out should be cancelled. Cancelling

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a check-out removes the lock, allowing other users to edit the

document. Users should be encouraged to keep track of which
documents they have checked-out.
To cancel a check-out, select Cancel Check-out from the toolbar or
right-click menu:

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14. Working with Documents

Introduction This chapter details further functions available to users when working
with documents within CARA. Please note that all functions are
configurable to specific views or groups of users and therefore not all
functions explored below will be available or appropriate to all users.

Exporting Documents can be exported from CARA as needed. CARA audit

Documents configuration can be set to require users to provide a reason for the
export and can be asked to provide their electronic signature.

1. Highlight a document in the Main View panel and select Export

from the toolbar or right-click menu.

2. Click Yes to the Confirmation window message.

3. If prompted enter or select a reason for the export, to be

recorded in the document’s audit history. Then click Save.

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4. Select a location to export the document to:

5. Click OK, the document is exported to the chosen location.

Please note that exported copies of documents have no on-going
connection to documents within CARA and by default should be
treated as uncontrolled copies.

Subscribing to Users can choose to receive notifications of changes to documents,

Documents for example when a new version of a document has been created.
In order to receive such notifications the user subscribes to the
document.
To subscribe to notifications for a document select Subscribe from
the toolbar or right-click menu.

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Multiple documents can be subscribed to in a single action, highlight

the documents in the Main View panel before selecting Subscribe.
Users can monitor which documents they are currently subscribed
to by selecting Subscriptions from the filters drop-down list:

To unsubscribe from a document and stop receiving notifications,

highlight the document and select Unsubscribe from the toolbar or
right-click menu.

Administrators configure which events trigger notifications and can

include when documents are created, versioned or their state
changed.

Notifications can be received using various channels such as email

or Slack notification. Users choose their Preferred Channel in their
User Profile settings, accessed from the user name drop-down
menu on the top menu bar:

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Notifications can be appropriate to the user’s CARA language,

which is also selectable within the user’s profile settings.

Reports and A dashboard is a collection of reports made available to users via a

Dashboards toolbar or main menu bar. Dashboards are launched as a separate
window within CARA. Each report becomes a separate tab within
the dashboard window:

In addition to displaying pre-set query information about documents

and objects, each report can also include full document
management functions such as viewing, editing and creating new
documents. Also users can be presented with a variables form for
making data selections:

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Please note that reports are always custom configured to the

specific organisation and group of users, the examples shown are
just one possibility.

Viewing Permissions are primarily based on the classification of a document

Permissions set at the time it is created and the status of a document as it
passes through a lifecycle or process. Users can view the
permissions applied to a document by highlighting the document
and selecting Permissions from the toolbar or right-click menu:

The top of the Permissions window displays the permission

granted to the current user (Your Permission) . It also shows the
name of the ACL (Access Control List) applied, the groups provided
with access within and the permissions granted to each group.

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Deleting and Users with appropriate permissions can be provided with two
Trashing separate options for removing documents; delete and trash. Both
Documents can be made available from the toolbar and right-click menu.

Delete removes a document immediately. Trash moves the

document into a trash can/recycle bin, from which the document
can either be restored or permanently removed.

When selecting either delete or trash the users is asked whether

they wish to delete the version highlighted or all versions.

The ability to delete all versions is subject to the permissions the

user has on each document version, for example a user may have
permission to delete draft but not approved versions of a document.

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