Managing folders

About folders & search folders

Each ClauseBuddy library can host one or more search folders. Such search folders allow you to segment your legal content — for example, in a typical law firm's clause library, you would have separate search folders for the different departments (corporate, employment, commercial, IT/IP, and so on).

Within each search folder, you can have one or more folders and subfolders, any level deep. For example, within the employment law search folder, you may want to have different folders for employment contracts, employment policies, dismissal letters, settlement agreements, and so on.

Every Group you create will automatically have its own search folder.

Managing folders

(Except if your ClauseBuddy administrator has removed your authorisation) you can manage folder structures by going to the Manage folders setting:

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After selecting the right search folder, you are then presented with all the folders and subfolders of that search folder:

Creating subfolders

You can create a new subfolder by selecting a folder, clicking on "..." at the right and then choosing "New folder":

Next, you are presented with a dialog box in which you can give a name to your new subfolder. If your library supports multiple languages, you can include a translation for your folder, to help colleagues navigate the library in another language.

Subfolders can also be created in bulk by selecting a folder then clicking 'Bulk create subfolders' in the panel on the right.

Renaming, deleting and moving folders

You can rename, move and delete folders by pushing the relevant buttons. Be aware, however, that removing a folder will delete all clauses inside them — there is no possibility to undo this action!

Reordering subfolders

Clicking 'Reorder Subfolders' allows you to override the default (alphabetical) ordering of the subfolders of a specific folder with a manual ordering.

Drag-and-drop the subfolders around until you are happy, then click 'Save' to confirm the new order.

Setting folder permissions

In the top right part of the folder management panel, you can specify the "access bundle" that applies to a folder. Essentially, such access bundle specifies who can read and/or edit certain content. In simple ClauseBuddy setups, you will see that access bundles will exist for each group of users — typically configured per department (e.g., the Corporate Law group, the Employment Law group, etc).

If no access bundle is assigned to a folder, then the folder uses the access bundle of the folder above it (and if that one does not have an access bundle, the access bundle of the folder above that one is used, and so on).

Creating proxy folders

Folders can also host proxy folders. Such folders are pointers to other folders, to create a kind of "cross-reference" between folders in your library. For example, imagine you have:

• a folder with dispute resolution clauses, in which you keep a set of general dispute resolution clauses

• a special dispute resolution clauses for specific employment or corporate agreements.

In such setup, it is probably useful to create:

• a proxy folder inside the general folder that points to the specialised employment dispute resolution folder

• a proxy folder in the specialised employment folder that points to the general dispute resolution folder

This way, users can easily "jump" between related general and specialised folders, even when those folders would be located in very different search folders.

Managing search folders in Clause9

[Clause9 only] If you also have a Clause9 license, you can perform more refined (search) folder management.

• In ClauseBuddy-only subscriptions, there is a simple one-on-one relationship between each Group and each search folder. Essentially, each Group created from within ClauseBuddy will automatically also trigger the creation of an associated search folder for that Group, tagged with that Group's access bundle.

• In Clause9, you may require much more granular control. For example, you may want to have a search folder for Employment Law that includes a few folders with clauses from an automated employment contract, as well as a few generic folders with clauses.

To manage the search folders, you have to login as an administrator, and go to Admin > Search-folders. There, you can create an unlimited number of search folders and add one or more folders to each search folder. As stated above, you are not limited to the one-on-one limitation imposed when you manage search folders and groups from within ClauseBuddy.

The use of such a manually created search folder is to access different folders in one location.

Let's use a metaphor to illustrate this:

Imagine you have a big forest. In that forest are all different trees. Each tree represents a folder, for example, one for termination clauses, one for severability clauses, and so on.

Now, you don't want to keep searching the whole forest to find a specific kind of tree - for example, all the trees with red leaves (all the clauses of a particular client or department). That's why you create a search folder. That's like a special corner in the forest where you see all the trees with red leaves listed together.

Those trees are still in their original place in the forest, but the search folder gives you a view of only those trees that are relevant to the specific search folder you’re using - without you having to go through the whole forest.

‍Although it is not subsequently possible to attach an access bundle to a search folder, an access bundle will/can be attached to the folders contained in the search folder (such as the “termination clauses” in the example above).

To see the access rights of that specific folder you need to click on the folder:

Then click on the pencil icon:

Then on “more” and "Access rights"

And then by clicking on "calculate" you can view the folder's current access rights:

If you then want a certain group to have to access that folder in the new search folder, you need to add the group to the access bundle associated with this folder.