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Managing your Documents

This article will help you understand the various options available in documents and their functionality.

Rashmi Kashyap

18 Mar, 2024 - Updated 1 month ago

Introduction to Documents

YouTube video — Click here to view the video on Vtiger Document Management

Are you finding it hard to share your documents with the customer?

Do you want to track the viewer’s actions on your shared documents?

Do not worry anymore, we hear you.

Use Vtiger’s Documents module to solve the problems of organizing and sharing! It acts as a repository for all the documents that you create or those shared with you by your customers or sales team.

Here are a few common problems of collaboration:

Sales

As a sales rep, you want to share a document with a customer. You browse through your desktop or cloud drives to find it, and then attach a copy of the document to an email.

If the document is an agreement or a plan that needs to be discussed with the customer, you must send back-and-forth emails. Moreover, you will have no idea about the customer’s actions on the document.

Altogether, this results in loss of time, or even missed sales opportunities.

Marketing

As a marketing rep, you send a presentation document to your sales team. The sales team shares it with your customers.

Feedback offered by the customers does not reach you, which can be a setback for your development. Also, you will not know how your documents influenced a deal.

The Documents module in Vtiger CRM is your saviour!

Here is how:

Centralization of all your documents makes your search easy.
Sharing documents becomes easy with the help of click-to-embed links.
Real-time notifications keep you updated about your customers’ actions on documents.
Collaboration with customers becomes easy as you can comment on the document itself.
Document analytics and sales attribution tracking.
Automated sharing of documents via workflows eases your tasks.

Feature Availability and Limits

	Sales Starter	Sales Professional	Sales Enterprise	One Professional	One Enterprise
Feature Availability
Documents	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
File Upload Limit
Size	25 MB	25 MB	50 MB	50 MB	50MB
Document Sharing
Per Month	10	50	Unlimited	100	Unlimited

Documents: Different views

Organizing your documents will always be a weekend never-ending task.

And searching for them under a pile of thousand other documents is very tedious.

We’ve been there, felt that.

In Vtiger CRM, you can look at your documents in the List and Thumbnail Views.

List View

By default, List View is the screen that is shown when you click the Documents module. This view sorts and lists all documents based on the last modified date.

Columns in the List View

The columns that are displayed by default in the List View are as follows:

Title: Displays the title of the document.
File Name: Displays the name of the file inside the document record.
Modified Time: Displays the time at which the document was last modified.
Assigned To: Displays the user to whom the document is assigned.

Note: You can add other columns by clicking the more button next to the column header and clicking the edit column.

List actions

You can perform quick actions such as Edit, Delete, Export, Print etc. on the document’s records in the List View.
To learn more about List View actions in Vtiger CRM, click here.

Note:

You can move a particular document to any folder of your choice by clicking the Move button.
If the document contains a .pdf file then you can download and share that document.
If the document has a file in any other format, you can only download the file.

Thumbnail View

Here you can see all the documents listed according to recently opened documents, files and folders. It also displays the recently used or modified documents at the top under Recent Files.

Thumbnail View actions

Here is a list of a few primary actions you can perform on documents in the Thumbnail View.

If the document record contains a .pdf file,
1. Share
2. Edit
3. Delete
4. Download
If the document record contains a file of other formats,
1. Edit
2. Delete
3. Download
If the document record does not have a file,
1. Edit
2. Delete

Note: You can easily locate your document by using the search bar on top of the List or Thumbnail View. To know more about the List View search, click here.

Tree Structure in Documents

So when you click the Documents module, you can find the tree structure of all the folders on the left-hand side of your screen. This tree structure is present both in List View and Thumbnail View of the All Documents list.
You can edit or delete a folder directly from the tree structure.

Did you know?

The documents module in Vtiger CRM provides you a three-level folder hierarchy.

If you create a folder at the fourth level, it will be placed under the first folder.

Ways of viewing a Document record

Summary View

Summary View is the view that appears when you click a particular document from the List or Thumbnail View. Summary View displays a collection of all key information for the selected record.

Summary View displays data in different sections for easy viewing. Each section allows you a particular functionality.

Summary View Actions

If the document record does not contain a file, then you can perform the following actions:

Follow: You can follow any Document record to get updates on all the activities performed on that record.
Tags: You can add tag names to a record to identify the record easily.
Print: You can print a document or save it as a PDF for future references.
Duplicate: You can duplicate a current record and have all the details reflected in a new record.
Delete: You can delete a record by clicking this button.

If the document record contains a file, then you can perform all of the above actions and also the ones that are listed down:

Download: You can download the document.
Share: You can share the document only if it is a pdf file.

Document

The document file uploaded in the record will be visible here.

When you click on the More icon on the right-hand top corner of the Summary View, you will see the following:

Add or Create- You can add or create other modules related to the document.
Share- You can share the document as a link or as an attachment only if it is a .pdf file.

Widgets

One View widget: This widget shows all the related records.
Activity widget: This widget gives information on all the activities that have been performed on the document which will help in tracking.
Document shared details: You can view the recipients with whom the document has been shared.
Document stats : You can view all the details related to the recipients’ activity on the document.

Important Fields in Documents

Field name	Description
For creating a folder
Folder Name	Mandatory field Specify the name of the folder
Parent Folder	The destination path in which the document will be saved.
For creating a document
Title	Mandatory field Specify the title of the document
Assigned To	Mandatory field Select the user to whom the document has to be assigned to.
Folder Name	Select the folder in which the document has to be created.

Document Management

Types of Documents

You can categorize your documents as Public, Private, or Confidential.

Public documents can be shared, re-shared, and downloaded by any contact.
Private documents cannot be shared with contacts. They are accessible by Vtiger CRM users only.
Confidential documents can be opened by the recipient with whom the document is shared. It restricts the download and re-share actions.

Creating a Folder

Documents module gives you the flexibility to create folders and save documents in your desired folder. It helps you in organizing your documents as well as locating them. By default, Vtiger CRM provides you three folders - Default, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.

Follow these steps to create a folder:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click Add.
Select the New Folder.
Enter a folder name.
Enter the parent folder (optional).
Click Save.

After clicking Save, you will be redirected to the newly created folder.

Creating a New Document

Creating a new document is one of the primary features of this module.

Follow these steps to create a document:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click the New button in the List View.
Select the New Document.
Fill in all the necessary details.
Click Save to create the document.
1. Click Save and Continue to fill in the other details of the document.

The document will be created in the specified folder.

From Quick Create

Documents can also be created by clicking the + button present on the right-hand top corner of the screen.

Follow these steps to create a record using Quick Create:

Click the + icon displayed on the top right side of your screen.
Click Show All to view all the modules you can create records in using Quick Create.
Select Document from Essentials.
Click:
1. New Document to create a new document.
2. New Folder to create a folder.
3. Upload documents to upload documents from your system.
4. Link folders/documents by URL, Google Drive folder, or Dropbox.
Enter all the mandatory details.
Click:
1. Save to save the record.
2. Save and Continue to save the record and go to its Detailed View.

Clicking Cancel discards all the information you entered.

To know more about Quick Create, click here.

Uploading a document

Apart from creating a document, you can also upload a document in Vtiger CRM. You can upload and save the document internally in Vtiger CRM or externally in Google Drive or Dropbox.

Follow these steps to upload a document:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click the New button in the List View.
Select Upload documents.
Click the drop-down for upload to.
Select the destination where the documents have to be uploaded. ( Vtiger, Google Drive or Dropbox)
Provide a title for the document.
Enter the person who has to be assigned to the document.
Select the folder in which the document has to be uploaded.
Add the file from your computer.
Click Upload.

The document will be uploaded to the specified folder.

Note: To upload files to Google Drive or Dropbox, you have to first login to your respective accounts.

Linking folders or documents

You can link any external folder or a document to Vtiger’s Documents.

Follow these steps:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click the New button in the List View.
Select Link documents or folders.
Click the Attach Files from the drop-down and choose one of the following document sources:

From File URL
1. Provide a title for the document.
2. Select the person who is assigned to this document.
3. Provide the folder name where the document has to be uploaded.
4. Paste the URL.
5. Click Save.
Google Drive Folder
1. Login to your Google account.
2. Select the file you want to link from the list.
3. Click Link.
Dropbox
1. Login to your Dropbox account.
2. Select the file you want to link from the list.
3. Click Link.

Document viewer

You can open the Document viewer by clicking on the comments button under the Document shared details widget in Summary View of any record.

Actions possible in the viewer

A Contact can perform the following actions from the Document viewer.

Download: A Contact can download a document shared by the sales or marketing team.
Reshare: You can re-share a public document with other people.
Eg, If contact Jessie shared with Mary then tracking details of Mary is also tracked. Vtiger adds Mary as a Contact with Lead source = Referral, Referred by = Contact who re-shared, Type = Lead and Source = Document Share, automatically.
An invite email is sent to the re-shared Contact as shown below.

3. Commenting: You can also comment your opinions which helps in collaborating with
the other recipients.

Note: When a contact adds a comment in the document viewer, all subscribed contacts are notified via email. And these email addresses are added in the recipient's email's BCC.

Actions Possible on a Document Record

You can perform the following actions on the document:

Sharing a Document

To share a document with the customer, you need to first upload it to Vtiger as an internal document in .pdf format.

From the Share icon in List View

You can share a document with your customer directly from the List View by hovering over a particular record.

Follow these steps to share a document:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click on any record.
In Summary View, click the Document shared details widget.
Select Click to Share.
A mail compose window opens with the document’s link.
Enter the recipient's details and click Share.

From the Share icon in Summary View

You can share a document with your customer from the Summary View as well.

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Select a particular document.
Click the More icon.
Click the Share icon.
An Email compose window is opened with the document link.
Enter the recipient/s.
Click Share.

From the More icon in a document record

You can share a document with a customer sending a link to the document or by sending the document itself as an attachment.

As a link

Follow these steps to share the document as a link:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Select any particular record.
In the Summary View, click the More icon on the right-hand top corner.
Select Share.
Select Share as link.
A mail compose window opens with the document’s link.
Enter the recipient's details and click Send.

As an attachment

Follow these steps to share the document as an attachment:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click any particular record.
In the Summary View, click the More icon on the right-hand top corner.
Select Share.
Select Share as attachment.
A mail compose window opens with the document’s attachment.
Enter the recipient's details and click Send.

From the Document shared details widget

You can share a document using this option only if the document has not been shared with anyone yet.

Follow these steps:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Click on any record.
In the Summary View, click the Document shared details widget.
Select Click to Share.
A mail compose window opens with the document’s link.
Enter the recipient's details and click Share.

From the Email compose window

You can share the document by attaching them in the Email Compose Window. For instance, you can send a document to a contact by attaching it to an email from the Contacts module.

Follow these steps to share a document from contacts:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Contacts module.
Click the Do button on the contact record.
Select Reach out now or Reach out later.
Select Email.
In the Email Compose Window, click on the Insert Links button.
Select any one of the below-mentioned ways to send the document.

Vtiger Document
Any PDF documents uploaded to Vtiger are available to select and share with customers.

Select the document to be shared from the list of all available documents.
Click the Add Selected button.
The document file link is inserted automatically in the compose window.
Click Send.

Upload and Insert

Upload any PDF document from the system and share the document as a link on the go for tracking stats.

Upload the document from your computer.
The uploaded file appears as an embedded link in the email body; ready to send and share with the contact.

Note: To know the details about the shared document, you can check it in the Summary View of the document, by clicking the Documents shared details widget.

Downloading a Document

You can download any document in Vtiger CRM for any future reference. To download a document, make sure that the document record contains a file.

Follow these steps to download a document:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Click the Documents module.
Select a particular document.
Click the More icon in the Summary View.
Click the Download button.

The document will be downloaded and stored in your local system.

Note:

When you hover over a particular document in the List View, you can click on the download icon and download that particular document
You can also click on the file name to automatically download the document.

Export

Follow these steps to export a document record:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Select the Documents module.
In the List View, hover over any document record to display the radio button on the left side.
Click the radio button.
Click the Export button.
Select any one of the following options:
1. Export Selected Records- This option will export only the selected record.
2. Export data in current page- This option will export the records on the current page.
3. Export all data- This option will export all the data in all the pages of the Documents module.

The exported record will be saved on your local system.

Print

Follow these steps to print a document record :

Click the Menu icon.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Select the Documents module.
Open any document record.
Click the More button.
Click the Print button.
You can perform any of the below options:
1. Edit & Export- You can edit the document and export it to your local system.
2. Email with PDF- You can email the document record as a PDF to the contact.
3. Print- You can print the document and keep a hard copy.
4. Save as PDF- You can save the document as a PDF on your local system.

Note: You can also print a record directly from the List View. To know more about List view, click here.

How to change the template of the Document?

Follow these steps to change the template of a document:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Select the Documents module.
Open any document record.
Click the More button.
Click the Print button.
Select any template from the list of all available templates.
You can perform any of the below options to view the applied template on the document record.
1. Edit & Export- You can edit the document and export it to your local system.
2. Email with PDF- You can email the document record as a PDF to the contact.
3. Print- You can print the document and keep a hard copy.
4. Save as PDF- You can save the document as a PDF on your local system.

Generate related documents

You can add the following modules to a document record:

Quotes
Contacts
Organizations
Deals
Products
Services
Projects
Assets
Service Contracts
Invoices
Sales Orders
Purchase Orders
FAQs
Cases

Follow these steps to add any of the following:

Click the Main Menu.
Go to the Essentials tab.
Select the Documents module.
Open any document record.
Click the More icon in the Summary View.
Click Add or Create button.
Select any module from the list.
In the list of all the existing records from the selected module, hover over a record to display the radio button.
Select a record by clicking the radio button.
Click the Add Selected button at the bottom of the list.

The selected record will be linked to the document.

Note: You can add or link a document from other modules as well. Here is how: Summary View of any record from any module > Do button > Documents.

Collaborations

External Collaboration

A Contact can give instant feedback to the sales team with a comment added to the document viewer. Users can also view and add their comments. Any User or Contact having access to the shared URL can view all previous comments.

Note: When a new comment is added, a notification email is sent to the Contact.
Users are notified in actions.

Internal Collaboration

Sales teams can internally collaborate using the Comments widget available on Document Summary View.

Note: Internal comments added to a Document record is not shown on the document viewer.

Documents Insights

Not able to monitor the actions of your contact or a customer on the document?

Losing deals due to a lack of communication with the customer?

Hang in there, we got you

Vtiger CRM provides you the flexibility to observe and track the recipients’ actions when you share a document with them. You can track the recipients’ activity when you click on the Document stats widget in the summary of a document record.

Here are the metrics that are tracked:

Viewer stats summary

When you click on the Document stats widget, you can view the viewer stats summary icons. This is a very brief explanation of the important metrics related to the document.

It gives details on the number of recipients the document has been shared with.
When you hover over each icon, you can get an idea about the no. of document opens, views, downloads and re-shares.
The comments icon displays the number of in-document comments and when clicked on that button, it will take you to the document viewer.
This section also displays the time when the document was shared with the recipients.

For more detailed information, you can jump to recipient level tracking which explains every activity of the recipient on the document.

Recipient level tracking

If you have shared a document with more than 1 contact then you can track each particular contact’s action on the document. When you click on the Document stats widget, you can find the section which displays the tracking information. You can click on the drop-down to select the recipient whose activity you want to track.

You can track the following information in detail:

Stats

Stats icon lists the tracking details of each unique share with an aggregate of all contacts’ stats in the summary row.

Following stats of each unique share are shown:

Views- Total document views.
Downloads- Total downloads for this document.
Reshares- Total reshares of this document from the document viewer.
Avg time spent- Average time a contact has spent on this document.
Total time spent- Total time spent by all contacts.
Total Pages read- The amount of document read.

Views

Page level tracking stats of a particular recipient can be viewed by clicking the views icon. Pages visited and time spent on each page is shown.

Activities

When you click on the Activity icon, all the activities of that particular recipient on the document is visible.

One View

One View widget is a one-stop destination to view all important modules related to documents.

One view widget in the Documents module will show the following details:

Related Contact’s details - The details of the contact from/to which the document is shared.
Related Organization’s details - Organizations' details from/ to which the document is linked is shown in this widget.
Related Deal data - The deal from/to which the document is linked.
Related Product- Related products’ details from/to which the document is linked.
Related Service- Related services’ details from/to which the document is linked.
Related Assets- Related Assets from/to which the document is linked.
Related Service Contracts- Related service contracts from/to which the document is linked.
Related Quotes- Related quote details from/to which the document is linked.
Related Invoices- Related invoices from/to which the document is linked.
Related Sales Orders - Related Sales Orders from/to which the document is linked.
Related Cases- Related Cases from/to which the document is linked.