The good old folder and file
There’s not much that transcends the history of micro computers, but folders and files would be in any computer historian’s list.
Originally adopted because of their common meaning to all, successive software designers have never really succeeded in replacing them.
If anything the advent of the graphical interface made the future of the virtual folder and file even more secure.
How many users, when presented with a totally new user interface have found comfort in the good old folder and file.
DocMoto of course is heavily oriented around the concept, and one of the main reasons for its popularity is it feels just so familiar. No new concepts or clever idea to grasp, just straight forward folders with straight forward files.
But, and there is a but, collections of folders and sub folders (or as we call them folder and file hierarchies) can take some managing.
The bad old folder and file hierarchy
Even just a single user finds it fiddly, if not almost impossible, to keep all their folder structures uniform, and when you have multiple users involved guaranteeing uniformity pretty much goes right out of the window.
Who cares I hear you ask. Well when you consider that the average DocMoto installation has over 100,000 files held in over 30,000 folders you realise that people use DocMoto because they have LOTS of files in LOTS of folders, and if chaos reigns in your folder hierarchy then here’s a few of the bad things that happen:
- People can’t find things
- People miss stuff because there wasn’t a folder for it
- New arrivals at the firm have absolutely no rules to follow, so create a few of their own
- Everybody else creates their own rules, if at all
- Users find other users folder structures unfamiliar and difficult to work with
- One user interacting with another users folders ends badly, “because they put stuff in the wrong place”!!
Introducing The Folder Template
Most file centric firms with lots of folders actually spend a great deal of their time creating common sub folder sets.
Common examples might be a set of folders always created for a new matter, a new project, a new client or a new job.
So we thought, wouldn’t it be handy if you could create a “template” for commonly created folder structures. That way, whenever a new matter, project or job was created, the template could be used and all matters, projects and jobs would look identical
Simple!
Of course a moments thought has you realising that a template could and should do so much more. How about if it not only created a nice uniform folder hierarchy, but it also added in the “must have” files like a fee agreement or engagement letter. It should also apply security, saving the users the trouble, it should configure folders to hold email, set content rules and apply categorisation tags!
Fantastic, and you know what, a DocMoto folder template does all of that. Which is why it is one of THE most popular features we have.
We call the application of folder templates Folder Engineering and as of DocMoto 3.5 it is now possible to do Folder Re-Engineering.
Introducing Folder Re-Engineering
So folder templates have taken us a long way. Chaotic folder hierarchies are now uniform, and everybody is feeling the benefits.
But guess what, businesses change. Those nice neat folder templates you created last year aren’t quite right. For starters the accounts folder doesn’t have a folder for next year.
What is really required is the ability to go back and change those folder structures that were created by the folder templates.
That’s what we call folder Re-engineering. We also call it retrospectively applying templates.
As of DocMoto 3.5 folder re-engineering is a reality.
What it means is that the whole folder structure of the entire business can be re-engineered to match new requirements with the smallest of effort.
What that means is that all the benefits that come from a uniform folder hierarchy can continue to be delivered even as the business moves forward.
