NetBinder Fundamentals General Overview Create a NetBinder Add Documents/Items Move Stand-Alone Documents into a NetBinder Modifying Access/Security Add/Edit Alerts Notify Others Save/Close History/Audit Trail Breakout Remove Documents Email a Document    Additional Options File in Folder Add to Home Page Organize Documents Rename NetBinder/Document Copy NetBinder/Document Move to Another Cabinet Delete NetBinder/Documents Edit a Document's Profile Version Management Approve Documents Sign Documents NetBinder Profile Information Managing Email

General Overview

A NetBinder is a secure document sharing and collaboration container that allows you to share documents with people who are not members of your cabinet.  You can also include cabinet users in your NetBinder if you want.  A NetBinder allows users anywhere in the world to work on documents without creating multiple copies as you do with email, fax, or mail and shares them in a secure container. 

A NetBinder functions somewhat like a folder, but acts differently in the way it stores and secures documents.  The NetBinder documents can be searched by entering the NetDocument Name into the Advanced Search.  You will get a search result of the documents in the NetBinder.  You cannot go to the NetBinder directly, but you can locate it in the folder where it is filed. 

A NetBinder should always have at least one document in it and always be filed in a folder. Any document in a NetBinder is fully searchable to all Cabinet users who have access to it.

There are no user fees when sharing NetBinder contents with non-Cabinet users, such as your clients.  In addition, depending on the access you grant to individuals sharing the NetBinder, they can add or edit documents, participate in threaded discussions, and can approve documents in the NetBinder. 

Click here to watch a short video of the sharing function of a NetBinder.

Cautions
 

• NetBinders are designed to be used for a handful of documents and a handful of shared users.  Generally its best usage is to collaborate on a few documents with a few people over a short period of time.  If each document is very large, the total number of documents in the NetBinder should be further limited.  If a collaboration need requires more people or documents, you should consider sharing the documents in shared folders created for that purpose by using External Users within your cabinet.
   

  The hard rule is that no one document in a NetBinder can be over the 200 MB single document limit.  There is however an undefined practical limit for a NetBinder, which is why we don't publicize a specific number of documents.  If for instance, you put into the NetBinder 10 - 30MB documents making the total NetBinder over 300 MB, it may take so long for users to upload and download the NetBinder that it would not be practical to use.  Generally a NetBinder with 25 - 1MB documents would perform as fast as a NetBinder with 1 - 25MB document.  Of course opening a 25MB file is always slower than opening a 1MB file.

   

  The biggest determining factor for performance is the overall total size of all of the documents plus the total number of users.  If you had 300 users for instance, the processing of the NetBinder would take much longer than if 10 people were sharing the NetBinder.

   

• NetBinders cannot contain folders or other NetBinders.

• NetBinders that are accessed from My Cabinet do not have Versioning capability.

• Users with limited rights may not have access to all features described below.

Restrictions for View Only Users

Most of the options described below for a NetBinder are NOT available for users with View only rights to the NetBinder.  A NetBinder user with View only rights is intended to generally have the right to View the document and make comments in a Discussion document in the NetBinder if one has been created by the NetBinder creator.

These options are NOT available to View Only users of a NetBinder:

Options removed from the NetBinder Menu: Add Document (all options in menu), Modify access list, History, Other Options (all options in menu). 

(The options remaining are Close, Notify others, Edit alerts, Show folders, File in folder, and Add to Home page.)
 
The Marked Items menu is removed completely.
 
The following options are removed from the Document Profile option: Email, Save a local copy. Remaining options are View, Versions, Add to home page, and Mark/Launch.
 
The Add to Home Page option is removed from the NetBinder page, NetBinder Document Profile dialog, list view pages, and standalone Document Profile page for users who are not a member of any Repository.

Create a NetBinder

A NetBinder can be created in four ways:

1. From the Navigation menu, click Add Document | Create NetBinder

2. From your Recent Edited Documents list, within a folder, or from a Search Result, 1) select any number of documents, 2) click Move to NetBinder in the Marked Items menu, and 3) enter a name for a new NetBinder or use an existing NetBinder.  Click here for full documentation on this subject. 

3. When you forward an email with attachments to a NetDocuments Cabinet or folder, the message and any attached documents may be placed, as an option, in a NetBinder if you enter either NB: or NetBinder: in the Subject line of the forwarded email.  The message text and attachments are added as separate files and made fully searchable within the Cabinet. 

4. If you have the Outlook integration component installed, and when you click the NetDocs Add button within a message window of Outlook, your email, with attachments, may be placed into a new NetBinder with the subject as the name of the NetBinder.  This option also allows you to enter profile information that will apply to the message and attachments. 

Note

You cannot create a NetBinder in My Cabinet.  A NetBinder must be created in a shared Repository Cabinet.  When it is shared with a non-Cabinet member, the NetBinder will appear in that person's My Cabinet Inbox. 
 

Add Documents/Items that are on your computer to a NetBinder

You can add any document that is on your local computer to a NetBinder if you have at least (E) Edit rights to the NetBinder.  Choose to:

1. Import an Existing Document

2. Create a New Document

3. Scan in a Document

4. Save a Web Page Link

5. Start a Discussion

Note

Remember that security is defined differently for a NetBinder.  In a NetBinder, you define security for the NetBinder, not individual documents.  Only Documents outside of NetBinders have individual permission capability. 
 

Move a Document that is already in NetDocuments into a NetBinder

You can move one or many individual documents at a time into a new or existing NetBinder.  To do so:

1. Check the box next to the document from your Recently Opened List, Category, Search Result, or folder

2. Click Move to NetBinder from the Marked Items options menu

3. Enter a name for the new NetBinder if you want to create a new NetBinder for the document(s) and select to file in a folder or not, OR

4. Navigate through the folder hierarchy to locate an existing NetBinder

5. Click OK
   
   HINT: If a NetBinder is in a folder, you can drag a document that is also in that folder into the NetBinder to place it in the NetBinder.  This will perform a move of the document into the NetBinder.

Note

If you chose to create a new NetBinder, it is created and the document is added to it.  If you chose to create a NetBinder and did not file it in a folder, you will have to search for the documents you added to locate the NetBinder and its new contents.  We recommend that you always file NetBinders in a folder to help you locate them. You may also want to add the NetBinder to your Home Page. 

NetBinder Security/Modify Access List

The security of a NetBinder is somewhat different than that of individual documents and folders.  When a NetBinder is created, the creator is the only person given initial rights to the NetBinder.  Unlike individual documents that inherit security rights at creation, the NetBinder access list must be defined explicitly.  This is generally done after the documents are added. 

Unlike individual documents, where only Cabinet members can access them, a user can grant NetBinder access to non-Cabinet members anywhere in the world, provided they have an email address, Internet Explorer, and Internet access.   

To grant Cabinet Members access to a NetBinder:

1. Click on Modify Access

2. Choose either the Cabinet Members or any Group

3. Select Groups or the Cabinet default and add them to the People sharing this NetBinder box on the right.

4. Define the access rights for each individual or Group

To grant non-Cabinet Members access to a NetBinder:

1. Click on Modify Access

2. Choose NetBinder Personal Contacts

3. Click the Add... button

4. Enter the person's email address and choose OK

5. If the person is not already a registered NetDocuments user, you will be prompted to enter a first and last name and assign a username.

6. Click OK

If you have created a new user account, when you click the Notify option, that person will be sent a link that will take them to a page to create their own password and provide them their username and then open the NetBinder for them.

If you choose to not create an account for a person sharing the NetBinder, you can choose to share it privately without a password.  This is generally used when you are planning on sharing once with this person. 

NOTE:  The option to share without a password is not available for a NetBinder stored in My Cabinet.

If you choose this option, the page will adjust as follows:

Using this option, you can also set an expiration date for the NetBinder, which means that the access will be removed after that many days for the recipient.

When using either of the above options, it is required for you to Click the Notify button when you are ready to share the NetBinder so the user will receive the link to access the NetBinder as well as their username and password setup if using that option.

 

Note

NetDocuments cannot prevent any user from saving a document locally, printing it, or sending a copy via email.  However, you can prevent others from granting anyone else access to your NetBinder by granting them either View (V) or View|Edit (VE) rights.  Share (S) rights allows anyone to add others to the access list of the NetBinder. 

Edit/Set Up Alerts

Alerts allow you to receive notifications of changes made to documents in a NetBinder.  Alerts can be sent to multiple destinations, including a pager, cellular phone, RSS feed, or any device with an email address.  By default, no alerts are defined automatically for users with access to a NetBinder.  However, when you create a new NetBinder, you are prompted one time to have an alert defined automatically for you.  You can define multiple Alerts.  There is not an alert to tell you when a new document is added to a NetBinder - only documents modified in a NetBinder. 

To Add or Edit an Alert:

1. Click Edit Alerts

2. Click Add to define a new rule or Edit to change a rule

3. If you do not wish to be notified when anyone with access to the NetBinder modifies something, click Users and select individuals

4. If you do not wish to be notified when any document in the NetBinder changes, click Documents to select specific documents

5. To be notified at multiple email addresses, separate the email addresses with semi-colons

6. Choose a standard email format or condensed format 

7. Click OK

Notify Others

You can Notify everyone with access to a NetBinder by clicking the Notify option. Only people you notify who have access to the NetBinder will be able to open it.
 

It is critical when sharing a NetBinder to always use the Notify button to send a link to the NetBinder.  If the user is a new user who has been setup to use a username and password, that same link will also direct the person to create a password and provides them with their username.

If your notification includes users who are new and have never logged in, you will be directed to the built-in Email send dialog as shown below.

If you have selected the Desktop Email Integration option in My Account, Application Settings and you have a MAPI-compliant email system and you are not sending to new users, you will be taken to your standard Email Send Message dialog.  This is a workstation setting. If you have set this flag and you are working on a computer that does not have a MAPI-based email system, it will automatically use the email dialog built into NetDocuments.

A sample email is shown below (when sending to new users).  You can add text to this email message prior to sending it.

Note

If your Cabinet Administrator has configured the Cabinet to use email footers, the email notification will include that footer information.  Disclaimers and company information are examples of footer information.

Save/Close

The Save and Close buttons in a NetBinder perform almost identical actions.  Clicking Save checks in all documents you have edited and closed and makes them available to others for editing.  The NetBinder will remain open.  Clicking Close checks in any edited and closed documents and your web browser navigates to where you were prior to opening the NetBinder, such as the Home Page.   

Note

If you have multiple documents open and have engaged the NetDocuments Active List, then when you click Close, documents are not checked in unless they have been closed in their native application.  For example, if you have edited three documents, saved and closed two of them, and then click Close, NetDocuments checks in only the two that were saved and closed. The other document remains in your Active List and will be checked in when you close the document and check it in from the Active List.  To learn more about how the Active List for multiple documents works, click here.

History/Audit Trail

The History log in a NetBinder applies to all actions across all documents in a single view, per user.  This is somewhat different than being able to view the history for a single stand-alone document.  Click History for a one page view of what each person with access to the NetBinder has done with all the documents.  The history is displayed chronologically. 

Note

You must have at least Edit and Share rights (VES) to view the History log of the NetBinder.  You can also choose to print the history log for all users in a single report. 

Breakout

Use the Breakout feature of a NetBinder to work on documents with other parties privately, without granting those other parties access to the original NetBinder.  A Breakout session is commonly referred to as a 'caucus session'.  When you Breakout documents, they are flagged and temporarily checked out into a new NetBinder.  Use the new NetBinder to grant other people access to work on those checked out documents with you.  You need at least VES rights to create a Breakout session.

Example of Breakout Use Suppose you have access to a NetBinder.  Everything you do to the documents is tracked in that NetBinder and all those with access see your changes.  If you are the client, you may decide you need to work through a contract document privately with another legal counsel or consultant.  But you don't want the primary members of the NetBinder to know you are caucusing with others, and you don't want this the outside counsel or consultant to see all the other documents of the original NetBinder.  To accomplish this, select the contract document and click on Breakout.  To the members of the original NetBinder, the document appears only as 'checked out' for editing.  However, a new NetBinder is created and the selected document is added to it.  You are the only one with access to the NetBinder and will now need to add the outside counsel and consultant to the access list.  These new individuals receive notification and are granted rights to the Breakout NetBinder.  You all can make comments, create versions, add documents, etc.  When you are finished, the Breakout NetBinder is deleted and the document(s) are checked back in.  Access to the Breakout NetBinder is removed to outside counsel and consultant.

Return Documents from a Breakout

You can return one, many or all documents from a Breakout back to the originating NetBinder.  Select the documents to be returned and click Return from Breakout on the Marked Items menu.  You are prompted to Finish the Breakout Session or Continue the Breakout Session.  If you are finished, the selected documents will be checked in to the NetBinder that originated the Breakout session and removed from the breakout NetBinder.  The breakout NetBinder will be deleted.  If you choose to continue the Breakout session, the NetBinder that originated the breakout session will be updated with current copies of the selected documents from the Breakout NetBinder. However, the documents will remain checked out from the original NetBinder and can continue to be edited in the Breakout NetBinder. 

You can choose to Create new versions of returned documents or Overwrite original versions of returned documents.  By default, your returned documents are saved back as a new version of the original. 

Remove a Document from a NetBinder

To remove a document and place it back as a individual document in the Cabinet:

1. Select the documents to be removed

2. Click Remove from NetBinder

3. Choose a Cabinet and whether to file it in a folder

4. Click OK

Note

When a document is removed from a NetBinder, just like elsewhere in the product, the document ID is always maintained with the document.  When the document is moved out of the NetBinder, it assumes the access rights of the Cabinet default or it will be based on the Profile, if you are using Profile-based security.

Email a Document from a NetBinder

You can email a copy of a document to others who cannot access your NetBinder or are not registered with NetDocuments.  However, in a NetBinder, you are limited to emailing one document at a time. 

If you want to email more than one document from a NetBinder, a workaround is to do a Search on the NetBinder name, then from the Search Results, which will show all of the documents in the NetBinder, you can select multiple documents to email.

1. Click Profile next to the document you wish to email

2. Click on Email to send an unsecured copy

3. If you use Microsoft Outlook and have turned on Outlook Integration, an Outlook email window is opened and you can select from your address book

4. If you do not use Outlook, or have not turned on Outlook Integration, NetDocuments uses its own email window.  You will not have access to an address book through this interface. 

5. Click Send

Note

This is a copy of the document sent outside of the NetDocuments service and is not secure.  It is as secure as the email application you use for daily email. 

File in Folder

A NetBinder can and should be filed in at least one folder just like an individual document. 

Note

If you create a NetBinder and do not add documents to it, you will be unable to locate that NetBinder through a search.  However, if you filed the NetBinder in a folder, you can navigate to it through Browse Cabinets.  Documents in a NetBinder can be located by searching on the NetBinder name.    You can also add a NetBinder to your Home Page to easily locate it in the future. 

Add to Home Page

To access a NetBinder directly by a single click from your Home Page, click Add to Home Page from any NetBinder's options menu. 

Organize NetBinder Contents

Watch this video to see how to add section headings between documents in a NetBinder. (maximize the Help page dialog to watch the video full-screen)

You can organize items in a NetBinder and place them in any order by using the Organize option.  Because a NetBinder is often used for multi-party collaboration, the most important documents are sometimes sorted at the top, along with any discussion items.  To do this:

1. Click Organize documents from the NetBinder options menu

2. Drag and drop documents names in the order you choose

3. Click OK when completed.

You can also choose to add headings in the NetBinder to define your document organization as shown below using the same Organize option.

All users will see the documents in the same order.  You cannot apply your Custom View to a NetBinder as you can to Recently Opened Docs list, Search Results, and folders. 

Rename a NetBinder or Document

To rename a NetBinder: (you must have A rights to do this)

1. Click Other Options from the NetBinder options menu

2. Choose Rename

3. Type the new NetBinder name

4. Click Rename

To rename a Document or Item in a NetBinder: (you must have A rights to do this)

1. Click Profile next to the document in the contents list

2. Choose Rename the document

3. Click Close

Copy a NetBinder or Document

You can make a copy of an entire NetBinder and its contents or make copies of individual documents within the NetBinder.  When you copy a NetBinder, the official version of all of its contents are copied.  Multiple versions of the documents are not retained. 

To copy and duplicate a NetBinder:

1. Click Other Options and then select Copy

2. Enter a new name for the destination NetBinder including Cabinet and folder if desired

3. Click OK

To Copy a Single Document

1. Select the document name to be copied

2. Click Copy from the Marked Items options menu

3. Give the copy a name

4. Store the copy inside the current NetBinder or select Outside this NetBinder to choose an alternate Cabinet and optional folder

5. Click OK

Note

When you copy a document, the profile information of the source document is also copied. 

Move to Another Cabinet

To move a NetBinder to another Cabinet

1. Click Other Options from the NetBinder options menu

2. Choose Move to another Cabinet

3. Select from the Cabinets to which you have access

4. Choose whether to file the NetBinder in a folder

5. If you want the NetBinder to be accessible by others at the time of the move, leave the option checked to Share with others in the Cabinet.  The Cabinet security defaults will apply.  Otherwise, the access list will include only you. 

6. Click OK

The NetBinder and its contents will be removed entirely from the current Cabinet. 

Delete a NetBinder or Individual Documents (you must have A rights to this)

To delete a NetBinder and its contents when it is open:

1. Click Other Options from the NetBinder options menu

2. Choose Delete

3. Click OK to confirm

You can delete a NetBinder if it is closed and filed in a folder:

1. Navigate to the folder

2. Check the box next to the NetBinder

3. Click Delete from the Marked Items option menu

4. Confirm

To delete individual documents in a NetBinder:

1. Select the document(s) you want to delete

2. Click on Delete from the Marked Items options menu

3. Choose Yes to confirm

Note

Deleted NetBinders and documents are moved to the Deleted Items folder until purged.  Also, remember that when you delete a NetBinder, all of its documents are deleted.  This is different behavior than with folders.  When you delete a folder, its contents are simply 'unfiled', but remain accessible in the Cabinet. 

Edit a Document's Profile

To edit the profile of a document or item in a NetBinder:

1. Click Profile next to the document name

2. If document profiling is enforced in the Cabinet and the document's profile is not complete, the Edit Profile box will appear automatically

3. If it is and you are just editing previously entered profile information, click Edit Profile and make your changes

4. Click Close

Note

When you share a NetBinder with someone who is not a member of your Cabinet, custom profile information is not visible such as Client Number, Matter Number, etc.  Custom profile fields are Cabinet specific.  Since non-Cabinet members receive the NetBinder in their My Cabinet where custom profiles are not enabled, they cannot see that information. 

However, if the people you shared with have a full Enterprise account with NetDocuments, and you have given them Share rights,  they can move the NetBinder from their My Cabinet into a company Cabinet, where their custom profiles are enabled on the documents in the NetBinder.  You will only see your custom profile fields and information and they will see theirs.  This allows multiple firms to share a NetBinder and make the contents fully searchable by their own internal custom profile information. 

Version Management

NOTE: NetBinders that are accessed from My Cabinet do not have Versioning capability.

A NetBinder accessed from within a Repository with full-text searching and versioning enabled supports the capability to manage multiple versions of a single document.  You can create new versions of a document in two ways:

Save an Edited Document as a New Version

1. Open a document, edit it, then save it in its native application and close it

2. Instead of clicking Save or Close to check in the document, select Check in as new version from the document's profiles and options dialog box, which should have remained open while you edited the document, unless you closed it down.  You can reopen it by clicking Profile next to the document. 

3. Enter any comments and determine whether the new version is now the official version.  If not, unmark the Official version checkbox

4. Click OK

Create Versions of a Document without Opening It

1. Open the document's Profile dialog box by clicking Profile next to the document

2. Choose to Add or View Versions of the document.

3. Select a version from the list and click Add Version. 

4. Type any comments and choose to flag it as the official or not

5. Click Close

Notes

• When a person clicks on a document name in a NetBinder, the version flagged as the official version is the one opened for editing.  To bypass the automatic open of the official version, you must click Profile next to the document name and choose to Add or View Versions of the document.  You can then select to open and edit a different version from if others exist. 

• To Clean Up (reconcile) multiple versions, you must have Administrator (A) rights to the document. 

Approve Document

You and anyone else in the NetBinder can place an electronic approval on a document.  To approve a document:

1. Click Profile next to the document to be approved

2. Click Approve

3. Click OK
   
   An icon  will be displayed next to the document name of any approved document.

Note

Approving a document records your name and the current date and time.  Everyone with access to the NetBinder sees any approvals stamped on a document when they open it.  Approving a document does not lock the document in its current state. If the document is edited by you or anyone else after you or others approve it, all approvals will be rescinded automatically.  However, approvals are permanently recorded in the History log.  

If you would like to lock the document so no further edits are possible, or to make a document legally binding, sign the document digitally.  (Remember a signed document can never be removed from the NetDocuments Service).

Sign a Document (this function is only available for documents in a NetBinder)

A digital signature allows others to verify the identity of a signer and ensures that a document will not be changed with non-repudiation.  NetDocuments supports two types of digital signatures:

1. Personal Digital Certificate

2. NetDocuments Signature

A digital certificate-based signature is secure and provides a degree of legal protection in the United States under the Electronic Records and Signatures in Commerce Act.  To sign a document with a digital certificate-based signature, you must obtain a digital certificate from a certificate authority such as DST or Verisign.

A NetDocuments Signature provides a date/time stamp feature and locks the document text.  However, it does not necessarily provide legal protection.  If two parties agree to use this signature, it may hold as an official certificate authority under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act

To digitally sign a document

1. Click Profile next to the document to be signed

2. Select Sign.

3. Choose to use a personal certificate or a NetDocuments signature.

4. Click OK

Note

When a document is been signed, it cannot be edited or deleted, the NetBinder cannot be deleted, and signers cannot be removed from the Access List.  To purge a signed document, all parties who signed must submit a signed affidavit to NetDocuments requesting that the document and/or NetBinder be purged from the service entirely. 

If you want to indicate tentative approval of the document but still allow others the option of editing the document, use the Approve option.
 

NetBinder Information

The NetBinder Information box shows the following:

• Author

• Created date and time

• Modified date and time

• Modified by

To access this information:

1. Click Other Options from the NetBinder options menu

2. Choose NetBinder Information

Email Management Through NetBinders

As an option, a user can use a NetBinder to bind an email and its attachments when they are forwarded into NetDocuments.  Whenever you forward to NetDocuments an email that has attachments, you can choose to place them into a NetBinder if you add NB: or NetBinder: into the Subject of the forwarded email.  If you do not add the code to the Subject line, the email with its attachments are sent to NetDocuments and automatically linked together with the Doc ID linking feature. 

If the email is sent into a NetBinder, the email text and header information is stored as a single searchable HTML document.  The attachments are stored individually as well and are searchable.  The new NetBinder access list includes you as the administrator and author, and grants access to the Cabinet defaults or Profile security, if you are using that type of security.  This behavior is different than creating a NetBinder within the NetDocuments interface, where the access list defaults only to you. 

By creating a NetBinder, you now have the capability to grant access to others, including the sender, so that you can collaborate within the NetBinder rather than sending emails and document copies back and forth. 

Note

If an email does not have at least one attachment, the email is stored in the Cabinet as a stand-alone document.