Configuring Matter Data on your Matter Types

In this article, you will learn how to create matter data collections and matter data fields that store information within matters.

 Alternatively, check out our custom data webinar below (10mins):

Overview

'Matter Data' is Actionstep's method of allowing for unique forms to be stored against matters. You can capture almost any kind of information through these data collections, including court dates, identification numbers, document references and much more.

Matter Data Collections vs. Matter Data Fields - What's the difference?

Matter data fields are used to capture the information, and these fields are contained within matter data collections. Collections can contain any number of fields and are represented by text-labelled tabs within the 'Matter Navigation Bar' as per the screenshot below.

When creating Matter data, you need to create a data collection first, then create the fields that will go under it.

Creating a Custom Data Collection

To create a new custom data collection, you will have to access the Matter Type in the Admin section of Actionstep. Admin > Matter Types > (Select the matter type that you want the data collection to be for) > 'Manage' beside 'Matter data'.

On that screen, click Create data collection.

Editing a Custom Data on your Matter type

When on the screen where you are shown all of the data collections on your Matter Type (Admin > Matter Types > (click on the matter type that you want the data collection to be for) > Matter Data ) you will see two buttons beside each data collection.

The Edit button will allow you to change details about the data collection, including the basic information about the fields under that data collection.

The Fields button will allow you to see the fields under the data collection and to access each to change further details about each field. There are more options available for how you can customise your fields available through clicking on 'Fields' than by clicking on 'Edit'.

Understanding the Edit / New Data Collection screen

On the New Data Collection screen, you enter in the name, label and the fields that will appear on the data collection as well as other details.

There are four sections to the screen, we list each below and explain the fields within them.

General Settings

Under the general settings section, you enter the basics of the data collection.

Name	The name of a data collection is not actually one that is displayed to the user. The name that you enter will be used when this data collection (and the fields you create under it) is referenced in other parts of Ationstep, such as in document or email templates or customized list views. NOTE The name of a data collection cannot have any spaces in it. We recommend altering the name with capitals and/or underscores to help make them readable. For example, "Matter Details" could be entered as "MatterDetails" or "matter_details".
Description	The description will be displayed to users. You can populate it to help guide your user on what they should expect to see under this data collection.
Type	Type is an important consideration. There are two types of data collections available in Actionstep, a single row or many row option and both behave differently. A One row per matter data collection will have one record for each field. Effectively, it will present the user with one form for them to fill in for the matter. Most data collections will be 'One row per matter'. A Many rows per matter data collection will allow you to create more than one record for the data collection. Effectively, it will allow you to create as many records as you want with a separate form for each. While this type of data collection will be less popular, it is very useful for instances where you might have a variable number of items that you need to collect on a matter. Examples of a good fit for a 'Many rows per matter' would be: Conditions or exceptions on a contract A list of assets for an estate planning matter Details of different patents lodged in different countries

Matter Settings

Here you can control how the data collection will appear to the user when they are looking at their matters.

Display title	This will be how the data collection will appear on the matter.  Tip: TIP: Keep in mind that the data collection will appear beside the icons at the top of a matter. If you plan on having many data collections, keep the name short.
Sort order	Sort order is what Actionstep uses to put different items in the correct order. You will see it in multiple places throughout matter types.  The number that you assign here will be compared to the sort order number on any other data collection you create. A data collection with a lower number will appear before (to the left of) a data collection with a higher number. Tip: TIP: When you enter sort orders, use numbers with multiple of ten, i.e., '10' for the first record, '20' for the second, '30' for the third and so on.  The reason why you want to do this is if you want to create a new data collection at a later time that you want to be between two existing data collections, you have 9 available numbers to assign it to achieve this.
Related matter sharing	It is possible to have this data collection appear in not just the matter that you have open but in any matter that is related to it.  Related matters allow you, at a basic level, to show that one matter is related to another. However, you can expand on that functionality with options like this. By switching the 'Related matter sharing' on, then this data collection will be seen as another data collection on a related matter. This can be great if there is information that will be useful to see on both matters.  Even better, if you update the results of the fields in one matter, the fields in the other matter will be updated automatically. Even if you update the fields in the matter that was not the original. The only restriction you should be aware of is that you cannot reference fields in a shared data collection on a document template that you produce from a related matter. Have a look at Setting Up Related Matters for more details on how you can map fields between related matters to overcome this.
Always show descriptions	In the General Settings section (explained above) you can create a description for the data collection you are working on. This description will display when the data collection is being edited. It will show at the top of the data collection screen, just under the data collections label.  You can switch the 'Always show descriptions' On to have that data collection description show anytime the user is viewing the data collection, whether editing it or not.

 

Fields

In this section, you can create and do some basic edits of the fields that will sit under the data collection you are creating. 

To add a field, click the Add row button.  Each row represents a different field that will appear under your data collection. We explain the options you can set for the fields below.

Tip:

TIP:

There are more values and settings you can apply to a field than those we display in this screen.

If you are on this screen and viewing fields you have already created and saved, you will notice that you can no longer change the fields name and the name appears as a blue link. 

You can click this link to open a specific page just for the setup of that field. 

You can also access these screens by clicking on 'Fields' when viewing your list of data collections for this matter type.

 

Name	The name of the field that will be kept in Actionstep.    NOTE: The name of the field is not displayed to the user. The name is used to reference this field in other parts of Actionstep such as document templates or custom list views.  The name of a field cannot have any spaces in it. We recommend altering the name with capitals and/or underscores to help make them readable. For example, "Customer instructions" could be entered as "CustomerInstructions" or "customer_instructions".
Label	This is how the field will appear to your users. You may use spaces in the label.
Data Type	There are a number of different types of fields that you can create in Actionstep. Commonly selected options will appear at the top of this drop down but all will be displayed. If you know the name of the data type you want to use, you can type in the search box to select it. Have a read here to learn more about the different types of matter data fields.
From Order	From order is just like sort order (described above in the 'Matters Settings' section). It is what Actionstep uses to put different items in the correct order. You will see it in multiple places throughout matter types.  The number that you assign here will be compared to the list order number on any other field you create. A field with a lower number will appear before a field with a higher number. Tip: TIP: When you enter sort orders, use numbers with multiple of ten, i.e., '10' for the first record, '20' for the second, '30' for the third and so on.  The reason why you want to do this is if at a later time, you want to create a new field that you want to be between two existing fields, you have 9 numbers to assign it to achieve this.
Required	This will set if the field is required or not.  If you tick this box, the user must enter a value against this field to be able to save the data collection.

Linked document templates

You can link a document template to a data collection. This is handy if you have a data collection that captures most of the information required for a document. For example, if you have a data collection which captures the details about your engagement with the client then you could set a 'client engagement letter' template to be linked to that data collection.

Once linked, the user will be able to see a link at the bottom of the data collection beside the Edit or Save button to allow them to generate a document. When they click on it, they will be prompted which document to generate.

To set this up, click the Add row button  and then select the document template that you want to link. 

 

NOTE

You will have to create a document template on your matter type first before you can link to it. See Document Templates for more details. 

System role permissions

Actionstep allows you to set permissions for the users of your system, including if they can access a data collection. This can be useful if there is some information that you are happy to make available to all staff but some that you want to make available to only some staff. To achieve this, you could create a data collection specifically for the information that should be restricted and then use the system role permissions to restrict access to the data collection.

By default, the custom permissions will be off. This means that anybody who has access to the Matter type that this data collection is on will have access to the data collection. Switch the custom permissions on to allow for them to be customized.

When switched on, you will see a list of all the system roles that are set in your Actionstep. This will vary from system to system.

Beside each, will be a tick box to allow that system role to read the data collection, write to the data collection or delete the data in a data collection. We explain each in more detail below.

System Role	Each system will have an individualised list of system roles. System roles are what Actionstep uses to assign permissions. You set different permissions for the different parts of Actionstep against a system role. When you issue access to Actionstep to a user, you assign them a system role to choose what permissions they will have. See System Role Permissions for more details.
Read	When given 'Read' access a user is able to see the fields within a data collection and read the values they have been assigned. If they read access and no other access, they will not be able to edit or change the values of any fields. If a system role is not given read access to a data collection, they will not be able to see the data collection on a matter of this type.
Write	When given 'Write' Access a user will be able to read the values assigned to any fields under a data collection. They will be able to edit those fields and assign them new values. When given 'Write' access, a system role will have 'Read' access by default.
Delete	When a system role is given 'Delete' access then they will see a button at the bottom of the data collection that will allow them to delete all values against all the fields in the data collection.  This will delete all values on that data collection.

For more information on how to use the custom data collection you have created to capture information within matters, please see Matter Custom Data.

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