Working with Virtual data rooms

Step 1. Create a Virtual data room

Create a new Virtual data room in a few easy steps:

1. Go to the Rooms section and click the New room button or the Plus icon.
2. Select the Virtual Data Room type.
3. Enter the room Name.
4. Optionally, you can add tags or an icon.
5. Enable the necessary switchers in the room settings panel:
   • Automatic indexing - Enable automatic indexing to index files and folders by serial number. Sorting by number will be set as default for all users.
   • File lifetime - Set file lifetime to automatically delete the files in this room after a defined period. Lifetime begins on the date of upload/creation of the file.

     Set a number of days, months, or years and select the necessary action: Move to trash or Delete permanently.

     
   • Restrict copy and download - Enable this setting to disable downloads and content copying for users with the "Viewer" role.
   • Add watermarks to documents - Protect all documents in this room with watermarks. If a document already contains one, it will not be replaced.

     You can select the Viewer info option and adjust the following settings for a text watermark:

     • Add watermark elements: User Name, User Email, User IP Address, Current date, Room Name.
     • Add static text
     • Position: Diagonal or Horizontal.

     You can select the Image option, upload an image file and adjust the following settings for an image watermark:

     • Scale - select the necessary scale value from the available ones: 100%, 200%, 300%, 400%, 500%.
     • Rotate - select the necessary value: 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°.
     
   It's also possible to adjust these settings when editing the Virtual data room.
6. Click Create.

Step 2. Add documents to the room

Use quick action links in the newly created room or the Actions menu to add documents:

• Create new documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF forms online.
• Add existing files and folders from your DocSpace sections: Documents or Rooms.
• Upload existing files and folders from your device.

All available options for working with documents in rooms are listed here.

Step 3. Add authorized users to the room

Now you need to add guests or users registered in your DocSpace to the room for working with documents.

In the Virtual data room, the available permission levels are Room manager (Paid), Content creator, Editor, Viewer, Form filler. Both Room managers and Content creators can create and upload new files and folders and manage them, but Room managers can also manage users and access settings. To add a Room manager, you should select a Room or DocSpace admin from existing DocSpace contacts.

Editors can perform various actions with existing files (edit, comment, review, view them, fill forms), while Viewers can only view existing documents. Form fillers can fill out forms.

To invite guests and users:

1. Go to the room Info -> Contacts screen and use the Invite contacts icon.
2. Turn on the switcher to create a universal link for self-authorization in the room. If necessary, change the permission level. The link will be copied to the clipboard. In this way, you can invite guests only.
3. Alternatively, use the Add manually section below to add existing DocSpace contacts or invite new guests personally via email. Type in an email and press Enter or choose an existing contact from the list. If necessary, change the permission level. You can add several emails and then click Send invitations.

By default, guests and users will be added to the room as Viewers, who can only view documents. You can select Content creator or Editor instead of the default Viewer option. New guests will be added to your Guests list.

If you want to use the role-based form filling feature, assign the Form filler permissions.

When working with PDF forms in Virtual Data Rooms, the following actions are available depending on the permission level:

Form fillers can view only configured PDF forms in which they participate.

All available options for inviting users to rooms are listed here.

Step 4. Fill in forms based on roles

Starting from v3.1, you can fill in forms by roles in Virtual Data Rooms.

First of all, open the added PDF form and create the roles by clicking the Managing Roles button on the Forms tab. For more details, read this article.

Click a form field and use the Who needs to fill this out? option on the Form settings panel to assign the necessary role to the selected form field.

When all roles are created and fields are adjusted, click the Start filling button in the upper right corner of the form.

On the Start filling screen, assign roles to the room members in the specified order. The role order corresponds to the one created in the role manager. Click the Plus icon, choose the necessary member and click the Select button. To remove the selected participant, click the cross icon next to the user name.

When the roles are assigned to the room members, click the Start button.

On the next screen, you can copy the link to the form and send it to participants, you can also see who has already filled in the form or accessed it for filling. It's also possible to go to the room or open the form.

The In progress status will appear next to the file in the room. The assigned person who must fill in the form will see the Your turn status. The filling is only possible when it is the user's turn. The user can fill out only the fields that are intended for him. When the member complete the form and click the Complete & Submit button, the turn passes to the next participant.

You can also select the Filling status option from the file context menu to see the completion progress. If you want to stop filling, use the Stop button on the Filling status screen or the Stop filling option in the form context menu. The Stopped status will appear next to the file in the room.

Once the form is completed by all participants, the Complete status will appear next to the file in the room.

Step 5. Track work with documents

Use the top toolbar to perform the following actions within the room:

• Export room index – to export the index for the Virtual Data Room. The xlsx file with a summary report on the file structure of the room will be exported to the 'Documents' section.
• Edit index – to re-order files and remove spaces in the index of the Virtual Data Room. You will be able to use arrows to change the file order manually one by one or use the Reorder option on the top.

You can track all changes on the room Info -> History screen.