What is the SmartIndex and how to use it?
What is SmartIndex?
How to use the SmartIndex?
When you create a new Advanced account to ContractZen, in addition to the Legal Due Diligence Index, we also create an example ESG Index automatically for you. If you have access to multiple indexes, you can switch between them by clicking the index name and selecting an index from the dropdown.
Our Standard plan includes one index per account. The Advanced plan includes 20 indexes. This means that you can create different indexes for different use cases (different audits, funding rounds etc.). You can find our pricing plans at https://www.contractzen.com/pricing/.
If you have the Manage SmartIndexes access right enabled (see below text Access Rights), you can access the Manage page by clicking the Manage button in the SmartIndex page or in the Account page. There you can create new indexes (if you have any available), edit or delete them.
You can add contracts, meetings and entities to the SmartIndex by going to edit the item you want to add. The Add to Index button can be found from the bottom right side of the metadata card. Click the button and select the index you want to add to. Then you need to select the folder where you want to add the item to from the dropdown. Please note that you need to save the contract, meeting or entity before the addition to the index is saved. You can add the same contract etc. to multiple indexes and also multiple times to the same index (different folders).
When you are on the SmartIndex page, you can search any document or folder from the index by simply typing to the text search box.
We offer ready-made example index templates that you can use as they are or edit them according to your needs. Currently, we offer the following index templates:
Your SmartIndex document trees (indexes) can be shared via our Virtual Data Room (VDR) service. You can create a Basic or Pro SmartIndex VDR, which is a quick and simple way to share the whole index and its materials with any external parties. Just go to any of your index, you'll find the Create a VDR from this Index button above the index. Please note that in order to create the VDR, you need to have access to all the materials in the index.
Managing the SmartIndex
If you have available indexes in your account (i.e. you have 0 indexes created in a Standard account or less than 20 indexes created in an Advanced account), you can either create an empty index (click "Create New") or a new index from a ready-made template (click "Create New from Template"). Currently, we offer an example ESG and Legal Due Diligence index templates.
Organizing material in the SmartIndex
If you have Full Access to an index, you can see the Enable Edit Mode button when you open an index. When the edit mode is enabled, you can create new folders, edit the names of the existing folders or delete them, change the order of the folders, remove documents from the index, or move documents from one folder to another. A document needs to be always inside a folder, but folders can be all on the same level or inside each other. The level amount is not restricted.
When you click the plus icon to create a new folder, it will be created inside that folder where you clicked the plus icon. If you click the plus icon below the whole index, the new folder will be created on the bottom of the index.
When you want to move a document or a folder, enable the edit mode and simply drag&drop the document/folder.
Please note: If you want to move a document or a folder inside a folder, the folder needs to be open (see below screenshot). Click the folder to open or close it. You can see from the folder icon if it's open or closed. If you want to open/close all folders in the index, click the plus/minus buttons at the top of the index.
Open folders.
If you want to move something above or below a folder (but to the same level), the folder needs to be closed (see below screenshot).
Closed folders.
Documents inside a folder are always in alphabetical order. When the edit mode is disabled and you click a document in the index, it opens the item details (i.e. metadata and files) on the same page. If you want to edit the document, click the Open button on the right side.
Please note that if you don't have access rights to that specific item (contract, meeting, entity), you will not see the item details.
Adding material to the SmartIndex
You can add contracts, meetings and entities to the SmartIndex by going to edit the item you want to add. The Add to Index button can be found from the bottom right side of the metadata card. Click the button and select the index you want to add to. Then you need to select the folder where you want to add the item to from the dropdown. Please note that you need to save the contract, meeting or entity before the addition to the index is saved. You can add the same contract etc. to multiple indexes and also multiple times to the same index (different folders).
Note! Contracts and meetings can be added to an index also from the List View page of the respective category (e.g. Contracts or Board Meetings). Just select the item(s) you wan to add, click the Add to Index button on the bottom of the page and follow the instructions.
Access Rights
Manage SmartIndexes access right can be found from user access rights (account administrators can edit the users' access rights). When this access right is enabled, the user can access the Manage SmartIndexes page, where they can create, delete or edit the indexes.
Index access: When you create a new index, you will get automatically Full Access to that index. If want to give users access to the index, click the Edit button on the Manage SmartIndexes page. On the edit page, you can select each user's access to the index between No Access, Read Only or Full Access by clicking the slider. If a user has Read Only rights, they cannot add anything to the index or edit the index (create or delete folders, organize the structure). Full Access allows the user to add material and edit the content of the index.
Please note: All users who have either Read-Only or Full Access to an index can see all document and folder titles in the index regardless of their access rights in your account. However, they cannot open any documents that they don't have access to. So, if it is critical that a user cannot see even the titles of the material in the index, do not give them access to it at all.
Searching from the SmartIndex
You can also search contracts or meetings that are added to a specific index (or indexes) in the List View page of any category. Open the Advanced Search e.g. in Contracts, and you will find the SmartIndex from the filters. Simply select the index or indexes and the search operator you want to use (either OR or AND) and click Apply Filters. The results will include all items that are added to the indexes you selected.
Note: You can also select "No index" from the filters if you want to find all items that are not added to any indexes.
This search will be expanded to Entity Management later on.
Index Templates
Legal Due Diligence
ESG
Sharing the SmartIndex
In the Basic SmartIndex VDR, you don't need to worry about the access rights in the VDR. All users you invite to the dataroom, can see and access all material in the index. Pro version allows you to control the access rights based on the folders.
If you need to update the material from the main account to the index in the VDR, make the needed changes to the index in the main account. After that, go inside the dataroom and click the Update the index button. It will update the whole index and its materials. Please note that if the documents or folders have been moved in the index so that their parent folder has changed, the documents will lose their favorite and review markings, and comments, and folders will lose their access groups (in the Pro version) after the update.
In the Standard plan, the Basic VDR has a free 30-day trial, after that the cost is 9€/$9.80 per month. The Basic VDR can have max 5 users.
The Pro VDR costs 45€/$49 per month. The Pro VDR can have max 50 users.
The Pro VDR costs 45€/$49 per month. The Pro VDR can have max 50 users.
The Advanced plan includes free VDRs as follows: 5 Basic, 1 Pro.
Pro SmartIndex VDR Access Groups
- Enable the Access Group edit mode.
- Select the group from the dropdown.
- Click the plus/minus icons next to the folders to grant/revoke access.
- Users of the selected group will see only the selected (green) folders and documents inside them.
Hide items and attachments
Administrators of the VDRs can hide any item (contract, meeting or entity) from all users in the VDR. In addition, attachments of those items can also be hidden. Just click the Hide/Show icon next to the item or attachment name.
