Bulk Update Emails and Documents

You can use the Bulk Update to make changes to multiple documents and emails at the same time.

Examples of when Bulk Update can be used

• For documents and emails, you can use Bulk Update to change the Client, the filing fields (Cabinet and Categories and if relevant Keywords and Tags), Owner, and the Workflow Status for the selected documents.
• You can use this to update only the value for one or more Categories without selecting a Cabinet. For example, to update the Year in emails or documents that are filed under different Cabinets.
• If relevant for the selected Client and Cabinet, you can also select a Job. If any of the fields are not changed, this will keep the original setting in each of the selected documents.
• Using Bulk Update in your In Tray is useful if you want to change the Owner or Workflow Status of an email or document without filing it. Changing the Owner of an email or document, without filing it, will add it to the In Tray of the new owner, and it will also still be included in the In Tray of the original owner.
• An FYI Admin can also use Bulk Update to delete multiple emails and documents.

If any of the fields are not changed, this will keep the original setting in each of the selected documents and emails. A message is displayed in the drawer as a reminder of this.

The Bulk Update is run by a Process Document Bulk Update (this Process is not shown in the Automation - Processes dashboard or List view). An FYI Admin or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Automations or Practice Activity can see when the update has been completed in the Automation - History and Practice  - Activity tabs.

Refer also to Clients Bulk Update, Jobs Bulk Update and Tasks Bulk Update.

Using Bulk Update

1. Select the documents and emails you want to update. At least one document or email must be selected in a list before the Bulk Update button is enabled.
   
   Click the checkboxes on the left-hand column of the list to select the documents and emails required. To select all that are currently displayed on that page, click the checkbox in the column heading. This is useful if, for example, you have set filters to first display only the documents that are relevant. Refer also to Selecting Documents in a List in Using the Documents Lists.
   
   Note: If you have set filters in the list, you can use the Apply to option (see below) to bulk update all the emails/documents that are currently filtered, without having to select them all with the checkboxes.
   
   
2. Click Bulk Update in the toolbar. Or right-click and select Bulk Update from the toolbar pop-up menu (refer to Using the Document Action Tool Bar).
   
   The Bulk Update Drawer displays. The following shows the Bulk Update that displays for Emails or Documents.
   
3. Make the selections for the fields you want to apply to all the selected documents (refer to Using the Email Drawer and Selecting a Client in the Filing Details and Refreshing the Clients).
   
   For example, when you select the Cabinet the relevant fields display, such as the Categories, that you can change.
   
   You can add new Tags and/or Keywords with Bulk Update. These fields will only be displayed if a Cabinet has been selected in the Bulk Update drawer, and Keywords or Tags have been enabled for the Cabinet. Refer to Using Tags and Using Keywords.
   
   Note: If you select a Cabinet that has any Categories set as "Required" but you leave the Category in Bulk Update unselected, a message displays, and you will not be able to run the Bulk Update. As you may be refiling emails and documents from different Cabinets, this is a safeguard to ensure that when it is set as "Required", and unrelated Category is not carried over to the new Cabinet.  If you want to leave the Category unchanged in the emails or documents being updated, refer to the FAQ Why is Bulk Update giving a message "Category ... is required"?.
   
   
4. For emails and document, you can also use Bulk Update to update only the value for one or more Categories. This is useful, for example, if the emails or documents you want to change have different Cabinets, but you want to change the setting for a Category that is used by all these Cabinets, such as the Year.
   
   Click Add Category in the Bulk Update to include the relevant Category.
   
   This adds the Category to the Bulk Update, without the Cabinet selected.
   Select the value for the Category you want to update in the selected emails/documents.
   
   You can change the value for more than one Category at the same time.
   
   - Click Add Category again. The list of Categories displays and excludes any that you have already added.
   - Select the Category
   - Select its value in the same way as above.
   
   
5. You can set the Filing status as "Draft" or "Filed".  Selecting "Filed" can be used to file the document(s) at the same time as updating any filing details. This option is not available in the In Tray if emails or documents do not have the required filing details completed, such as Client, Cabinet and Categories as required. 
   
   If the AutoArchive Documents function has been enabled in your practice, the Filing status can be selected as "Archived" (refer to Managing Practice Settings for Documents). This moves the selected documents to the "Archived" view in document lists. Refer to Archiving Client Documents.
   
   Where you need to bulk update emails from an "Archived" status, set the Filing as "Filed" to bulk update the filing status of the emails. This will result in the emails appearing in active Document views such as "All". 
   
   
6. If using Workflow to review and approve documents, you can update the Approver of multiple documents. Select the name of the user from the drop-down. Refer to Workflow Overview.
7. Apply to gives you the option of the number of selected documents, or the number of filtered documents (with a maximum of 10,000).
   
   
8. Click Run.
   
   
9. A message displays that the Bulk Update has been scheduled to run.
   

The Bulk Update is run by a Process Document Bulk Update (this Process is not shown in the Automation - Processes dashboard or List view).
From the message, an FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Automations or Practice Activity can click the link or go directly to the Practice Activity or to the Automation History to check the progress and see when the update has been completed. From the drawer of an item in Practice - Activity you can click Go to Automation History.

Note: In the Activity section in the drawer of a document that has been updated with Bulk Update, this displays the user who made the changes. You can also see the name of the user who ran the Bulk Update in Practice - Activity.

Using Functions on Multiple Emails/Documents

As well as using the Bulk Update to change filing fields, you can select emails/documents and then use the functions in the toolbar, for example, to Delete or Export. Or right-click and select the function from the toolbar pop-up menu (refer to Using the Document Action Tool Bar).

1. Select the emails/documents you want to update.
   Click the checkboxes on the left-hand column of the list to select the emails/documents required.
   If relevant to the list, first click Select to display the checkboxes in the left-hand column.
   
   
2. Click the button in the toolbar/toolbar pop-up menu for the function you want to perform on the documents that are selected in the list (for example, Delete, Export).

Using Bulk Update to Delete Emails and Documents (FYI Admins only)

An FYI Admin can also use Bulk Update to delete multiple emails and documents.

• This will delete emails or documents that are locked when they have a workflow status of "Completed", "Approved", "Pending Client Signature" or "Client Signed".
• This will not delete emails or documents that are being edited or that are in Co-edit.

Emails and documents deleted with Bulk Update can be displayed in the Documents list using the "Deleted" view (refer to Deleting Documents and Recovering Deleted Documents).

1. Apply any filters as required.
   
   
2. Select the emails/documents you want to delete.
   
   
3. Click Bulk Update.
   
   
4. In the Bulk Update drawer, click Delete to select it. All other selections are then disabled.
   
5. Apply to gives you the option of the number of selected documents, or the number of filtered documents (with a maximum of 10,000).
   
   
6. Click Run.