Does It Compute?

Optimizing Word for Worldox

I never cease to be surprised at how infrequently users do even minimal customization of Word to make it easier to use. Here are some simple things you can do to significantly increase your efficiency. First, edit the shortcut you use to start Word by putting a “/m” switch after the word.exe executable (with a space ....word.exe” /m). This will force Word to start using Worldox functions directly and bypass a lot of the garbage that Microsoft brings up when you open or save documents.

Second, and most important, customize the Quick Access Toolbar. This is a small toolbar that usually sits on top of the ribbon bar at the left of the screen. By default, there are only a few functions: Save, Back, Restore, etc. Right-click and select “Customize Quick Access Toolbar.” I typically add at least the following:

SaveAs

New

Open

Print

Then, at the top click nest to “Popular Commands” and scroll down to “Worldox Tab”. I add File Close and Exit Word. This last is useful because many firms follow the Worldox default in preventing users from click on the “Red X” at the top right corner of Word to exit, since this can disrupt the Worldox audit trail.

This leaves you with a number of key functions accessible with a single click instead of having to open File and scroll down for the function you want. Much more efficient.

And of course, if you are a keyboard person (as I am) there are the even more efficient shortcuts: Ctrl-O (Open), Ctrl-S (Save), Ctrl-P (Print), Ctrl-C (Copy), Ctrl-V (Paste) and Ctrl-X (Delete).

Worldox: Things that go CLUNK in the night.

Generally speaking, Worldox gives you a complete electronic record of all your documents, scans, emails, etc. However, there are some things that can’t readily be stored in Worldox. The most common is web pages. A web page is actually a collection of a dozen or more files - javascript, images, html pages, etc. So if you download a web page it comes across as all the individual files and is not accessible.

A similar case is MRI scans or similar imaging. Again, these are collections of images managed by a central program.

It turns out there is a simple, albeit retro lo-tech, way to access MRI scans. Copy the entire DVD including the program/viewers and all the files to a separate location on the server. I copied the entire DVD of a shoulder scan I had done a while ago to to W:\MRI\jhmri. The viewing program was called efilmlt.exe (a very common MRI viewer program) and was located in the efilmlite subdirectory on the DVD.

Then I created a batch file called “jhmri.bat” using notepad. The file contained a single line needed to run the viewer program: W:\mri\jhmri\efilmlite\efilmlt.exe. Different programs may require a slightly different script, but this should be fairly straightforward.

Then copy the batch file (in my case “jhmri.bat”) to Worldox and label it appropriately. A good practice would be the name of the MRI center, the name of the patient and the date of the MRI. Double clicking on that document will run the program.

You may need to get help creating a batch file, as it is somewhat old school (did you ever wonder why there are so many management tasks that you can easily still do in dos but not in windows?). Also, depending on your settings, the file may just open in Notepad. In that case you may need to get someone to edit the registry to fix a setting (you need to delete the
Hkey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\File
Exts\.bat). Do not try to do this if you are not sure how to do it.

Filtering Search Results in Worldox

Many people start a search by finding all the files for a given matter, either by using the “Favorite Matters” tab at the left of the Worldox screen or using a Find Template. This can be useful if there are not too many documents in the matter, but in many cases, you will need to filter the search results. There are two approaches to doing this.

First, you can enter additional information in the search template: one or more DocTypes (you can separate multiple doctypes by an “or” – Motion OR Pleading); a date range; specific terms in the description or text fields and so on.

Second, once the search is complete, you can use the “Filters” tab at the bottom left of the Worldox screen. This is an underused function that lets you filter search results by any terms contained in the documents on the screen. You can pick only the Excel files, exclude Emails (if you select an item it gets a green +: if you click on the button at the left of the entries it turns to a red -), specific authors, Categories, etc. This is doubly convenient because you see the results immediately and know whether you need to continue to add or change terms.

Worldox update - WDU 19.5

Worldox has just released a significant new update (WDU19.5). It provides major fixes to an indexing issue that affected larger databases (over about 1 million documents) and some patches for the Email Agent.

However, it comes with some serious issues. By default the update changes the order of the Find Templates so that Text comes first and Description/Name second. Virtually all users will find this very disruptive (and the stated rational remains entirely unconvincing to me). Not only will they be making mistakes for the first couple of weeks (automatically entering description search terms in the top field) until they get used to it, but the order is contrary to the logic most people use to construct searches.

Fortunately, “there is a switch for that.” As usual with most Worldox settings, this can be changed back to the original order. Ask your consultant how to do that.

In addition, the classical Boolean search terms AND/OR have been changed to “Must Have” and “Can Have” for reasons that remain obscure. This too can be changed back to the familiar legal Boolean terminology.

Customizing Worldox Font Sizes

As people go with larger and larger monitors, the standard Worldox font display can appear too small for convenient use. Some users may also just be more comfortable with larger size type.

There are two places in Worldox where the base fonts can be customized.

First, the fonts in the main Worldox display. Click on the little gear wheel icon labeled “Customize” at the top of the column headings. Select Line/Fonts/Colors/Spacing. Probably the main thing people will want to change is “First file line.” Adjust the font until it suits you. After making any other changes in size or spacing you want, select “OK.” Then click on the gear wheel again and select “Make this my favorite view” to make the settings (including column displays) permanent.

I have also frequently seen cases where the Find dialog appears in weird sizes. The fonts for various dialogs can be customized under Display | Customize | Fonts. You can make the fonts for various dialogs bigger as desired.

With a little experimentation, you should be able to get Worldox to look the way you want it to and thus increase your ease of use and productivity.

Worldox Cloud - Pros and Cons

Worldox Cloud is a SaaS (Software as a Service) offering from Worldox. Your documents are stored on Worldox-managed servers, thus saving part of your IT bill. Worldox Cloud offers free implementation of Worldox Web. Many firms go with Cloud for the simplicity, reduction in IT, and better security. Below are some of the main advantages and disadvantages to Worldox Cloud.

Advantages to Cloud
• Access from anywhere (laptop or pure browser)
• Access using iPad/Mac via Worldox Web
• Virtually identical interface and functionality as traditional Worldox
• In almost all cases, better security than on-prem
• Saves on in-house servers and IT (but see below on net expenses)

Disadvantages to Cloud
• Single solution. Does not change anything about how the firm accesses other programs (time/billing, etc.).
• Integration with Office, Acrobat, etc. will be full-featured; integration with other programs the firm uses may not be as robust.
• Will always be less responsive than on-prem.
• Even accounting for savings on servers/IT, will be significantly more expensive than on-prem. IT does not go away entirely, still needed for other programs (time/billing etc.).
• Dependent on having a robust internet connection.

Document Collaboration and Worldox

Collaboration is a hot item at present. But this is not a one size fits all.

The traditional “collaboration” meant emailing someone a document, having them mark it up and emailing it back. While this may still even be the dominant form of collaboration, email has been largely surplanted by the process of uploading one or more documents to a secure repository (Box, OneDrive, ShareFile, DropBox, etc.). Documents are edited in the repository (or, more often, downloaded, edited and re-uploaded), and the original owner downloads them back to the original source.

Worldox provides this sort of collaboration by integrating directly with various programs, such as those listed above. Thus, when you select “file | upload,” documents are uploaded directly from Worldox to the repository, then downloaded back to Worldox and saved as versions of the original document.

Generally, however, this is meant for a relatively small number of documents. For large numbers of documents (several thousand or more), the most efficient thing is to export documents from Worldox first. This lets you define a structure (client/matter/doctype) before uploading the documents to your desired repository. It is fairly easy to create an export structure in Worldox (but better let your consultant do it!). You can define the structure you need: folders by client, matter, doctype if needed. You can also export the long file name so that documents don’t just appear as “00012345.docx.”

More and more, however, collaboration is taken to refer to two (or more) people actually editing the document simultaneously, something that is not possible in Windows or Worldox. The best way to accomplish this using Worldox is to set up the Microsoft Teams integration. This lets you export a document to Teams; jointly edit it using the Teams functionality, and then import it back to Worldox as a version of the original document (or just overwrite the original if you prefer). This has the advantage of accurately tracking the changes to the document created by the editing team.

Troubleshooting 101

When people have trouble with their cars, they tell the mechanic what needs fixing (headlight out, etc.). When people have trouble with their computers, they frequently freeze like a deer in headlights: “my computer isn’t working”.

The first rule of troubleshooting is: start with the simple things first. Is it plugged in? (I actually had a client a number of years ago that came in one morning to discover their network was down - the cleaning crew had mistakenly unplugged it during the night).

So the first step is to log out of the program(s) giving you problems and/or reboot the computer.

The next step is to ask: are you the only user with the issue or is it firm-wide? If you are the only person with the issue then the problem is likely not to be Worldox or other similar program, but something with your specific computer setup/configuration.

Are there any error messages? These can be critical in deciding what is wrong. For example, a “1460” error in Worldox means that there is a time delay in communicating with the server (especially when saving PDF’s). Is there anything else peculiar happening?

What were you doing when the error occurred? Saving a document? Opening a document? Attaching a document to an email? And does this happen every time or is it sporadic? (Much harder to troubleshoot if the issue is sporadic).

Providing this sort of information to your consultant/technician can dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to solve any given issue, as well as helping prevent it from happening in the future.

Attaching Documents to an Email in Worldox

The latest build of Worldox (WDU 18 - Aug. 18) adds a significant option when you attach a document to an email in Worldox.

Traditionally there are two main options: attach the document to the email, and attach a link to the document to the email. Attaching the document itself is obvious when you are sending the document to someone outside the firm. Attaching a link is the preferred option for those working with Worldox since it opens the document from Worldox and does not create an additional copy of the document.

However, with Covid, and people who want to access documents from their smartphones, many people who would otherwise be using Worldox from their desktops need to be sent the document. How do you decide what to do?

The latest build of Worldox offers a new option. When you select sending a link to the document, there is now an option to ALSO send a copy of the document itself. That way, depending on where the person is and their access to Worldox, they can either open the document from Worldox if they presently have access, or open an actual copy of the document.

There is obviously some training needed here as to how best to manage this option, but it gives you the best of both worlds.

Custom Displays in Worldox

Most firms have one or two displays that they use as standard – perhaps a standard display and a second for emails, showing emails To, From, etc.

However, there can be cases where a specialized display is useful. To make a display, you first create the columns you want. Left click in any open space in the column headers and select the items you want. Then drag and drop and resize them as desired and save the column header set (right-click on the headers and select Save Column Template). You can then re-open it as needed.

One case I encounter is when a user has imported discovery or other client files to Worldox. These all have to be imported to the same place (same profile information). When you do the import by right-clicking on the top-most folder and selecting Save To Worldox it offers to create a Project that lists all the files imported. This is a good idea.

You can open the project to show the files. The trick here is to create a Column Template that includes the “Comments” field as a separate column. Size it so it is very wide (so a deep folder structure will display correctly). You may also want to have your consultant/admin turn off the Worldox Auto Size Columns feature as that may wreak havoc with this sort of custom display.

You can then open the custom display (“discovery import” or some similar name), sort the import to mirror the original folder structure. It might look something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lets you scroll through the listing with the files in the same order as they originally were in Windows Explorer.