July 2022 Consultants Corner The Laserfiche Email Archiver allows you to automatically store emails to multiple Laserfiche repositories based on rules that you set and can extract and assign metadata to the emails stored. It can also extract and store attachments by setting alternate Attachment handling options. Configuration Steps:­ The configuration of the Laserfiche email Archive system entails the following 4 steps: Network firewall exceptions (if needed) Mail Cache settings / Editing the Laserfiche Email Archive Service’s configuration file Create an Email Archive Profile Configure your email server to route to the Email Archive Exchange Server 2019, 2016 or 2010 Office 365 Network Configuration The Email Archive runs as a Windows service and becomes a “Smarthost” to which your email server can send BCC messages to the Laserfiche Email Archive server. It will be installed on a single computer, typically a Server (if possible). Please ensure that TCP/IP port 25 is open between your email server and the Laserfiche Email Archive server. This may require a Firewall exception. Mail Cache In some instances, if the Email Archive service is stopped, pending emails will be cached until the service restarts. In other instances, if messages fail to import, they will be cached, and then the import will be retried again based on the configured retry interval. With SMTP implementations only, the email server may send a large email as a multi-part file. Once all the parts have arrived, the Email Archive service will import the email. The following three settings impact Mail Cache configuration within the config.xml file: QueueCapabilty PartialMessageRetrieveTimeout RetryInterval Below is a list of settings found in the config.xml file. Changing these settings will impact the performance of the server on which the Email Archive server service is installed. Create an Email Archive Profile From the Start Menu, go to Laserfiche and click on “Laserfiche Email Archive Config” to launch the Email Archive Profile editor. Email Archive Configuration Utility Step 1: Select Profile > New from the menu or click on the “Create a New Profile” icon. Step 2: Set the sign-in information that Email Archive will use to connect to the Laserfiche repository. Optionally, configure the Laserfiche Cloud Account ID and user credentials that will be used by this profile. Step 3: Configure the General settings Step 4: Configure the Archived Messages settings Step 5: Configure the Templates & Fields settings Tokens for email values can be selected for any of the fields. A list of those tokens is shown below. Step 6: Configure the Tags settings For Office 365 or Exchange servers, you will need to configure some “Forwarding” rules, which are sometimes referred to as “Transport Rules.” A. Configuring Exchange Server 2016 or 2019 to Route Emails Creating a Transport Rule 1.) Open the Exchange Management Console. 2.) Navigate to Mail flow -> Rules. 3.) Click the Add button, and select Create a new rule. 4.) Provide a descriptive name for the rule. 5.) Under Apply this rule if, configure the condition that must be met to route an email to the mailbox Email Archive is monitoring. 6.) Under Do the following, select Bcc message to, and select the email address associated with the mailbox Laserfiche Email Archive is monitoring. Click OK. 7.) Click Save. B. Exchange Server 2010 Creating a Transport Rule 1.) Click the Transport Rules tab in the middle Hub Transport pane. 2.) Select New Transport Rule in the right pane. 3.) On the Introduction page, provide a descriptive name for the rule and add any comments needed. Click Next. 4.) On the Condition page, configure conditions. Only emails matching these conditions will be routed to Laserfiche. 5.) On the Actions page, select Blind carbon copy (Bcc) the message to addresses. Then click the addresses hyperlink. 6.) In the Specify recipients dialog box, click the arrow next to Add and select External E-mail Address. 7.) Enter the email address associated with the Laserfiche Email Archive service. The email address preceding the @ symbol in the address should be the email address specified on the general tab in the profile creation wizard. This address must have the same domain as you configured in step 6c of the Creating a Send Connector section above. Click OK. Then click OK again and Next. 8.) On the Exception page, define any exceptions for when you don’t want the rule to run and click Next. 9.) On the Create Rule page, review the configuration summary and click New. 10.) On the Completion page, click Finish. C. Office 365 Routing Emails to the Laserfiche Email Archive Service 1.) For more information about creating rules in Office 365 see Microsoft’s online help. 2.) Sign in to the Office 365 Home Page. 3.) Click the Admin app using the app launcher icon in the top left. 4.) From the left menu, expand Admin centers. 5.) Select Exchange. 6.) From the left menu, click mail flow. 7.) Select rules, and click the plus button +. 8.) Select Create a new rule... 9.) In the new rule dialog box, configure the following: a. Under Name, provide a descriptive name for the rule. b. Under Apply this rule if..., specify when to archive emails to Laserfiche. c. Under Do the following..., select Bcc the message to... and enter the email address associated with the Laserfiche Email Archive service. The email address should match the email address specified in the general tab of the profile creation wizard. d. Click Save. Converting Email Archive Configurations from SMTP to IMAP Previous versions of Email Archive made use of SMTP. The SMTP option is being deprecated and is no longer recommended. To switch a profile from SMTP to IMAP 1.) Update your Exchange server. a.) Create a mailbox dedicated specifically to emails that will be archived to Laserfiche. This mailbox can be a shared mailbox or a single-account mailbox but should not be associated with a particular user. Most organizations prefer to create a shared mailbox for Email Archive to monitor. With a shared mailbox, multiple users can work with emails in the mailbox, and the messages will also be archived to Laserfiche. Microsoft documentation on how to create a shared mailbox. b.) Create Outlook rules to route messages to the mailbox you created. Outlook rules can be configured either server-side or client-side. c.) Update your Transport rules to forward or BCC messages to the new mailbox. You will no longer need the send connectors configured for the Email Archive. Configuring Office 365 to Route Emails to a Mailbox Configuring Exchange Server 2010 to Route Emails to a Mailbox Configuring Exchange Server 2016 or 2019 to Route Emails to a Mailbox 2.) Open the Laserfiche Email Archive Configuration dialog box from the Windows Start Menu. 3.) Double-click a profile. 4.) Navigate to the General tab, and select IMAP. 5.) Configure the mail server settings on the General tab. 6.) Click OK to save the profile. Exchange Server 2010 – SMTP( Deprecated ): *Note: The SMTP method is being deprecated and is no longer recommended. Creating a Send Connector 1.) Open the Exchange Management Console. 2.) Expand the Organization Configuration node in the console tree. 3.) Select the Hub Transport node. 4.) Click the Send Connectors tab in the middle Hub Transport pane. 5.) Select New Send Connector in the right pane. 6.) In the New Send Connector wizard: a.) On the Introduction page, provide a descriptive name for the new connector and select Custom as the intended use for the connector. Click Next. b.) On the Address space page, click Add. c.) In the SMTP Address Space dialog box, enter the domain of the email address the Laserfiche Email Archive service uses. Select Scoped send connector only if you need to limit this send connector to be used only by hub transport servers in the same Activity Directory site. Click OK, and then Next. d.) On the Network settings page, select Route mail through the following smart hosts. Then, click Add. e.) In the Add smart host dialog box, select IP Address and enter the IP address of your Laserfiche Email Archive server. Click OK, and then click Next. f.) On the Configure smart house authentication settings page, select None and click Next Creating a Transport Rule 1.) Click the Transport Rules tab in the middle Hub Transport pane. 2.) Select New Transport Rule in the right pane. 3.) On the Introduction page, provide a descriptive name for the rule and add any comments needed. Click Next. 4.) On the Condition page, configure conditions. Only emails matching these conditions will be routed to Laserfiche. 5.) On the Actions page, select Blind carbon copy (Bcc) the message to addresses. Then click the addresses hyperlink. 6.) In the Specify recipients dialog box, click the arrow next to Add and select External E-mail Address. 7.) Enter the email address associated with the Laserfiche Email Archive service. The email address preceding the @ symbol in the address should be the email address specified on the general tab in the profile creation wizard. This address must have the same domain as you configured in step 6c of the Creating a Send Connector section above. Click OK. Then click OK again and Next. 8.) On the Exception page, define any exceptions for when you don’t want the rule to run, and click Next. 9.) On the Create Rule page, review the configuration summary, and click New. 10.) On the Completion page, click Finish. Creating a Connector to Route the Email to the Laserfiche Email Archive Service 1.) From the Exchange admin center, select mail flow in the left menu 2.) Select connectors, and click the plus button +. 3.) In the New Connector dialog box, configure the following: a.) On the Select your mail flow scenario page, under From, select Office 365. Under To, select Partner organization. Click Next. b.) On the New connector page, specify a name for the connector and select Turn it on. Click Next. c.) When prompted for when you want to use the connector, select Only when I have a transport rule set up that redirects messages to this connector. Click Next. d.) Under How do you want to route email messages, select Route email through these smart hosts. e.) Click the plus button +, specify the fully qualified domain name or IP address of the Laserfiche Email Archive service and click Save. f.) Click Next. g.) Optional: Depending on your security needs, select to use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to secure the connection. Additionally, select Issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA). h.) Click Next. Confirm your settings, and click Next again i.) On the Validate this connector page, click the plus button + to add an email address. Office 365 will send a test email to this address to validate the connector. Click Validate. j.) Click Save. Additional Resources Cities Digital Client Portal https://citiesdigital.peakportals.com/ This is our Cities Digital Client Portal. Here you can access Training Manuals, your Support Cases, your Contracts, and more! *The site does require a login. A login invitation can be requested from your Consultant/Systems Architect, as well as by sending an email request to consulting@cdi.support. Laserfiche Online Product Help File https://www.laserfiche.com/support/webhelp/Laserfiche/10/en-us/administration/Default.htm#../Subsystems/ImportAgent/Content/Overview-of-Laserfiche-Import-Agent.htm%3FTocPath%3DImport%2520Agent%7C_____1 This is a direct link to the Laserfiche Online Help system for Laserfiche Import Agent. Laserfiche Product Information https://support.laserfiche.com/product/importagent/ This Link connects you to the Laserfiche Support Site’s product information page for Laserfiche Import Agent. You will need to have a Laserfiche Support site login to view the information here. To create an account, you will need your email address, company zip code, and Laserfiche Serial Number, which can be obtained from your System Administrator or from Cities Digital Support. Laserfiche Video Gallery https://support.laserfiche.com/gallery/list This Video Library contains short 1-3 minute videos on the Laserfiche suite! It’s available free, but you do need a login to the Laserfiche Support Site. Sign up at www.support.laserfiche.com. The Training Center for Laserfiche http://trainingcenterforlaserfiche.com/blocks/wa_activity_tags/action.php?c=tag&a=index&tag=import%20agent This is a great comprehensive training video resource! This is a subscription service, so if you do not yet have an account, sign up for a free 30-day trial. Send a request to sales@cdi.support for more information on a free trial or setting up a subscription. Cities Digital Tech Support – Instant screen share https://www.cdi.support/support Need tech support? This link will direct you to a Cities Digital tech support representative and get an immediate screen share so they can help right away! Tech support is included with your Laserfiche software purchase. Cities Digital Consulting and Training Requests consulting@cdi.support Need some more training or help with configuring your software? This link will email our Consulting Project Coordinator so you can set up a time to work with a consultant who can help you. Note: This type of service is billed on an hourly basis. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel As a Laserfiche Administrator, configuring the Weblink Portal is very easy. The application has a built-in Designer that gives you the flexibility to customize logos, background images, fonts, text, search and browse settings, and a host of other functions. Some of the easiest changes to make in Weblink are the best ways to make your website look great to your visitors. Logos and background images Just add the theming and colors of your organization’s other websites to give the WebLink site a cohesive look. The WebLink designer has a section called “Theme” where you can upload your logos and images and set text font color. Welcome Page Modify the Welcome Page title and text to include some handy tips on how to use the site. The City of Anacortes (image above) is a great example of this design. Custom links to folders or documents WebLink Designer gives you the ability to build navigation links to folders, documents, and even other URLs that appear right on the main page What should you never do with a weblink Designer? Never expose internal private documents to the Public. How do you prevent this? There are a couple of easy ways to do this. a.) Create a folder structure that will store copies of your public-only documents. Then give that Weblink “Public” account access only to that folder level and sub-folders. Or b.) Setup the Public account with access to only the folders and documents that you explicitly need. You will set up the Public account as any other Laserfiche trustee, except you will set it with limited access. Log in to the repository as that “Public” account to verify that it can only access the folders and documents that you expected. Then, using the Weblink site, try navigating to a folder that should not be publicly accessible. Try searching for the content you know is not in the public access areas to see if it can be found. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel As a Laserfiche Administrator, have you ever wondered if you could give your Laserfiche users a pre-built set of saved searches, custom toolbar icons, file download options, or column profiles, just to name a few? You can do this by using “Attributes.” This month’s article will focus on setting up and deploying attributes to your users. Pre-configuring these Laserfiche client settings is a valuable function that a Laserfiche Administrator can use. In addition, attributes can be used if you have deployed either the Laserfiche Windows “thick” Client or the “thin” Web Client. While in the Laserfiche Administration Console or Web Management screen, you may have noticed a tab for Users called “Attributes.” You can save every customization, Option setting, saved Search, Print, or Email setting for the user under this Attribute tab. You can copy these settings from one user to another or the Everyone supergroup. Unfortunately, attributes cannot be copied to Repository groups. If you create a saved search, that information is stored as an Attribute. If you set the Options to download image files as PDF for color and black & white images, that information is stored as an Attribute. If you customize your toolbar, that information is stored as an Attribute. Before we get into some examples, it should be pointed out that the attributes are not cross-platform compatible. If attributes are created in the Windows Client, they should be copied in the Windows Administration Console to those users who use the Windows Client. If you users have the Web Client, you should be using the Web Management Console. Let's take a look at a few examples. Saved Searches Any user can create and save a Search. Once that user saves the search, the Laserfiche Administrator can navigate to the appropriate console and find the user in the User and Groups node. For Windows: Open the user’s properties and select the “Attributes” tab, then View the subset: “SavedSearch.” For Web: In the list, you will see three lines per saved search. It will look different in the Windows Administration Console vs. the Web Management Console. Windows Console: Web Console: Also, you will need to copy the “[WebAccess]SavedSearches” attribute. In both Consoles, you can download the attributes as an XML file, then import that XML file to another user’s attributes. Note: You cannot copy to a group. You can copy it to an individual user or the “Everyone” supergroup. Column Profiles In the Client, a user may have saved a set of custom column profiles. This is available in both the Windows Client and the Web Client, although they look slightly different. In the Windows Client, you can rearrange the already visible columns, but you can also add columns. If you right-click any column, you’ll get a pop-up, as seen below. Users can select, save, and manage any column profiles that might have been created. Once a profile is saved, it is available in the user’s Attributes tab, as we saw previously in the Administration Console. The same process of downloading the selected lines as an XML file can be used to copy the column profile to other users. Also, you can copy all the profiles at once by selecting all the profiles you need. Select the four lines and press the Export button on the right. In the Web Client, you can rearrange the already visible columns, but you can also add columns. If you right-click on the column headers, you’ll get a pop-up, as seen below. Next, select the Column Picker option. Users can also use the “Saved Columns” option to select, save, and manage any column profiles that might have been created. Below is an image of the Web Client’s attributes, filtered by “XmolColumnProfiles.” You’ll want to select the three items labeled DATA, DATA0, and DATA1, then download the XML by pressing the Download option at the top right of the screen. Custom Toolbar Many times, a user will add some additional toolbar icons to their Laserfiche client. Those settings can be copied from one user to multiple users. For the Windows Client, the toolbar configuration is saved under the local computer’s Registry settings under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Laserfiche\Client8. The data can be copied via a windows Group Policy or login script. Laserfiche does not handle this on its own. For the Web Client, go to the web client Management page, and go to the Attributes tab for the desired user. Select [WebAccess]ToolsetFolderBrowser and download the attribute. Laserfiche has many ways to ease the distribution of preferred configurations across the Windows Client and the Web Client to users. We hope you find these examples helpful. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel April 2022 Consultants Corner What is this mysterious “Everyone” group? Every repository comes with the “Everyone” group, but did you know this group can help every Laserfiche Administrator manage everything from repository access rights to security features? In this month’s Consultants’ Corner, we’ll provide some insight on what you can do with the “Everyone” group and show you some powerful and dynamic settings that can help you form a properly functioning repository. What is the “Everyone” group and what does it do? If you are a Laserfiche Administrator and have glanced at the Administration console, you’ve probably seen this item under Users and Groups (shown in the image below). The “Everyone” group is a permanent feature that cannot be deleted and is built into every Laserfiche repository. However, the “Everyone” group is unique to each repository and can be customized to best suit your company’s needs. How does the “Everyone” group work? As the name would suggest, everyone or every user added to your Laserfiche system will automatically be added to this group. That would be any Laserfiche trustees (users), Windows Active Directory trustees (AD), and LDAP trustees (but not many people use anything other than Windows AD accounts these days). Note: LDAP is the communication protocol used over networks to query for information and user credentials in Active Directory, Lotus Notes, Novell eDirectory, Linux, Unix, and other “directory services.” Laserfiche focuses on Windows AD support, hence the “Windows Account” node, but they also support other non-AD directories via the “LDAP Management” node. The “Everyone” group does not behave like other groups you might have created. One handy feature of this group is the ability to set overall basic security for all users who would be accessing the repository. For example, if you set the authentication setting to Trust: allow access (shown in the image below), any Windows user or LDAP user account would be able to log in. On the other hand, if it is set to Deny: deny access (shown in the image below), then no Windows users can log in to the repository even if they were added under the Windows Accounts node and granted the Trust access. Now, let’s take a look at the Rights tab on the “Everyone Properties” page (seen in the image below). Here you can assign fundamental feature rights or administrative privileges to all users instead of giving rights individually. However, you can still assign more specific rights and privileges to individual users and groups. In those cases, the rights set in the “Everyone” group will combine with the rights assigned at the user or group level to give the effective and specific rights you are looking to provide. Another function the “Everyone” group provides is the Auditing settings (see image below) for those who have the Laserfiche Audit Trail module. When Audit Trail is licensed, the system can immediately begin tracking events happening in the repository. Any selected events in the “Everyone” group will be tracked for any user using the repository. As a side note, individual users or groups can be set with more specific audit settings if needed. The “Everyone” group: security and inheritance to folders. When first installed, the Laserfiche repository is bare-bones and unsecured. This basic setup is by design since you haven’t created a folder structure, metadata, or created users and groups. As a Laserfiche Administrator, your first job is to secure the repository. A folder structure is usually built out using the Windows or Web Client during the initial implementation phase. However, in many organizations, it may be easier to give all users the ability to create and navigate to all folders that are needed in the repository during the design and build phase. The “Everyone” group is assigned with certain limited rights (like Browse and Read) at the root level of the repository and are inherited down to all new folders you create. You may need to grant, modify, or remove some of these starting rights to fit your security model. In many cases, it is more advisable to remove the “Everyone” group from the top level and start using specific groups instead. Note: If you do remove the “Everyone” group from the Access Rights on the root level or any folder, you cannot add it back into your Access Rights list. What is that Bypass Browse privilege and what does it do? Laserfiche includes two privileges in the “Everyone” group that allows users to bypass specific security settings. The most important one is the Bypass Browse privilege. This privilege offers significant performance benefits and is granted to the “Everyone” group by default in a new repository. The Bypass Browse privilege gives a user the ability to see the existence of all entries in the repository, regardless of the user’s Browse rights. This privilege can enhance your repository’s performance since Laserfiche does not need to calculate rights for each entry in each folder. It does not allow users to see the contents of a folder if they do not have the Read right on the folder. Note: The Browse entry access right is not sufficient to open a folder or a document. The Read entry access right is also required. Attempting to open a folder to which a user has been granted the Browse right, but not the Read right, will cause that folder to appear empty. Attempting to open a document to which a user has been granted the Browse right, but not the Read right, will generate an error message. As you can see, the “Everyone” group has quite a few powerful and dynamic settings that can significantly impact your repository access and security. Use the “Everyone” group with some of these concepts in mind and you’ll be rewarded with a smooth functioning repository. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our CDI team or comment below if you have any follow-up questions! CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel March 2022 Consultant’s Corner: For this Month’s Consultant’s Corner, we are going to dive into Laserfiche Workflow and how you can take your workflows from a test environment to production. We will also highlight some best practices to follow when designing and testing your workflow to help minimize errors as safely and securely as possible while hopefully saving you time. To start, Laserfiche Workflow is an automation engine that can integrate with one or more repositories in your Laserfiche Environment. If you have Laserfiche RIO licensing, allowing up to 1000 repositories, you can use these workflows across your entire Laserfiche Environment. With so much space, you can create “test” repositories in which you design your folder structure, metadata, and workflows before putting them into Company use. Over the years, our CDI Consultants have developed highly effective and safe procedures to be used as you build, test, and migrate your workflow from a test environment to production. These best practices are tips that we use daily, so we hope you find the information below helpful. Now let’s dive in, shall we? Workflow Basics Connection Profiles and the Workflow User First, a workflow must always have a “Connection Profile.” This profile connects the workflow that you are building to one or more repositories in which the workflow will interact. Our Best Practice Tip for setting up your “Connection Profile” account is to create a repository or LFDS non-named user. By doing this, you will forgo the need to use a Full Named license to run workflows. In a sense, when you use this account in the “Connection Profile,” it will function as if it were a Full Named User. Then we create an account called “WF” or “WFAgent.” NOTE: Names can vary depending on your preference. Next, you fill in the Name and Password fields in the “Workflow Profile Manager.” You can see this displayed in the image below. When reconfiguring the workflow from your test environment to production, you will want to change the “Connection Profile” to connect to the production repository. If you already have a profile for that repository, navigate to your list of profiles and select the Copy from option. If a production profile does not exist, create a new profile by clicking on the Manage Connections link. Here you will define the Laserfiche server, repository name, and workflow user account (for example, see the image above). Once you have these fields filled out, select Validate. Our Best Practice Tip is to create a “Common Profile,” which can be used by all Windows users on this workstation/server. An example of the “Profile Manager” is shown below. Here you can create, edit, and remove profiles. If provided a workflow from an outside source, such as when you ask us here at CDI to build you a workflow, we will then send you the exported WFI file. This self-contained workflow import file will contain both the start rules and the workflow itself. In these situations, you will definitely want to change the “Connection Profile” and review the start rules to match your repository. Permissions and Access Rights Make sure to set your security or access rights on all the folders in the repository that you want your workflow to interact. For example, using our “WF” profile, you will give the “WF” account all access rights from the root level. If some folders show “Inheritance” as disabled, you will need to apply this account to those folders, if applicable. You can see this done in the image below. Workflow Metadata (fields and templates) Since workflows are most used in conjunction with fields and templates, our Best Practice Tip is to verify that the same metadata is found in both the test and the production repositories. If the metadata does not yet exist in the production repository, you can use a Laserfiche Briefcase to easily import the new template or fields into the production repository. In the test repository, you will just need to assign the template and the individual fields to a document and then export it as a Briefcase. When importing the Briefcase to the production repository, you will be directed to step through the import wizard. The wizard will help you add the new fields and template to your production repository. You can see this displayed in the images below. Now that the same metadata is in the production repository, your production workflow will be able to satisfy any start rules. Now, any activities that rely on metadata for conditions or retrieved values will function correctly within the workflow itself. Workflow Start Rules Tell Laserfiche Workflow to ignore the WF user account A hard-earned Best Practice Tip is to always (Ok, 98% of the time) add a condition in your start rules telling your workflow to ignore any actions made by the “WF” account in the repository (User, does not equal, WF). This will prevent the workflow from being accidentally triggered by another workflow that may be designed in the future. Verify all start rules match the production repository. Always review the start rules that are in place to determine if the paths, metadata, users, and other conditions match the production environment. As a reminder, it is important to exclude the “WF” user from starting workflows. As you can tell, this is a practice to make a habit out of as it will save you from possible endless workflow loops. Workflow: Saving a Backup Once your workflow is in place and running smoothly in your live production environment, our Best Practice Tip is to backup your workflow. Now, if you’re backing up the Workflow server and its SQL databases nightly, then this step is not necessary. We also recommend that you export your workflows in WFI file format. An exported workflow contains both the start rules and the workflow in one file, so exporting is also recommended when you are about to make changes to your existing workflow. Just in case you need to go back to a working copy to start fresh. To start your backup, you can right-click on a single workflow listed in the “Rule Manager” to export. You can even export several workflows at once. However, if you chose to export more than one at a single time there is an added step. You will need to navigate to the bottom of the “Export Workflows” dialog box. Select the empty box located to the left of “Create a separate .wfi file...” This will ensure a new WFI file is created for every workflow. If this step is missed, all the workflows selected will be included in one WFI file. NOTE: Since On-Premises workflows are not compatible with Cloud, if you are moving to a Cloud system, you will need to rebuild the process within your new system. We hope that taking into consideration our Best Practice Tips can save you time, energy, and hopefully unnecessary frustration. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this article, so please comment below on what you found most helpful and let us know if you have any lingering workflow questions. We hope you found this article interesting and will find a way to put some of these ideas into use in the near future! CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel February 2022 Consultant’s Corner: This month we are going to spotlight two valuable and exciting features of Laserfiche Forms. The first feature we will review is Database Lookups. The second feature we will review is JavaScript. We’ll also look at the best practices for these options and discuss important items to think about when upgrading. Laserfiche Forms comes in two basic “flavors”: the Essentials edition and the Professional edition. The Professional edition is included for all On-Premises installations if you have a Laserfiche RIO environment. If you have a Laserfiche Avante license, the Professional Edition is still available as an add-on option. Database Lookups are included in Forms Professional only. For those with Laserfiche Cloud, Database Lookups function differently and will therefore not be discussed in this article. All flavors of Laserfiche Forms have CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript functionality available out-of-the-box in the latest version. Now that we have the basics, let’s get into the details. Connecting to a Data Source Once a process is associated with a data lookup source, while in that process, forms can access information in the data source to automatically fill out fields or suggest values to users. This follows best practices aimed at reducing error-prone and unnecessary manual data entry. Any Forms Processes that have been added to the data source will have access to the source regardless of the user. This delegation of access is completed entirely in the background. Note: You must have the System Administrator security role assigned in order to make these changes. Here are the steps to configure a Data Source: Step 1: Select the account drop-down at the top right corner, then choose Administration. (In this example the user is logged in as “Forms”) Step 2: Select Data Sources from the System Settings option on the left side of the screen. Step 3: Select the New data source button at the far right. Step 4: The “New Data Source” dialog box will appear, ready for configuration. Step 5: Enter the Name field of this data source you are creating. Note: For some earlier versions of Forms, the name needs to be surrounded by double-quotes if it has spaces. Step 6: Select the DBMS type. Step 7: Next, you will have two choices, MS SQL Server, or ODBC. Select one. As of Forms 10.2 the ODBC type is available. As per the Laserfiche help file: Note: As of Forms 10.2 the ODBC type is available. As per the Laserfiche help file: Fully supported ODBC drivers include: Microsoft Access Database Engine (supporting Excel, Access, CSV, and TXT), MSSQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, OpenEdge, IBM DB2, FileMaker, SoftVelocity Topspeed, and Pervasive. These drivers have been tested with Forms. While other ODBC drivers may work, they have not been tested, and may have potential issues. Step 8: For ODBC, enter the Data Source Name or if you are using a SQL Server, enter the Server and Database fields. Step 9: Enter the Account Name and Password. Step 10: Select Test the connection. Step 11: Add your desired processes to this data source using the Add/remove processes button. This will allow the processes to use the source for lookups. Step 12: Using the checkboxes on the left, select the processes that will use this data source and press Save. Step 13: Now, in the Forms Designer, you will find the Data Source listed under the Form’s “Lookup Rules” tab. Some Exciting Uses of Java Script 1. Use JavaScript to apply a phone number mask to a field. JavaScript can be used to preselect the format in which you’d prefer U.S. phone numbers to display. When a U.S. phone number is entered into a field the user simply needs to input the numbers and the field will show as follows: To set up the above, please follow the following steps: a.) The field should be a Single Line field type. b.) On the Advanced tab of the field, scroll down to the CSS Class field and enter the word “phone.” c.) Then, click on the CSS and JavaScript tab of the form and insert the JavaScript below (see step d. for code to input) in the JavaScript box. Save and preview the form. d.) JavaScript to add for phone number mask: /* Mask single line input to autoformat for phone number (_)_-__ */ $(document).ready(function () { //Download the script and apply the masks $.getScript("***************************************", function () { ApplyMask(); }); //Re-apply masks when the "Add" link is clicked * ONLY IF IN A COLLECTION* $("").click(ApplyMask); }); function ApplyMask() { //Loop through each input element with a parent containing the "phone" css clsas $(".phone input").each(function () { //Get the element and apply the mask var el = $(this); el.mask("(000) 000-0000", { placeholder: "(_) _-__" }); //Get the parent and remove the class //This prevents the same elements from being found in future calls to this method var parent = el.parent('.phone'); parent.removeClass("phone"); }); } 2. Use JavaScript to disable or enable the submit button if a radio button matches a condition of a field value. JavaScript can be used to help regulate who can select Submit based on the option they pick in the radio button field. For example, if you do not want users who have selected “yes” to have the ability to submit you can hide the option altogether. To set up the above, please follow the following steps: a.) Under the Advanced tab, navigate to the CSS class field and enter “hideSubmit”. b.) Then, click on the CSS and JavaScript tab of the form and insert the JavaScript below (see step c. for code) in the JavaScript box. Save and preview the form. c.) JavaScript to add for disabling or enabling submit button: $(document).ready(function(){ // apply event handler to radio inputs $('.hideSubmit input').change(function(){ // if 1 or more YES selections are found if($('.hideSubmit input[value="YES"]:checked').length > 0){ // hide submit button $('.Submit').hide(); } // otherwise else{ // show submit button $('.Submit').show(); } }); }); CSS Class = hideSubmit 3. Use JavaScript to limit a date field to today’s date or earlier. Limiting the date field will narrow the options available for users. This can help minimize the possibility of errors for users filling out your Forms and can be created using JavaScript. To set up the above, please follow the following steps: a.) Under the Advanced tab, add “MyDateFieldSelector” in the CSS class field. b.) Then, click on the CSS and JavaScript tab of the form and insert the JavaScript below (see step c. for code) in the JavaScript box. Save and preview the form. c.) JavaScript to add for disabling or enabling submit button: $(function() { $(document).ready(function () { var todaysDate = new Date(); // Gets today's date var year = todaysDate.getFullYear(); // YYYY var month = ("0" + (todaysDate.getMonth() + 1)).slice(-2); // MM var day = ("0" + todaysDate.getDate()).slice(-2); // DD var maxDate = (year +"-"+ month +"-"+ day); // Results in today's date // Now to set the max date value for the calendar to be today's date $('.MyDateFieldSelector input').attr('max',maxDate); }); }); We hope you found this article interesting and will find a way to put some of these ideas into your Forms in the near future! CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel January 2022 Consultant’s Corner: Laserfiche Snapshot is a tool that creates images and text from electronic files. The tool saves you the step of printing out a document and then scanning it into the repository. For example, you can print images and text from a Web page, Word Document, Excel spreadsheet, text editor, etc. This is a great tool to archive a version of a document, web page, or report. Since this was a document captured when it was printed, it will remain a “point-in-time” copy of that document. Also, it will be viewable in Laserfiche without opening an external application! Any file opened with a Windows application with printing capabilities can use Laserfiche Snapshot. In addition, Snapshot can save files to your repository for on-premise installs or to a Laserfiche Cloud repository. Snapshot has many options, including color printing, print profiles, shared printing to a network computer, bates numbering, choice of file formats and quality, embedded annotations, watermarks, and page size/orientation options. Let’s get into some details, shall we? Basics: Once installed on a computer, it is recommended that the user run the “Snapshot configuration (Current User)” application under the Laserfiche folder on the Windows start menu before first use. These settings will be remembered for the current Windows user logged into the machine from then on. Note: If other Windows users access this same machine and they want to print using Snapshot, they will need to run this step, as well, but only once for each account. Note: We will address a Shared Printer configuration a bit later. Snapshot can be used to print to a repository either on your network, over the Internet via SSL, or to Laserfiche Cloud. How great is that?! Step 1: Setup your server, repository, and login credentials A.) Upon first running the Configuration utility, you’ll be asked to enter the repository Server name. For on-premises installations, the name of the server or network IP Address can be used. You can obtain this from your Laserfiche Administrator if not sure. Just type it in the box since it may not be in the drop-down list. For a connection over the web/Internet via SSL, you’ll need the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) address, otherwise known as the URL to the server. It should match the URL for the Web Client (and the SSL certificate usually); make sure to check the SSL box. For Cloud environments, you’ll need your Account ID (9 digit number). B.) Then, enter your login credentials. Step 2: Configure Snapshot General, Template, Tags, Document Handling, Text, and Advanced settings A.) General settings include an option to prompt for document naming, folder path, template, tags, and document handling or to use the pre-set values you might enter here on these tabs. Document Properties like the name can be left with the default of "%(PrintJobName)," which does exactly what you think it does. It uses the naming that the print job gives to the document. You can also add additional tokens to the name. An example is shown in the image below. Set your default folder path in the repository where you want the document to be stored. Set the Volume, as well; typically, this is “DEFAULT.” B.) The Template tab Set a preferred template if you want always to use a template when using Snapshot Check the box to allow the Laserfiche default template. (Note: The default template will come from the user’s settings that they have set in the General node of the New Document Options dialog box found under Tools.) C.) Apply Tags if desired Check any tag that you would like to apply to new documents. D.) The Document Handling tab This tab allows you to configure how Laserfiche deals with a document found with the same name already in the specified folder path. E.) The Text tab By default, Snapshot is set to obtain text directly from the print job, but it does depend on whether the text is coming from the print job, as it may not. If this is not the case, or you are unsure, it is recommended to “Perform OCR on the images created.” If you don’t want a text-searchable document, configure not to import text. F.) The Advanced tab Profile Management: For any configuration, click the "Save As…" button to create a new profile. The profile can be saved as either a current user (Windows) profile or for all Windows users of this local machine. Just check the appropriate radio button. OR Choose the Default image viewer for print preview, which gives you the choice of Laserfiche’s built-in image viewer, or you can pick your preferred Windows image viewing application. Step 3: Set Printing Preferences (the details!) Back on the General tab, you can preset your print preferences. Here’s where things get interesting! (Note: These same settings can be found when printing from your application, just select "Printer Properties.") With Printer Properties/Preferences, you can: Set paper output sizes and resolutions Control image file format Set embedded annotations Apply Bates number stamps Set watermarks Redirect to a physical printer at the same time as you print to Laserfiche Save different print profiles A.) Device settings allow you to control how big the page size will be, the orientation, and the resolution (300 dpi is best practice). The "Edit Paper List…" button allows you to limit your paper size choices in the drop-down list above it. You can also add a paper size that is not listed. For U.S. dimensions, specify 0.01 inches. B.) File Formats allow you to set the image format, color depth, and photo quality. Using TIFF Group 4 or JPEG file formats, you can select additional options. Internet TIFF format - If the TIFF file format is selected as the output image format and this box is checked, the driver creates a TIFF file that is compatible with the requirements listed in Chapter 3 of RFC 2301 File Format for Internet Fax (which is not part of this document). Chapter 3 of RFC 2301 File Format for Internet Fax lists the required tags for black-and-white faxes. The extra tag the driver includes in the TIFF file if this flag is checked is NEWSUBFILETYPE. Reverse bit order in TIFF - If this box is checked, the driver saves TIFF images with reverse bit order and sets the value of the FILL ORDER tag in the image file to Reverse. Add Page Numbering Tag - If this box is checked, the driver sets the page number tag of every page in the output TIFF file. The quality factor ranges between 1-100, 100 being best. For Dithering methods, the fastest is Floyd-Steinberg, and the slowest is Stucki, but it renders the highest quality output. C.) Watermark will allow for either the first page only or unique watermarks on the first page. If you choose "Add watermark to the first page only" the options will be limited to the "1. page only" sections. D.) Embed Annotation allows the user to specify the position of the user-defined text, type, color, and font size used to print the annotation on all images. You can also set custom Header and/or Footer annotations. E.) Bates Numbering allows a sequential index numbering scheme to be applied to document pages. They will be visible when printed. To make Bates numbers searchable from Snapshot, you will need to set the Text tab option to "Perform OCR on the images created for the print job." Tip: If you set the font color to the page color (White, for example) you can OCR the pages and make the Bates number searchable, however, it won’t show on the images or printed copy. Step 4: Manage Print Profiles The Profile Manager tab allows you to save different print configurations, like a Bates numbering setting, or any combination of print settings. Clicking on the "Add Current Settings as a New Profile…" will allow you to enter the name and description. The profiles can be managed from this tab at any time. Step 5: Shared Printer settings Snapshot can be used as a Network Printer that will be available to all users on the network by sharing it through the Sharing tab on the Laserfiche Snapshot Properties dialog box. To install Snapshot as a Shared Printer, you will install the software with a custom configuration, or modify the existing installation in the Apps Settings on the server. Simply check the "Snapshot Shared Printer" option. Click on the Sharing tab, and check the box "Share this printer" to allow others to print to this printer source. Note: If you want the client computer to perform the rendering and other work of print jobs, select Render print jobs on client computers. If you want the print server to perform the rendering and other work of print jobs, clear this option. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

When considering using Enterprise Content Management (ECM), it is essential to recognize the fundamentals of the software’s services. The foundation of any ECM includes collecting content, records management, automation processes, and information security. These fundamental elements are what empower organizations to execute their content management goals efficiently and cost-effectively. Collecting Content Any ECM requires the capture and importing of information to begin implementing its duties. The captured data can range from digital files to scanned documents, including: Invoices Resumes and job applications Contracts Images Reports Emails Modern content management software utilizes digital repository’s to store data. As a result, having digital storage can dramatically increase the efficiency of an organization to capture, manage, and search data with ease. Records Management Beyond organization, a digital repository can allow users to apply rules on the documents, such as who can access certain content, provide specific classification on data, and execute advanced searches. Once successfully importing the information into the digital repository, you can do the following functions: Provide specific classification and search functions for documents based on metadata. Search documents through text. Search by document creation date, the names of users who checked out documents, and other metadata. Find specific words or phrases within document text, metadata, annotations, and entry names. Establish user restrictions such as who can view, edit or create documents. Create flexible folder structures to organize data. A great ECM successfully eliminates obstacles when searching for information. It allows employees to retrieve data needed to help their organization or their customers immediately. The fast access to information enables staff to make better decisions and provide prompt responses. Process Automation Once you have classified and organized your data in the repository, you now can initiate workflows and automation. With automation, you can skip manual tasks to streamline communication and processes throughout your organization. Examples of workflows and automation include: Approve or deny vacation requests. Push important documents through various steps of review and approvals. Route documents to the appropriate users promptly. Information Security With any organization, the security of sensitive data is paramount. Secure documents protect the information of customers and employees from data breaches. Earlier on, we touched on some of the security measures but to expand on the list; you can also do the following: Apply restrictions to folders, documents, fields, and other document properties. Monitor system activity such as logging in or out, creating or destroying data, making password changes, and much more. Although all data goes into the same repository, you can keep information separate based on department. For example, you can restrict confidential employee information to only the HR managers and HR departments. Ultimately, ECM software seeks to achieve the same goals. They aim to provide solutions to make all content interactions occur in one single system. There is also the possibility to integrate with other tools to expand content capabilities. If you want to learn more about the Laserfiche integrations that CDI offers, please click on the button below. The link will direct you to our Laserfiche integration page. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

By Kyle Knebel This month, we will look at how to add a new Windows user through Laserfiche Directory Server (LFDS) after purchasing one or more additional full licenses. As you expand your Laserfiche system, you may find that you need to add additional Laserfiche users. Having submitted your purchase order for new licenses, you should be able to ‘Renew’ your LFDS licensing site’s Master License within a day or two. This action tells LFDS to query Laserfiche for any new licensing that was purchased. This ‘Renew’ action will update your LFDS system with any new license(s). Renewing the LFDS Licenses LFDS is accessible from the server via a link in the Windows Start menu, or you can use a web browser and navigate to the LFDS website. The site URL is usually HTTPS://{servername]/LFDS. In the LFDS site, click on the Settings tab (in between Applications and Audit Options) Under the General tab, you will see a ‘Renew Primary License’ hyperlink in the Primary License section. Press the hyperlink, and LFDS will automatically add those new user licenses you just ordered and query Laserfiche corporate headquarters for the latest information. Adding a User to LFDS (and to the repository) If a Windows Active Directory (AD) user has been granted a named Full user license in LFDS, they can use that license to sign into any repository in the system. This account will only take up one user license. Steps: In LFDS, navigate to the Accounts tab. a.) Click the “+ Users” button and select “Windows Active Directory User” to add the Windows User or Group account. b.) Ignoring the Organization drop-down, click on the Register directory user(s) button on the far right. c.) Search for Users or Groups in your Active Directory domain. For example, if you search for an AD Group, you can add all those members. Then selectively remove some of the members, if not all, who will be using Laserfiche before finishing the process. d.) For Users or Groups, click on a single entry in the Search results pane to add it to the list of added users. Or search for all the required users and groups, and then press Add All. This will add that user or set of users to the Added Users list. e.) Press OK at the bottom when ready to add them to LFDS. Note: Registering a user in Directory Server does not automatically add that account to your Laserfiche repository. Suppose a Windows Active Directory user has been registered in a Directory Server licensing site (LFDS) but has not been granted access to the repository. In that case, they will not be able to sign in. You will also need to give that user access to your Laserfiche repository(s) in the LF Admin Console. f.) In the appropriate server, open the LF Admin Console of the applicable repository(s), then navigate to the Users & Groups node, and add the account as a Windows Accounts entry. Set their Authentication as “Trust: allow access.” Then assign their Rights as you would for any other user or group. CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!

October 2021 Consultant's Corner By Kyle Knebel This month's Consultant's Corner article will cover a topic I think you'll find very helpful. I brought this up during my training sessions on Laserfiche Workflow and thought I'd share it here, as well. Laserfiche Workflows are powerful and can quickly change your Laserfiche content, either scheduled or when something changes in your repository. Many workflows are built with ‘Start Rules,’ which run a workflow based on specific criteria, like a newly created document moved to a particular folder. Most of the time, entries are being uploaded or managed by end-users, and then a workflow might run on that entry. But what if a different workflow moved the original starting entry back to that same starting folder that was being monitored? Does Workflow care who put it there? And let’s say that the “starting” workflow runs on that document. What if this document gets processed and then ends up back in the same monitored folder? And then the process gets repeated? Now we have a problem! In a matter of seconds, there could be thousands of repeating workflows, looping back and forth, out of control. That’s a Halloween “nightmare” nobody wants to see! A client many years ago had this situation occur to them with a workflow they had built. In their case, the Laserfiche system and SQL database was installed on the server’s C: drive (the primary drive). Unfortunately, their looping workflow created multiple entries and the log files so that it filled the C: drive and crashed the server! Our technical support team was able to recover the server and get them running again. However, I’m sure the client would have liked to avoid it. So how do we solve this? One of the best ways to prevent “runaway” workflows is to add a specific condition to your start rules. Just add: User does not equal {workflow user} In the example screenshot below, the workflow account is ‘wf.’ However, additional criteria, like specifying an entry path or metadata requirements, will also prevent excessive workflows. The best practice is to be as specific as possible with the start conditions and use entry paths to limit an entry to trigger a workflow. The example above shows that the entry type, path, metadata, and user are explicitly defined. This is always a good idea. And that’s how you avoid a spooky workflow this Halloween! Thank you, and have a Great Paperless Day! CDI NEWSLETTER Stay up to date with all the latest Laserfiche news, CDI webinars, blogs, and more!