Introduction to Version Release

A document version is released through the Document Release Process, a guided dialog that carries it from approved content to an effective, released document, so you can take a version all the way to release from one place instead of moving between separate records and sign-offs.

It keeps the whole release in view, draws the people involved straight from the document's own settings, and only lets a release start once everything it needs is in place, so less is left to remember or chase. You open it with the Document Release command on a saved version.

The Release Dialog

When the dialog opens, the version record behind it shows a stage bar tracking overall progress:

Document Created → Approved → Release Plan And Training → Released

At the top of the dialog, a guidance banner names the document in release and tells you what to do next. It changes as you go, for example "Define Approver in Document Information to initiate release" before an approver is set, and "Ready to initiate release" once one is.

Below the banner, the release is organised into expandable sections, each with its own status so you can see at a glance where things stand:

• Document Information
  The control centre of the release. It holds the document's key details and, under Access Management, the roles drawn from the QMS document. It is also where you set the review and approval modes and choose approvers before starting. It has no status of its own.

• Consultations
  Where questions raised during the release live, kept with the release itself so the discussion is easy to find later and forms part of the audit trail. Opens showing No consultations.

• Authoring
  The setup stage, where the release is prepared and initiated. Opens as In Progress.

• Review
  Where a reviewer checks the content, when the document requires review. Comes before approval. Opens as Not Started.

• Approval
  Where an approver formally approves the document, after any review. Opens as Not Started.

• Release
  Where you set the effective and next review dates and release the document; the next review date is worked out for you, so nothing is left uncalculated. Opens as Not Started.

• Training
  Where training is assigned to the target audience and tracked, so you can see who still needs training and assign it in one step rather than person by person. Opens as Not Started.

Note: When the document does not require review, the Review section shows a note: "Review is not required for this document. Reviewers can still be added optionally once defined in QMS Document Access Management."

At the bottom of the dialog are three actions:

• Cancel
  Close the dialog without making changes.

• Save & Close
  Save the current settings without initiating the release, so you can return later.

• Start Release
  Initiate the release. This becomes available only once an approver is set.

Document Roles

Four roles take part in the release. All are configured on the QMS master document through its Access Management (not on the individual version) and shown read only in the dialog's Document Information section.

Each role is assigned either by role (any user holding a given QMS role, such as Quality Manager) or to a named individual.

• Author
  Creates the document and initiates the release. The logged in user must be listed as an author to start a release; there can be several.

• Reviewer
  Reviews the content before approval. Review is optional and set per QMS document; if it is not required, the release goes straight from initiation to approval.

• Approver
  Formally approves the document. At least one approver must be assigned before a release can be initiated.

• Target Audience
  The users who depend on the document and must be trained on it once released; these assignments also drive training.

Release Initiation Rules

A release can be started only when all of the following are true:

• The logged in user is an author.

• At least one approver is assigned.

• If review is required, at least one reviewer is assigned.

• The reviewer and the approver are different people, and neither is the initiating author.

Allowing the reviewer and approver to be the same person is planned for a future version.

Consultations

A consultation is the official way to raise a question during a release, and it forms part of the release's audit trail. It can be opened at any stage and by any user, not only the release participants, so a query is recorded against the release itself rather than lost in email.

Consultations live in the Consultations section of the Document Release Process, which carries a status badge and a New Consultation button. When nothing has been raised, the badge reads No consultations.

To open a consultation, select New Consultation. The Create new consultation form appears, with a Consultation Subject, a Consultant, and a Question.

Enter a Consultation Subject, then choose the Consultant whose input you want from the Select person list.

Enter the Question to be discussed. Once the form is complete, Submit becomes available; select it to raise the consultation.

The consultation is added to the list, where each row shows its Subject, the person Consulted with, the Requested By user and the Requested On date, the Release Stage at which it was raised, its Status (for example Pending), and the Last Comment. The section badge updates to reflect what is open, such as 1 pending.

While a consultation is open, the release banner notes it alongside the current release state, for example "Waiting for any approval — [name] | 1 consultation open."

Selecting a consultation opens its thread, showing the original Question with its author and date, followed by any replies in sequence. Any user can add to it through the Add a comment box and Post. The person who opened it can delete it while it has no replies; once there are comments it can only be closed, using Close Consultation, which stops further comments.

A consultation's Status moves on from Pending as it is replied to, and the section badge shows the pending, replied, or closed counts.