Link a document to where the customer needs it: the case record, the process section and, where appropriate, the form. A central document library remains useful, but must not be the only way to find a relevant file.
Standalone file lists force customers to guess what belongs to their task. A manual may belong to a category; a specification may be needed for one questionnaire; an appointment confirmation applies to the whole case. Make that context part of publication.
Use three layers without uploading duplicates
Yindle Portal stores a document within a project and can target it to case records, a category and a questionnaire. The file therefore does not need to be uploaded three times. Different screens can show the same authorised source in the appropriate context.
Keep one technical copy and one title, but add a short task-specific explanation where needed. ‘Installation manual.pdf’ says less than ‘Read page 4 before choosing your connection appointment’.
Choose the primary home
Choose one primary context for each document. Manage replacement and explanation there. Other views refer to it. Without a primary home, titles and statuses are changed on multiple screens and drift apart.
The general library can offer category and file-type filters. Also show why the file is visible, for example ‘Handover section’. This helps people find it again after the original task has been completed.
Worked example: a fictional heat pump installation
In this fictional example, installation company Bronkracht shares a general project schedule, a category guide called ‘Preparing your home’ and a technical attachment to the meter cupboard form. Customer Sjoerd sees the attachment beside the relevant questions and can also find it later in his document overview.
When the technical attachment is replaced, Bronkracht changes one source. The form page and library show the same version. A notification takes Sjoerd back to the form, rather than the top of a long document list.
Use the findability test
Give five test users these tasks without explanation:
- Find the document you need to read before making your choice.
- Return from the document to the open task.
- Find the same file a week later without the notification.
- Explain which case record and section it belongs to.
- Point out which version is current.
If the direct route works but finding it again does not, improve filters and metadata. If the library works but the task route does not, place the document closer to the action.
Check permissions at every entry point
A file opened through a form link must use the same case authorisation as the library. Do not rely on a hard-to-guess URL. Also test that a questionnaire which does not apply to a case leaks neither a document title nor a download link.
Finally, agree on archiving and replacement. An expired instruction must not remain at the top of search results, but historical submissions may need the version that applied at the time. Separate current customer information from evidential context.
Include documents that support several forms too. Where possible, link one source to the parent section and refer to it from both forms, rather than uploading twice. State which passage matters for each task so customers do not have to search a forty-page manual.
A form attachment must remain available when users return to a saved draft. Check that temporary links have not expired without a recovery option and that a new session can open the same authorised source. Opening the download in a new tab must not discard the entries.
Show content administrators where a document is used before they replace or delete it. A dependency overview prevents an apparently unused attachment from disappearing from three active forms. If no such overview exists, deletion needs a manual impact check.
Track search terms that return no results in support. Customers often search by task, while the filename comes from an internal archive. Add understandable titles and context; do not simply change the physical filename if external processes depend on it.
Also check the sort order after a category change so an active document does not silently end up among outdated ones.
Read how a customer portal is organised around tasks and explore Yindle Portal. To link documents to the right moments, create a context map for one journey with Yindle.