6 Easy Steps

The Boardbooks Workflow.

This guide has been created to help new Boardbooks administrators prepare materials for their boards. Creating a Diligent Boardbook is easy once you understand the basic workflow. The process consists of six simple steps outlined in this guide. In the following pages well go into detail for each individual step.

The Boardbooks Workflow

It is easiest to create a Boardbook when you have an outline to work from. We recommend using the agenda for the upcoming meeting for this purpose. The agenda will contain all the information you will need to get the book put together in the correct order. Once you have the agenda and know which documents are associated with it, you can create the shell of your Boardbook.

1. L  aunch the Boardbooks

application and login.

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2. W  hen the Home Page

appears, right-click under Current Books.

3. S  elect Create Book from

Scratch from the menu.

4. S  elect a Start and End date

for the board meeting.

5. Enter a title for the book. 6. C  lick OK.
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The Boardbooks Workflow

(Step 1. continued)
A new window will open displaying the book you just created. At this point the book is empty, not having any content.
7.  Click Add Tab At End. The

Create Tab dialog will appear.

8.  N  ame the tab. Typically, the first

tab in a Boardbook will contain the meeting agenda and therefore should be named Agenda. Other tabs should be named something meaningful to the directors reviewing it and reflect the board book they currently receive.
9.  C  lick Append Document to add

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a document slot to this tab. This creates a placeholder to upload a document into. In this case, you are creating a spot to upload your agenda Word document into. If desired, you may add multiple placeholders in a single tab.
10. (  Optional) Label the document

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slot. Although it is not required, labeling the document slot can help prevent confusion when working with a large collection of documents.
11.  Click OK. 12.  Your book now has one tab in it,

entitled Agenda.
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Repeat steps 7 through 11 as many times as necessary to add a new tab for each item on your agenda and a document slot for each document.

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The Boardbooks Workflow

2.
The next step is to collect all the documents needed for the book. To help keep track of which documents go where, you may want to print a copy of your agenda and write the names of documents next to their agenda items. If a document to be included in the book is not available yet, note where it belongs on your printed agenda. When collecting the documents many of our clients create a folder on their computer or a networked hard drive and save everything there. Having all the documents in one spot makes adding them to your book a simple process. Note: Boardbooks accepts Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, & PowerPoint) and Adobe PDF documents.

With the shell of the Boardbook completed and documents collected, you are ready to add content.
1.  Drag and drop a docu1

ment into the document slot you have created for it.

2. (  Optional) If you are uploading an Excel document

with more than one sheet, select the Convert all sheets in spreadsheet option.
3.  Click Upload (No Preview).
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Repeat steps 1 through 3 until all documents have been uploaded. If any documents fail to upload, make sure they are not password-protected, or check file size. Files larger than 10-12 MB should be split, or converted to a PDF.
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The Boardbooks Workflow

4. Approve the Book

When you are finished uploading documents, the next step is to check and then approve those documents.

1.  B  efore a document can be

viewed by a director it must be approved. Unapproved (hidden) documents are indicated by document slot names in red. Document names in black are approved, and are visible to directors.
2.  Click the Approve button

located next to one of your uploaded documents.

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3.  Check the documents to make

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sure it uploaded correctly.

4.  Click the Approve Final menu. 5.  Select This Document. 6.  Close the window.

Repeat steps 2 through 6 until all documents are approved.

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The Boardbooks Workflow

5. Link Book Agenda

Linking your agenda makes it easier for directors/trustees to navigate around the book. While viewing the agenda, clicking on a linked item instantly takes users to the referenced part of the book.

1.  C  lick the Approve button on

your Agenda tab.

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2.  U  sing your mouse, drag and

select the text you want linked.

3.  Click Create QuickLink.

The QuickLink Editor window will now appear.

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4. D  rill down through the book and

click on the specific document you want to link to.

5. C  lick Create Link.
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Repeat steps 2 through 5 until you have created all necessary links on your agenda.

The Boardbooks Workflow

6. Make Book Viewable

Next You will set the book to Current, or live status so it is viewable to directors.
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7.  Click Hidden underneath

Book Status.
8.  Select Current (Viewable on

Directors site).
9.  Click OK.

You are now finished creating the Boardbook!

It is ready for your directors to view. For further information on the administrative features of Boardbooks please consult your Admin Manual.

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The Boardbooks Workflow

Print Any Necessary Paper Copies

Boardbooks makes producing printed copies of your book easy. To print a copy:

1.  R  ight-click on the book you

would like to print.

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2.  Click Print Book. 3. S  elect your printer. 4. S  elect Print Book.

5. S  elect the Page Setup tab. 6. (  Optional) Select Flip on Long

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Edge to print double-sided.

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7. C  lick Print. The print process

will begin. Note: Printing a Boardbook will take longer than typical print jobs on your computer.