Policy Publisher

Policy Publisher is an add-on and requires a separate purchase. It enables you to edit policies, attach them to a future agenda for the board to review, then easily publish them while keeping version history.

When adding policies to upcoming meetings, use Policy Publisher to easily add copies of published or draft versions. If the draft is updated before the meeting, you will see an option to update to the latest version. After the meeting, any updates to the draft will no longer appear but is included in an attached copy, keeping your agenda attachment history intact. This ensures that the version review during the meeting remains for the record.

Add a section

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policies > Policy Book.

2. On the Policy Book page, select NEW SECTION.

3. In the Create new section dialog box, enter the following details:

   • Code – Enter a code. This is an optional field.

   • Name – Enter a name for the section.

4. Select Create.

Add a policy

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policies > Policy Book.

2. On the Policy Book page, select NEW POLICY.

3. In the Create new policy dialog box, enter the following details:

   • Code – Enter a code. This is an optional field.

   • Name – Enter a name for the policy.

4. Select Create.

Add a policy to agenda item workflow and approvals

1. From the left navigation menu, select Agenda items.

2. On the Agenda items page, select + Agenda Item to create an agenda item or open an existing item.

   The Edit agenda item page opens. For more information, go to Agenda items.

3. Select the Agenda item description field and select the Add policy icon . You can also add policies directly onto the agenda. You can add a policy to any field that can incorporate attachments.

   The Add policy to agenda item window opens.

   Note

   • If you have editing access to policies, you will be able to add either draft policies for board review and approval, or you can add already published policies as a reference point. If you only have viewing access, you will only be able to add published policies.

   • If you have the ability to edit draft policies, you can add drafts. If you can only view the policy book, you can add references to the published policies.

4. To add a policy, complete one of the following options:

• Draft In the Draft tab, select one or more draft policies and select Add copy of draft or Add copies of draft for multiple copies.

• Published In the Published tab, select one or more policies and select Add copy or Add copies for multiple copies.

The agenda should not be changed after the meeting.

If the policy has never been published before, and therefore does not have an adoption date, then selecting Publish will set the meeting's date as the adoption date.

If the policy had already been adopted, then selecting Publish will update the revised date with the meetings date.

If the policy was rescinded and published from within the minutes, it will set the meeting date as the rescinded date.

Within a policy section, if a specific policy has been rescinded, it will state Rescinded next to the policy name.

Add a policy to goals

You can add a policy to any area that you can add an attachment, including goals.

1. From the left navigation menu, select Goals.

   The Goals page opens.

2. Select an existing goal and select Edit goal or select + Goal to create a new goal.

   The Edit goal page opens. For more information, go to Goals.

3. Select the Add policy icon .

4. To add a policy, complete one of the following options:

• Draft In the Draft tab, select one or more draft policies and select Add copy of draft or Add copies of draft for multiple copies.

• Published In the Published tab, select one or more policies and select Add copy or Add copies for multiple copies.

Filter policies

1. Navigate to a policy book.

2. To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon and select from the following options:

   • All

   • Drafts in progress - Refers to a policy draft that is currently in progress.

   • Published - Refers to all published policies.

   • Rescinded & Archived - Refers to policies that have been removed from view but are archived with their history.

3. To remove the filters, select the Filter icon and select Clear filters.

Edit a policy

To add a draft policy, you must have permission to edit a policy book. For a policy editor, you can see the published policy and an edit draft. As a viewer, you can only see the published policies.

1. To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon and select from the options. For more information about filtering, go to Filter policies.

2. Select the Additional options menu icon next to the policy and select Open draft in Microsoft Word.

   The policy opens in Microsoft Word in a new tab for editing.

3. Make your edits in the policy.

   The policy autosaves. You can also force save using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S.

4. Close the tab.

   When users have edit access, they can see the action history of each policy, including when the policy was last modified.

Edit a policy manual draft

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policy Manual.

2. Select a document to edit.

3. Select Open Draft Policy.

4. To edit a document, select Open in Microsoft Word.

   The document opens in Microsoft Word in a new tab for editing.

5. Make your edits in the document.

   The document autosaves.

6. Close the tab.

Rename, publish, or delete a policy section

1. To rename the policy, select the Additional options menu icon beside the policy and select Rename, and enter a new name in the Name field.

2. To publish a policy section, select the Additional options menu icon beside the policy and select Publish section name.

3. To view the policies in a section, expand the policy section or select the policy section name.

4. To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon and select from the options. For more information about filtering, go to Filter policies.

5. To upload a policy, select Upload and choose your file to upload.

6. To delete a policy section, select the Additional options menu icon beside the policy, select Delete, and in the Confirm delete window, enter your email address to confirm and select Confirm.

   This will delete the section and all policies in that section.

   Note

   Only users with specific recycle bin permissions can restore or permanently delete policies.

7. To restore section or a policy that was sent to the recycle bin, select Policies > Recycle Bin and then select the checkbox beside the section or policy and select Restore.

8. To add the last reviewed or next review date, select a policy from the section, select Open Draft Policy, and add the dates in the associated fields.

Publish a policy

When using the Policy Publisher with live meeting minutes, you can publish all policies associated with an item that has received board approval. If there's a mistake in the published content, you can undo the publication.

1. To publish the policy, select one or more policies and select Publish.

   The Publish policy window opens.

2. Select Publish.

3. After the policy is published, select the Undo link at the bottom of the screen to cancel the publication.

After you publish a policy, it will be available to all based on the book permissions. In the Search tab on the public site, you can search all published policies.

Archive a policy

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policies and select a policy book to open.

2. Navigate to and select a document to archive.

3. Select Open Draft Policy.

4. Select the Policy Info icon to open the side panel.

5. From the dropdown beside the Publish button, select Archive.

Manage policy attachments

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policies and select a policy book to open.

2. Select the Policy Attachments icon to open the side panel.

3. To upload an attachment, select Upload attachment and select a file to attach.

4. To download the attached file, select the Options icon and select Download.

5. To replace the attached file, select the Options icon , select Replace, and select a replacement file to attach.

6. To delete the attached file, select the Options icon , select Delete, and select Delete in the popup window to confirm deletion.

Policy compare

You can compare draft policies with previous versions.

1. Select the policy draft that you want to compare and select Update.

2. Open the board meeting.

3. Select a draft policy attachment.

4. Select the policy compare icon at the top of the policy.

   The Policy compare screen opens.

5. Select the policy you want to compare.

   The policy compare screen opens. The bottom version is the current published version. Each time a draft is added for a reading, the draft is added above the current version.

6. Do one of the following:

   • Select the Show/Hide icon to show or hide the changes list.

   • Select the Full screen icon to see the policy compare in full screen mode.

   • Select Show Comparison to see the comparison.

   • Select the Close icon to close the comparison and return to the policy.

Policy compare on the timeline

You can compare draft policies with previous versions on your timeline.

1. Open the policy you want to compare.

2. To compare versions, select a version of the policy.

All the semantic changes that were made to the policy are recorded.

Policy compare in Activity

You can compare draft policies with previous versions in Activity.

1. Open the policy you want to compare.

2. To compare versions, select the Options icon beside a version of the policy and select Compare with this version.

   All the semantic changes that were made to the policy are recorded. You can see who performed an action, and the date and time.

   You can also view and restore policy versions.

Import a policy book

If your organization has subscribed to one of Diligent policy partners then you may have the policy connector enabled. You can import a policy book from your policy partner to Community and receive updates.

1. In the Policy details page that appears, select IMPORT BOOK.

   The book is imported and the list of policies are displayed on the details page.

2. From the left navigation, select Policies, and then select the policy book that you want to import.

   When a new policy is published in Policy Manager, Community displays NEW next to the policy name.

   If it is an update to an existing policy, Community displays NEW TEMPLATE next to the policy name.

Policy cross and legal references

You can add, update, and manage cross references and legal references within your policies. When you receive new or updated policies from Policy Manager, all cross and legal references automatically update to point to the appropriate community policy or legal reference links during merges, combines, or overrides.

Prerequisites

Before you can use the Community References add-in, you must meet the following prerequisites:

• A site administrator must install it on each Community site. For more information about how to view, manage, or install add-ins, go to View, manage, and install add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

• Before policy references appear, you need to sign in to Community.

Add references to a policy

You can add end note references to the Footnote References section at the end of a page. These tagged end note references include a reference number beside the associated text.

If you want to include additional untagged references, not associated with any text in particular, you can add them to the Additional Resources section of the document.

For more information about how to find and add references to the system, go to Policy settings and references.

1. From the left navigation menu, select Policies and navigate to a policy document.

2. Select Open Draft Policy.

3. To add policy references to a document, select Open in Microsoft Word.

   The document opens in Microsoft Word in a new tab.

4. From the Home tab in Word, select the Community reference add in.

   The Add policy reference panel opens.

5. Select Sign In and when it requests the ability to open a new window, select Allow and sign in to Community.

6. Depending on the reference type or whether you need to create a reference, complete one of the following set of steps:

• Policies and Legal References tabs and footnote references:

  1. Select in the document where you want to add the reference.

  2. In the Search Policies or Search Legal References field, enter a search term to search the policy references list.

  3. Select the checkboxes beside one or more policy or legal references that you want to add and select Add Footnote References.

     The endnote references are added to the Footnote References section at the end of the document and a reference number has been added beside the associated text.

• Policies and Legal References tabs and additional references:

  1. In the Search Policies or Search Legal References field, enter a search term to search the policy references list.

  2. Select the checkboxes beside the policies or legal references that you want to add and select Add Additonal Resources.

     The references are added to the Additonal Resources section of the document.

• New Reference:

1. In the Reference Title field, enter the name of the reference.

2. Optional: In the Reference URL field, enter a link for the reference.

3. Select Create and Add Footnote References or Create and Add Additional References.

Log out to switch organizations

If you need to switch between multiple Community organizations, you must log out from Community and log into a different site.

1. In the Add policy reference panel, select the More options icon and select Logout.

2. The add-in requests the ability to open a new window, select Allow.

   You are logged out of Community.

3. Select Sign In and log in to your other Community organization.

Policy settings and references

You can find, add, and manage your references in the Policy references tab in Policy settings.

Find references and other resources

Only policies that have been made public or that you have added are available to users in the Policy references tab.

1. From the left navigation menu, select Settings and select Policy settings.

2. Select the Legal references tab.

3. in the Search field, enter a search term to search the legal references list.

Add a reference to the system

1. In the Legal references tab of Policy settings, select Add reference.

2. In the Reference name field, enter a unique name.

   If the name was used previously but the reference was deleted, contact our Support team to restore it.

3. Optional: In the Reference link field, enter the URL for the reference document.

4. Select Add.

Manage references

You can edit the title and URL used in a reference, view its history, revert to a previous version, or delete the reference.

1. In the Legal references tab of Policy settings, select the More options icon and select Edit.

   You can also select View details to open the side panel of that reference.

2. In the Reference details tab of the side panel, update the name and link of the reference and select Update reference.

3. To delete a reference, select Delete reference and in the Delete reference window, select Delete.

   The other references are automatically renumbered.

4. Select the History tab to view all the changes made to the reference.

5. To restore the reference to a previous version, select the More options icon beside the version and select Restore this version.