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
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From the left navigation menu, select Policies > Policy Book.
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On the Policy Book page, select NEW SECTION.
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In the Create new section dialog box, enter the following details:
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Code – Enter a code. This is an optional field.
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Name – Enter a name for the section.
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Select Create.
Add a policy
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From the left navigation menu, select Policies > Policy Book.
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On the Policy Book page, select NEW POLICY.
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In the Create new policy dialog box, enter the following details:
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Code – Enter a code. This is an optional field.
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Name – Enter a name for the policy.
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Select Create.
Add a policy to agenda item workflow and approvals
Note
This feature is only available with Community or Community Essentials offerings that include Policy Publisher.
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From the left navigation menu, select Agenda items.
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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.
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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
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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.
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If you have the ability to edit draft policies you can add drafts, and if you can only view the policy book you can add references to the published policies.
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To add a policy, complete one of the following options:
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Draft In the Draft tab, select one or more draft policies and select Add copy of draft or Add copies of draft for multiple.
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Published In the Published tab, select one or more policies and select Add copy or Add copies for multiple.
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 say 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.
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From the left navigation menu, select Goals.
The Goals page opens.
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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.
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Select the Add policy icon
.
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To add a policy, complete one of the following options:
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Draft In the Draft tab, select one or more draft policies and select Add copy of draft or Add copies of draft for multiple.
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Published In the Published tab, select one or more policies and select Add copy or Add copies for multiple.
Filter policies
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Navigate to a policy book.
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To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon
and select from the following options:
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All
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Drafts in progress - Refers to a policy draft that is currently in progress
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Published
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Rescinded & Archived
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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.
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To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon
and select from the options. For more information about filtering, go to Filter policies.
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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.
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Make your edits in the policy.
The policy autosaves. You can also force save using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S.
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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
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From the left navigation menu, select Policy Manual.
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Select a document to edit.
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Select Open Draft Policy.
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To edit a document, select Open in Microsoft Word.
The document opens in Microsoft Word in a new tab for editing.
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Make your edits in the document.
The document autosaves.
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Close the tab.
Rename, publish, or delete a policy section
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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.
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To publish a policy section, select the Additional options menu icon
beside the policy and select Publish section name.
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To view the policies in a section, expand the policy section or select the policy section name.
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To filter the policies displayed, select the Filter icon
and select from the options. For more information about filtering, go to Filter policies.
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To upload a policy, select Upload and choose your file to upload.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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To publish the policy, select one or more policies and select Publish.
The Publish policy window opens.
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Select Publish.
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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.
Note
You can't search all published policies unless you have the full Policy Publisher offering.
Archive a policy
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From the left navigation menu, select Policies and select a policy book to open.
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Navigate to and select a document to archive.
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Select Open Draft Policy.
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Select the Policy Info icon
to open the side panel.
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From the dropdown beside the Publish button, select Archive.
Policy compare
You can compare draft policies with previous versions.
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Select the policy draft that you want to compare and select Update.
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Open the board meeting.
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Select a draft policy attachment.
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Select the policy compare icon at the top of the policy.
The Policy compare screen opens.
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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.
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Do one of the following:
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Select the Show/Hide icon
to show or hide the changes list.
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Select the Full screen icon
to see the policy compare in full screen mode.
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Select Show Comparison
to see the comparison.
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Select the Close icon
to close the comparison and return to the policy.
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Policy compare on the timeline
You can compare draft policies with previous versions on your timeline.
Note
This feature is only available with the full Community Policy Publisher offering.
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Open the policy you want to compare.
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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.
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Open the policy you want to compare.
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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.
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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.
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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.