Folders or Filters? - The Ongoing Shift in NetDocuments Workspace Design

Introduction

NetDocuments has been providing document management in the cloud since before there was even a term for the cloud. Over that time, the options for document storage design have changed any number of times. When workspaces were first introduced, NetDocuments provided an option called filters; a dynamic search category, based on document type (or other organizing attribute), that automatically refreshed itself with every visit to said workspace.

Over time, thousands of NetDocuments customers used filters in their workspaces. But over the past couple of years, the trend has shifted back to folders in many cases. But why? Are folders somehow better? The answer is, as always, dependent on the situation. Often, this can be one of the more difficult decisions to make when deciding to get started with NetDocuments. So let’s take a look at both and hopefully make that decision just a little bit easier.

Filters

First, let’s talk filters. If you are unfamiliar with them, they are like tiny searches within your workspace. So as an example, let’s say you are organizing your documents by document type, which is most often the way we see them. You might have a workspace that looks something like this:

The categories of Case Management, Cost & Billing, Correspondence, Court Filings and Pleadings are filters, as indicated by the funnel-shaped icon to the left of the name. These search for all documents within the workspace that have a “Document Type” that corresponds to their title and displays them each time the workspace is accessed. So what are the benefits of such a structure:

Pros:

      Streamlined view of documents by document type

      Consistent organization across all workspaces

      Automatically filed into filters when a document is saved as a particular document type

      Single level of filing, no need to worry about digging through subfolders to locate files

      Straightforward structure, easily understood by new employees

      Reliable document type names, making for more reliable search results

      Updates are dynamic, automatically showing new entries when new documents are saved

However, filters are not all sunshine and rainbows, there are, of course, drawbacks.

Cons:

      Single level of filing may not always be a good fit for more complex matters

      No way to add subfolders or ‘subfilters’

      No simple means of renaming document types, only adding or subtracting

      Need to have administrative rights or access to an administrator to add new document types, cannot be done on the fly

Folders

Alternatively, we have the option of folders. Much like what most people are used to seeing in a Windows Explorer pane, folders look and function much the same way. Returning to the idea of organizing our workspace by Document Type, we would see something like this:

Here, the categories of Administration, Client Documents, Minutes, Settlement Materials and Work in Progress are folders, as made clear by the manila folder icon to the left of each name, much like what is displayed in Windows. So how do these differ from filters, and why might they be a better choice? Let’s see:

Pros:

      Customizable – folders can be created on the fly

      Subfolders (and sub-sub-folders, etc.) are allowed

      Folder packs can re-create a folder structure consistently on every matter

      Workspaces can be set up to automatically file into a document type folder when a document is saved with that document type selected

Again, however, don’t put on those rose-colored glasses yet. There are also drawbacks to using folders:

Cons:

      Transferring existing structures to NetDocuments can result in a “garbage in, garbage out” type of situation

      Subfolders cannot be automatically filed to – they are static and can only accept what is manually filed into them, which means more clicks when filing.

      Adding ad-hoc folders and subfolders can add a level of complexity that may make it more difficult for some users to find documents

      Creating large folder and subfolder structures can reduce the efficiency and consistency of workspaces

      Folder packs cannot presently be profiled, so there may still be a need to assign the document type when saving (expected to be addressed in Q4 2021)

So as you can see, there are benefits and drawbacks to both methods and there is really no “one size fits all” solution. Instead, with the customizability of NetDocuments, there’s a choice to make that fits best into your bespoke document management solution.