Using Categories to Find your Worldox Files Faster

Categories can be used to provide an additional layer of Worldox file organization that helps you more flexibly sort your documents by some common attribute that you assign. Applying Categories is like creating a tag or virtual folder, allowing you to quickly group similar documents that do not reside in the same Worldox folder. Categories can be quickly filtered in a tagged search.

Categories are not to be confused with Document Types (such as Pleadings, Agreements, or Correspondence) or file types (Word, Excel, PDF etc.). Rather, Categories can be used to tailor searches beyond these more static classifications to identify documents that share a defined characteristic, such as “Draft” or “Filed”, regardless of document type.

Working with Categories

Ultimately the purpose of Categories is to help you find your required documents quickly. (I share methods for searching/filtering using Categories below.) Essentially, you can use Categories to create “virtual folders” to pull up documents sharing a customizable characteristic beyond your firm’s main document classifications.

One example of how Categories could be usefully deployed is the creation of a virtual motion record. To do this, you could assign a special Category to documents you need for an upcoming motion, regardless of file location. Applying your new Motion Category would instantly pull up a complete list of your motion documents no matter where they are filed in Worldox.

Category Types

There are three broad types of Categories in Worldox:

  • Public – These are categories that you can apply to documents anywhere in Worldox and are visible by all users. By default regular Worldox users can create Public categories, but this is typically done by Worldox Administrators.
  • Personal – All users have the ability to create their own personal categories. Personal categories can be applied to documents anywhere in Worldox but only visible to yourself.
  • Folder – Folder categories are Public categories, meaning they can be seen by all Worldox users. However they are tied to a specific location in Worldox. An example location is a Matter folder. Folder categories allow you to have Categories that are much more specific as they apply only to a particular matter.

Creating Category Columns

The easiest way to work with Categories is to use the Categories columns. While the Category column is not added by default, a typical Worldox installation by LexCloud.ca will have the Category column already added.

If the Category column is not displayed, do the following:

Right-click on the blank dark grey area in the column headers area, select Insert Column and then Categories from the list:

(Active columns are identified with a check mark.)

Worldox categories legal tech

Add or Edit Categories

You will now have an empty Categories column. To add or edit Categories:

Right click the Categories column.

Worldox law firm document management

The Add/Edit Categories window will open and categories can be added, changed, removed or applied to the currently selected document.

Worldox document management legal technology

Selecting the Add button prompts you to first select the type of category to be added (Personal, Public or Folder). The Folder option below indicates where a Folder category would be added using client number and matter number.

Worldox document management for law firms

In this case (my Motion for Dismissal), I will likely create a folder-level Category for anyone with access to this Client File, though I could instead create a Personal folder for my own use.

Applying Categories to Documents

Once a Category has been created it can be applied to documents. Note that multiple categories can be applied to the same document, if desired.

  1. Right click in the ‘Categories’ column and choose ‘Select Category’.
  2. Select the type of Category and the actual Category (in this case, “Motion for Dismissal”) then apply it to the document.

Searching and Filtering Document Lists using Categories

Of course categories ultimately enable quick searching. To use Categories to filter your document lists:

Option 1 – Using the Tags tab. The Tags function can be used to filter documents lists using categories.

Worldox document management software

Option 2 – Split the list into Category sections. You can also sort lists by categories by clicking on the ‘Categories’ column heading. This will split the list into sections for each category. If a document has been assigned multiple categories, the document will appear in each category section to which it belongs.

Worldox law firm software

Option 3 – Search Dialog. Categories can also be included in a search as shown below:

Worldox DMs legal software

Using any of these search filters will bring up the documents tagged with the “Motion for Dismissal” Category.

Note: When opening the Category selection list by clicking on the Category button, only Public and Personal categories will be available. For technical reasons, folder Categories will not be shown on the selection list but can be typed in the Category box.


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