Softdocs Etrieve Content

Softdocs Etrieve Content is the new enterprise content management solution being used by Columbia College, replacing OnBase.

Overview

Etrieve Content is Softdocs’ next-generation, browser-based enterprise content management solution.  Etrieve Content allows for various means of information entry and provides centralized, secure storage of content (documents, records, images, etc.) across our institution.

**Please visit Softdocs’ website for more detailed information: https://community.softdocs.com/s/article/ContentWhatisContent

 

Article Contents

1. Accessing Etrieve Content
2. Uploading Files to Etrieve Content
3. Searching Inside Etrieve Content
4. How to Install Etrieve

 

Accessing Etrieve Content

Log in to Etrieve Content

Use this link to log in to New Content: https://ccis.etrieve.cloud/content/search/home
Note: Softdocs is beginning a transition from Classic Content to New Content.  The link above will take you directly into New Content.  When retrieving a document, the document will open in Classic Content.  You can return to New Content to do another search by clicking on Try New Content at the top right of the screen.

 

Navigation

The New Content Home Page is where you will Upload and Search for documents.

When you open a document, you will be taken to the Classic Content Home Page to view it.

When a document is opened it will open in the Viewer panel in the middle of the screen and the associated keywords will display in the in the Index panel to the right.  If needed, click on the History tab at the bottom right to see the history of the document such as who created it, etc.

In the Index panel, along with any Key Fields associated with the document, there will be, in most cases, a Lookup specific to the document type.

• Applicant and Student documents will have the Student Info Lookup.
• Faculty Qualification documents will have a Faculty Info Lookup.
• Vendor documents will have a Vendor Info Lookup.
• HR-Payroll documents will have an Employee Info Lookup.

These Lookups are based on Colleague ID and will provide additional information housed in Colleague about the person/vendor associated with the document.

Delete access is limited but if a user has it then they will be able to delete documents that are open in the Viewer panel by clicking on the trash can in the top right of the Viewer panel.  Deleted documents will be removed from the Tree structure and moved into the Recycle Bin at the bottom left of the screen.  Documents can be restored from the Recycle Bin within a certain timeframe.

NOTE: Timeframe will be set up and communicated at a future date.

 

Log out of Etrieve Content

In the top right corner of Etrieve Content, click on the Settings Gear and then click Sign Out.

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Uploading Files to Etrieve Content

Etrieve Content allows users to upload documents into Content that are currently stored on the user’s computer, in email or on the network.

Upload Documents via Content

• Click on Upload Document in the top right corner of Content.
• Drag & drop documents to the upload window or Browse Files to select document for upload.

• Select the appropriate Area from the drop down or start typing in the Area field to narrow the choices.
• Select the appropriate Document Type from the drop down or start typing in the Document Type field to narrow the choice.

• For most document types, the File to Student (or Faculty or Vendor or Employee) Info field will display and the user can enter the Colleague ID to index the document.
  • In some cases (ex. Faculty Qualification documents), you will choose between two different areas (Academic Affairs Faculty or Academic Affairs Faculty Applicant NO_ID) depending upon whether or not the person has a Colleague ID.  If the NO_ID area is selected then the Info Lookup field will be there but since the person does not/does not yet have a Colleague ID, you will enter NO_ID in the Lookup field and use that option for indexing.
  • In some cases (ex. Employee Interviews, Trip Waiver Release), there is no Info Lookup field and you will need to use the Upload and Open option to finish indexing the key fields on the document in order to store it properly.  Once the document is open in the Viewer panel in Classic Content, just enter the Colleague ID (if there is one) along with the Name information in the appropriate key word fields and complete any other key fields as needed.
• Click the Upload button. A successful upload message will display.
• OR If the File to Student/Faculty/Vendor/Employee Info field does not display then click the Upload and Open button instead of Upload. This will cause the document to open upon Upload so that the user can finish indexing the document using the key fields.

Examples:

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Softdocs Virtual Printer

• Locate the document that you wish to move into Softdocs.
• Choose to print the document to the printer named Softdocs Printer.  NOTE: If you do not see the Softdocs Printer as an option then you will need to install it.  See Install instructions below.

• Instead of printing, the document will open in the Softdocs Virtual Printer window.  NOTE: If it is the first time using the Softdocs Printer or if it has been awhile since you used it, you may get a login prompt.  Enter your email address.

• In the Softdocs Virtual Printer window, select the appropriate Area from the drop down or start typing in the Area field to narrow the choices.
• Select the appropriate Document Type from the drop down or start typing in the Document Type field to narrow the choices.

• For most document types, the Student/Faculty/Vendor/Employee Info field will display and the user can index the document by Colleague ID.
  • In some cases (ex. Faculty Qualification documents), you will choose between two different areas (Academic Affairs Faculty or Academic Affairs Faculty Applicant NO_ID) depending upon whether or not the person has a Colleague ID.  If the NO_ID area is selected then the Info Lookup field will be there but since the person does not/does not yet have a Colleague ID, you will enter NO_ID in the Lookup field and use that option for indexing.
  • In some cases (ex. Employee Interviews, Trip Waiver Release), there is no Info Lookup field and you will need to use the Upload and Open option to finish indexing the key fields on the document in order to store it properly.  Once the document is open in the Viewer panel in Classic Content, just enter the Colleague ID (if there is one) along with the Name information in the appropriate key word fields and complete any other key fields as needed.

Examples:

**screen

• After completing the Index panel information, click the Send button at the bottom right of the screen.

• A message will appear indicating successful upload into Content.  Screen will then allow you to add additional docs to the printer if you need to repeat process.  If not, click the X at the top right of the screen.

 

Outlook Plugin

• If there is an email with an attachment that needs to be uploaded into Softdocs, click on the email.  NOTE: You do not need to open the attachment.
• After the email is highlighted, click on Etrieve in the top ribbon.  NOTE: If you do not see the Etrieve tab then you will need to install the Softdocs Outlook Plugin.  See Install instructions below.
• After you click Etrieve, a new window will open with a Send to Etrieve message.  Click Allow if you wish to proceed; click Ignore if you wish to cancel.
• If it is the first time using the Outlook plugin or if it has been awhile since you used it, you may get a login prompt.  Enter your email address.
• You will then see the Softdocs Email Plugin screen for uploading and indexing.

• The name of the attachment is on the left.  A view of the attached document is in the center Viewer panel.  The Index panel is to the right.
• Select the appropriate Area where the attachment should be stored in Content.  If you start typing in the Select Area field, it will start to narrow the choices.
• After you select an Area, then the Document Type field will appear and you will need to select a document type.  If you start typing in the field, it will start to narrow the choices.

• After you select the Document Type, additional fields will display.  In most cases, the Student/Faculty/Vendor/Employee Info Lookup field will be next and you will enter the Colleague ID of the person associated with the document along with other key fields as needed.
  • In some cases (ex. Faculty Qualification documents), you will choose between two different areas (Academic Affairs Faculty or Academic Affairs Faculty Applicant NO_ID) depending upon whether or not the person has a Colleague ID.  If the NO_ID area is selected then the Info Lookup field will be there but since the person does not/does not yet have a Colleague ID, you will enter NO_ID in the Lookup field and use that option for indexing.
  • In some cases (ex. Employee Interviews, Trip Waiver Release), there is no Info Lookup field and you will just enter the Colleague ID (if there is one) along with the Name in the appropriate key word fields and complete any other key fields as needed.

Examples:

**screen

• After completing the Index panel information, click the Send button at the bottom right of the screen.

• A message will appear indicating successful upload into Content.
• Click the Close button to close the window.  Repeat as needed with other email attachments.
• Or click the Go to Content button if you want to go into Content and view the document.

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Searching Inside Etrieve Content

Etrieve Content allows users to retrieve stored documents for viewing, emailing, and printing.  Start your search from the New Content Home Page.  You can use the Search and Advanced Search features to retrieve a single document or multiple documents depending upon what is needed.

 

Search Examples 

1. Enter any Colleague ID in the Search Field.

A list will display under the field; scroll towards the bottom of the of the list and select the appropriate Lookup (HR-Payroll docs = Employee Lookup, Faculty Qualifications solution docs = Faculty Lookup, Student and Applicant docs = Student Lookup, and Vendor docs = Vendor Lookup) and then click Search.

All the documents for that person/vendor to which the user has access in that category will display.  Click on a specific document to open it. It will open in Classic Content in the Viewer Panel.  Close that window and return to New Content window to review and select other documents to view.

**screen

2. Enter Colleague ID Enter any Colleague ID in the Search Field.

A list will display under the field; scroll towards the bottom of the of the list and select the appropriate Lookup (Employee, Faculty, Student, Vendor).

Also select a Document Type and/or Area to narrow the search.  Select from the drop-downs or start typing in the field to narrow the options.

Click Search.  All of the documents in that document type and/or Area to which the user has access will display.  Click on a specific document to open it.  It will open in Classic Content in the Viewer Panel.  Close that window and return to New Content window to review and select other documents to view.

 

Advanced Search Examples

Click on Advanced in the top left corner of the New Content Home page.

 

1. Select the category by which you wish to search by selecting the appropriate item in the first field (displays Area by default).  Choices include Area, Document Type, Document Type Category, Key Field and Lookup (meaning the Student/Faculty/Employee/Vendor Lookups previously mentioned) and Other which is primarily for Technology Services.

Next, select a condition in the next field.  NOTE: If Key Field is the selected category in the first field then the user will need to select the specified Key Field before selecting the condition.  NOTE: If Lookup is selected the condition is automatically set to IS.

Finally, based upon the previous selections fill in the final field using the drop-down of choices that are available.

Click the Search button at the of the screen to run the search.

2. Click on the And feature to add additional parameters to narrow your search by date range, etc.

This example search will return all of the Trip Waiver Release forms with a document date between 3/1/25 and 5/31/25.

After getting the results of a search, you can add additional columns that will display any associated Key fields on the document type.  Do this by clicking on the Column button at the right of the screen.

NOTE: The Created Date is the date that the document was created in Softdocs via document upload, form submission or migration from OnBase.  Document Date (key field and often displayed at the end of the document name) is the date the document was created regardless of origin.  These dates will often be the same if it is not a migrated document.

A new window will open and you can select the columns that you wish to display and click Confirm to add them. In this example, Document Date and Last Name (KF) were added.

NOTE: If the search includes multiple document types and the key field is not on all of them, you can still add the column and the value will display if it exists on the document.

 

Export Search Results to CSV

To export the information from the search results to a spreadsheet, click in the check box next to the documents you want to include.  Then click on the Export Selected button above the search results on the right and choose Export as CSV.  A file will be created and downloaded to your Download folder.  It will also display temporarily at the top right of your screen.

Click on the file at the top of your screen (or in your Download folder) to open.  There will be a line for each form and a column for each column included in the search results.

 

Save Search

If you have already ran a search and realize that you will need to run it again in the future, click on the Save button in top right of the screen.

A new window will display so that you can Name and Save the search.

Once it has been saved, it will be housed under the Saved button at the top left of the screen.

If you are building a new search and realize that you will need to run it in the future before you run it the first time, you can save it by clicking the Save Search button at the bottom of the screen.

A new window will display so that you can Name your search.

Then you can Save it or Save and Run it.

Once it has been saved, it will be housed under the Saved button at the top left of the screen.

 

Save Search with Prompts

To save a search with prompts (instead of a specific value), choose Prompt Selection instead of entering a value in that field.  In the example below, instead of entering a specific date for the On or After Document Date, Prompt Selection was chosen instead.  Same for the next line, Prompt Selection was chosen instead of a specific date for the On or Before Document Date.

In this way, the Search logic is saved without specific dates and when the Search is run, it will prompt the user for dates so that the Search can used for any date range instead of one specific timeframe.  This eliminates the need for multiple, similar searches with different date ranges.

Prompt Selection can be used for any option in the last field of the Search logic. It is not just for dates.

 

Share Search

To share a Saved Search with a co-worker, click on the Saved button at the top left of the screen.

Click on the Search you wish to share.  Run the Search.  Then click on the Share button at the top right of the screen.

You will get a message indicating that the link was copied.

Right click into an email or Teams Chat to paste the link and share.

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How to Install Etrieve

Virtual Printer Installation Instructions

To install the Softdocs Virtual Printer, go to the Start Menu>Software Center

Then click on Softdocs Printer

And then click the Install button

Once the application has installed you will be prompted to restart your computer

After you have restarted your computer, click the Start Menu>Softdocs Printer

The following window will appear

Enter the following URL into the box and click ‘Verify URL’

https://cciscontent.etreieve.cloud/#

You are now ready to log into Softdocs by adding your CC credentials.  You will then be prompted to authenticate through Multi Factor Authentication.

After you have logged in, you can now browse or drag and drop documents into the Virtual Printer to be indexed into Content.

Once you have added your document, the Fields section will populate. Here is where will pick the document type and enter information to index.

You can also upload documents into Content via the Virtual Printer by opening the document on your desktop, click Print and find the Softdocs Printer on your printer list.

When you click print the Softdocs Virtual Printer will load, where you will pick your document type and index your document.

 

Etrieve Outlook Plug-In

To access the Etrieve Outlook plug-in; log into Outlook and click on a message in your inbox.

Once you have a message highlighted look along the top ribbon for More Apps or All Apps button (depending on which version of Outlook you are using).

Click on the More Apps or All Apps button and you will see all of the apps available for you to add.

When you click Send to Etrieve it will appear in your Add-In ribbon.

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