You can use HighQ's integration with Contract Express to:
- Send questionnaires to any recipient that can automatically generate documents; recipients do not need to register to fill a questionnaire or receive a generated document.
- Create public access links to questionnaires that can be shared or published on a website, but retain access options for full control.
HighQ Doc Auto Public Access powered by Contract Express uses Contract Express templates and questionnaires and benefits from the tools and reports provided by HighQ's integration with Contract Express.
Doc Auto Public Access requires a Contract Express licence with Guest Access, see below.
Setting up Doc Auto Public Access
Doc Auto Public Access powered by Contract Express requires the same authorisation as the HighQ Document Automation module, powered by Contract Express:
More information is available in the Contract Express Integration setup article.
System configuration
The System Admin must open System settings to enable HighQ Doc Auto Public Access:
Scroll down to the HighQ Doc Auto Public Access section and click the drop-down menu. Select one of the three options:
- Disabled - This option completely disables Public Access for this instance
- Enabled, default OFF in every site - This enables Public Access, but it must be enabled on a site by site basis by a site admin
- Enabled, default ON in every site - This enables Public Access and turns it ON in every site. If it is not required, Public Access can be disabled in Site Settings
HighQ Doc Auto must the Enabled to see HighQ Doc Auto Public Access
You may also Enable captcha for HighQ Doc Auto Public Access. This adds a captcha check if too many Public Access requests are submitted from the same IP address in too short a time.
Enable system-level Secure file sharing
Secure file sharing must be enabled at both system and site levels to allow an anonymous user to view or download a generated document from a public access link.
Scroll down to the Site file sharing settings section and click the Enable Site files sharing drop-down menu. Select one of the two options to turn sharing ON:
Scroll down and click Save to update the system settings.
Site configuration
A site admin must configure the site to use Contract Express Public Access templates.
Open Admin, Document Automation, Contract Express templates then Public access.
By default, the Contract Express Public Access templates option matches the selection made in System settings. If necessary, change the drop-down to ON.
Enable site-level Secure file sharing
Secure file sharing must be enabled at both system and site levels to allow an anonymous user to view or download a generated document from a public access link.
Open Admin, Files then scroll to Advanced settings.
Select Enable secure file sharing then click Save.
Deselect encryption
Also in Files admin settings, scroll down to the Digital Rights Management section and check that DRM encryption is not selected for the site (e.g. with FileOpen or Seclore).
Make templates available for Public Access
A Contract Express template must be made 'public' before it can be added as a Public Access template.
A Contract Express Admin or the Author of a template can open the template in the connected Contract Express licence space in Templates.
Select the template, then click Template details, the label under Access, then select the Public Access tab. Enable Make Public and click Save.
Note that this adds a 'Guest' role under User access:
Public access template restrictions
Public Access templates cannot be linked to iSheets for input.
Documents created with Public Access templates can only be saved to site folders.
For more information on creating templates:
Add templates to the Public Access list
Open Admin, Document Automation, Contract Express templates.
Click Add, then Browse.
This displays a list of all the Contract Express templates with Make public selected.
Select a template then click Save.
If necessary, click Change under Document automation settings to save generated documents in the appropriate folder.
Saved documents are listed as created by 'Anonymous user'.
Click Add to add the template to the list of Contract Express Public Access templates.
Click More actions to manage or share a template.
- Edit details - click to change the folder used to save generated documents
- Archive - this will archive the public access template. All shared links created from the archived template will be disabled
Archived templates have an Archived badge next to the name:
- Share - click to create public access links for the Public Access template, you can create a new link each time you click Share; see Sharing a template, below
- Audit history - click to see and manage a list of shared links
Sharing a template
To create public access links for a Public Access template, click More actions then Share.
Link description - Provide a description of the link. Add notes about where this link is shared and any other details you want to capture. This also helps identify links if more than one link is created with a single template.
Click on the drop-down list to set the Access level:
- Anyone with the link - gives direct access without any password
- Anyone with the password - the site admin can set a password. This restricts access to the questionnaire to public access users who know the password; the Site Admin must send the password to the users via a different channel.
Link Expires - choose a duration after which the link will no longer function.
The link expires at midnight on the set date, at the local time for the instance.
Click Get link to create the shareable link.
Select the link with the cursor, or click Select link to select the link URL. Copy the URL, then paste it into your email, post or web page.
Logged in HighQ users cannot use a public access questionnaire. Logged in users should use internal HighQ access to generate documents.
After a link is created, you can retrieve, view and manage it in Audit History.
Links from an archived template
In the list of Contract Express Public Access templates, select More Actions, Archive to archive a template.
All links created from a template that is later archived are set to Inactive in the Audit history.
To unarchive a template, open the More actions menu and select Activate.
If you unarchive a template, the associated links are not automatically set to Active, you must change each link from the More actions menu in the Audit history.
Using the shared link
If an external user clicks the shared link a landing page opens that shows the title of the template and description of the link:
Logged in HighQ users cannot use a public access questionnaire. Logged in users should use internal HighQ access to generate documents.
The recipient clicks Start Questionnaire to see the standard Contract Express questionnaire screen.
View, edit or download a document
After the recipient fills in the questionnaire, they see View, Edit and Download links.
As of June 2024, recipients are able to edit a document to adjust their responses in the questionnaire if they notice they've made a mistake (see below for more information). Contact your HighQ support representative to enable the edit public access option on the system.
Approval and security
If approvals are enabled on the site, the recipient sees a message at the top of the screen and is returned to the landing page:
Also, if Secure file sharing is not enabled or DRM encryption is enabled, the recipient sees the following message:
In any of these cases, the recipient is unable to edit the generated document. If this is not intended, please check settings at the system and site level.
View the document
Click View to review the generated document.
Edit the document
When the Edit button is available, the recipient can select it to reopen the questionnaire, change responses and re-generate the document.
If the recipient does not see the Edit button, it is possible the system-wide settings for site file sharing are restricted. Check under System Admin > System Settings > Site file sharing settings:
If the Default DRM setting for file sharing is set to view only or view, download and print AND Restrict to this option only is selected then the recipient cannot edit generated files.
Download the document
Select Download to save a copy of the document to the recipient's computer.
Limits on document access
The document is available for 30 minutes after the document was generated for the recipient. The Edit option is only available to a recipient during an active browser session after generating the document; i.e. they have not navigated away from this page or stepped away from their desk within that period. While the document is accessible to the public user, they can make as many edits as needed during that timeframe.
If a logged-in user attempts to edit the document simultaneously, the public user will encounter an error due to conflicting edits.
Please note that it is not possible to view the Edit option in a different browser to the browser used to generate the document, i.e. if the recipient copies the link and tries to open it in another browser - it is only based on the active browser session.
Audit history
To see a history of links that have been shared, with additional details, click More actions then Audit history:
In Audit history, you can see the status of each link, copy the link again, see the description, access type, expiry and shared dates, and the name and IP address of the creator.
- Click Copy link to copy the link to the clipboard.
- Click the More actions icon on the left of the row to manage a link.
Make inactive - change the status of an Active link to Inactive. The link in longer works and does not open the questionnaire. If necessary, you should remove the link from web pages, etc.
Activate - change the status of an Inactive link to Active. The link is restored and opens the questionnaire as originally created, if it has not expired.
Approvals for Public Access templates
If a site admin wants to approve documents before they are given to a public user using the Public Access questionnaire, they need to use site-wide approvals.
Open Admin, Module settings, Files, then select Enable approvals and Require approval to add files and folders. Select the appropriate approval template.
This sends all the documents that are generated with Public Access templates for approval.
Require approval to add files to folders applies to any document that is added to the site, either manually uploaded or generated by Document automation.
If you want to approve a generated document before sending it to a public user then you should ask for contact details in the Public Access template questionnaire, e.g. an email address. This is captured as an answer in the Output iSheet and can be used to share the document when it is approved.
Notes for ExpertiseApp templates
A Contract Express Expertise Automation Flowchart template needs to be made Public before it can be added to the list of Public Access templates.
The ExpertiseAppGuidance template also needs to be made public.
Open System Settings, Document automation, Contract Express templates, Public access.
A Contract Express Admin or the Author of a template can find the template in the connected Contract Express licence space under the Templates / Flowcharts tab. As described above, select Make public.
Additionally, under Profiles of the same Flowchart template add the ExpertiseApp profile to the template:
Click Profiles for the template, then Add profile. Add the ExpertiseApp profile to the template. This profile ensures that the template and flowchart generate a document when used for Public Access.
