Replacing, unpublishing or deleting a document

Company documents change over time: internal rules are revised, a policy is updated, a guide becomes obsolete. This article explains how to upload a new version of a document, find its previous versions, withdraw it from employees by unpublishing it and, if necessary, delete it permanently. It is aimed at HR staff and administrators.

Before you start #

• The actions in this article require the Publish, replace and unpublish company documents permission at the Execute level (Administrator and HR Manager roles). With the Access level, you can only view the table and the version history.
• Everything happens in Settings › Documents › Company documents: your role must also give you access to Settings.
• To publish a first document, see Publishing a company document and choosing its audience.

Reading the documents table #

The table lists every document, published or not, whatever its audience, sorted by category and then by title.

• Document: the title, the effective date and the language (FR, EN, DE, IT).
• Category and Audience: the library section and a summary of the audience.
• Version: the number and size of the current version, for example “v2 · 41 KB”.
• Status: Published or Unpublished.
• On the right, five icons: Versions (clock), Edit (pencil), New version (upward arrow), Unpublish or Republish (crossed-out eye or eye), Delete (red bin). Hover over an icon to see its name.

Uploading a new version #

When the text of a document changes, upload a new version rather than a new document: the title, category and audience stay the same, and employees read the new text straight away.

1. On the document’s row, click the New version icon (upward arrow).
2. Your computer’s file picker opens. Select the updated file: PDF, Word (.docx) or text (.txt), up to 20 MB. The format may differ from that of the previous version.
3. The message “New version published.” confirms the upload. The Version column moves to the next number.

From that moment:

• employees in the audience only read the new version, with its new number;
• searches only cover the text of the new version, read when it was uploaded;
• the previous version is kept and can still be viewed by HR, with its replacement date.

Uploading a new version does not notify the audience. If the change needs to be announced, use another channel, for example an announcement on the dashboard. To change the title, effective date or audience at the same time, also use Edit.

Viewing the version history #

1. Click the Versions icon (clock) on the document’s row.
2. The window shows the document’s title and reminds you: “Employees only read the current version; previous ones remain available here.”
3. Each version is listed, most recent first, with its number, the name of the uploaded file, its publication date and, for a replaced version, its replacement date.
4. Click Open to display a version in a new browser tab.

These versions let you find the text that applied on a given date, for example to answer an employee who refers to the previous rules.

Unpublishing or republishing a document #

Unpublishing withdraws a document from employees without erasing anything: the details, the audience and every version are kept. It is the right action for an outdated document you want to keep, or for a document that needs reviewing before it becomes visible again.

1. Click the Unpublish icon (crossed-out eye) on the document’s row.
2. The message “Document unpublished.” confirms the withdrawal. The status changes to Unpublished and the icon becomes Republish (eye).

The document disappears immediately from the library, the search and the assistant’s answers, for everyone. To make it visible again, click Republish: the message “Document republished.” appears and the document returns, with its current version and audience unchanged. Republishing does not send a notification.

Deleting a document #

Deletion is permanent: it erases the document, all its versions and their files.

1. Click the Delete icon (red bin) on the document’s row.
2. The Delete the document? window reminds you that the document and all its versions will be deleted, and suggests unpublishing it if you only want to withdraw it from employees.
3. Click Delete to confirm, or Cancel to back out. The message “Document deleted.” confirms the deletion.

Before deleting internal rules or a policy, consider whether you may later need to show what applied at the time: if so, unpublish it instead, or upload a new version.

Good to know #

• Every publication, new version, status change and deletion is recorded in your workspace’s activity log.
• An employee who opened the document in a tab just before a new version was uploaded keeps the old text on screen until they open it again from the library.
• The effective date does not change by itself with a new version: update it with Edit if the new text applies from a different date.

Frequently asked questions #

What is the difference between unpublishing and deleting? #

Unpublishing withdraws the document from employees and keeps everything, so you can republish it. Deleting erases the document and all its versions, with no way back.

Can I go back to a previous version? #

There is no button to restore a version. Open the previous version from the versions window, save the file, then upload it as a new version.

Are employees notified of a new version? #

No. The “new document” notification is only offered at the first publication. Announce the change through another channel if needed.