ndOffice 3.0: What’s the Big Deal?
Why the Latest ndOffice Release is a Game Changer
So What’s New, then?
Windows users of NetDocuments are familiar with the locally installed add-on, ndOffice and are aware that it goes hand-in-hand with ndClick. It is difficult to have one without the other. That is where ndOffice 3.0 comes in!
Historically, for everything to properly communicate you have needed to install both ndClick and ndOffice and be signed into both programs under the same login. With the release of ndOffice 3.0, ndOffice and ndClick are now a single unit resulting in one less program to track and one less login/password to enter. This should greatly simplify setting up new workstations and users as well as troubleshooting issues for existing users.
If you are upgrading to ndOffice 3.0, use the .exe version of the upgrade. In doing so, you will have no need to uninstall ndClick as the upgrade will do so for you. If you are installing ndOffice 3.0 on a new workstation, simply enjoy the lack of additional logins you will need to perform.
On April 18, 2022, NetDocuments announced that an upcoming update to Google Chrome scheduled for April 26, 2022, will break any current ndClick functionality. All the more reason to update now.
ndWeb
When accessing NetDocuments via the web user interface (“UI”), ndOffice and ndClick have been crucial components to working seamlessly with your documents. Simply left clicking on a document within the UI will communicate to your local computer that it is to check out, download, and open the desired document in the applicable program based on the file extension. When the document is closed, ndOffice 3.0 will communicate the need to check in and close the document.
Microsoft Office
Working with your documents that are stored in NetDocuments is just as easy from within Microsoft Office (for simplicity, Adobe Acrobat is considered part of this group of programs because it behaves the same way with ndOffice).
Thanks to ndOffice, simply click on File > Open > “ndOpen” to retrieve your documents directly from NetDocuments. When you choose Save or Save As, you can save directly to NetDocuments either as a new document or a new version of an existing document.
Activity Center
The NetDocuments Activity Center may be one of the most useful unsung heroes of the NetDocuments platform providing a lot of functionality in a small package. Living primarily in the notification area/system tray, the Activity Center allows you to see and do a surprising number of things without needing to involve the web UI or one of your local programs.
1. The first option is a re-creation of your home page. Any favorite documents, folders, workspaces, or links can be seen and interacted with here. Left clicking on a document will check it out and open it, just as you can with the web UI. Right clicking on a document will provide the following list of options:
• Open – Open the document.
• Open as read-only – Open the document in the read-only mode.
• Open as a new document – Create and open a new document with the same content.
• Open as a new version – Create and open a new version of the document.
• Rename – Change the document name.
• Print – Print out the document on any connected printer.
• Check in - Check in a document if it is currently checked out.
• Copy link – Copy the link to the document.
• Copy ID – Copy the document ID.
• Profile details – Open the Edit Profile dialog.
• Modify access – Change the access to a document.
• Email link – Insert the document link to the email.
• Email copy – Download the document and attach it to a new email.
• Email copy and link – Send both a copy of the document and a link to the document in one step.
• Reply - Reply to the message sender.
• Reply all - Reply to the original sender and all other recipients on the To and Cc lines.
• Forward - Send the message to someone, not on the To or Cc lines.
• Versions and attachments – View document versions as well as comparisons and attachments. In ndOffice 2.3, open PDFs from Versions and Attachments in the ndOffice Activity dialog.
2. This option shows you your recently added and edited documents, up to the last 100 files. Like on the home page, you can left click on any document to open it, and right click to get the same options as shown above.
3. The gear at the bottom left of the activity center is where you find settings, and there are a lot of helpful options to choose from. This article from NetDocuments provides details on the various available settings and how they affect your use of the service.
In addition to the above, there are some handy extras included in this release of ndOffice such as:
- Using advanced search within ndOffice (the Word/Excel/PowerPoint Open dialog box) now allows you to select multiple profile values for searching. For example, you could search for all documents in a particular matter that are profiled as either Correspondence or Memos by choosing both from the list (hold down the Ctrl key to select multiples).
- The ndAttach button in Outlook now allows users to send links to folders to internal users, as opposed to only sending links to documents.
- New registry keys to drive the behavior of saving e-mails:
o Choose the default save method (message only, attachments only, or attachments and message)
o Limit the number of e-mails that can be saved by dragging to the Outlook Panel at a time.
If you are interested in more information or would like assistance installing or upgrading your ndOffice installation, please let us know how we can help!
