Distribution Rules and Lists

As a Project Administrator you can create a Distribution Rule or List applicable to everyone on the Project. These are created when documents require either the Action of, or to be Info'd to a specific user each time they are used. Users have the ability to create distribution rules / lists however these are only applicable to that user.

Distribution Lists are pre-defined lists of users for the Action and CC on documents. They are useful for documents that are frequently sent to the same recipients. Rather than choosing names from the Address Book, you simply choose a Distribution List.

When you create a new document you can choose the desired Distribution List(s) to address the document, however, distribution lists are still subject to Distribution Rules for their document type.

Distribution Rules are created when documents require either the action of, or copying to a specified user each time they are used. The Rule specifies what names are shown in Action and Info.

The rule can limit the names that are shown in the address book, and can pre-select names so that the document is already addressed when you create a new document.

Rules are particularly useful for users who always address a particular document type to the same person.

Document Types like Incoming Email require a Distribution Rule so that someone is responsible for their distribution.

Creating a Distribution Rule / List

1. Go to Configure.

2. Select Form Types.

3. Select Edit Distribution Rules.

4. Ensure you are on the correct tab for what you want to create i.e. Distribution Rules Tab or Distribution Lists Tab.

5. Select Add New.

6. Fill in the required information.

The Distribution Rule and List pages display users grouped under headers like Company, Role, Group, and Reserved, each sorted A–Z.

Change	What It Means

Change	What It Means
Grouped headers in list view	Users are now listed under grouped headings—Company, Role, Group, and System.
A–Z sorting within each group	Both companies and users under each group are sorted alphabetically for easy scanning.
Special system groups	Reserved category includes fixed selections like Everyone and Private (Info only).
Roles and Groups shown separately	Users assigned to roles or groups are listed under their respective group headers.
Revised "Add Row" interaction	Instead of a fixed row insertion, clicking Add Row now opens a small window to select the user. Once saved, the user appears under the correct group automatically.

When configuring a distribution rule or list, contacts are displayed under structured headers based on their assignment.

"Add Row" action launches a selection modal which ensures the system knows which group the contact belongs to and places them correctly in the list.
Sorting is applied alphabetically within each group, making navigation and updates quicker.

Benefits

Reduces confusion in projects with large or complex contact structures
Easier to manage and review distribution setups
Saves time when assigning or updating user access
Cleaner layout with automatic placement under the correct category

Brief Description of Distribution Rule Elements

Name	Enter the name of distribution rule.
Description	Enter the description of distribution rule.
Owner	Who can edit the distribution rule.
Applicability	Select who this rule applies to. That is, who can see and use this distribution rule.
Show Exclusions	Toggle on Show Exclusions to see or add users / groups / companies etc that are excluded.
Apply to All Doc Types	Toggle on if you want this distribution rule to apply to all documents.
Form Type	Choose the form types this rule will apply to. When creating a Distribution List that you want to apply to documents being distributed in the publication you need to select the TX form in the Form Type. This will enable the Distribution List to appear in the Distribution drop down.
Scope	Select when this rule or list is to be applied. The options are: Creation Replies Creation And Replies Manual 1. The pre-addressing options apply to Document creation only, regardless of whether you select "Document Creation and Replies". This means when someone replies to the document, they may change the addressing options (except if the addressee is "Forced"). 2. Limiting the available names by ticking the "Exclude" checkbox applies to both Document creation and Document replies. This means when someone replies to the document, they will still not see excluded names in the Address Book.
Action	Enter names of people (see below).
Info	Enter names of people (see below).
Exclude	Tick the checkbox "Exclude" to ensure that on Creation and Replies the user is not available in the address book.

When you select a user to either Action or Info on your document, you must tick a checkbox. Options are:

Enumerate - the item is expanded from a single "Group" entry into a list of the individual users in that group. This parameter is ignored if an individual user addressed.

If enumerate is used with [PRIVATE] then the form is distributed as a fully collaborative form. i.e. it is not sent [PRIVATE].

Preferred - the item is listed in a "preferred" section at the top of the address-book.

Selected - addressees are pre-selected.

Forced - addressees are pre-selected and may not be removed.

Silent - addressees will not get an item on their ToDo notifications list OR to their email address. This might be used in CCs to ensure someone has access to documents, but they do not want a ToDo Notification every time those documents are created or edited.

6. Click Save.

For how to use distribution rules click here.

Bypassing the Who Talks To Whom Matrix Using a Distribution Rule

In certain circumstances it is necessary to by-pass the who talks to whom matrix. For instance, you may need a particular subcontractor to communicate directly with a consultant.

To achieve this, Distribution Rules can be created which by-pass the security configuration set for the project. A Project Administrator must create this rule.

To do this follow the steps listed above to create one distribution rule for the "Subcontractor" and one distribution rule for the "Consultant". e.g.

Name	Choose a name for the rule e.g. SUB12CON1.
Title	Type full name e.g. Subcontractor1 to Consultant1
Type	You must choose Rule
Applicability	Choose the company that this rule is for i.e.: Subcontactor1 or Consultant1
Doc Type	Choose the document type this rule applies to or leave ALL
Scope	Choose when it applies i.e. creation & replies
Addressing	In the TO List Enter the Company Code (for the company you need to communicate with) dash star (to include all users in that company) i.e. CONS1-*

Once this process is complete the nominated Subcontractor and Consultant will be able to communicate directly with each other.

Address everyone or a company or role on a Form (Modern Forms)

'Everyone on the project [ALL]' enables users to address everyone on the project or specific companies and roles without needing to enumerate each recipient.

Inline Message Display:

If the user adds the entity, the confirmation message will appear inline with the row, as shown in the mockup, to provide clarity.

These updates ensure that users are fully informed when adding entities to the action, preventing accidental notifications to large groups.

Addressing Options:

Users can address "everyone on the project/all" or select specific companies or roles via a rule or list.

Enumeration of individual recipients is not required.

Form Creation:

When a form is created using these addressing options, only one form will be generated.

Addressing Section Display:

In the addressing section, the name of the company or role applied by the rule will be shown.

Notification:

Users are still notified based on their action notification settings when addressed in this manner.

Edit or Retire Distribution List

You can edit or retire distribution list by :

Going to Configure → Form Types → Edit Distribution Rules → Click 'Retire' or 'Edit'

OR

Go to Project tools → Contact details → Edit distribution rules → Click 'Retire' or 'Edit'

People who have the ability to edit or retire distribution list are :

Company/Project admins,
Author
Non-Admin User who created the distribution list

History Log for a Distribution Rule / List / Workflow

Changes to the distribution rules, lists, and workflows (adding, deleting, editing) are now logged and can be viewed via the history button.

Changes made to individual rules, lists, and workflows can be viewed by clicking on the history button for each of those items.

Report on Distribution Rules, Lists & Groups

A report can be run against Rules, Lists and Groups to report on all the settings within each of those elements

Go to Configure → Form Types → Edit Distribution Rules. And click 'Report' on bottom right corner :

For Rules and Lists, a row per user will be added based on who has been added to Action or Info , along with the settings configured for each of those users.

Here is a sample of that report

The group report shows form types where the group has been used, shown in the "Applied To Doc Type" column. This column will appear among all other columns.

The Applied to Doc Type Column will be Filled Based on the Following Scenarios

1.Mapping user fields.

Go to Form → User Field → Options → Mapped User

2. Status Action - Post Action Criteria

Go to Form → under 'General' tab → expand 'Status' tab → click 'Status List'

3. The group has been used in a Workflow in the Publication within a workflow step

Go to Publication Space → Settings → click 'Workflows' tab → click 'Edit' on a workflow

Display Applicable Distribution Rules on the Distribution Window

Distribution rules application for a DTX will now be shown on the distribution screen directly

As a user...

You will notice those recipients appear with heading "Distribute to these recipients". This ensures you see the auto distribution contacts in the distribution window

History Log for Classic Correspondence Workflows

This is a retired feature.

Changes to Correspondence workflows are now logged and can be viewed via the history button.

1 Creating a Distribution Rule / List
2 Brief Description of Distribution Rule Elements
3 Bypassing the Who Talks To Whom Matrix Using a Distribution Rule
4 Address everyone or a company or role on a Form (Modern Forms)
5 Edit or Retire Distribution List
6 History Log for a Distribution Rule / List / Workflow
7 Report on Distribution Rules, Lists & Groups
- 7.1 The Applied to Doc Type Column will be Filled Based on the Following Scenarios
8 History Log for Classic Correspondence Workflows