Maintain standard-specific document-type metadata, flags and active state, then verify their use in document workflows.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
Open Quality (QMS) → Settings → Document Types. Types are grouped under their enabled standards. Confirm the standard code, name and intended type before making changes.
You need View documents to load the types and Manage documents to save their settings. Use the hierarchy view to understand how the standard's types relate to one another.
Each row identifies the type through its name, level, description, icon and colour, with document and template counts and Required/Allows multiple flags. When the display name has been changed, the stable type name appears in brackets after it. Inspect existing use before changing a widely used type.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types. Find the correct standard and type, then choose its Edit pencil.
Choose the row's Edit action to open Edit Document Type. Review the complete form and scroll to its footer for Cancel and Save.
Field | Purpose and example |
|---|---|
Display Name | The type name people use when finding and classifying documents, such as Work Instruction. |
Description | Explain the type's intended purpose and how it differs from neighbouring types. |
Icon | A Font Awesome class such as |
Color | A six-digit hexadecimal colour such as #0F766E, or a value selected with the colour picker. |
Use a concise, meaningful name and description. Changing the type's metadata updates its identification; it does not rewrite the content of documents already classified with it.
A rename changes only the Display Name. Templates and documents keep matching the type's stable name, which the dialog shows beneath the field and the list shows in brackets after the new name. Verify related documents and templates afterwards.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
Setting | Meaning and review action |
|---|---|
Document is required for compliance | A document of this type is expected. Check that the required document exists and passes its content/review workflow. |
Allow multiple documents of this type | Choose whether the type represents several documents or one document for that purpose. Review current documents before changing this choice. |
Document type is active | Make the type available for active use, or deactivate it when it should be withdrawn from future selection. |
For example, a quality manual can represent one controlled document, while a Work Instruction type can represent many separate instructions. Use the intended structure for the standard and organisation.
Changing Required does not create or approve a document. Changing Allow multiple does not merge or delete existing documents. Review affected documents and the relevant creation workflow when changing an established configuration.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
Choose Save once after reviewing every field. Wait for the outcome, then reload and locate the same type under the same standard.
Check the name, description, icon, colour, required flag, multiple-document choice and active state. Open related document work when the change affects its classification or availability.
Cancel, the close control or the dialog backdrop discards the unsaved edits. If saving fails, the dialog stays open with your input and explains why, for example The change could not be saved. Your input was kept; try again. If someone else changed the type meanwhile, the dialog shows This document type was changed by someone else. Reload it and apply your change again. Choose Reload: the dialog keeps your edits on the refreshed record, so check them and choose Save again.
Coordinate concurrent administration and reload before editing a shared type. A type-setting change and a document revision are separate records; continue to use the document's own review and approval workflow for content changes.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
Use the row's active-state toggle to apply an immediate state change, or change Document type is active within the editor and choose Save. If a toggle change cannot be saved, the reason appears under the type. Check which control you are using so that an unsaved editor choice is not mistaken for a persisted change.
Deactivation hides the type from the document type views and from new document creation; its documents and templates are kept. Review dependent workflows and outstanding work before withdrawing it from active use. Child types and their documents need their own review when the hierarchy changes operationally.
Inactive types are listed by default, marked Inactive; clearing Show inactive types (N) hides them. To restore a type, make sure Show inactive types (N) is selected, locate the same standard and type and switch its toggle on. Reload to confirm the saved state, then check its availability in the intended document workflow. Reuse the retained type rather than creating a second type with the same purpose.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
The documents count identifies the associated document records; the templates count gives the templates offered when a document of this type is created in this standard. Open the actual records to understand their state, scope and suitability.
Counts are useful for impact review. Before renaming or deactivating a type, inspect its documents and templates. Afterwards, confirm the existing relationships are still present. A rename alone does not create or remove those records.
A document count is not a count of approved or compliant content. Review approval state, requirement mappings and the actual content in their relevant workspaces.
Use the hierarchy's parent/child structure to understand the type's position. The row's Level, counted from Level 1 for a root type, helps navigation; the type's identity and standard establish which record you are changing.
Product location: /qms/settings/document-types
Situation | Next step |
|---|---|
A standard's types are unavailable | When The document types of this standard could not be loaded appears, choose Try again; otherwise check the standard's setup. |
A type is missing from the list | Select Show inactive types (N) and confirm its saved state. |
Save fails | Your input is kept in the dialog. Resolve the reported problem and choose Save again; after a change by someone else, choose Reload first. |
A type was renamed | Locate the same record in its standard and check its documents/templates. |
Expected document use is unavailable | Review the type's active state, flags and permissions in the actual document workflow. |
A required type has no suitable document | Create or associate the appropriate controlled document and follow its review/approval process. |
After configuration changes, verify a representative use of the type. Saved settings, document creation and compliance review are separate outcomes.
