Document states and actions

Document states and actions

A document record brings together the title, type, URL identifier, category, audiences, and content that make one piece of documentation available to work on or read. The record shows one of these state labels: Published, Draft, In review, or Outdated. It also identifies the document type as Manual or Generated when those types apply.

Choose an action on an existing record. The editor lets you manage its settings, content, audience view, comments, history, collaboration, and publication. The viewer lets you copy the link, print the document, or open the editor.

Before you choose an action

A document record is ready for an action after it has loaded and you can see its current state and settings. The available controls depend on the record and project conditions below.

These conditions determine which action is available. Check the state badge and visible controls before selecting an action; do not assume that every record has the same action strip.

With these checks in mind, open the record from Documents.

Find and open a document record

The Documents destination is where you start when you need to open an existing document record. From there, open the editor or viewer that matches your work.

Prerequisites

• You have access to the Documents destination.
• You know which saved document you need to open.

Steps

1. Open Documents.

2. Select the document record you need to inspect or change.

3. Choose the reader-facing destination that matches your task.

   If you need to…	Select or open
   Change content or settings	Edit
   Read the document	Open the document viewer
   Copy the viewer address	Copy link
   Print the document	Print

Result: The selected document record or viewer is open, with its state and available actions ready for inspection.

Understand the document record

Read the record's fields before choosing an action so that you change the intended identity, organization, audience targeting, or content.

The settings rail starts open. Use Settings to close or reopen it. When the public conditions are met, the rail also contains the Published area, the read-only Public URL, and controls to copy or open that URL. When audiences are available, use Preview mode to reveal View as.

The viewer shows the document title, type badge, state badge, author, update time, reading time, and the document content. Its right-side table of contents appears when the document has headings.

Result: You can identify the field, panel, state, or audience view that applies before you use an action.

Choose and use a document action

Document actions answer different reader needs: inspect history, change the working view, manage collaboration, publish or unpublish, request a review, or leave the editor.

Prerequisites

• The document record is open.
• The action's condition in Before you choose an action is true.

Steps

1. Choose the action that matches your goal.

   If you need to…	Select
   Review earlier versions	History
   Show or hide document settings	Settings
   Show or hide discussion	Comments
   Enable or leave collaborative editing	Collaborate or Collaborating
   Publish a draft	Publish
   Remove publication from a non-draft document	Unpublish
   Send a published public edit for review	Propose change →
   Return from editing when review does not apply	Done
   Switch the editor to an audience view	Preview mode
   Return from the audience view to editing	Edit mode
   Copy the public URL from settings	Copy URL
   Open the public URL from settings	Open in new tab
   Save the document as a reusable template	Save as Template
   Open additional document settings	Advanced settings
   Copy the current viewer address	Copy link
   Start browser printing	Print
   Open the editor from the viewer	Edit

2. Check the visible status after the action. Editing changes move through Unsaved, Saving..., and ✓ Saved; publication changes use the action's busy or completed label.

3. Follow the outcome from the selected action.

   If…	Do this
   A change request opens	Review the change request on its review page.
   The action is Done	Confirm that the Documents list is open.

Result: The selected safe view or settings action is open, or the document has moved into the publication or change-request path shown by the selected action.

Handle conditional states and branches

The document state and project setup decide which branch you follow. Use the visible state badge, the Published area, and the available action label to select the applicable path.

The settings rail does not provide a separate state selector. Publication controls determine the publication action. The viewer is for reading and navigation; its actions are Copy link, Print, and Edit rather than document editing fields.

Result: You have selected the branch that matches the document's state and project conditions, and the corresponding control or panel is on screen.

When an action does not complete

Use the exact message on screen to identify where the action stopped. Then follow the corrective step in the table.

A service error can replace the fallback messages for save, settings, change-request, publish, or unpublish actions. Use the exact text shown and return to the owning page if the action still does not complete.

Result: You can match the message on screen to the action that stopped and choose the next available corrective step.

What happens next

Continue with the page that owns the next document job:

• Use Create and edit a document for creating a record or editing its content in detail.
• Use Compare document revisions to inspect differences between revisions.
• Use Translate a document to create or manage a translated version.
• Use Published documentation for the reader-facing published route.
• Use Administer documents for administrative document management.
• Use Document access reference for document access guidance.

Result: You know which page owns the next document action.