1 Overview and reading conventions

FileManager brings every document of your Dolibarr together in a single explorer: those of the ECM, those filed on records (proposals, orders, invoices, projects…) and those of your external storage. It does more than file them: it opens, edits, versions, signs, shares them and watches their expiry dates — without leaving Dolibarr.

What you can do with FileManager

Who this manual is for

Reading conventions

The manual describes the interface as it appears in English, version 4.5.470. Labels are quoted exactly as they appear on screen.

Procedures are numbered: follow the steps in order. Boxes point out what deserves attention:

What you see depends on your rights

FileManager applies the Dolibarr rights and its own permissions to every folder and every file. Two people therefore do not necessarily see the same buttons: a missing button usually means that you do not have the corresponding right, or that the administrator has not enabled the feature. Checks are made by the server: hiding a button is never the only protection. If a document is refused to you, you can request access to it (chapter Permissions and access).

Requirements

2 Installation and first start

Installing FileManager takes a few minutes: you upload the archive, enable the module, give the rights to the right groups, then open the explorer. This chapter is for the Dolibarr administrator.

Installing the module

1. Log in to Dolibarr with an administrator account.
2. Open Home › Setup › Modules/Applications, tab Deploy/install external app/module.
3. Choose the module_filemanager-4.5.470.zip archive received with your purchase, then start the upload. Dolibarr unpacks it into htdocs/custom/filemanager.
4. Go back to the list of modules and look for FileManager.
5. Click the activation switch and wait for the operation to finish without reloading the page.

On activation, FileManager creates its tables, rights, menus, scheduled jobs and e-mail templates (installed in every entity). Dolibarr also enables the OAuth module, which FileManager depends on. FileManager replaces the native ECM module of Dolibarr and is declared incompatible with it: disable that module if it was enabled. Documents do not move: FileManager works on the same document folders as Dolibarr.

Giving the rights

FileManager adds its own rights in Users & Groups. Preferably give them to groups rather than to users: create for example ECM readers, ECM contributors and Document administrators, then open the Permissions tab of each group, FileManager section.

First start

FileManager has no password of its own: it uses the Dolibarr account, groups, entity and session. Open the ECM top menu: the explorer opens on the source chosen by the administrator (the ECM by default). The left menu gives access to every feature.

1. New document: create an empty document or one based on a template, anywhere.
2. File Explorer: open the explorer on the ECM (ECM Documents) or on the documents of records (ERP Documents).
3. Validity: the list of documents with a validity date, adding a document and the document types.
4. Access requests: the requests you have received and those you have sent.
5. My shares: the share links you have created.
6. Signatures: create a request, follow the requests sent and received, the external signatures and your signatures.
7. Configuration: shown with the configuration right; opens the configuration of the module (part V).

The entries shown depend on your rights and on the features enabled. If the ECM menu does not appear, see the chapter Troubleshooting.

Checking the installation in five minutes

1. With the administrator account, create a « Test » folder in the ECM and give the ECM contributors group read and write access to this folder (right-click, Manage permissions, see the chapter Permissions and access).
2. With a test account of the ECM contributors group, open ECM › File Explorer, enter « Test » and drag a PDF into it from your computer: it appears with its thumbnail.
3. Click the file: the preview panel shows it on the right.
4. Right-click the file, then Delete: it goes to the trash, from where you can restore it.
5. Log in again with an account that only has read access: the write commands do not appear.

3 The explorer screen

The explorer is the main screen of FileManager. It opens from the ECM top menu, or through ECM › File Explorer. It reads from top to bottom: you choose a source, browse its folders, act on the documents.

1. FileManager left menu (chapter Installation).
2. Source tabs: ERP, ECM, Media and the connected storage (chapter Sources).
3. Toolbar: navigation, + New button, search, sorting and views.
4. Breadcrumb: the path of the folder shown; click an item to go back up to it.
5. File area: folders then files of the current folder, as a grid or a list.
6. Selection action bar: appears when an item is selected.
7. Preview panel: the content and the information of the selected item.
8. Status bar: help, number of items, recent files, favorites, disk space.

The toolbar

When the window is narrow, some commands move automatically into More actions; their shortcuts keep working.

The « More actions » menu

• Image gallery: scrolls through the images of the folder in full screen (chapter Views and preview).
• Preview panel (Ctrl+I): shows or hides the right-hand panel.
• Trash: the deleted items, to restore or to delete permanently (chapter Deleting and trash).
• Contextual help (F1): the built-in help of the screen.
• Hide/show side menu (Ctrl+B): gives the whole width to the explorer.

The selection action bar

As soon as an item is selected, a floating bar appears at the bottom of the file area 6. It shows the name of the item and its most common actions: download, send by email, rename, share, add to favorites, properties, delete, deselect. With several items selected, it offers the grouped actions: Move to..., Copy to..., Download as ZIP, Send by email, Create a ZIP archive, Delete, Deselect (chapter Navigating and selecting).

The status bar

1. Help: an introduction to the features of the screen.
2. Number of items of the folder, and number of items selected.
3. Recent: the last files you opened.
4. Favorites: your pinned files and folders.
5. Disk space: space used by the documents and capacity of the disk.

Depending on your situation, the status bar also shows a Missing (n) button (required documents absent from the folders you can open, chapter Searching) and access to pending access requests.

The context menu

Right-clicking a file or a folder opens its context menu. It only offers the actions possible for this item, with your rights: a PDF offers the PDF editor and the PDF tools, an image the image editor, an Office document editing with Collabora, a folder customization and linking to a Dolibarr object. The menus are detailed in the chapter Organizing.

4 Document sources

The tabs at the top of the explorer are the sources: each one is a different storage space, with its own rules. Clicking a tab shows the root of the source.

The administrator chooses the visible sources, their order and the one that opens by default (Configuration › Sources & storage, chapter Sources and storage).

ERP: the documents of Dolibarr records

1. The ERP tab.
2. The padlock badge: the source is read-only; the + New button does not appear.
3. ERP quick access: a click opens a type of object directly (Customer invoices, Commercial proposals, Sales Orders, Shipments…). The arrow on the right scrolls the list; the chevron on the left folds it.
4. The folders per type of object. Each contains one folder per object, named after its reference (for example FA2610-0042), which holds its documents.

When you hover over an object folder, a tooltip sums up the object: reference, amount, status and third party. The small icon at the top right of the folder opens the Dolibarr record of the object.

You only see the objects Dolibarr allows you to view: a sales representative limited to their customers only sees their documents.

Adding a document to a record

The ERP source can be browsed but not written from the explorer. To attach a document to a proposal or an invoice, use the record of the object: the Dolibarr Linked files tab, or the FileManager Linked files panel on the record (chapter The document tray on an object record). An ECM folder can also be linked to an object so that its documents are filed there (chapter The documents of a Dolibarr record).

ECM: the document space of the company

The ECM is the space you organize freely: folders per department, per customer, per site… This is where folders, documents and folder trees are created. Every folder and every file can carry its own permissions (chapter Permissions and access). Deleted items go through the trash.

A small padlock on the tile of a folder or a file indicates restricted access: it is not open to everyone. If you have the right to manage permissions, clicking the padlock opens them.

Media: the media library

The Media source is the Dolibarr media library. Its files are used by the pages of the Website module, by document templates and by communications (images inserted in an e-mail, for example).

Connected storages

Every cloud connection created by the administrator appears as an extra tab, with the label the administrator gave it (for example « Agency Nextcloud »). You browse it like the ECM: create, upload, rename, move, share… The Dolibarr rights and the FileManager permissions apply on top of the rights of the remote account.

Not every provider offers the same features: some operations may be missing depending on the service (the configuration gives the details, chapter Sources and storage). A connection declared read-only shows the padlock and hides the write commands.

5 Views, preview and document status

Grid or list, preview panel, full screen, gallery: FileManager shows the content of a document without downloading it. The small badges on the tiles sum up its status: shared, versioned, out for signature, close to its expiry date…

Grid or list

The two buttons on the right of the toolbar switch between the Grid view (tiles and thumbnails, ideal for images and PDFs) and the List view (one row per item, for large folders). Your choice is kept from one session to the next. In both views, folders are always shown before files.

1. Name: the arrow shows the sort column and its direction.
2. Type: the file extension, or « Folder ».
3. Size.
4. Modification date.
5. Actions: they appear when you hover over the row.

Clicking a header sorts the list by that column; a second click reverses the order. Folders and files form two groups that can be folded (« Files 4 » on the screenshot): the chevron on the right of the group folds it. In list view, the List density button of the toolbar chooses the spacing of the rows: Compact, Normal or Comfortable.

When you hover over a row, a thumbnail of the document appears, with the quick actions on the right: Download (arrow) and Rename (pencil), the latter if you have write access. The checkbox on the left of the name adds the row to the selection.

Sorting

The Sort button offers four orders: Name (A to Z), Date (newest first), Size (largest first) and Type (by extension). The active order is highlighted and marked with an arrow. It is remembered for your next visits.

The preview panel

Clicking a file shows it in the right-hand panel. The panel opens and closes through More actions › Preview panel or with Ctrl+I; drag its left border to widen it.

On the left screenshot:

1. The name of the file.
2. Full screen: opens the document over the whole window.
3. Close the panel.
4. The viewer: for a PDF, page numbering (current page / number of pages) and scrolling.
5. The information: name, size, modification date, status, owner, path, linked Dolibarr object if any.
6. Download the file.
7. Favorite: adds it to your favorites (or removes it).

On the right screenshot:

1. Status: the badges of the document (see below); each one can be clicked.
2. Effective access: what you can do with this document — read, write, delete, share, sign, manage permissions. A green tick means allowed, a grey cross refused.
3. Access origin: where this access comes from (administrator, permission of the folder, inheritance, share…). Useful to understand why an action is possible or not.
4. Versions: the number of versions; a click opens the history (chapter Versions).

What the preview can show

The preview shows in the browser PDFs, images, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OpenDocument documents (laid out, with their sheets and slides), the older .doc and .ppt formats (converted on the fly), video and audio, text and code (with highlighting), Markdown and HTML pages. The details, format by format, are in the chapter Office documents: preview and online editing. For other formats, the panel shows the information of the file and the Download button.

A double-click on a file opens it in full screen (or, for a folder, enters it). In full screen, the buttons at the top right let you print, download, collapse and close; Esc closes it.

The image gallery

1. The name of the image shown.
2. Its position in the folder (here 1 / 1).
3. Download the image.
4. Print the image.
5. Close the gallery (or Esc).
6. Previous image / Next image (or the arrow keys).
7. The strip of thumbnails: a click shows the image.

Status badges

Badges appear on the tile (grid view), next to the name (list view) and in the Status line of the preview panel. Their tooltip gives the details; several of them can be clicked.

6 Navigating and selecting

You move around FileManager as in the file explorer of your computer: double-click to enter a folder, breadcrumb to go back up, click to select. The keyboard lets you do everything without a mouse.

Moving around

• Enter a folder: double-click its tile (or Enter when it is selected).
• Go up: clicking an item of the breadcrumb brings you back to that level; the Parent folder button or the Backspace key goes up one level.
• Go back: the Back button opens the folder shown before again.
• Refresh: the button or F5 reads the folder again — useful if a colleague has just put a document in it.
• Change source: click a tab (ERP, ECM, Media…) at the top of the explorer.

Selecting

The selection action bar

1. Download the file.
2. Send by email (chapter Sending by email).
3. Rename.
4. Share: create a share link (chapter Sharing).
5. Add to favorites / Remove from favorites.
6. Create a ZIP archive containing the item.
7. Delete: sends it to the trash.
8. Deselect.

For a folder, the bar also offers Customize (color and icon); for a ZIP archive, Extract; in search results, Go to parent folder. The actions shown depend on your rights: with read-only access, only viewing, downloading, email and favorites remain.

With several items selected, the bar shows how many and the grouped actions:

Drag and drop

• From your computer: drag files onto the file area; the area changes color and the upload starts (chapter Creating and importing).
• Inside the explorer: drag one or more selected items onto a folder to move them into it.

Cut, copy, paste

Ctrl+C (copy) or Ctrl+X (cut) on the selection, then, in the destination folder, Ctrl+V (paste). The context menu also offers Copy to... and Move to..., which open a folder picker (chapter Organizing).

Favorites and recent files

Favorites: pin a file or a folder with the star (action bar, preview panel or context menu Add to favorites). The My Favorites window, opened from the status bar, lists them with their path and their source:

1. Search...: filters the list.
2. The Name, Path, Section (the source) and Actions columns.
3. Clicking a row opens the item in the explorer.
4. The trash can removes the item from the favorites (the file itself is not touched).
5. Close.

Recent: the Recent files window of the status bar lists the last files you opened, newest first, with the same filter and the same columns; a click opens the file again. Clear history 4 empties the list. Favorites and recent files are personal.

The administrator can disable favorites or recent files (Configuration › Explorer).

7 Creating and importing

Everything that adds an item to the current folder starts from the + New button: uploading files, creating a folder, an Office document or a shortcut, importing from a web address or from another source. The button only appears if you can write in the folder.

The menu has two parts:

Create

1. Upload files (Ctrl+U): from your computer.
2. New folder (Shift+F).
3. New document (Shift+D): a blank Office document or one based on a template.
4. Create shortcut: to a web address, a file or a folder.

Import

5. Import from URL: downloads a public file straight into the folder.
6. Import external files/folders: copies items from another source (ERP, another ECM folder, connected storage).

Uploading files from your computer

1. Open the destination folder.
2. Click + New then Upload files (or Ctrl+U), and choose one or more files.
3. A progress bar follows each file; do not close the page before the end.

Quicker: drag the files from the file explorer of your computer onto the file area. It changes color, and the upload starts as soon as you release them. Files are uploaded one after the other.

Creating a folder

1. Click + New then New folder (or Shift+F).
2. Type the Folder name 1. Accents, spaces and other alphabets are accepted; the characters reserved by file systems (/ \ : * ? " < > |) are replaced by an underscore.
3. Click + Create 3, or Cancel 2.

The new folder inherits the permissions of its parent folder (chapter Permissions and access).

Creating a document

The New document window creates a blank Office file or one based on a template of the library. It opens through + New › New document, with Shift+D, or through New document in the left menu.

1. Search a template by name, description or format.
2. Filters: all, text, spreadsheet, presentation, templates with variables.
3. Templates shown as tiles or as a list.
4. Blank document: Word, Excel, PowerPoint (Microsoft formats) or Writer, Calc, Impress (OpenDocument formats).
5. Templates: the template library of your company.
6. The preview of the current choice and its description.
7. Document name; the extension is added automatically.
8. Destination: the folder where the document will be created; Change opens a folder picker.
9. Open in editor after creation: opens the document in the Office editor (if Office editing is configured).
10. The summary: final name and destination folder.
11. Cancel.
12. + Create.

From a template with variables

A template marked Variables contains fields to fill in (customer name, address, amount…). Once you have chosen it 1 (its preview appears 2), two modes are offered:

• Fill with the assistant 3: the variables are prefilled from a Dolibarr record (third party, contact, proposal…) that you choose; you complete the other fields in a form, then the document is produced. The button becomes Continue with the assistant 6.
• Raw template 4: a plain copy of the template, to complete by hand.

The summary 5 recalls what is going to be created. The mail-merge assistant is described in the chapter Mail merge: the step-by-step assistant, designing templates in the chapter Writing a mail-merge template.

Creating a shortcut

A shortcut is an item of the folder that points somewhere else: it avoids duplicating a file or hunting for a link.

1. Shortcut type: Web link, File or Virtual folder.
2. Name shown in the folder.
3. URL (web link) or the target chosen in a picker (file, folder).
4. Open mode: Open in this tab or Open in a new tab.
5. Cancel.
6. Create.

A shortcut carries a badge (link, open folder or outgoing arrow). If its target is deleted, a struck-through link badge points it out. Deleting a shortcut never deletes its target.

Importing from a URL

1. Import from URL: the address of the file (http or https). Local, private or reserved addresses are blocked.
2. File name: suggested from the address, can be changed.
3. Replace the existing file if the same name already exists: otherwise, a new name is chosen.
4. Download authentication: None, Username / password, Bearer token or Custom header, for a protected file.
5. Cancel.
6. Import.

Importing files or folders from another source

1. Sources: ERP documents, ECM space, connected storages.
2. Navigation: back, forward, parent folder, refresh.
3. The path of the folder browsed; a click goes back up.
4. Click the files or folders to import: a tick marks them.
5. The number of items selected.
6. Cancel.
7. Select: copies the items into the current folder. The originals stay where they are.

A notification gives the number of items imported and, if any, those that failed (rights, invalid name…).

8 Organizing documents

Renaming, moving, copying, duplicating, archiving, customizing a folder: everything goes through the context menu (right-click) or the selection action bar. The actions offered depend on the type of item and on your rights.

The context menu of a file

1. Preview: opens the document in full screen.
2. The tools specific to the type: for a PDF, Edit PDF, PDF tools (submenu) and Signatures (greyed out if signing is not available); for an image, the image editor; for an Office document, Edit with Collabora and Convert to PDF.
3. Filing: Move to..., Copy to..., Duplicate, Create a ZIP archive.
4. Rename and Delete.
5. Distribution: Download, Share document, Send by email, Copy link.
6. Add to favorites and Properties.
7. Management: Manage permissions, Add to validity documents, File versions.

The context menu of a folder

A folder offers Open, the same filing actions, Rename, Delete, Copy link, Add to favorites, Properties, Manage permissions and, with the configuration right, Link to an object... (chapter The documents of a Dolibarr record).

Renaming

1. Right-click the item, Rename (or F2).
2. The name is preselected without its extension 1: type the new name straight away.
3. Click Rename 3 or Cancel 2.

Permissions, versions, shares, favorites and links to records follow the renamed item.

Moving or copying to another folder

1. The item (or the number of items) concerned.
2. Destination source: you can move or copy to another source (from the ECM to a connected storage, for example).
3. The path browsed; a click goes back up.
4. The subfolders: a click enters the folder.
5. Cancel.
6. Move here (or Copy here): into the folder shown.

The window opens through Move to... or Copy to... (context menu or action bar of a multiple selection). Drag and drop onto a folder and Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V also move items.

Duplicating

Duplicate creates a copy of the item in the same folder, under a different name. It is the quickest way to start from an existing document.

ZIP archives

• Create a ZIP archive: on an item or a selection; FileManager suggests an archive name, which you can change, then creates the .zip file in the current folder.
• Extract: on an archive (zip, tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2, gz, bz2), extracts its content into a new subfolder of the current folder. Archives that are too large or contain too many items are refused for security reasons.
• Download as ZIP (multiple selection): downloads an archive to your computer without creating it in the folder.

Copying the link

Copy link puts the address of the item in the explorer on the clipboard: for a folder, the folder; for a file, its folder with the file highlighted. Paste it into a message to a colleague: they will open the item if they have access to it. To give a document to someone outside the company, use a share link instead (chapter Sharing).

Properties of a folder

Selecting a folder (or Properties in its menu) shows its summary in the preview panel:

1. The number of files and subfolders, the total size and the date of the last change.
2. The types of files present and how many of each.
3. The name and the path.
4. Open the folder.
5. Customize its color and icon.

Customizing a folder

A color and an icon make important folders easy to spot.

1. Color: twelve shades.
2. Icon: twenty-four pictograms (archives, building, photo, accounting, mail, security, team…).
3. The preview of the result.
4. Global customization: visible to every user; reserved to administrators. Otherwise, the customization is only visible to you.
5. Reset: goes back to the default look.
6. Cancel.
7. Save.

9 Deleting and restoring: the trash

Deleting a document in FileManager does not destroy it straight away: it goes to the trash, from where it can be restored during the retention period (30 days by default).

Deleting

1. Select one or more items, then Delete (context menu, action bar, or the Delete key).
2. Check the name recalled in the window 1.
3. Click Move to trash 3, or Cancel 2.

Deleting a folder sends its whole content to the trash. The versions of a file follow it into the trash and come back with it if it is restored.

Opening the trash

More actions › Trash opens the trash of the source shown.

1. Search in trash...
2. The retention period applied.
3. Expires on: the date of permanent deletion and the number of days left. The badge turns orange then red as the date gets closer.
4. Restore: puts the item back where it was.
5. Delete permanently: deletes the item for good, after confirmation.
6. Empty the trash: permanently deletes every item, after confirmation.
7. Close.

The columns also give the original path, the size, the deletion date and the person who deleted the item.

Who sees what in the trash

• Everyone sees what they deleted themselves.
• A manager also sees what the people they manage (their team in Dolibarr) deleted, for the items they shared with others: a common document deleted by mistake can thus be recovered without the administrator.
• An administrator sees everything.

On a very large installation, the window shows the most recently deleted items; older ones stay in the trash until they expire.

Restoring

1. Open the trash and find the item (the search field filters the list).
2. Click the Restore button of its row.
3. The item comes back to its original folder, with its versions. If the folder no longer exists, it is created again.

Permanent deletion

A file with a protected version (« Mark as important », chapter Document versions) cannot be permanently deleted: « This item has protected versions: it cannot be permanently deleted. Remove their protection first. » The same goes for a folder containing such a file. Empty the trash deletes everything else and says what it kept (« 1 item(s) kept: protected versions. »); the automatic clean-up does the same.

A scheduled job deletes every day the items whose retention period is over, and can warn the administrator by email (address set in Configuration › Notifications).

A file deleted from a connected storage (Nextcloud, Google Drive…) also goes through the FileManager trash: a copy is kept there, and restoring it sends it back to the original storage.

The administrator can disable the trash (Configuration › Explorer): deletion then becomes immediate and permanent, after confirmation.

10 Searching and finding

The Search... field of the toolbar does two things: it filters the folder shown instantly while you type, and starts a real search when you press Enter. Its options add filters that find documents without any keyword: every invoice of a customer, every document out for signature…

Filtering the folder shown

From the first letter typed, the folder only shows the items whose name contains the text. Nothing is sent to the server: it is instant. A banner above the results says so and offers to start the full search. Esc or the cross of the field clears the filter.

Searching by keyword

Enter starts the search in file names — and in their content if the option is ticked — according to the options chosen. The results are grouped by source; each group stops at the first 50 results and says so. A slow connected storage is interrupted after a few seconds: the group then shows « partial results » and a See all results link.

Options and filters

1. Fuzzy search: tolerates missing letters and small typing mistakes (see the recipes at the end of the chapter).
2. Search in content: also searches the text inside the documents (see below).
3. Include subfolders: extends the search below the folder shown.
4. Unified sources: searches the ECM, the ERP documents and the connected storages at once.
5. Record: a third party, a project, an order, a product…; the documents that belong to it and, with Include linked records, those of the records Dolibarr links to it.
6. Document type: a kind of Dolibarr document (customer invoices, proposals…) or a standard folder of the ECM.
7. Date: File date or Document date, between two days.
8. Document state: Shared, Signature workflow, Validity alert, Being edited, Favorites, Versioned, Read only, Restricted access.
9. File type: folders, PDF, Office documents, images, audio, video, archives, text.
10. Reset: clears every filter.
11. Apply: starts the search (like Enter).

Finding without a keyword: the filters

Filters are enough: a keyword is not needed. Choose them, then click Apply. A keyword typed as well narrows the result.

Filters combine: a customer in Record, Customer invoices in Document type and a period in Document date give the invoices of that customer over the period. Without a record or a document type, the filters browse the folder shown (and its subfolders if the option is ticked), or every source if Unified sources is ticked.

Example: every document of a customer

1. Open the search options.
2. In Record, leave Third party and type the beginning of the customer's name.
3. Pick the customer in the list.
4. Click Apply.

Reading the results

1. The breadcrumb shows that you are looking at a search result, and how many documents it holds.
2. The red cross leaves the search and shows the folder again.
3. Every active filter is a chip: its cross removes it.
4. The number of documents found.
5. Reset: clears every filter.
6. The source of each document (ERP, ECM, connected storage).
7. Its path; the Go to parent folder action opens its folder.

Results are sorted from newest to oldest by the date chosen and arrive in pages of 100.

Searching the content of documents

When ticked, the Search in content option finds a document by a sentence it contains. Text files (txt, csv, md, json, xml, html, code) are read directly. PDFs and Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument) are searched in an index: their text is extracted once, in advance, by a scheduled job.

• The search finds the documents that contain all the words typed, ignoring accents and capital letters.
• An excerpt of the passage found appears below the name of the document.
• If files in the scope are not indexed yet, the results bar says so (« … file(s) here not indexed yet: their content was not searched »).
• If the administrator has not enabled indexing, only the content of text files is searched, and this is pointed out.

When can a document be found?

From the Dolibarr search

The Search field at the top of the Dolibarr left menu offers, below third parties, invoices and other records, the Files (ECM) entry. Type the word, pick this entry: the explorer opens with the search already started on that word.

Opening in the ECM from a record

On the Dolibarr records (third party, project, order, invoice, product, ticket, manufacturing order…), the Open in the ECM button opens the explorer directly on the documents of the record and of its linked records: the Record filter is already applied.

Missing documents

When the administrator has defined expected documents in the folder tree templates (for example « Company registration » and « Insurance certificate » for every supplier), FileManager spots those that are missing. The status bar then shows a Missing (n) button: it opens the list of the missing documents of the records you can open.

The Record or document... field filters the list, and Expected document limits it to one type of document. The Upload button opens the expected folder so you can upload the document there: once uploaded, it no longer counts as missing. When a search is about a record, its missing documents appear above the results.

Search recipes

11 Downloading and sending by email

A document is downloaded in one click, alone or with others in a ZIP archive. To send it to someone, Send by email prepares a Dolibarr email with the files already attached: no need to download them and attach them again by hand.

Downloading a file

Several paths lead to the same download:

• the context menu of the file (right-click), Download entry;
• the action bar that appears when a file is selected;
• the Download button of the preview panel and of the full-screen preview;
• in list view, the arrow that appears when you hover over the row.

The file lands in the download folder of your browser, under its name. A few special cases:

• a file encrypted by FileManager is downloaded decrypted, under its real name, if you have the right to open it (chapter Security and access);
• a file of a connected storage (Nextcloud, S3, network share…) is read on the fly from that storage;
• if the administrator has enabled the log of reads, the download is written to the history (chapter Maintenance).

Downloading several files or a folder (ZIP)

1. Select the files and folders you want (Ctrl + click, or checkboxes in list view), or a single folder.
2. Choose Download as ZIP in the action bar or the context menu.
3. FileManager prepares the archive: folders keep their tree inside it. Only the files you are allowed to download go into it; if none is, the message « No files to download » appears.

Sending by email

1. Select one or more files, up to 100, in the explorer, in search results, in the tray of a record or in the table of its documents.
2. Choose Send by email in the context menu or the action bar.
3. FileManager checks every item:
   • folders and shortcuts are not sent: they are left out, and a message says so (« 2 item(s) left out: folders and shortcuts cannot be sent »); to send a folder, download it as a ZIP or share it;
   • you must have the right to download every file;
   • the total size must not exceed the ceiling set by the administrator (20 MB by default, the usual limit of mail servers). Above it, sending is refused before the message even opens: remove some files, or send a share link (see below).
4. The Dolibarr email form opens with the files already attached. Complete it, then click Send email.

1. File(s) to send.
2. Total size and the ceiling allowed.
3. From: the sender, chosen among the addresses allowed by Dolibarr (yours, the company's…).
4. To: one or more recipients, separated by commas.
5. Copy to.
6. Subject, suggested from the name of the file: change it freely.
7. Attached files: the magnifying glass previews, the trash can removes a file; Attach this file adds a file from your computer.
8. Back: returns to the explorer without sending.

1. Message: rich text editor (formatting, links, images, tables). The email template chosen by the administrator prefills the text; your Dolibarr signature is added when sending.
2. Send email.
3. Cancel.

What the recipient receives

• Every file is attached under its name; two files with the same name coming from different folders are renamed (« Quote.pdf », « Quote (2).pdf ») so that they do not overwrite each other.
• An encrypted file is attached decrypted, under its real name: the recipient needs no special tool.
• A file of a connected storage is first copied to the Dolibarr server to be attached; this temporary copy is erased after sending, and after 48 hours at the latest. A Google document is attached in Office format.

From a Dolibarr record

From the tray or the table of documents of a record, the form opens in a separate window so that you do not leave the record. If the CommunicationHub module is installed, its compose window opens instead, with the same files attached.

12 The PDF editor

The PDF editor works on a PDF directly in the browser: annotate, add text and images, sign, hide information, rearrange pages, merge, compress, protect. It opens in a new window; the explorer stays open behind it.

Opening a PDF in the editor

1. Right-click a PDF, then Edit PDF.
2. The editor opens in a new browser window, on the first page. If nothing opens, allow pop-up windows for the Dolibarr address.

Word and Excel documents and images can also be opened in it: they are first converted to PDF (converting Office documents requires Stirling PDF, configured by the administrator).

A document can only be changed by one person at a time. If it is already open in an editor (by a colleague, or by you in another window), the editor says so: close the other editor or wait for its session to expire. While it is being edited, the « Being edited by another user » badge appears on the document for the others.

The editor screen

1. The toolbar: selection, text, signature, shapes, highlighter, redaction…
2. The tabs: one per open document; + opens another one (to merge, or to move pages from one to the other).
3. Show/Hide pages, Undo, Redo, previous / next page and page number.
4. Zoom, Fit to page, Display mode, Advanced tools, Rotation, Extract, Rearrange.
5. Save (Ctrl+S). On its left: Presentation (F5), Properties, Download to computer, Print (Ctrl+P); on its right, Contextual help (F1).
6. The pages as thumbnails: a click goes to the page.
7. The page shown: this is where you draw, write and place items.
8. Properties: the settings of the selected item (position, size, colors, font…).
9. The status bar: active tool, number of objects added, state of the document.

The tools

Working on pages

The Pages panel shows the thumbnails. Select one or more pages (Ctrl+click) to rotate, delete, copy or extract them into a new document. Rearrange shows every page so you can put them back in order by drag and drop. With several documents open in tabs, a page can be dragged from one document to another.

Filling in a PDF form

Many PDFs you receive are forms: account opening form, approval request, administrative declaration, service report. Their areas to fill in are real fields (these are called « AcroForm » forms). The editor recognizes them when the document opens: a message says « Form detected: 8 fields » and the Form mode button appears in the left toolbar, with the number of fields in its tooltip.

1. The Form mode button (or the F key) opens the filling assistant. It only appears if the document contains fields.
2. The Fill in the form panel lists every field of the document, in order, each with the input suited to its type and the type written below it (Text, Multiline text, Date, Drop-down list…). The label is the alternate name that the author of the form gave to the field (its tooltip, set in the properties of the field): « Contract start date ». A field without an alternate name shows its technical name made readable: « Company_name » becomes « Company name », « AcceptTerms » becomes « Accept Terms ».
3. The fields are also placed on the page, exactly where they belong: you can type in the panel or directly on the document, both stay in step.
4. A field recognized as a date (its name contains « date », « day », « month », « end », « birth »…) gets a calendar, prefilled with the date already written in the PDF. The date chosen is written in the format of your language, with two-digit day and month (11/02/2026 in US English). If the field contains text that is not a date (« to be decided »), it stays a text field: nothing is erased.
5. Drop-down lists and radio buttons offer the choices planned by the author of the form.
6. The check boxes.
7. A signature field (name containing « signature », « initials », or a large rectangular area) shows Click to sign: the signature window opens; draw your signature, import its image or type your name, and it is placed to scale in the frame.
8. An image field (name containing « logo », « photo », « seal », « stamp »…) shows Click to add an image: choose the image in the ECM (the logo, the scan of the company seal); it is fitted to the frame.
9. Apply and save writes the values into the fields of the PDF and saves the document straight away (a version of the previous state is kept when versions are enabled). Close (or the cross of the header) closes the panel without writing anything. While the panel is open, the page narrows so that every button of the toolbar stays visible.

The saved document is still a form: its fields keep their values and can still be changed, by you or by the person you send it to, in any PDF reader. Signatures and images, however, are embedded in the page.

To freeze a form for good before sending it (nobody can change a value any more), use Advanced tools › Flatten on a copy (chapter PDF tools).

A scan is not a form

A form that was scanned, or printed then scanned, has no fields: the Form mode button does not appear. Fill it in with the Text tool (T) and sign with the Signature tool (S).

Advanced tools

The Advanced tools button (magic wand) gathers the watermark, the stamp, the document properties (metadata), flattening, merging and splitting, compression, OCR, repair, password, permissions and signing with a certificate. They are described one by one in the chapter PDF tools.

Saving

Save (Ctrl+S) replaces the file where it is. If versions are enabled, FileManager first keeps the previous state as a version (« Automatic version before editor overwrite »): you can go back (chapter Versions). A document produced by a merge or a split asks you for a folder and a name.

Download to computer gets the changed document without touching the FileManager file. Closing the window without saving discards the changes; the browser asks for confirmation if there are any left.

PDF tools from the explorer

Without opening the editor, the PDF tools submenu of the context menu compresses, repairs, splits or merges PDFs, and Convert to PDF turns an Office document or an image into a PDF: see the chapter PDF tools.

13 PDF tools

Compressing a scan that is too heavy, repairing a PDF that no longer opens, assembling the quote, the purchase order and the invoice into a single file, making a scan searchable, adding a watermark or a « PAID » stamp, protecting a document with a password, signing it with a certificate: FileManager does all this without any software installed on the computer. This chapter describes each tool, where to find it and what it produces.

Two ways to reach them

The tools that change a file require write access to that file; a read-only user does not see them.

The engines: Stirling PDF and Ghostscript

Heavy processing is handed over to an engine installed on the server, chosen by the administrator (Configuration › Office & PDF, chapter Office & PDF):

• Stirling PDF, a complete PDF service. When it is configured and reachable, it is used first.
• Ghostscript, a program present on most Linux servers, used as a fallback when Stirling PDF is not available.

With no engine at all, the tools of the context menu answer « No PDF engine is available »: contact the administrator.

Compressing a PDF

1. Right-click the PDF, PDF tools › Compress PDF.
2. Confirm: « Do you want to compress file …? The original file will be replaced. »
3. A message gives the saving obtained, for example « PDF compressed successfully (62% saved) ».

Compression resamples the images of the document to a resolution suited to the screen and to office printing (medium level). It works wonders on scans and on PDFs full of photos; on a PDF made of text, the saving is small.

Repairing a PDF

PDF tools › Repair PDF rebuilds the structure of a damaged PDF: interrupted download, file produced by an old scanner, PDF that the preview refuses to show. The repaired file replaces the original. If the repair fails, the file is too damaged: ask whoever sent it for a new copy.

Splitting a PDF

PDF tools › Split PDF creates one file per page, next to the original, which stays intact. The files are numbered after the original name: statement_part1.pdf, statement_part2.pdf… (statement_page1.pdf… when Ghostscript does the processing). To keep only some pages, or cut into several blocks, use the editor instead (Splitting in the editor).

Merging PDFs

Merging assembles several PDFs into one, in the order you choose. From the tray of a record, it also offers the PDFs of the linked records: it is the quickest way to put together the complete file of a deal (signed quote, purchase order, delivery note, invoice).

1. The PDFs of the current record (Current Object badge). The file you right-clicked is already ticked and carries the number 1.
2. The PDFs of a linked record, grouped by record; click the header to unfold the group. Every file ticked gets the next number: the order of the numbers is the order of the pages in the merged PDF. Unticking a file renumbers the others.
3. Save to object: the record that will receive the merged PDF, the current record or one of the linked records.
4. Output file name (« merged.pdf » by default); the .pdf extension is added if you forget it.
5. Prefix with object reference: the name starts with the reference of the destination record, for example PR-DEMO-FM-001_complete-file.pdf.
6. Compress PDF after merging: reduces the size of the result (useful before sending by email). Your choice is remembered for the next time.
7. Merge files creates the file; Cancel closes the window without creating anything.

• At least two PDFs must be ticked.
• The original files are not changed.
• If a file already has the chosen name, the new one gets a suffix: complete-file_1.pdf.
• In the explorer, the window lists the PDFs of the folder: the files selected before the right-click come first, in the order of your selection, and the merged PDF is created in the current folder.

Converting to PDF

On a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, RTF, text or HTML document, or on an image, Convert to PDF produces its PDF version (Stirling PDF required):

• in the explorer, the PDF is created next to the document, under the same name with the .pdf extension, and selected; the original document stays intact. If a PDF with that name already exists, the conversion stops (« A PDF file with this name already exists »): rename one of the two;
• from the tray or a record, the converted PDF opens in the PDF editor; Save then asks you for the folder and the name of the PDF, without touching the original document.

The advanced tools of the editor

In the PDF editor, the Advanced tools button (magic wand) opens a menu in columns:

• Editing: Watermark, Stamp, Metadata, Flatten.
• Multi-PDF: Merge, Split.
• Signature: Request a signature (chapter Signatures).
• Processing: Compress, OCR, Repair.
• Security: Password, Permissions, Sign (P12).

The Processing and Security columns only appear if Stirling PDF is configured. Everything these tools do stays in the editor until Save; closing the editor without saving discards the result.

Watermark

A watermark is a text or an image laid transparently over the pages: « CONFIDENTIAL », « COPY », the company logo.

Setting	Effect
Watermark type	Text or Image (a file from your computer).
Text, Size, Rotation, Color	For a text: size 12 to 200 (48 by default), rotation from −180° to 180° (−45° by default, a rising diagonal), color (light grey by default).
Opacity %	From 5 to 100% (30% by default): the lower it is, the more readable the text of the document stays.
Position	Center, Repeat (tiled) over the whole page, or one of the four corners.
Apply to	All pages, the current page, the first page, odd or even pages.

Apply places the watermark; then save the document.

Stamp

The stamp imitates an inked, slanted rubber stamp in a frame: ✓ APPROVED, ✗ REJECTED, DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, ORIGINAL, PAID, RECEIVED, or a custom text.

1. Advanced tools › Stamp opens the Add stamp window.
2. Choose the Stamp type, its Color (red by default), its Size (80 by default) and whether to Include the date of the day.
3. Add places it on the page shown: drag it into place with the Selection tool, then save.

Metadata

The document properties, or metadata, are the hidden information of the file, shown by the properties of the PDF and by search engines: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (« FileManager Dolibarr » by default). The window also shows the date of the last change. Check them before publishing a document outside the company: an old title or the name of a colleague is often left in them.

Flatten

Flatten merges into the page, for good, everything that was added (texts, shapes, redactions, stamps, filled-in fields). Each page is redrawn as an image: nobody can move an item any more or read what a redaction covers. On the other hand, the text of the page can no longer be selected or searched, and the file gets bigger. Flatten a copy meant for the outside, not your working document; if needed, make it searchable afterwards with OCR.

Merging in the editor

Merging in the editor assembles the document shown with:

• the other documents open in tabs in the editor (tick them);
• External files, chosen on your computer.

Position places the added pages after or before the current document. Tick Create in a new tab to get the result in a separate tab, without touching the current document; you will be asked for a folder and a name when saving.

Splitting in the editor

Split mode	Result
Extract pages	A PDF made of the pages given: 1,3-5.
By page range	A PDF from page From page to page To page.
Each page separately	One PDF per page.

With Open in a new tab ticked, the result opens in the editor, ready to be saved in the ECM; unticked, it is downloaded straight to your computer. The original document is not changed.

Working on pages

The Pages panel also copies pages from one document to another: select the thumbnails, Ctrl+C, switch to the tab of the other document, select a page then Ctrl+V (pasted after) or Ctrl+Shift+V (pasted before).

Compress, OCR, Repair

• Compress and Repair do the same work as in the context menu, but on the document shown: nothing is written until you save.
• OCR (optical character recognition) reads the text of scanned pages and adds it, invisible, under the image: the text becomes selectable, can be copied and is found by the search in content (chapter Searching and finding). Choose the language of the document: French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic, or the mixes French + English and French + Arabic. The right language clearly improves the recognition of accents.

Password

Password encrypts the PDF (AES-256): the password will be needed to open it. Type it twice, then Protect. Send the password through another channel than the document (by phone rather than in the same email).

Permissions

Permissions restricts what can be done with the PDF once open: Allow printing, Allow text copying, Allow modifications, Allow annotations. An Owner password is mandatory: it protects these settings. The document still opens without a password; PDF readers respect these restrictions, but they are not an absolute protection.

Sign (P12)

Sign (P12) applies a digital signature with a certificate: the signature is tied to the exact content of the file, and any later change makes it invalid in a PDF reader.

• My certificates tab: the certificates saved in your user record; choose one and type its password. Without a certificate, the Manage my certificates link opens the Signatures tab of your record (chapter Signatures).
• Upload a file tab: a .p12 or .pfx certificate chosen on your computer, with its password, for this signature only.
• Reason for signing (« document approval ») and Location (« Paris, France ») are written into the signature.

Sign last: after signing, do not add anything else to the document. The editor saves a signed PDF exactly as it is, byte for byte, so as not to break the signature.

Recipes

The complete file of a deal in one PDF

1. Open the tray on the invoice (or the quote) of the deal. The PDFs of the linked records (proposal, order, shipment) are offered along with those of the record.
2. Right-click the PDF of the invoice, PDF tools › Merge PDF.
3. Unfold the groups and tick, in order: the signed quote, the order, the delivery note, the invoice.
4. Save to object: the invoice; name « complete-file.pdf », Prefix ticked, Compress ticked.
5. Merge files: the PDF appears in the tray of the invoice, ready to be sent by email.

A scan the search cannot read

1. Open the scan in the editor, Advanced tools › OCR, language English, Apply.
2. If some pages are upside down, Rotation on those pages.
3. Advanced tools › Compress, then Save. The document is now found by the search in content.

Sending an excerpt to a customer

1. In the editor, Split, mode Extract pages, pages 1,4-6, Open in a new tab ticked.
2. In the new tab, hide internal information if needed (Redact tool), then Flatten.
3. Save: choose the folder and the name of the excerpt. The complete document has not changed.

14 The image editor

The image editor prepares a photo, a screenshot or a receipt without leaving Dolibarr: crop, annotate, hide information, sign, adjust brightness. It works the same way as the PDF editor.

Opening an image

Right-click an image (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP), then Edit image. The editor opens in a new window. You need the right to change the file; otherwise the image can only be viewed in the preview.

An image can only be changed in one editor at a time: if someone (or you, in another window) has already opened it, the editor shows « This file is already being edited. Close the other editor or wait for its session to expire. » A session left open without activity expires after a few minutes; saving after it has expired is refused (« The editing session has expired. Reopen the file before saving. ») so as not to overwrite someone else's work.

The editor screen

1. The toolbar (see the table).
2. Undo (Ctrl+Z), Redo (Ctrl+Y), Zoom out, Zoom in, Fit to screen.
3. The tabs: one image per tab; + opens another one.
4. Advanced tools, Reset (after confirmation, erases what was added and goes back to the original image), Download to computer.
5. Save. On its right: Close the editor and Contextual help (F1).
6. The image being changed; here a scanned invoice whose total is highlighted, the bank details hidden with Redact, with an arrow and a text added (the text, at 44 pixels, stays readable on the image shown at 37%).
7. The right-hand panel: Color and Size (line thickness) of the drawing tools, Text size, Brightness and Contrast adjustments (Reset sets the adjustments back to zero).
8. The status bar: file name, active tool (in your language), size in pixels.

The tools

The Advanced tools menu gathers:

• Transform: Resize, Rotate left, Rotate right, Flip horizontal, Flip vertical, Auto Trim (removes empty borders).
• Filters: Grayscale, Invert, Sharpness, Remove white background (useful for a scanned signature or stamp).
• More: Stamp, Lasso selection, Line, Duplicate, Compress / Export (PNG, JPG or WebP format and quality, with an estimate of the size).

Step by step

Adding readable text

1. Choose the Color in the right-hand panel.
2. Check the Text size. By default, it follows the size of the image (one fortieth of its longest side, 12 pixels at least): a text placed on an A4 scan of 1,240 × 1,754 pixels measures 44 pixels, and stays readable when the image is shown smaller. Move the slider to choose another size; your choice then applies to the following texts.
3. Choose the Text tool (T), click where you want it: a « Text » placeholder appears, ready to be replaced. Type your text.
4. To change a text already placed, select it (V, then click): the Text size slider takes its size, and moving the slider resizes it. A double-click lets you change its words.

Pointing at something with an arrow

1. Choose the Arrow tool (A), the color and the thickness (Size).
2. Click the starting point: « Click to set end point » appears at the bottom of the screen.
3. Click the point to show: the arrow is placed, the message closes and the Select tool takes over, so you can adjust the arrow if needed. Esc between the two clicks abandons the drawing.

Hiding personal data

1. Choose Redact (B).
2. Click and drag over the area to hide (bank details, social security number, face…): an opaque black band covers it.
3. Save, or download a copy (see the tip below).

Reducing the size of a photo before sending it

1. Advanced tools › Transform › Resize: type the new width; the height follows as long as the keep-proportions box stays ticked (it is by default). Presets offer common sizes.
2. Advanced tools › More › Compress / Export: choose the format (JPG for a photo) and the quality; the estimated size appears before you confirm.

Saving

Save replaces the image where it is; if versions are enabled, the previous state is first kept as a version (« Automatic version before editor overwrite »). Download to computer gets the changed image without touching the file. Closing the editor with unsaved changes asks for confirmation: « This image contains unsaved changes. Do you really want to close? »

15 Office documents: preview and online editing

FileManager shows Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OpenDocument documents directly in the browser, without Office installed on the computer and without downloading them. When the administrator has connected a Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs server, these documents can also be edited online, by several people at the same time.

Viewing a document without opening it

Clicking a document shows it in the preview panel; Full screen (or a double-click) shows it over the whole window. The document is rendered in the browser, from the file itself: what you see is the real content, layout included.

1. The reading bar: Fit width, Fit page, Zoom out, the zoom level, Zoom in.
2. Print, Download, Collapse (back to the panel) and Close; Esc also closes it.
3. The document, page after page: headings, fonts, colors, tables, headers and footers, page numbers.

1. The sheet tabs: a click shows the sheet. A workbook with a single sheet has no tabs.
2. The sheet shown, as a table, with the calculated values of the formulas.

What the preview can show

In grid and list views, images and PDFs have a thumbnail: the image reduced, or the first page of the PDF. Other files have the icon of their type.

Editing a document online

The administrator chooses the online editor: Collabora Online (LibreOffice engine) or ONLYOFFICE Docs (an interface close to Microsoft Office). Both read and save the FileManager files through the standard WOPI protocol; for the user, they work the same way.

1. Right-click an Office document (docx, xlsx, pptx, odt, ods, odp, doc, xls, ppt, txt, csv, depending on the formats allowed by the administrator), then Edit with Collabora; when the configured editor is ONLYOFFICE Docs, the entry is called Edit with ONLYOFFICE, in the context menu as well as in the tray and on the share page.
2. The editor opens in a new window; the explorer stays open behind it. If nothing opens, allow pop-up windows for the Dolibarr address.
3. Work as in an office suite; close the window when you have finished.

A document created through New document opens straight in the editor if you tick Open in editor after creation (chapter Creating and importing).

The Collabora Online screen

1. The ribbon tabs: File, Home, Insert, Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, Format, View, Help.
2. The name of the document.
3. The Edit (or read) mode; the button on its left closes the document.
4. The ribbon of the chosen tab: clipboard, font, alignment, number format, cells…
5. The formula bar (spreadsheet): cell reference and content.
6. The sidebar: styles, character, number format.
7. The sheets of the workbook and their navigation buttons; + adds a sheet.
8. The status bar: sheet, language, quick sums, zoom.

Text documents and presentations have their own ribbon. With ONLYOFFICE, the screen is different (a tabbed ribbon close to that of Microsoft Office) but the same functions are there.

Saving, versions and working together

• Automatic saving: the editor saves the document in FileManager while you work and when you close it. There is no button to remember.
• A version before your changes: at the first save of an editing session, FileManager keeps the previous state as a version (« Automatic version before editor overwrite »), when versions are enabled for this document. The following automatic saves of the same session do not create a new version. To go back: File versions (chapter Versions).
• Together: several people can open the same document at the same time; everyone sees the changes of the others live, with the color and the name of their cursor (the name of the Dolibarr user).
• Your rights apply: without write access to the document, it opens read-only (viewing, printing, downloading).
• Session length: the access granted to the editor expires after the time set by the administrator. If the editor says it can no longer save after a long break, close the window and open the document again.

Office documents and public sharing

On the page of a public share link (chapter Sharing), the person you share with reads the Office document without installing anything: through the online editor in read-only mode when the link has no password, otherwise through the browser preview. A public link never allows changing the document.

Converting to PDF

Convert to PDF (context menu of an Office document or an image) creates the PDF version of the document, next to the original. The conversion uses Stirling PDF; the chapter PDF tools describes how it works.

If the preview or the editor does not open

16 Document versions

A version is a frozen copy of a document at a given moment. FileManager keeps two kinds: the versions of a file (a PDF, a spreadsheet…) and the versions of a Dolibarr record (the document state of a proposal, an order…). You can thus go back without ever losing the current state.

The versions of a file

A file that has versions carries the clock badge « vn/total » (chapter Views and preview). The history opens through the context menu File versions, by clicking the badge, or through the Versions line of the preview panel.

1. The number of versions.
2. The file concerned.
3. + Create a version: freezes the current state, with an optional comment.
4. The number of the version; Current marks the one that matches the file in place.
5. The author, the date, the size and the comment; a version created automatically says what created it.
6. Restore (circular arrow): puts this version back in place.
7. Download this version, without touching the file in place.
8. Mark as important (shield): protects the version (see below).
9. The Protected badge; on hover, who protected it, when and why. The delete button of this version is greyed out.
10. Remove protection (open padlock), only visible to the people who have the right to do it.
11. Delete (trash can): erases this version, after confirmation.
12. Close.

The buttons are icons: their name appears on hover. Right-clicking a row offers the same actions in a menu. The current version has neither Restore nor Delete.

Creating a version

1. Open the history of the file.
2. Click + Create a version, type a comment (for example « Version handed to the inspection office »), confirm.

FileManager also creates versions by itself, whenever a document is about to be replaced by another state:

• before saving a PDF, an image or a text file changed in the editors, or a filled-in PDF form (« Automatic version before editor overwrite »);
• at the first save of an online editing session (Collabora, ONLYOFFICE): a single version per session, however many automatic saves there are;
• before a compression or a repair replaces a PDF (chapter PDF tools);
• before an import from URL with « Replace the existing file » overwrites a file, in the ECM as on a connected storage (chapter Creating and importing);
• before a program connected through the FileManager API replaces a file (« Automatic version before replacement through the developer API »);
• before a restore (the state replaced is kept);
• for documents with a validity date, at each renewal (chapter Documents with a validity date).

The comment of these versions says what created them (« Automatic version before PDF compression », « Automatic version before replacement by an import from a URL »…). If versions are enabled for the source of the file and the previous state cannot be kept (disk full, remote file unreadable), the replacement is refused and the file stays as it was: nothing is overwritten without its copy.

Restoring a version

1. In the history, click Restore (circular arrow) on the row of the version you want.
2. Confirm: the current state of the file is first saved as a new version, then the chosen version takes its place.

Nothing is lost: you can go back to the state before the restore in the same way.

Deleting a version

Delete erases an older version, after confirmation. The current version cannot be deleted, nor can a protected version (see below). You need the delete permission on the document.

Protecting a version

A protected version is never deleted: not by hand, not by automatic retention, not by a technical clean-up, not with its file when the trash is emptied. Protect the approved revision of a procedure, the plan handed to the customer, the certificate sent to the auditor: it will stay available whatever happens to the file.

1. Open the version history of the file.
2. On the row of the version, click the shield, Mark as important. You must be able to change the file.
3. If you wish, type the reason for the protection (« Revision B approved by the customer on 10/12 »), then confirm.
4. The message « Version protected: it will never be deleted. » appears. The version carries the Protected badge; hovering over it shows who protected it, when, and the reason given. Its delete button is greyed out; hovering over it explains: « This version is protected: it cannot be deleted. Remove its protection first. »

What protection changes elsewhere:

• retention (« keep the last 10 versions », « keep 365 days ») ignores protected versions and does not count them: protecting old revisions does not make the recent ones disappear;
• a file with protected versions can go to the trash and come back with them, but its permanent deletion is refused; Empty the trash and the automatic clean-up of the trash delete everything else and list the items kept for this reason; the same goes for a folder containing a file with protected versions;
• protecting and removing protection are written to the FileManager history, with the user, the date and the reason.

Remove protection from a version is a separate action, reserved to the people who have the « Remove the protection of versions » right (granted by the administrator in the rights of the user or of their group; nobody has it by default, except administrators). After confirmation (« Remove the protection of this version? It can then be deleted again. »), the version becomes an ordinary version again.

The versions of a Dolibarr record

On the records of the objects chosen by the administrator (commercial proposals, orders, invoices…), a Versions button is added to the action buttons. It opens the history of the document states of the record.

1. The list of the versions saved.
2. Label of the new version.
3. Save version: saves the current state of the record and of its document.
4. Close: closes the window.

When the administrator enables automatic versioning, a version is also created when the document of the record is generated, according to the strategy chosen: at every generation, or only on a status change, a change of the total amount, a change in the number of lines, or in « smart » mode (status change or significant change of amount).

Manufacturing orders, bills of materials and shipments also have versions, read-only: they can be viewed and downloaded, but not restored (chapter Manufacturing, lots and traceability file).

17 Documents with a validity date

Some documents expire: company registration extract, insurance certificate, social contributions certificate, authorisation, certificate, contract. FileManager tracks their validity date, warns before it expires and keeps the history of every renewal.

The list of documents with a validity date

ECM › Validity › Document list shows every document tracked, sorted by validity date.

1. The title and the number of documents.
2. The number of rows per page, the display, the spreadsheet export and the + button (new document).
3. The filters of each column; the magnifying glass applies them, the cross clears them.
4. The reference: a click opens the record; the icon opens the file.
5. Validity date: the expiry date.
6. The status: days left (green, then yellow as the date gets closer) or days since it expired (red « Expired »).
7. The reminder: how many days before expiry the alert is sent.
8. The actions: edit, renew, view the file, download, delete.

The Label, Document type and Tag/category columns help sort by kind (legal, human resources, insurance, quality…).

Adding a document to track

Two paths:

• from the explorer: right-click the file, Add to validity documents;
• from the menu: ECM › Validity › New document.

1. Document type: suggests the default validity period and reminder of this type.
2. Tag/category: to classify.
3. Label: for example « Social contributions certificate ».
4. File: the + picks the document in FileManager.
5. Validity date: the expiry date; Now puts today's date.
6. Linked objects: the third party, the project or the user concerned (search by name).
7. Enable reminder.
8. Reminder: number of days before expiry.
9. Daily reminder after expiration: sends a reminder every day until the document is renewed.
10. Additional emails: other recipients, separated by commas.
11. Send to object email: also warns the linked third party or contact.
12. Save.

The document gets an automatic reference (for example DOC2610-0001) and a validity badge in the explorer: full hourglass while it is valid, emptying hourglass under 30 days, red triangle once it has expired.

The record of a document and its history

1. The Card (the information) and Version history tabs.
2. Each version: validity period (Valid from, Valid until) and file.
3. The status of the version: Current version or replaced version.
4. View and download the file of the version.
5. Modify the record.
6. Renew.

Renewing a document

When a new certificate arrives, you do not replace the old one: you renew. The old version can still be viewed in the history, with its validity period.

1. In the list (green renewal icon) or on the record, click Renew.
2. Check the document 1 and its current validity 2.
3. Choose the new file 3: from your computer, or in FileManager (folder icon).
4. Give the New effective date 4 and the New expiry date 5 (suggested from the duration of the type).
5. Add a Renewal note 6 if useful.
6. Click Renew 7 (Cancel 8 closes the form without changing anything). The version history 9 gets one more row.

Reminders

Every day, a scheduled job sends the reminders of the documents that are about to expire (according to their reminder period) and, if the option is ticked, of the expired documents. The recipients are set by the administrator in Configuration › Notifications: the person who created the tracking, the address of the linked third party or contact, common extra recipients; the Additional emails typed on the document are added to them. The templates of these emails are set in the same place.

Document types

ECM › Validity › Document types (for the administrator) defines the types offered: reference, label, category, type of object concerned, default validity period and reminder period. On activation, FileManager creates about thirty common types, in the language of the administrator: company registration extract (Kbis), professional liability insurance, social contributions certificate (URSSAF), employment contract, authorisation, medical certificate… They have no default validity period: set it for the ones you track (for example 90 days for a company registration extract, 365 days for an insurance certificate), and it will be suggested for every new document. See the chapter Lifecycle.

18 Electronic signatures

FileManager gets PDFs signed without leaving Dolibarr: you sign yourself, you apply the company seal, you sign with a digital certificate, or you send the document for signature to a colleague or to someone outside the company, who signs from a secure link. Every signature is timestamped, traced and verifiable.

Preparing your signature

Your handwritten signature and your certificates are set once and for all in the Signatures tab of your user card (your name at the top right › User card › Signatures). An administrator can do it for another user.

1. The Signatures tab of the user card.
2. The current signature; once saved, its buttons show it full size, download it or delete it.
3. The tools: import an image (signature scanned on a white or transparent background), draw, Edit (opens the image editor to crop, clean the background, adjust the contrast), undo the last change, clear.
4. The reminder of the drawing mode; « Click to exit » stops it.
5. The drawing area: sign with the mouse, a stylus or your finger.
6. Save signature: it becomes your official signature, stored encrypted, and you find it in one click in the PDF editor.

Further down, the Digital certificates section keeps the certificates you use to sign cryptographically.

1. The Certificate file: .p12, .pfx or .pem, 1 MB at most.
2. Its label (« Management certificate »).
3. Its password: it is checked on upload and stored encrypted.
4. Set as default: the certificate offered first.
5. Upload.
6. The list of certificates: label, holder, issuer, validity dates, status, default certificate; the actions default, enable/disable, delete.
7. The reminder: the visual signature is placed on PDFs; a P12/PFX certificate signs cryptographically, with a signature that any PDF reader can verify.

Depending on the settings of the administrator, FileManager can also generate your certificate (self-signed or issued by the internal certificate authority of the company), automatically if needed when you save your signature; and the administrator can upload a certificate for you, whose password you then choose.

Signing a PDF yourself

1. Right-click the PDF, Signatures › Sign the document (or open it in the PDF editor). The editor opens in signature mode.
2. Signature tool (S): the My models tab offers your saved official signature and, if you are allowed, the Company seals (it only appears if there are any); the other tabs let you Draw (with a choice of color), import an Image or write a Text (your name in handwriting).
3. Add, then click the page where you want it; move and resize the block.
4. Save. Depending on the settings, the date, the time and your name go with the signature; you can ask to be warned, along with your manager or other colleagues, every time your signature is applied.

Applying the company seal

The seal is the stamp of the company (logo, « Certified true copy » mention, stamp with the signature of the managing director…). With the « Use the company seal on PDFs » right and if the administrator has allowed you this seal, it appears in the My models tab of the Signature tool of the PDF editor, under Company seals. A seal can be timestamped by an authority (TSA): the date it was applied is then certified by a third party. Seals are created by the administrator (chapter Signature configuration).

Signing with a certificate (P12)

A certificate signature is a cryptographic signature built into the PDF: any PDF reader (Adobe Acrobat, for example) shows who signed and flags any later change to the document.

1. In the PDF editor, advanced tools menu, Security section, Sign (P12).
2. Choose one of My certificates or Upload a file P12 for this signature only.
3. Type the Certificate password, and optionally the reason (« Document approval ») and the location (« Paris, France »).
4. Confirm: the PDF is digitally signed. Sign last: any change afterwards would make the signature invalid.

Requesting a signature

Three starting points: right-click the PDF then Signatures › Request a signature; the Request a signature tool of the PDF editor; or ECM › Signatures › New request. From a Dolibarr record, the Request a signature button prepares the request on the PDF of the record (chapter The documents of a Dolibarr record).

1. The document to sign and its source; Change file chooses another one, the cross removes this request.
2. Signer: type the name of a Dolibarr user or the email address of someone outside the company.
3. Message attached to the invitation.
4. Deadline for signing, and page where to sign.
5. Notification: sends the invitation by email (unticked, you pass the link on yourself, see below).
6. Require an identity document: the signer will have to attach an identity document.
7. Signature zone: the default zone is recalled; Edit opens the preview to draw where to sign (see below).
8. + Add signature request: another signer or another document in the same sending.
9. Create requests.
10. Cancel.

Placing the signature zone

1. The number of zones defined.
2. The pages of the document.
3. The zoom.
4. +: add a zone.
5. The instruction: Draw a rectangle to define a signature zone.
6. The zone drawn (« Signature 1 »).
7. The list of zones, with their page; the cross removes one.
8. Cancel.
9. Validate.

The Common Positions (bottom left, bottom right, center…) place a zone in one click. A document can carry several zones, for example one per page to initial.

What the signer sees

1. They receive an email with the link to the signing portal. The email leaves from the Dolibarr sending address, in the name of the person who made the request, with their address as « Reply-to » (unless the administrator has set otherwise).
2. If the administrator requires it, they confirm their identity with a six-digit one-time code received by email (valid for a few minutes, limited number of attempts, new code after one minute).
3. They read the document, attach their identity document if needed (identity card, passport, driving license… as JPG, PNG or PDF, 10 MB at most), then sign in each zone: drawing, handwritten text or image. Depending on the settings, they type their name again, agree to share their location, leave a comment, or sign with their own P12 certificate.
4. They can also refuse, giving a reason.

Once signed, the signed PDF is filed next to the original and the request moves to the Signed status. If the document was changed since the request, the signature is refused for security: make a new request on the right version.

Following the requests

ECM › Signatures gives access to the Requests sent, the Requests received (those where you are the signer) and the External signatures (those sent to people outside Dolibarr).

1. The title and the number of requests; the eye shows or hides the finished requests.
2. The views: all, sent, received, external.
3. +: new request.
4. The filters of each column.
5. The reference of the request (for example SR2609-0003): a click opens its card.
6. The signer: user or email address.
7. The deadline.
8. The status: Pending, Signed, Refused, Cancelled or Expired.

In the explorer, the signature badge of the document also shows whether it is pending, signed or whether the request has expired.

The card of a request

1. The tabs: Card, Signed document, Documents, Notes, Log (the history of events: sending, opening, reminders, signature).
2. The reference and the file.
3. The status.
4. The path of the signed file, with download and preview.
5. Requested by and Signer.
6. The dates: creation, deadline, signature, and the message.
7. Signature Verification: fingerprints of the document before and after signing and fingerprint of the signature; Verified confirms that the document has not been changed since.
8. Traceability of the signatory: name typed, date, time spent on the page, number of attempts, IP address, location if it was requested.
9. Download the signed document and Delete.

While it is pending, the request can be sent again (new email), its link copied to pass it on another way, or cancelled by its author (« Cancel their own signature requests » right) or by an authorized manager. When an identity document was attached, an administrator marks it verified after checking it.

Finding what you have signed

ECM › Signatures › My signatures gathers every document you signed in FileManager, however you did it: PDF editor, image editor, signing page of a request, signature provider.

1. Verify a document: Choose file, then Check.
2. History, with the number of signatures.
3. The columns: Date of the signature, File, Type (visual signature, digital signature with a certificate, company seal, signature request), Object (the linked record, if any), Source (the space where the file was) and Fingerprint (the beginning of the fingerprint of the signed file; the full fingerprint appears on hover). The File and Type filters narrow the list; the magnifying glass applies, the cross clears.
4. The signatures, most recent first; as long as there are none, the page says so.

The verifier answers the question « is this file really the one I signed? ». FileManager computes the fingerprint of the file you drop and compares it with your history; the file is not saved.

• Found in your history: the message gives the name of the signed file, the date and the type of signature. The file is identical, byte for byte, to the one you signed.
• This document is NOT in your signing history: you never signed this exact file in FileManager, or it was changed after signing (the slightest change alters the fingerprint), or it was signed elsewhere.

Signing with a provider: DocuSeal or Yousign

The administrator can hand signature requests over to an outside provider instead of the internal portal: DocuSeal (open source platform, self-hosted or online) or Yousign (French provider). You create the request in the same way; FileManager passes it to the provider, which sends the invitation and collects the signature, then the status of the request and the signed document come back to FileManager through the callback link (webhook) declared at the provider. DocuSign is not integrated.

Legal value of signatures

The internal FileManager signature is an electronic signature with an audit trail (fingerprints, timestamp, IP address, identification by code, identity document if requested). For stronger legal value (advanced or qualified signature under the eIDAS regulation), the administrator can hand requests over to a provider or use digital certificates issued by a recognized authority. The legal level depends on the provider, the plan subscribed, the identity check and the certificate used: FileManager does not assign an eIDAS level by itself.

19 Mail merge: the step-by-step assistant

Mail merge produces personalized documents from your Dolibarr data: a reminder for every overdue invoice, a certificate for an employee, a quote laid out with its lines, a bilingual letter depending on the customer's language… You choose a template, one or more records, you fill in what is missing, and FileManager writes the document — as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, HTML or PDF — straight into the ECM.

What to know before you start

• A template is an ordinary document in which some parts are variables written between double underscores, for example __SOCIETE_NOM__. Variable names are the same whatever the language of the interface. Templates form the library of the company, managed by the administrator (Configuration › Office & PDF › Document templates).
• The subject is the type of Dolibarr record that provides the data: a third party, a contact, a user, a project, a proposal, an order, an invoice or a shipment. With Manual entry, you type everything yourself.
• One record ticked gives one document; several records ticked give one document each (batch generation).
• You only see the templates that the administrator has opened to you, and you only read in Dolibarr what your rights allow: a record you cannot open fills no variable.
• The templates delivered with the module are installed in the language of the administrator who activates it (FileManager 4.5.470 or later: English, Spanish, German, Italian or Arabic; French for another language): « Invoice reminder », « Certificate », « Styled quote »… An installation in French, or made before 4.5.470, keeps the French templates — « Relance facture », « Attestation », « Devis stylisé » — and the screenshots of these chapters, taken on a demonstration installed in French, show them. Change them, duplicate them, or upload your own templates (chapter Office & PDF).

Starting the assistant

1. In the explorer, open the folder where the document must be filed.
2. Open New document: + New button, Shift+D shortcut, or New document in the left menu.
3. Choose a template marked Variables. The With variables filter only shows those; the search covers the name, the description and the format.
4. Choose the mode: Fill with the assistant (the variables are filled from Dolibarr) or Raw template (a plain copy of the template, variables included, to complete by hand).
5. Click Continue with the assistant. The assistant opens on its four steps: Subject, Content, Preview, Done.

The New document dialog itself is described in the chapter Creating and importing.

Step 1 — Subject: who is the document for?

1. The four steps; the current step is in color, the steps done are ticked.
2. The subject type. The assistant preselects the subject recommended by the template (here Invoice) and remembers the last subject you used with this template.
3. The search: reference, name of the third party, town, email, notes… Several words add up, in any order (« alizés hôtelier » finds « Groupe Hôtelier Les Alizés »); a typing mistake on a single word is often tolerated.
4. The filters specific to the chosen type (see the table below).
5. The list of records: tick one or more rows. The first 50 records are shown; narrow with the search or the filters to find the others.
6. The counter of records ticked.
7. Select all (shown) ticks the whole filtered list; Clear unticks everything.
8. Continue - 3 documents announces how many documents will be produced when several rows are ticked; with a single one, the button is called Next. It stays greyed out as long as no row is ticked. Enter does the same.

Subjects and what they bring

The full list of variables, subject by subject, is in the chapter Writing a template.

Step 2 — Content: name, format, language and fields

The upper part of the step sets the file produced.

1. The subject reminder: the type and the record chosen, or the number of records ticked.
2. The file name, without extension (the extension follows the format). It is suggested by the template; for a single document, the assistant adds the name of the chosen record. The characters \ / : * ? " < > | are refused, and the assistant warns if a file with the same name already exists in the folder.
3. Insert a variable in the name: each chip carries the label the template gives to the variable (« Société émettrice », issuing company, in the delivered template) and its value for the first record; a click adds it to the name. Here Reminder __DOC_REF__ will give « Reminder IN2607-0022.docx », « Reminder IN2607-0030.docx », « Reminder IN2607-0034.docx ».
4. The output format: Editable keeps the format of the template (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, HTML); PDF converts the document. An HTML template comes out as PDF by default.
5. The Document language: Automatic takes the language of each recipient (third party, contact or user record), otherwise that of the interface. Choose a specific language to force the language of every document. The language sets the dates, the amounts, the Dolibarr labels (titles, countries, legal form) and the bilingual blocks of the template.
6. Group the documents in a subfolder (batch generation only): creates the subfolder if it does not exist, with the rights of the current folder.
7. The name of the subfolder, suggested from the template.
8. The reminder: 3 documents will be generated (one per record).
9. Previous goes back to the subject; what you typed is kept.
10. Preview shows the document before creating it.
11. Generate 3 documents creates the documents without going through the preview. Ctrl+Enter does the same.

The lower part of the step contains what remains to be told to the document.

1. A List field: here the reminder level. The template prints a different paragraph for the 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd reminder.
2. An optional Long text field: a paragraph added to the letter.
3. Text fields: the name and the job title of the signer.
4. Filled automatically: the values read in Dolibarr for the first record, read-only, under the label the template gives them. They are read again for each record at generation. The 3 empty badge counts those that are missing.
5. The warning about empty values: here the address, the town and the email of the issuing company, missing from the record of your company in Dolibarr (Home › Setup › Company/Organization). The document will leave them empty: complete the record before generating.

A few rules:

• A field marked required must be filled in: the counter « 2 / 3 required filled » recalls it and generation is refused as long as some are missing (« Fill the required fields (1). »).
• When an expected value is empty in Dolibarr — a third party without an address, an invoice without a due date — the assistant names it: « 1 empty value(s): Address. Fill in the matching record in the ERP. » Correct the record rather than the document: the next documents will benefit from it.
• In a batch, the fields you fill in apply to all the documents; only the values read in Dolibarr and the computed fields change from one record to the next.

What each type of field asks of you

The « Démo — tous les champs » (demo — all the fields) template of the library shows every type of field. The next two screenshots go round them.

1. Text: one line.
2. Long text: a paragraph; line breaks are kept in the document.
3. Rich text: bold, italic, underline, bulleted or numbered lists, link, clear formatting. The formatting is reproduced as it is in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; an OpenDocument template receives the text without formatting.
4. Date: a calendar.
5. Number: a number, with the decimal separator of your browser.
6. Yes/No: a check box.

1. List: one choice among values set by the template.
2. URL (link): a web address; an HTML template turns it into a clickable link, the other formats write it in plain text.
3. Photo: an image that you crop and resize before inserting it; it takes the place of the variable in the document (Word, OpenDocument, HTML).
4. Multi-list: several choices (Ctrl+click); the document receives the values separated by commas, for example « Blue, Green ».
5. Editable list: suggestions, but you can type something else.
6. Autocomplete: free text, with suggestions taken from Dolibarr when the template gives a source (third parties, contacts, products, users, projects, proposals, orders, invoices).
7. Object ref: type two letters, pick the record in the list (here a third party); the document receives its label.
8. Attachment: a file of 5 MB at most; an image is inserted into the document in place of the variable, another file writes its name there.

1. An ERP data field is never typed: FileManager computes it on the server for the chosen record (here the revenue of the year of the third party) and shows it with the automatic values.
2. Computed variables: the result of a formula, recalculated at every keystroke (here 1,250 × 1.2 = 1,500). In a batch, the formula is recalculated for each record.
3. The reminder of the Company seal and Signature fields: they are not filled in the assistant but after generation, through the secure signing circuit (timestamped and logged).

What the document receives, type by type

What you type is not always written as it is: the document receives a readable value, in the language of the document, while the conditions of the template ([[SI …]]) test a stable value, the same whatever the language. A template written for French thus works in English without any change.

In the file name, a date stays as YYYY-MM-DD (« Certificate 2026-11-15 »): files thus sort in chronological order.

A field can also appear only under a condition (for example « Reason for refusal » only if « Accepted » is No): the administrator sets it in the Condition column of the fields of the template. As long as it is false, the field is hidden in the assistant, is no longer required, and the document receives it empty.

How the administrator configures each type, and the formula language, are described in the chapter Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data.

Composing a bundle

When a single record is chosen and the administrator has defined bundles for this type of record, the Content step also offers Compose a bundle: choose the bundle, the optional parts, then Compose bundle. FileManager assembles into a single PDF the documents of the record (quote, terms of sale, plans, certificates…) and files it in the ECM. See the chapter PDF bundles.

Step 3 — Preview: checking before creating

1. The banner recalls that nothing is saved yet and, in a batch, that the preview shows the first record (here IN2607-0022).
2. The preview bar: full width, full screen, zoom.
3. The date of the day, written by FileManager. The town before it is empty: it is one of the three values flagged at the previous step.
4. The variables filled: the reference of the invoice in the subject line of the letter.
5. A conditional block: the template only prints this paragraph for a 2^nd reminder.
6. The extra text typed at the previous step.
7. Generate 3 documents (Ctrl+Enter).

A Word template is shown directly in the browser; a workbook or a presentation is converted to PDF for the preview. To correct a field or a mistake, go back to the Content step with Edit: nothing has been created.

Step 4 — Done: open, file, send, sign

One document. The assistant shows « Document created », the name of the file, and offers:

• Open: a PDF opens in the PDF editor; an Office document opens in the online editor (Collabora or ONLYOFFICE) when it is enabled; otherwise the explorer goes to the document.
• Show in folder: the explorer shows the folder and selects the document, without reloading the page.
• Send by email: opens the sending form with the document attached (chapter Sending by email).
• Signature request: opens a new signature request on the document (chapter Electronic signatures); an editable document is first converted to PDF, next to the original.
• New document with this template: starts the assistant again on the same template.

When the template has a Company seal or Signature field, a reminder announces it and the main button becomes Seal / sign now: the document is converted to PDF if it is editable, then the PDF editor opens in signature mode when it is up to you to sign, or a new signature request opens when the signer is a third party, a colleague or an email address (chapter Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data). Sending by email is not offered before signing.

Several documents. A progress bar follows the generation (« Generating 2 / 3... ») and the list fills up as it goes, a green tick for each document created, a red cross and the reason for a failure.

• Stop interrupts after the current document; the following ones are marked « Stopped by the user ».
• Retry the 2 failures starts again only those that failed.
• The summary says « 3 / 3 documents created ».

Every generation is written to the log of the module, with the template, the record, the document produced and its author.

Good practice

• Preview before a batch generation: the first document immediately shows a variable filled the wrong way.
• Generate in a subfolder the mass sendings (reminders, yearly certificates): they can be found, reviewed and shared in one go.
• Choose Editable when the document must be reviewed or completed, PDF when it goes out as it is.
• Correct the Dolibarr records, not the documents: a missing address corrected on the record serves all the following documents.
• A missing template, a badly labelled field, a value to add to a list: ask the administrator, who sets them in the record of the template (chapter Office & PDF).

20 Writing a mail-merge template

A mail-merge template is nothing technical: it is a Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OpenDocument document or an HTML page, written and formatted as usual, in which you place variables. This chapter gives every variable that Dolibarr fills, how to show a passage under a condition, how to repeat the lines of a quote or an invoice, and the rules that avoid surprises.

The principle: variables between double underscores

A variable is written in capital letters, digits and underscores, between two underscores on each side: __SOCIETE_NOM__, __DOC_TOTAL_TTC__, __DATE_TODAY__. At generation, each variable is replaced by its value.

• A variable that FileManager knows (the list is below) is filled automatically according to the subject chosen in the assistant.
• Any other variable — __SUBJECT_LINE__, __DEPOSIT_AMOUNT__, __SITE_NAME__ — becomes a field to fill in in the assistant. The administrator gives it a label, a type (date, list, formula…) and a default value (chapter Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data).
• A variable can appear several times: it takes the same value everywhere.

Subject: Reminder — invoice __DOC_REF__

Dear Sir or Madam,

Unless we are mistaken, invoice __DOC_REF__ dated __DOC_DATE__,
for an amount of __DOC_TOTAL_TTC__, remains unpaid to date.

Accepted formats

Writing variables without traps

• Type each variable in one go, without changing font or color in the middle. Word sometimes splits text into invisible pieces; FileManager glues split variables back together in a .docx, but an OpenDocument file does not forgive a variable part of which is bold.
• Format the whole variable: if __SOCIETE_NOM__ is bold in the template, the customer's name will be bold in the document.
• No space and no accent in the name of a variable: __SITE_NAME__, not __Site name__.
• The [[…]] blocks (conditions, lines) are also written in one go, in ordinary text.
• Page numbering and table of contents are features of the word processor: insert Page number and Number of pages in the footer, and a table of contents based on the Heading 1, Heading 2 styles. Update it before saving the template; it works in the document produced and in its PDF version.

Variables filled automatically

Always available: your company, you, the date, the language

Dates and amounts are written in the language of the document: « 10/17/2026 » and « €4,068.00 » in US English, with the French notation for a document in French. A value missing from the record (capital not filled in, no logo) leaves the place empty: the variable disappears without a trace.

The third party (Third party, Proposal, Order, Invoice, Shipment subjects)

The business document (Proposal, Order, Invoice, Shipment)

The contact, the project

The user (User subject: contracts, certificates, amendments)

The Mail merge: variables and templates panel, at the top of the record of each template, recalls these variables. The Insert a variable button of the HTML editor offers them by group: System variables, variables of the object linked to the template, Template fields and Table of contents (PDF bundle).

Showing a passage under a condition

A conditional block only prints its text if a condition is true:

[[SI variable operator value]] text if true [[SINON]] text if false [[FIN]]

[[SINON]] (else) is optional. Blocks can be nested. The variable is written with its underscores. The keywords SI, SINON and FIN are always written in French, in capital letters.

A few rules:

• eq, ne and in compare the text exactly, capital letters included. For a List field, the condition accepts the value of the option (the part before the | in the configuration of the field) as well as its label: with the option 2|2nd reminder, [[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 2]] and [[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 2nd reminder]] are both true. Prefer the value: it does not change if the label is translated or reworded. Likewise, a Yes/No field is tested with eq 1 (or eq Oui).
• empty, notempty and number comparisons read the value typed, before it is formatted: a date as YYYY-MM-DD, a number without a thousands separator (see « What the document receives, type by type » in the chapter Mail merge).
• gt, ge, lt, le read numbers in the notation of the language of the document (« 1,250.50 » in English); preferably write the comparison value with a point (999.99), it then works whatever the language. A value that is not a number makes the condition false.
• A block can cover several paragraphs. Keep it inside the same table cell, or wrap whole rows: a block that starts inside a table and ends outside it damages the layout.
• A badly closed block (a forgotten [[FIN]]) is not interpreted: its markers stay visible in the document, which shows the error at the first preview.

[[SI __SOCIETE_TVA_INTRA__ notempty]]VAT no.: __SOCIETE_TVA_INTRA__[[SINON]]VAT not applicable[[FIN]]

[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 1]]This is probably an oversight.[[FIN]]
[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 2]]This is our second reminder.[[FIN]]
[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 3]]Without payment within eight days, the file will be passed to our collections department.[[FIN]]

A template in several languages

With the Automatic language of the assistant, each recipient receives the document in the language of their record. A single template is enough for several languages:

[[SI __LANGUE__ eq fr]]Madame, Monsieur,[[SINON]]Dear Sir or Madam,[[FIN]]

[[SI __LANGUE__ eq fr]]Veuillez trouver ci-joint notre devis __DOC_REF__.
[[SINON]]Please find enclosed our quotation __DOC_REF__.[[FIN]]

The dates, amounts and Dolibarr labels follow the same language.

Repeating the lines of a proposal, an order, an invoice

With a Proposal, Order, Invoice or Shipment subject, the document knows its lines. Wrap one table row in [[LIGNES]] and [[/LIGNES]]: it is repeated for every line of the document.

The [[TVA]] … [[/TVA]] block likewise repeats the VAT summary, one row per rate, with __TVA_TAUX__ (rate), __TVA_BASE_HT__ (base) and __TVA_MONTANT__ (amount).

• In Word or OpenDocument, write [[LIGNES]] at the start of the first cell and [[/LIGNES]] at the end of the last cell of the same row of the table. The header row stays outside the block.
• In an HTML template, the block can wrap a <tr> row, be placed in the first and last cell (as in Word), or wrap cells to repeat them side by side.
• A condition can be placed in the row; it is evaluated line by line: [[SI __LIGNE_REMISE__ ne 0]]-__LIGNE_REMISE__%[[FIN]].
• Excel and PowerPoint do not repeat rows: the block is simply removed there.
• With a subject that has no lines (Third party, Contact…), the block and its variables disappear.

| No.                     | Description     | Qty                           | Unit price       | Total excl. tax                |
| [[LIGNES]]__LIGNE_NUM__ | __LIGNE_DESC__  | __LIGNE_QTE__ __LIGNE_UNITE__ | __LIGNE_PU_HT__  | __LIGNE_TOTAL_HT__[[/LIGNES]]  |

[[TVA]]VAT __TVA_TAUX__% on __TVA_BASE_HT__: __TVA_MONTANT__[[/TVA]]
[[SI __DOC_REMISE_GLOBALE__ notempty]]Overall discount: __DOC_REMISE_GLOBALE__%[[FIN]]
Total incl. tax: __DOC_TOTAL_TTC__

The templates delivered with the module, « Devis stylisé (démo lignes) » (HTML) and « Devis stylisé (Office) » (Word), show this complete table, VAT summary and totals included.

The table of contents of a PDF bundle

A template used as the table of contents page in a PDF bundle can contain a [[SOMMAIRE]] … [[/SOMMAIRE]] block around a table row, with __SOMMAIRE_NUM__, __SOMMAIRE_TITRE__, __SOMMAIRE_PAGE__ and __SOMMAIRE_ROLE__ (number, title, page, role): every part of the bundle appears there with its real page number, and every row becomes a clickable link to its part. Outside a bundle, the block shows nothing.

The name of the documents produced

In the record of the template, the File name format sets the name suggested by the assistant; it accepts the variables of the template, resolved for each record: Certificate - __SOCIETE_NOM__, Quote __DOC_REF__ - __SOCIETE_NOM__, Contract __EMP_LASTNAME__ __EMP_FIRSTNAME__. Without a format, the name of the template is suggested. Characters forbidden in a file name are replaced.

When the document is not the one expected

21 Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data

Every variable that a template does not know in advance becomes a field of the assistant. For each one, the administrator decides what the user will see: a single line, a list, a calendar, a photo to crop, a value computed by a formula or a figure taken from the accounts. This chapter describes the field editor, the 18 types, the data computed by Dolibarr and the formula language.

The field editor

Open Configuration › Office & PDF › Document templates, then the template. The Fields to fill section, at the bottom of the record, lists the variables found in the file, one row per variable. It is updated every time the file is saved: a variable added to the template appears there, a variable removed disappears, the settings of the others are kept.

1. The variable, as it is written in the template.
2. The label that the assistant shows above the field.
3. The type of field (see the table below).
4. Options / Source: the choices of a list, the source of a search in Dolibarr, the signer of a signature, or the ERP data to compute.
5. Required: the assistant refuses to generate as long as the field is empty.
6. Default: the value offered at the start.
7. For a Computed field, the Default column holds the formula, and the calculator button opens the formula assistant.
8. For an ERP data field, the data to compute and, for revenue, the base (excluding or including tax) and the period.

The last column, Condition, only asks for the field when another value justifies it. It is written like a block condition, without the brackets: __CONTRACT_TYPE__ eq FIXED only asks for the end date for a fixed-term contract. A field hidden by its condition stays empty in the document.

1. The options of a list: value|Label separated by commas. The label is shown in the assistant; the value is what the document receives and what the conditions test.
2. An Autocomplete without a source: plain free text with the default value.
3. An Object ref with the source societe: the assistant searches the third parties.
4. A Company seal field.
5. A Signature field and its signer.
6. Save keeps the settings; Cancel drops them; Delete removes the template from the library (after confirmation).

The 18 field types

Seal and signature

These two types fill no text: they announce that, once produced, the document must be sealed or signed through the FileManager signing circuit (timestamped, logged, verifiable — chapter Electronic signatures). The document is produced in the chosen format; if it is editable, it is converted to PDF when it is signed, next to the original. The signer of a Signature field is chosen in the Options column:

A Company seal field is always applied by yourself, with the company seal configured by the administrator (chapter Signature configuration).

Data computed by Dolibarr (ERP data)

An ERP data field is never typed: FileManager computes it on the server, at generation, for the third party of the subject — the third party itself, or the customer of the chosen proposal, order, invoice or shipment. The calculation respects your rights: without the right to read third parties (or proposals, orders), the field stays empty.

Formulas

A Computed field evaluates a formula the way a spreadsheet does. The formula can use the fields typed, the variables filled automatically and the ERP data; it is recalculated at every keystroke in the assistant, and for each record of a batch generation.

• A variable is written as it is: __AMOUNT_EXCL_TAX__.
• A text is written between double quotes: "Key account".
• The argument separator is the semicolon ; (the comma is also accepted); the decimal separator is the point: * 1.2.
• Operators: + - * / % and the comparisons = <> < <= > >=, which give 1 (true) or 0 (false). A division by zero gives 0.
• A field typed as text is converted with NOMBRE() (NUMBER()) before a calculation: the formula assistant points it out when a text variable is used in a calculation.
• Numeric functions return a raw number (1234.57). In the document, a result with decimals is written in the language of the document (« 1,234.57 »); a whole result stays as it is (« 2026 »).
• Functions have French names, as in a French spreadsheet; the most common ones also accept their English name: IF, CHOOSE, AND, OR, NOT, ISBLANK, IFBLANK, CONTAINS, STARTS_WITH, ENDS_WITH, UPPER, LOWER, CONCATENATE, LEN, LEFT, RIGHT, MID, REPLACE, SUBSTITUTE, ROUND, SUM, NUMBER, TEXT. The table below gives the English name in parentheses when there is one.

The formula assistant

1. The search for a variable or a function.
2. The available variables (with their type: text, number, date) then the functions, by family. A click on a variable inserts it at the cursor; a click on a function shows its card.
3. The formula.
4. The check: Valid formula, or the error and where it is.
5. The function card: its syntax, what it does, an example, and Insert this function.
6. The tester: a sample value for each variable of the formula.
7. The result with these values.
8. The reminder of the operators and of the separator.
9. Cancel or Apply the formula to the field (then remember to Save the template).

The 43 functions

Useful formulas

The template delivered « Démonstrateur — formules avancées » shows discount, net, VAT, amount including tax, conversion to words, text formatting and conditions, ready to copy.

22 Mail merge: step-by-step examples

Seven practical cases, from the simplest to the most complete. Each one gives the text of the template, the settings of the fields and the steps in the assistant. Templates marked « delivered » already exist in the library of a new installation, in French; the others are created in a few minutes in Word or in the HTML editor of the template record.

1. Reminding every overdue invoice at once

Template: « Invoice reminder » (delivered, Word; « Relance facture » on an installation in French or made before 4.5.470). Subject: Invoice.

1. Open the folder where the reminders should be filed (for example Accounting / Reminders), then New document, template « Invoice reminder » (or « Relance facture »), Fill with the assistant.
2. Subject step: Invoice is already chosen. Set Payment to Overdue, then Select all (shown).
3. Content step: name the files Reminder __DOC_REF__, tick Group the documents in a subfolder and name it with the date, for example « Reminders 2026-10 ». Choose PDF if the reminders go out as they are.
4. Choose the reminder level (Niveau de relance field), add extra text if needed, fill in the signer.
5. Preview to review the first one, then Generate.

The template only prints the paragraph of the chosen level:

[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 1]]This is probably an oversight on your part.[[FIN]]
[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 2]]This is our second reminder. Please settle this invoice
as soon as possible.[[FIN]]
[[SI __NIVEAU_RELANCE__ eq 3]]Without payment within eight days, we will have to pass
the file to our collections department.[[FIN]]

2. An employment certificate for an employee

Template: to create (Word). Subject: User. Category of the template: Users, so that the assistant offers this subject directly.

__COMPANY_LOGO__
__COMPANY_NAME__ — __COMPANY_FORME_JURIDIQUE__ with a capital of __COMPANY_CAPITAL__
__COMPANY_ADDRESS__, __COMPANY_ZIP__ __COMPANY_TOWN__ — Registration no. __COMPANY_IDPROF2__

EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE

I, the undersigned, __COMPANY_MANAGERS__, acting for __COMPANY_NAME__, certify that
[[SI __EMP_GENDER__ eq woman]]Ms[[SINON]]Mr[[FIN]] __EMP_FIRSTNAME__ __EMP_LASTNAME__,
born on __EMP_BIRTHDATE__, has been employed by our company since __EMP_HIREDATE__
as __EMP_JOB__, working __EMP_WEEKLYHOURS__ hours per week.
[[SI __EMP_HIREDATE_END__ notempty]][[SI __EMP_GENDER__ eq woman]]Her[[SINON]]His[[FIN]] contract
ends on __EMP_HIREDATE_END__.[[FIN]]

This certificate is issued for all legal purposes.

Done in __COMPANY_TOWN__, on __DATE_TODAY__.
__SIGNATURE_MANAGEMENT__

Field settings: __SIGNATURE_MANAGEMENT__ as type Signature (formal), signer Myself (sign now). All the other variables are filled from the record of the employee and from that of the company.

1. Assistant: subject User, tick the employee.
2. Format Editable if the certificate must be reviewed, otherwise PDF.
3. At the end, Seal / sign now opens the PDF editor in signature mode: sign, save. The signed document can be verified from its signature card.

3. A quote laid out, with its lines and its VAT summary

Templates: « Devis stylisé (Office) » (delivered, Word) or « Devis stylisé (démo lignes) » (delivered, HTML). Subject: Proposal.

1. Assistant: subject Proposal (offered automatically by the category of the template), tick the proposal.
2. Give the file a meaningful name, for example Quote __DOC_REF__ - __SOCIETE_NOM__; the administrator can enter it as the File name format of the template so that it is offered automatically.
3. Fill in the « Approved » signer, check the preview: one table row per line of the proposal, then the summary per VAT rate and the totals.

To match your brand, copy the Word file, change the colors, font and logo, and upload it as a new template. The heart of the table fits in one row:

| [[LIGNES]]__LIGNE_DESC__ | __LIGNE_QTE__ __LIGNE_UNITE__ | __LIGNE_PU_HT__ | __LIGNE_TOTAL_HT__[[/LIGNES]] |

Add a « Discount » column that only shows when the line has a discount: [[SI __LIGNE_REMISE__ ne 0]]-__LIGNE_REMISE__%[[FIN]].

4. A letter in the language of each customer

Template: to create. Subject: Third party or Contact. Each third-party record carries its language (Dolibarr Default language field).

__COMPANY_NAME__                                         __SOCIETE_NOM__
                                                         __SOCIETE_ADDRESS__
                                                         __SOCIETE_ZIP__ __SOCIETE_TOWN__

[[SI __LANGUE__ eq fr]]Objet : nos nouveaux horaires[[SINON]]Subject: our new opening hours[[FIN]]

[[SI __LANGUE__ eq fr]]Madame, Monsieur,[[SINON]]Dear Sir or Madam,[[FIN]]

[[SI __LANGUE__ eq fr]]À compter du __EFFECTIVE_DATE__, nos bureaux seront ouverts de 8 h à 18 h.
[[SINON]]From __EFFECTIVE_DATE__, our offices will be open from 8 am to 6 pm.[[FIN]]

In the assistant, leave Document language on Automatic and tick all the customers: each one receives their version, with the date __EFFECTIVE_DATE__ written in the style of their language.

5. Thanking the best customers with their revenue

Template: to create. Subject: Third party, Relation filter: Customers.

Dear Sir or Madam,

This year, __SOCIETE_NOM__ placed orders with us worth __REVENUE_N__: thank you for your trust.
You are now a « __STATUS__ » of our network.
[[SI __GROWTH__ gt 0]]Your business with us has grown by __GROWTH__% over one year.[[FIN]]

In the assistant, the formulas are recalculated for each customer of the batch; a customer without an invoice this year gets 0 and the « Loyal customer » status.

6. An acknowledgment of debt with installments

Template: to create. Subject: Third party or Manual entry.

I, the undersigned, representing __SOCIETE_NOM__, acknowledge owing __COMPANY_NAME__ the sum of
__AMOUNT_IN_WORDS__ (__AMOUNT__), which I undertake to repay no later than
__DEADLINE__[[SI __NB_INSTALLMENTS__ gt 1]], in __NB_INSTALLMENTS__ monthly installments of __INSTALLMENT__[[FIN]].

With 4,500, « four thousand five hundred dollars » and three installments, the document writes « four thousand five hundred dollars (4,500) … in 3 monthly installments of 1500 »: the Number field is written with the thousands separator of the language, while a whole computed result stays as it is. For a document in French, the computed field EN_LETTRES(NOMBRE(__AMOUNT__)) writes the amount in words by itself (« quatre mille cinq cents euros »).

7. A contract sealed by the company and signed by the customer

Template: to create (Word). Subject: Third party. Two formal fields at the bottom of the contract:

1. Generate the contract (Editable, so that it can be reviewed).
2. At the end of the assistant, Seal / sign now: FileManager converts the contract to PDF and opens a new signature request, since the signer is the customer. Give their email address, place the signature zone, send.
3. Apply the company seal from the PDF editor (Signature tool, Company seals), before or after the customer's signature depending on your procedure.
4. Follow the request in ECM › Signatures › Requests sent; the automatic reminders are sent at the pace set by the administrator.

The signing circuit, the seal and the certificate of the company are described in the chapters Electronic signatures and Signature configuration.

23 PDF bundles

A bundle assembles several documents into a single numbered PDF, with a table of contents and bookmarks: cover page, quote, terms of sale, data sheets… It is defined once per type of record (for example « Complete quote » for commercial proposals) and then generated in one click. It can even become the official PDF of proposals.

Generating a bundle

On the proposal record, the choice of bundle and parts is remembered for this proposal and reused by automatic regenerations (validation, change of lines). The official bundle is not changed.

Defining a bundle (administrator)

Bundles are managed in Configuration › Office & PDF › PDF Bundles.

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs of Office & PDF.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. Filter by object type.
5. +: new bundle.
6. The reference: a click opens the bundle record.
7. The official badge: the bundle used by the fmbundle model.
8. The number of parts.
9. The status: only an active bundle is offered at generation.

The bundle record

1. The subtabs of Office & PDF.
2. Ref.
3. Label: default title of the PDF produced.
4. Object type: the type of record the bundle applies to; it decides which templates are offered and which variables are available.
5. Status: active or not.
6. Official bundle of the proposal PDF model (fmbundle): only one per entity.
7. Composition options (see below).

Composition options

1. Table of contents: a contents page, each entry being a link to its part.
2. Style: Classic (dot leaders), Modern (numbered badges), Table (banded rows), Minimal (airy, no leaders); a preview is redrawn. The title, accent color and text size are set above and below.
3. Table of contents position: after the first part (cover) or at the very beginning.
4. Continuous page numbering: a number on every page of the bundle; format (Automatic, « Page {PAGE} / {TOTAL} »…).
5. Number position: chosen on a mini page (top or bottom, left, center or right); preview of an odd page / an even page.
6. Duplex (alternate left/right): swaps left and right on even pages.
7. Hide the page numbers of Dolibarr documents: removes the « n / N » of the Dolibarr models included, keeping only the numbering of the bundle.
8. Banner (header image): an image placed at the top or bottom of the pages.

Other numbering settings: distance from the edges, size, color, bold, starting number (Start at) and Opaque background (hides what is underneath, useful when the footer of a Dolibarr document overlaps the number).

Finishing and parts

1. Font of the table of contents and of the numbering.
2. Bookmarks (one per part) and Open the PDF with the bookmarks panel shown.
3. Double-sided printing: each part starts on a right-hand page (blank pages are inserted if needed).
4. The properties of the PDF file: title, author, subject, keywords (variables accepted).
5. Page background: a PDF, PNG or JPEG drawn under each page (letterhead), with opacity and scope.
6. Bundle parts.
7. A part: its role (Cover page, Quote, Terms and conditions…), its source and the matching file or template.
8. Its options: Include in table of contents, Include in page numbering, Apply banner, Apply the page background, Optional at generation time.
9. Its inclusion conditions: Languages, Condition, Pages.
10. The trash can removes the part.

Bottom of the record

1. The arrows change the order of the parts.
2. Table of contents title (optional): otherwise, the role of the part.
3. Add a part.
4. Preview object and Preview: composes the bundle on this record without saving anything.
5. Save.
6. Cancel.
7. Delete the bundle.

Making the bundle the official PDF of proposals

1. On the record of an active bundle of the proposal type, tick Official bundle of the proposal PDF model (fmbundle). Check it with Preview on an existing quote.
2. In Setup › Modules/Applications › Proposals, document models section, enable fmbundle (and, if you wish, set it as the default model).
3. On a proposal record, choose the fmbundle model then Generate.

24 The document tray on an object record

The tray is a document panel that opens on the left of any Dolibarr record — proposal, order, invoice, shipment, project, third party, contract, intervention, product… It shows the files of the record and, if the administrator wishes, those of the linked records, with a preview, without leaving the record. You upload, read, send and sign there: everything the explorer does, right next to the record.

Opening and closing the tray

On the records enabled by the administrator, a Linked files button, with the number of documents, appears next to the reference. A click opens the tray; a second click closes it. FileManager remembers, record by record, whether you left it open: when you come back to the record, you find it in the same state. When the administrator has set it so, the Dolibarr left menu folds while the tray is open and comes back on hover (or with the Show menu button).

1. The Linked files button and the number of documents.
2. The toolbar (detailed below).
3. Search... filters the tree as you type; the circular arrow reloads the list.
4. Save as "REF-file.ext": prefixes the uploaded files with the reference of the record.
5. The document tree: the record, its subfolders, then the linked records (here the order created from the proposal) and their documents.
6. The viewer bar: pages, zoom, rotation, annotation, download, print.
7. The viewer: the selected document.

The toolbar

The document tree

• The first branch carries the reference of the record and holds its documents, including the PDF generated by Dolibarr.
• The subfolders of the directory of the record appear when the administrator has enabled them.
• The linked records (the order of a proposal, the invoices of an order, the shipment…) form separate branches, with their type, their reference and their number of documents, when the administrator has enabled Show linked objects documents. Their documents open like those of the record.
• Hovering shows the identity card of the file; small marks show a document that is shared, versioned or signed.
• Drag files from your computer onto the tree: the area changes color (« Drop files here ») and the files are uploaded into the documents of the record.

Adding a web link

A link to a document that lives elsewhere (a website, a shared space, a cloud file) is filed with the documents of the record.

1. The address: http, https, file or davs. A refused address is flagged below the field.
2. The label, optional; without a label, the address is shown.
3. Add the link (or Enter); Cancel closes the panel.

The link appears below the documents of the record; a click opens it in a new tab. Two links cannot have the same label on a record.

The context menu of the tray

Right-clicking a document of the tray opens the FileManager menu, suited to the type of file and to your rights. For a PDF:

• Preview: the document full size.
• Edit PDF: the PDF editor (chapter PDF editor).
• PDF tools: Compress PDF, Repair PDF, Split PDF, Merge PDF (chapter PDF tools).
• Download, Send by email, Share document.
• Signatures: Sign the document, Request a signature.
• Rename, Delete.
• Manage permissions of the file.
• Add to validity documents: track its expiry date (chapter Documents with a validity date).
• File versions.

For an image, Edit image opens the image editor; for an Office document, Edit with Collabora (or ONLYOFFICE) opens it online and Convert to PDF turns it into a PDF; a text file offers Edit text. The entries your rights do not allow do not appear; a read-only user sees Request access.

On a phone

On a small screen, the tray takes the whole width: the list of documents first, then the preview, which opens on touch (« Tap to view ») and closes to go back to the list. The floating mode (Pin preview) does not exist on a phone.

Administrator settings

In Configuration › ERP integration › Object cards, the administrator chooses the records that get the tray (by family: sales, suppliers, logistics, products and services, HR, third parties, custom modules…), and enables the display of subfolders, of the documents of linked objects and the automatic folding of the left menu (chapter ERP integration).

25 The documents of a Dolibarr record

Beyond the tray, FileManager enriches the record itself: the Dolibarr table of linked files gets its context menu, the record gains versions that can be loaded again, signature buttons, an alert when a mandatory document is missing, and a direct link to its folder in the ECM.

The context menu of linked files

In the Linked files (or Documents) tab of each record, and in the box of generated files at the bottom of the record, right-clicking a file opens the FileManager menu instead of the browser's.

1. The Linked files tab of the record, with the number of documents.
2. The menu: the same actions as in the tray — preview, PDF editing, PDF tools, download, sending by email, sharing, signatures, renaming, deleting, permissions, validity tracking, file versions.

You can thus rename, sign, share or version the document of a record without opening the explorer. The administrator can disable this menu to get the browser's back.

The Documents and Files tabs

• Hide Documents tab: when the tray is enabled for a type of record, the administrator can hide the native Dolibarr tab, so that everything goes through FileManager.
• Files tab: a tab added to records (proposals, orders, invoices…) lists the files of the record, marks the Main document (the PDF generated by Dolibarr), offers download, preview and deletion for each file, and groups the versions of the record below. Its Direct import of documents and Create a version buttons upload files and freeze the state of the record.

The versions of a record

On proposals, orders, invoices, supplier price requests, supplier orders and supplier invoices, the Versions button is added to the action buttons (and to the tray bar). A version freezes the state of the record: its lines, its terms (dates, payment terms and method, discounts, notes, document model, currency) and a copy of its PDF.

• Save version, with an optional label (« Before negotiated discount »), saves the current state.
• The list shows for each version its number, its date, its author, its amount excluding tax, its number of lines, its margin and its notes; the current version is marked Current version.
• Load this version replaces, after confirmation, the lines and the terms of the record with those of the version, and recalculates the totals. It is the way to go back to an earlier proposal after a negotiation. Dolibarr only accepts changes to the lines of a draft record: set the record back to draft before loading.
• A version can be deleted.

The administrator can also have a version created automatically at every generation of the document of the record, or only when the status, the amount or the number of lines changes (chapter Versions). The chapter Versions shows the versions window.

Signing from the record

When the administrator has enabled the signature buttons for this type of record (chapter Signature configuration) and the record is validated:

• Request a signature opens a request on the PDF of the record, as long as it is not signed.
• A badge near the reference shows Pending Signature or Signed.
• Signature status, with the number of pending requests, opens the details of the requests: signers, statuses, dates.

Missing documents

When a tree of mandatory documents is defined for this type of record (third party, contact, user, project, proposal, order, invoice, contract, member, ticket, intervention, shipment — chapter Folder trees and automation), the record shows an alert at the top: « 2 mandatory document(s) missing and 1 recommended document(s) », in orange if a mandatory document is missing, in blue if only recommended ones are. FileManager recognizes a document by its name (code, synonyms) and its extension: name the files with the code of the document, for example KBIS_2026.pdf or RIB.pdf. The full list of missing documents is in the explorer, Missing button (chapter Searching and finding).

Sending an email with the documents of the record

When the administrator enables File selection for emails, the Send email form of a record shows the Files from the document tray list: every file of the record, the main document flagged, to tick in order to attach them to the message in addition to the document offered by Dolibarr.

Generating a bundle from the record

When a PDF bundle exists for this type of record, it appears in the Doc template list of the Linked files box of the record: choose it, choose the optional parts, then Generate. The assembled PDF becomes the document of the record (chapter PDF bundles).

Linking an ECM folder to a record

Linking a folder to a record turns this folder into a « window » on the documents of the record: it shows the documents of the object, and whatever is put in it is filed in the documents of the object (and appears on its record). It is handy to file a site or a customer in the ECM tree while keeping the documents on the Dolibarr record.

1. Right-click an empty ECM folder, Link to an object... (configuration right required). The folder concerned is recalled 1.
2. Choose the Object type 2: third party, project, proposal, order, invoice, contract, shipment, supplier price request, supplier order or supplier invoice.
3. In Object 3, type at least two characters of the reference or the name, then pick the record in the list 4.
4. Click Link 5 (or Cancel 6).

The folder then carries a link badge. On the Dolibarr record, an ECM folder: folder name button opens this folder in the explorer. Remove the link to the object, in the same menu, gives the folder back its own content.

The administrator can also link a folder to a whole type of objects (every invoice, for example), and the folder tree templates create, for every new third party or project, folders that are already linked (chapter Folder trees and automation).

Opening the documents of a record in the explorer

On the Dolibarr records (third party, project, order, invoice, product, ticket, manufacturing order…), Open in the ECM opens the explorer on the documents of the record and of its linked records; for a third party or a project, also on those of all its business documents (proposals, orders, invoices, linked folders). The Record filter is already applied (chapter Searching and finding). From the explorer, the View linked object entry of the context menu goes the other way: it opens the Dolibarr record of a document.

26 The automatic viewer of lists

In Dolibarr lists — proposals, orders, invoices, shipments… — the automatic viewer shows the PDF of the row under the mouse in a panel on the left. You can thus go through fifty invoices watching them scroll by, without opening a single record.

Where to find it

The viewer exists on the lists of proposals, orders, invoices, shipments, receptions, supplier price requests, supplier orders and supplier invoices, contracts, interventions and projects, for the types the administrator has chosen. It requires the right to read the ECM.

Using it

1. The eye button (Show/Hide Preview Panel), next to the title of the list, opens or closes the viewer; it is struck through when the viewer is open. The choice is remembered for each type of list.
2. The row whose PDF is shown. Hover over a row: its PDF appears after a short moment. A click on the row (anywhere but on a link) shows it at once.
3. The reference of the document shown.
4. The buttons of the panel, from left to right: Show menu (the Dolibarr left menu, which the viewer replaces), Download the PDF, Pin preview, Full screen, Close.
5. The preview of the PDF, with the reader bar (pages, zoom, print).

• The ↑ and ↓ arrows move to the previous or next row, when the cursor is not in a search field.
• Pin preview detaches the panel into a floating window, which you move over the list; a second click puts it back on the left.
• Full screen opens the PDF over the page; Esc or the cross closes it.
• The viewer shows the PDF generated by Dolibarr for the row (the « reference.pdf » document of the record). For a row whose PDF has not been generated yet, the panel says so and invites you to generate it from the record.

Administrator settings

In Configuration › ERP integration › Object cards, Automatic viewer section, the administrator enables the feature and chooses the lists that get it (chapter ERP integration).

27 Manufacturing, lots and traceability file

For a company that manufactures (under ISO 9001 for example), FileManager keeps the documentary trail of every product delivered: the versions of manufacturing orders, bills of materials and shipments, the documents of every lot or serial number, and, on request, a traceability file: a single PDF that gathers all the documents of a manufacturing order or a shipment and of everything attached to it.

What FileManager adds to manufacturing

Versions of manufacturing orders, bills of materials and shipments

As for a proposal or an invoice, FileManager can create a version of the record every time its document is generated. The version holds a copy of the generated PDF (or of the bill of materials document, produced by an ODT model) and the state of the record at that moment: reference, status, lines.

1. An administrator opens Configuration › Lifecycle › Versions (chapter Lifecycle).
2. They enable automatic object versioning, then tick, in Objects to version automatically, Manufacturing orders (record only), Bills of materials (record only) and/or Shipments (record only). These rows only appear if the matching Dolibarr module is enabled.
3. They choose the Snapshot strategy. These records have no amount: the « smart » strategy creates a version when the status or the lines change; « at every generation » keeps every generation.
4. They save.

From then on, every generation of the PDF from the record creates a version, according to the chosen strategy. The Versions button of the record lists them: number, date, author, label, and the document of each version to download.

Documents of lots and serial numbers

The document tray (chapter The document tray) can be shown on the record of a lot or a serial number: material certificates, inspection reports, photos, follow-up sheets are close at hand.

1. An administrator opens Configuration › ERP integration › Object cards and ticks Lots / serial numbers in the enabled objects (chapter ERP integration).
2. On the record of a lot (Products › Lots/Serials), the tray shows the documents of the lot, filed in the document folder that Dolibarr gives to the lot.

Rights are those of Dolibarr: you need the right to read products to see the documents of a lot, and the right to create or modify products to add some, as in the Documents tab of the lot.

A folder tree can also be deployed automatically when a lot or a serial number is created, with the variables of the lot (__LOT_NUMBER__, __LOT_ID__, the reference and the label of the product): chapter Folder trees and automation.

Protecting the approved revision

A file version can be marked as important: it is then never deleted, not by hand, not by retention, not through the trash. It is the way to guarantee that the revision handed to the customer or approved by quality remains available. The full procedure is in the chapter Document versions, section « Protecting a version ».

The traceability file

The traceability file is a single PDF, built on request, that gathers all the documents of a manufacturing order or a shipment and of the records attached to it. You hand it to the customer with the product, or to an auditor who asks « show me everything about this production run ».

What it contains

• A cover page: the company, the record (manufacturing order or shipment) and its reference, the product and the quantity for a manufacturing order, the build date and its author.
• A clickable table of contents, organized like the product.
• Then, record by record, every document found in the document folder of each record (its subfolders included, like the Dolibarr Documents tab), each under a heading that says where it comes from:
  • PDFs, as they are;
  • images (JPG, PNG, GIF): one page per image, photos of the finished part or scanned labels included;
  • Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument), converted to PDF when Stirling PDF is configured (chapter Office and PDF); without it, they are listed as not included.
• A final inventory: each document included (section, record, file name, size, SHA-256 fingerprint that proves the file has not changed), the documents not included with the reason, and the number of linked records that the author was not allowed to read (counted, never named).

A Dolibarr module of your company can add its own records (quality checks, non-conformities…) linked to the manufacturing order or to the shipment through the Dolibarr Linked objects block: they then appear in the table of contents under their own name, with their documents (see the chapter For integrators).

Building a file

1. Open the record of the manufacturing order (MRP › Manufacturing orders) or of the shipment.
2. Click Traceability file among the action buttons. The button only appears if the administrator has enabled it and if you have the right to read the record and to write its documents (for a manufacturing order: read and create/modify manufacturing orders; for a shipment: read and create/modify shipments).
3. Wait: building can take from a few seconds to a minute depending on the number of documents.
4. A message gives the result:
   • « Traceability file saved: MO2610-0004-TRACE-20261018-143205.pdf (12 documents, 47 pages). »;
   • if something is missing: « Partial traceability file: 2 document(s) not included, 1 record(s) not readable with your rights - see the inventory at the end of the file. »
5. The file is in the documents of the record (Documents tab, tray or explorer). Open it to review it before passing it on.

Every build creates a new dated file, named <reference>-TRACE-<date>-<time>.pdf: a file already handed over is never replaced, and you keep a record of each handover. A traceability file never goes into another one. Every build is written to the FileManager history (« Traceability file built »), with the number of records, documents and pages.

Who sees what

The file only contains what its author could open themselves: every document is read with the Dolibarr rights of the author (manufacturing orders, bills of materials, products, lots, shipments, and the rights of the modules for their records). A linked record that the author cannot read brings no document; the inventory counts it without naming it. Two people with different rights can therefore get two different files for the same production run: build the file meant for the customer with an account that sees everything that must be in it.

Limits

A bill of materials that contains itself (directly or through a subassembly) does not make the build loop: the repetition is listed once. An unreadable or protected PDF is listed as « Unreadable PDF ».

Settings (administrator)

In Configuration › ERP integration › Object cards, « Dolibarr integration » section:

• Traceability file: shows the button on the manufacturing order and shipment records (disabled by default);
• Traceability file depth: the number of levels of subassemblies gone through, from 1 to 5 (3 by default).

Proving who viewed a document

A quality standard often requires knowing who had access to a document. The Configuration › Maintenance tab answers it (chapter Maintenance):

• Log views and downloads (Automatic purge subtab, disabled by default): every opening of a file (preview, viewer) and every download by a logged-in user is written to the history, with the screen it came from and, for a version, its number. The same file read again by the same person within a minute only counts once.
• Export (CSV) (History subtab): the list of the history, with the current filters, in a CSV file that opens directly in a spreadsheet; to attach to the audit file.

28 Sharing a document

A share link gives access to a document to someone who has no Dolibarr account: a customer, a supplier, an expert. The link can expire, be protected by a password, limit the number of downloads; you know who opened it and when.

Creating a share link

1. Right-click the document, Share document (or the share button of the action bar).
2. Complete the window, then Create share.
3. The link appears: copy it to send it, or let FileManager send it by email.

1. The document shared.
2. Share name: to find it again in your shares (for example « Electrical as-built - customer »).
3. Recipients (optional): email addresses or names. Leave empty to create a public link, valid for anyone who has the link.
4. Send email notification to the recipients, with a message.
5. Expiration date: after it, the link no longer works.
6. Password: leave empty for a link without a password.
7. Maximum downloads: beyond it, downloading is refused (0 = unlimited).
8. Cancel.
9. Create share.

A shared document carries the share badge in the explorer; a click on the badge opens the share window again, with the existing shares of the document.

What the recipient sees

1. The name of your company: « shared a file with you ».
2. Secure link.
3. The page numbering of the document.
4. Full screen and opening in a new tab.
5. The file: name, type, size.
6. Download (if the share allows it).
7. Details: type, size, time left before expiry, downloads left.
8. Visitor email: if the administrator has enabled it, the visitor gives their address (it can be required before downloading).
9. The privacy notice: accesses are recorded.

If the share is protected, the page first asks for the password. An expired, disabled or used-up link shows a message instead of the document.

Following and managing your shares

ECM › My shares lists the shares you have created (managers and administrators also see those of their team or of everyone, depending on their rights).

1. The title and the number of shares.
2. The filters of each column.
3. The reference (FS prefix): a click opens the share card.
4. Link: open the public page, or copy the link.
5. The file and the name of the share.
6. The status: active, expired, disabled.
7. Downloads made out of the maximum allowed.
8. Expiration (« Unlimited » without a date).
9. +: create a share from the list.

The share card

1. The tabs: Share Card, Notes, Log (each opening and each download, with date, visitor email address if it is collected, IP address and approximate location).
2. The reference and the file.
3. The Share URL, with copy and open.
4. The file path, the section (source) and the share name.
5. The recipients and the message.
6. The expiration date and the downloads made.
7. The permissions: download, preview, edit, password.
8. The actions: Modify, Deactivate (cuts the link without deleting it), Regenerate Token (the old link stops working, a new link is created), Send by email, Delete.

Sharing with another entity

With the Multicompany module, an entity (the parent company, for example) can give users of another entity (a subsidiary) access to a file or a folder without duplicating it. You need the « Manage cross-entity shares » right, and the administrator must have allowed the pair of entities (chapter Sharing).

1. Right-click the item, Manage permissions, access type Shared.
2. Open the To other entities tab, choose the guest entity, then the users or groups (Search for a user or group) and their rights: read, write, delete.
3. Give the share a label, then Save.

Guest users find the item in the Shared resources source of their explorer. Revoke sharing cuts access at once, and disables the public links created from this share. Only local files (ECM, ERP) can be shared between entities.

29 Permissions and access requests

On top of the Dolibarr rights, FileManager sets who can see, download, change or delete every folder and every file. Permissions are given on a folder and flow down into its subfolders; a document you cannot open can be the subject of an access request.

The principles

• Four separate rights: Read (see and preview), Download (save to one's computer), Write (create, upload, rename, move), Delete. You can therefore allow someone to view a confidential document on screen without being able to download it.
• Inheritance: an item without its own rule follows the rule of its parent folder, and so on up to the root.
• Mode: in restrictive mode (the default), an item without a rule is only open to administrators; in permissive mode, it is open to every user of the module. The administrator chooses the mode (chapter Security and access).
• Administrators always have access to everything. Dolibarr rights are still needed: without the read right of the module, nothing is visible.

Who can manage permissions

• administrators and the people who have the « Configure file access permissions » right;
• if the administrator has enabled it, each user on their own files (Restriction by user), and each manager on the files of their team (Managerial hierarchy).

Opening the permissions of an item

Right-click the folder or the file, Manage permissions (or click its padlock badge). The preview panel shows, under Effective access, what you can do with the item and where that right comes from (chapter Views and preview).

1. The current state: here, no rule of its own — the item follows the rule of its parent (or of the root), whose type is recalled.
2. Private: access reserved to the owner (and to administrators).
3. Shared: access given to chosen users and groups, with their rights.
4. Public: every user of this entity.
5. Cancel.
6. Save: stays greyed out as long as no type is chosen, so that no rule is created by mistake.

Giving access to people or groups

1. Choose the Shared type.
2. Stay on the Within this entity tab 1 (the other tab is for sharing between entities, chapter Sharing).
3. In Search for a user or group 2, type a name and pick the person or the group. The legend 3 recalls the four rights.
4. On the row added 4, switch on the rights you want 5: Read, Download, Write, Delete. The cross 6 removes the row.
5. Leave Notify by email 7 ticked to warn the people concerned.
6. Click Save 8.

The Filter list... field finds a row when many people have access.

Requesting access to a document

On Dolibarr records, the context menu of a document (in the Linked files panel or the table of documents) offers Request access when you cannot change it.

1. Right-click the document, Request access.
2. Choose the Type of access requested: Read only, Reading and writing or Full access (deletion included).
3. If needed, Request for another user (optional) (a colleague you name).
4. Explain your need in Message, then Send request.
5. The owner or the manager is warned (by email, Dolibarr notification, or both, depending on the configuration). The key badge « Pending access request » appears on the item.

You follow your requests in ECM › Access requests › Requests sent, and you are told of the answer.

Handling the requests received

ECM › Access requests › Requests received lists the requests waiting for you. For each one: the requester, the item, the level requested and the message. Approve gives the access requested; refusing asks for a Reason for refusal. A Response message can go with the decision. The requester is told in both cases.

A request without an answer expires after 7 days; a reminder is sent before it expires (delays set by the administrator). Administrators see every request in Configuration › Security & access › Access requests.

Encrypted documents

The administrator can have files encrypted on the server (chapter Security and access). For you, nothing changes: documents open, preview and are edited normally. The shield badge « Stored encrypted on the server » marks an encrypted file. Only difference: the content of an encrypted file is not indexed for the search in content.

30 Configuring the module

The whole configuration of FileManager is done on a single page, organized in twelve thematic tabs. It opens through Configuration in the FileManager left menu, or through the configuration icon of the module in Home › Setup › Modules/Applications. You need the « Configure the file manager » right.

Finding your way in the configuration

1. The twelve tabs: General, Sources & storage, Explorer, ERP integration, Office & PDF, Lifecycle, Signatures, Tree structure, Sharing, Security & access, Notifications, Maintenance.
2. The subtabs of the open tab, as pills.
3. Find a setting...: type a word (« trash », « Collabora », « OTP »…): suggestions appear, whatever the tab the setting is in. Pick one, or press Enter: the tab opens and the setting is highlighted.
4. The Status of each main feature: Enabled or Disabled.
5. Where to set it: the link leads to the tab that holds its switch.

The About subtab gives the installed version, the compatibility and the support information.

Extensions subtab: the modules that extend FileManager

Other Dolibarr modules (developed for your company, or bought) can build on FileManager: refuse some actions to some users, add an entry to the context menu of files or a button to the tray, declare folders to exclude, folder-tree variables or their own types of records. The Extensions subtab (reserved to administrators) says which ones do, so that no behavior stays unexplained.

1. The Extensions subtab, between Settings and About.
2. What a module that extends FileManager can do, and what it can never do.
3. The columns: Module/Application, Contexts, FileManager hooks used.
4. One row per module; here « No module extends FileManager. »
5. The path of the developer guide delivered with the module.

For each module, the table gives:

• its name and its description;
• the contexts it is plugged into (those of FileManager, or « Every context »);
• the FileManager hooks used: what it actually does; « Loaded, uses none of the FileManager hooks » if it is plugged in without doing anything, « Actions class not found » if its code does not load (module badly installed).

« No module extends FileManager. » means that FileManager works on its own. Whatever it declares, a module can never grant a right that FileManager refuses: it can only restrict, or add actions subject to the same checks. At the bottom of the tab, a link leads to the developer guide delivered with the module (chapter For integrators).

What each tab sets

The next chapters go through the tabs one by one. Each setting also has built-in help: the i icon next to its name, and the contextual help (F1).

31 Sources and storage

The Sources & storage tab decides which sources appear in the explorer, in which order, which one opens by default, which files can be uploaded — and connects outside storage (Nextcloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, S3, FTP, network share).

Sources subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The Sources and Cloud connections subtabs.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. File sources: ERP documents, ECM documents, Media, then the cloud connections created.
5. Enabled: shows or hides the source in the explorer.
6. Order: the position of the tab (1 = leftmost).
7. Section to open by default: the source shown when the explorer opens.
8. Save.
9. Upload settings (further down): Maximum size of an uploaded file (50 MB by default, within the limit of the PHP settings upload_max_filesize and post_max_size) and Allowed extensions.

Cloud connections subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Reminder: online Office editing and the PDF tools are set in Office & PDF.
5. New connection.
6. The list of connections: reference, label, type, server, status, date of the last test, change tracking, actions (edit, test, delete).
7. Incremental cloud changes: for Google Drive and OneDrive, a scheduled job reads the change feeds of the provider, without reading the whole tree again (Enable scheduled change polling, Maximum pages per run).
8. The capability matrix: what each provider can do natively (supported, partial, unavailable) and what FileManager adds.

Creating a connection

1. Ref. and Label: the label is the name of the tab in the explorer.
2. Type: Nextcloud / ownCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3 (and compatible), FTP, SMB/CIFS network share. The following fields depend on the type.
3. The help specific to the chosen type.
4. Server URL.
5. The credentials.
6. More Options: root folder, SSL check…
7. Status: Active, Read only (no upload, deletion or renaming), Position.
8. Save.
9. Test connection.
10. Cancel.

After saving, always test the connection, then open the tab of the source in the explorer with a non-administrator account: create a folder, upload a file, download it, delete it.

Nextcloud or ownCloud

1. In Nextcloud, create a service account, or an app password for the chosen account (Settings › Security › Devices & sessions).
2. In FileManager, New connection, type Nextcloud / ownCloud.
3. Server URL: the address you use in the browser (for example https://cloud.example.com).
4. Username and Password / Token (the app password).
5. In More Options, give the root folder to expose if needed.
6. Save, then Test connection.

Per-user OAuth2 authentication is also possible: create an OAuth 2.0 client in Nextcloud (Settings › Administration › Security › OAuth 2.0 clients) with the callback URL shown by FileManager, then copy the Client ID and the Client Secret.

Google Drive

1. In Google Cloud Console, create a project and enable the Google Drive API.
2. Configure the OAuth consent screen.
3. In Credentials, create an OAuth 2.0 client ID of the Web application type.
4. Add as an authorized redirect URI the address shown by FileManager, exactly (protocol, domain, path).
5. In FileManager, create the Google Drive connection and type the Client ID and the Client Secret (or use the Google service of the Dolibarr OAuth module).
6. Save, then connect the Google account and allow access.
7. Choose My Drive or a Google shared drive (Discover shared drives), then test the connection.

Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint

1. In the Azure portal (Microsoft Entra ID), register an application; write down its Client ID and its Tenant ID.
2. Create a Client Secret (Certificates & secrets).
3. Add the Microsoft Graph permission Files.ReadWrite.All (and Sites.ReadWrite.All for SharePoint) and have the administrator consent granted.
4. Configure the redirect URL shown by FileManager.
5. In FileManager, create the Microsoft OneDrive connection: OneDrive account type (Personal Account, Business Account or SharePoint document library), Client ID, Client Secret, Tenant ID.
6. For SharePoint: save, then Search sites, choose the site and the library (SharePoint Drive ID).
7. Save, connect the Microsoft account, test.

Amazon S3 and compatible storage (MinIO…)

1. Create a dedicated bucket and a technical user limited to this bucket.
2. Create the Amazon S3 connection: S3 bucket, S3 region, S3 access key, S3 secret key.
3. For compatible storage (MinIO…), fill in the S3 endpoint and tick Path-style addressing if your service requires it.
4. Save and test.

Network share (SMB/CIFS) and FTP

• SMB: host, Share name (e.g. Documents), Domain (optional), user, password. The Dolibarr server must have the SMB client (smbclient); its status is shown.
• FTP: host, Port, user, password, Passive mode, Use SSL (FTPS).

In both cases, use an account limited to the directory exposed, and test names with spaces and accents.

32 Explorer and search in content

The Explorer tab sets what users find in the explorer — trash, favorites, shortcuts, default view, thumbnails, preview panel, tooltips — and the indexing of the content of documents for search.

Display subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration; Explorer is open.
2. The Display (this page) and Content search subtabs.
3. Find a setting: type a word (« trash », « thumbnail ») to go to the setting.
4. Explorer features.
5. The name and the description of each setting.
6. The switches, applied immediately.
7. The next section, Display mode.

Content search subtab

For the search to find a word inside PDFs and Office documents, their text must be extracted and stored in an index. Indexing is disabled by default: it uses computing time and space.

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The Content search subtab.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. Current index: number of documents indexed and size of the index; extraction: the tools available on the server (reading Office files; for PDFs, pdftotext, Ghostscript or the built-in parser).
5. Enable content indexing.
6. Index storage: Database (MySQL FULLTEXT), or files on disk (so that the database does not grow).
7. Indexed sources (ECM Documents, ERP Documents) and Indexed extensions (empty = all those supported: pdf, docx, xlsx, pptx, odt, ods, odp, txt, csv, md…).
8. Max size per file (bytes) and Max stored characters per document: very large files are not indexed, and the stored text is truncated beyond the limit.

Further down: Index soft cap (MB), pdftotext path, and the Re-index now and Purge orphaned entries buttons.

33 ERP integration

The ERP integration tab sets the presence of FileManager on Dolibarr records: the document panel (tray), the automatic viewer of lists, the context menu of attached files, the Files tab and the selection of files for emails.

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
3. Document Tray (Object cards).
4. Document Tray: the main switch.
5. Activated objects: the types of records that show the tray (commercial proposal, order, invoice, supplier price request, supplier order and invoice, shipment, project, third party, lot…).
6. Subdirectories (shows the tree of subfolders of the record) and Collapse sidebar (folds the Dolibarr left menu when the panel is open).
7. Hide Documents tab: hides the native « Linked files » tab of the records where the tray is active.

The types of records offered

The Activated objects list groups records by family; tick those that will get the tray:

The list viewer

The Automatic viewer section (list pages) enables the preview of PDFs when hovering over rows, and chooses the lists concerned: proposals, orders, invoices, shipments, receptions, price requests, supplier orders and invoices, contracts, interventions, projects. How it works for the user is described in the chapter The automatic viewer of lists.

What the user sees, setting by setting

Other settings that affect records

Several features visible on records are set elsewhere, with their theme:

• record versions (proposals, orders, invoices, and read-only manufacturing orders, bills of materials, shipments) and their automatic creation: Lifecycle › Versions (chapter Lifecycle);
• the signature buttons per type of record: Signatures › Configuration by object type (chapter Signature configuration);
• required documents and the missing-documents alert: Tree structure › Auto-Tree (chapter Folder trees and automation);
• the PDF bundles offered in the list of models of the record: Office & PDF › PDF Bundles;
• who can see the documents of a record (restrictive mode, which also requires the Dolibarr right on the record): Security & access › Permissions (chapter Security and access).

34 Office and PDF

The Office & PDF tab gathers the editors (text, images, online Office), the PDF tools (Stirling PDF, Ghostscript, watermark), the Office templates, the library of document templates and the PDF bundles.

Editors subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs of Office & PDF.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. Built-in editors.
5. Text editor (text files) and Image editor (chapter The image editor).
6. Their switches.
7. Active Office editor: Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE Docs or none, then Save.
8. The block of the chosen editor (here Collabora Online, Active).

PDF tools subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Stirling PDF: the suite that compresses, repairs, splits, merges, converts to PDF, runs OCR and signs with a certificate.
5. Stirling PDF server URL (and API key if your server requires one).
6. Disable SSL verification: for a self-signed certificate only.
7. Test the Stirling PDF connection.
8. Ghostscript PDF: local PDF tools (thumbnails, compression, rewriting PDFs); the detected version is shown.
9. Ghostscript binary path (usually /usr/bin/gs).

Further down, the automatic PDF watermark: Enable PDF watermark, Apply to object types, Watermark text, Opacity, Font size, Color, Rotation angle.

Office templates subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Mail merge: variables and templates: the foldable list of every variable available, by type of record, and the syntax of the blocks.
5. Use company templates: blank documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…) are created from the templates of the company (letterhead, styles) rather than from empty files.
6. Manage the templates library: opens the Document templates subtab.
7. Manage bundles: opens the PDF Bundles subtab.
8. Select a document type: chooses the format whose company template you upload.

Document templates subtab

This is the library of mail-merge templates: those users see in New document. Their use is described in the chapter Mail merge: the step-by-step assistant, how to write them in the chapters Writing a template and Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data.

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. The number of templates; + creates a template: an Office file to upload (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument) or an HTML page to write in the built-in editor.
5. The name: a click opens the record of the template. The following columns give its type and its category (the type of Dolibarr record it relates to).
6. Visibility: Public (everyone) or Restricted (groups, users).
7. Variables: the number of fields of the template.

A new installation contains five practical templates — Standard letter, Certificate, Cover page, Internal memo, Invoice reminder — and demonstrators that show every possibility: Demo — all fields, Styled quote (HTML and Word), the Word, Excel and PowerPoint demonstrators, the Complete demonstrator (Word table of contents and page numbering) and Demonstrator — advanced formulas. They are written in the language of the administrator who activates the module (FileManager 4.5.470 or later: English, Spanish, German, Italian or Arabic, right to left; French for another language): the name, the field labels, the proposed values and the text of the documents; the variables and keywords (__SOCIETE_NOM__, [[SI]]…) are the same in every language. An installation made before 4.5.470 keeps the French templates (Courrier type, Relance facture…). Change them, duplicate them or delete the ones you do not use: a deleted template is never created again.

The record of a template

1. Mail merge: variables and templates: a foldable reminder of the variables, conditional blocks, table rows and formulas.
2. The name shown in « New document ».
3. The description shown below the name. Give the recommended subject in it (« Recommended subject: Proposal »): the assistant reads it to preselect this subject.
4. The Filename format suggested by the assistant, variables included: Quote __DOC_REF__ - __SOCIETE_NOM__.
5. The type of the template and its file.
6. The Preview image (PNG, JPEG, GIF or WebP), optional: without an image, an icon of the format is used.
7. The Category (linked object): the type of record the template relates to. The assistant preselects this subject, and the HTML editor offers the variables of this record.
8. Restrict to the object right: the template is only offered to users who can read this type of record, and the assistant imposes this subject.
9. The visibility: Public, or Restricted with the Allowed groups and the Allowed users.
10. The preview of the template file, with its variables visible.

An HTML template written online

An HTML template has no file: its content is written in the record, with a complete text editor (headings, tables, images, colors, source code).

1. The Mail merge: variables and templates reminder.
2. The name.
3. The description.
4. The Filename format (the greyed text is only an example).
5. The type: HTML.
6. Insert a variable: the palette of variables, by group — System variables, variables of the linked record (depending on the category), Template fields, Table of contents (PDF bundle); a click inserts the variable at the cursor.
7. The editor of the body of the template.

The fields to fill

The Fields to fill section, at the bottom of the record, sets each variable of the template: label, type, options, default value, formula, ERP data, signer. It is described in detail in the chapter Fields, formulas and Dolibarr data. The bottom of the record carries Save, Cancel and Delete.

PDF Bundles subtab

See the chapter PDF bundles.

35 Lifecycle: versions and validity dates

The Lifecycle tab sets the history of documents (versions of files and records, retention, clean-up) and the documents with a validity date (numbering, document types).

Versions subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration; Lifecycle is open.
2. The Versions (this page) and Docs with validity subtabs.
3. Find a setting: type a word (« retention », « amount ») to go to the setting.
4. Version statistics: number of versions, of versioned files, space used. Watch the space: every version is a complete copy of the file.
5. Enable file versioning (enabled by default): the editors, replacing a file and the Create a version button keep the previous state (chapter Versions).
6. Sections with versioning enabled: the sources whose files are versioned. By default the ECM and the ERP documents; network shares (SMB), Nextcloud, S3, Google Drive, OneDrive and FTP can be added.
7. Automatic object versioning (see below).

1. Object version management: the « Versions » button of Dolibarr records.
2. Enable automatic object versioning: a version of the record is created when its document is generated.
3. Objects to version automatically: commercial proposals, customer orders and invoices, price requests, supplier orders and invoices; and, when their modules are enabled, manufacturing orders, bills of materials and shipments, whose versions are read-only (chapter Manufacturing, lots and traceability file).
4. Snapshot strategy: when a generation of the document of the record creates a version (see the table below). By default: Smart.
5. Significant amount change (%): the threshold of the « amount » and « smart » strategies; 1% by default.
6. Retention mode: Unlimited (keep all versions), By number (the default), By duration, or Combined (number AND duration).
7. Maximum number of versions to keep per file: 10 by default.
8. Retention (days): 365 by default.
9. Enable automatic cleaning (disabled by default): applies retention every day. As long as it is disabled, nothing is deleted, whatever the mode chosen. The row below, Recipient of the version cleanup reports, recalls that the recipients of its reports are set in the Notifications tab.
10. Scheduled task: the status of the clean-up job and a link to its configuration.

How retention chooses the versions to delete, file by file:

• By number: the N most recent versions are kept, the oldest are deleted.
• By duration: versions older than N days are deleted.
• Combined: a version is deleted as soon as one of the two rules asks for it (beyond the N most recent, or older than N days).
• Never deleted: the current version and the protected versions (« Mark as important », chapter Versions), which do not count in the number either.

Docs with validity subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The Docs with validity subtab.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. The numbering mask of the customizable model (for example DOC{yy}{mm}-{0000}) and its Save. The Simple model produces DOCYYMM-NNNN.
5. Status: the active numbering model.
6. New type of document.
7. The default validity and reminder of each type (the table also gives its reference, its label, its category, the type of object concerned and whether it is active).
8. Actions: edit, delete.

A document type describes a family of documents with an expiry date (insurance certificate, company registration extract, training certificate, vehicle inspection…). New type asks for:

• a reference and a label, an optional description;
• a category, to sort the types;
• the allowed object types: the records this document can be attached to (third party, contact, user, project…);
• the Default validity (days): the expiry date suggested when a document of this type is saved (365 for a yearly document);
• the reminder: how many days before expiry the reminder is sent;
• the position in the lists, and active (an inactive type is no longer offered for new documents).

These values are only suggestions: each document can have its own dates (chapter Documents with a validity date). The ECM › Validity › Document types page of the left menu opens the same screen.

36 Signature configuration

The Signatures tab has seven subtabs: company seals, signature providers, reminders, display, digital certificates, settings per type of record, and security of external signers. It is reserved to administrators and to users who manage seals.

Company seals

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The seven subtabs.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. The list of seals: reference, label, preview, certified timestamp (TSA), status, and the edit and delete actions.
5. Add seal.

1. The reference, the label (shown to users) and the description.
2. The Seal image: the scanned stamp, preferably a PNG with a transparent background.
3. The Authorized users who may apply this seal (in addition to the « Use the company seal on PDFs » right).
4. Certified timestamp: has the date of each application certified by a timestamping authority.
5. The TSA server URL of that authority (for example an RFC 3161 service).
6. The position: the display order among the seals.
7. The status: an inactive seal is no longer offered.
8. Save or Cancel.

Signature providers

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. The default provider: Internal Signature (the FileManager signing portal), DocuSeal or Yousign.
5. Enabled: switches DocuSeal on.
6. The URL of your DocuSeal instance (self-hosted or online).
7. The API key created in DocuSeal.
8. Test connection checks the address and the key.

1. Allow external P12 certificate upload: the external signer can sign with their own digital certificate on the portal (disabled by default). The certificate is only used for the time of the signature, then deleted from the server.
2. Enabled: switches Yousign on.
3. Sandbox Mode: the Yousign test environment, with no legal value; switch it off for production.
4. The Yousign API key.
5. Test connection.
6. Save the addresses and keys (the switches, for their part, apply at once).

For DocuSeal and Yousign, declare at the provider the callback address (webhook) given by FileManager, so that the status of requests and the signed document come back by themselves. API keys are stored encrypted.

Reminders

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Enable automatic reminders of pending requests.
5. Days before the first reminder (3 by default), counted from the creation of the request.
6. Days between reminders (2).
7. Maximum number of reminders per request (3).
8. Notify on expiration: warns the author when a request expires without a signature.
9. The text of the reminder email is changed in the Dolibarr email templates (« Signature reminder emails » template); the link leads there.
10. Save.

Further down, Test and statistics: Test the cron now runs the reminder job at once, and a table counts the requests in total, pending, pending with or without a reminder, and expired but still pending. Reminders are sent by the scheduled job FileManager signature reminders (chapter Scheduled jobs).

Display

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Show timestamp on signatures: the date and time under each signature or seal.
5. Show author name: the name of the person who applied the signature or the seal.
6. Show social links of the company on the signing page.
7. Enable comment section: the signer can leave a comment when signing.
8. The reminder of the effect of these settings in the PDF editor.

Digital certificates

FileManager can create a digital certificate for each user, which they use to sign cryptographically (chapter Electronic signatures).

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Enable certificate generation.
5. The Certificate type: self-signed (each certificate vouches for itself) or signed by the internal CA (the certificate authority of the company, created by FileManager, signs them all).
6. The Key size: 2048 or 4096 bits.
7. The Validity period: 1, 2 or 3 years.
8. Automatically generate when saving a signature: a user who saves their signature gets their certificate at once.

1. Require a password to protect each certificate.
2. Minimum password length (8 characters).
3. Allow users to import their own certificate (a certificate bought from a recognized authority, for example).
4. Allow admin to upload certificates for users; the user then chooses its password.
5. The Organization written into the certificates of the internal authority.
6. The Country (two-letter code).
7. The status of the authority: as long as it is not initialized, a button creates it; once created, Export the CA certificate provides the root certificate to install on the computers that must recognize your signatures.

At the bottom, statistics count the certificates issued, active and expired.

Configuration by object type

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. The Simple model: a number of the form SIGYYMM-NNNN (year, month, counter per entity); the Prefix can be changed, then Save.
5. The Advanced (mask) model: a number following a Dolibarr mask, for example SR{yy}{mm}-{0000}.
6. The Example of the next number.
7. The status: the active model.
8. The Signature buttons on object cards section, further down.

1. Signature buttons (cards and explorer) (see the box at the top of the chapter).
2. Signature email sender: disabled (recommended), the invitation leaves from the Dolibarr sending address, in the name of the user, with their address as « Reply-to »; enabled, it leaves directly from the address of the user — only if your domain allows the server to send on its behalf (SPF, DKIM), otherwise it may be rejected as spam.
3. Enabled object types: the records that show the « Request a signature » button (proposals, orders, invoices, contracts, shipments, interventions, supplier orders). The button only appears on a validated record.
4. Save.

Security, evidence and timestamping

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Enable OTP verification: a one-time code is sent by email to the external signer before they can sign.
5. OTP Expiration: how long the code is valid (15 minutes).
6. Session timeout: the inactivity allowed after the code is checked before a new code is asked for (10 minutes).
7. Max OTP Attempts before blocking (5).

1. Signature assurance level: the legal level and the eIDAS level depend on the provider, the plan subscribed, the identity check and the certificate; FileManager does not assign an eIDAS level by itself.
2. Require geolocation: the signer must agree to share their location, which is recorded in the evidence.
3. Require name confirmation: the signer types their name again to confirm their identity.
4. Save.

37 Folder trees: import, scripts and automation

The Tree structure tab structures the ECM: import a complete filing plan in one go, link folders to Dolibarr records, upload files in bulk from a computer, and automatically create the folders of every new third party, project or user.

Structure import subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The Structure import, Import scripts and Auto-Tree subtabs.
3. Find a setting: type a word to go straight to the setting you want.
4. Download template: a CSV file in the numbered layout (see below), with a usage guide and an example structure, both in French.
5. Predefined structures by business type: General SME, Commerce / Distribution, Services company, Industry / Manufacturing, Building / Construction, Association / NGO.
6. The i icon shows the details of the structure.
7. Download (CSV): the structure, to adapt it before importing.
8. Import directly: creates the structure as it is.

Importing a custom tree

1. File format: CSV (semicolon separator) or Excel; columns, in this order, Path, Description, Color, Icon, ERP link; a path is written 01-MANAGEMENT/General meetings. The first line holds the names of the columns; only their order counts.
2. ERP Link column: links the folder to a type of Dolibarr object, with the values listed (societe, propal, commande, facture, projet, supplier_proposal, commande_fourn, facture_fourn, expedition, contrat, fichinter, ticket, product, stock, holiday, expensereport, member, don, mrp_mo).
3. Target source: the ECM or a connected storage.
4. Target folder: Browse...; empty = root.
5. The file to import.
6. Import tree.

Example import file

Path;Description;Color;Icon;ERP link
01-Management;General management;#2c3e50;fa-building;
01-Management/Committees;Minutes of the committees;;fa-users;
02-Customers;One folder per customer;#2980b9;fa-handshake;societe
03-Sales/Quotes;Every quote;;fa-file-invoice;propal
03-Sales/Invoices;Every customer invoice;;fa-file-invoice-dollar;facture
04-Purchasing/Supplier invoices;;;fa-receipt;facture_fourn
05-HR/Expense reports;;;fa-wallet;expensereport

One line per folder; parent folders are created when needed. A filled ERP link column turns the folder into a window on the documents of that type of record: « 03-Sales/Invoices » will show the documents of every invoice, filed by invoice.

The file can also follow the numbered layout of the downloaded template: Numero;Parent;Libelle;Description;Couleur;Icone;LiaisonERP;Permissions. Each folder has a number (1, 1.1, 1.2…), the number of its parent (empty for a top-level folder) and its name in Libelle; the Permissions column is not used. Keep this first line as it is, in French: it is what makes FileManager recognize the numbered layout. Lines starting with # are ignored.

Linking a folder to Dolibarr records

1. Source Section: the ECM, or a connected storage. The linked content is always that of the ERP documents.
2. Source folder path: the ECM folder; Browse chooses it, + creates it.
3. Target object type: third parties, proposals, orders, invoices…
4. Specific object ID: one specific record (search by reference, name, customer…); empty = all the objects of the type.
5. Subfolder in documents (optional): a subfolder of the documents of the object (archives, contracts…).
6. Custom display name in the tree.
7. Display as virtual folder: the ERP content is shown directly in this folder.
8. Create the connection.
9. The list of ERP object links: filters, grouped actions (enable, disable, delete).

Linking a folder to all invoices, for example, gives in the ECM an « Invoices » folder that shows the documents of every invoice, filed by invoice. To link a single folder to a single record, the simplest way is still the Link to an object... context menu (chapter The documents of a Dolibarr record).

Import scripts subtab

Import scripts upload in bulk the content of a folder of a computer or a server (an old ECM, a network share) into FileManager, keeping the tree.

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. The Security warning: the API key allows files to be put on the server; do not share it, change it if in doubt.
5. The status of the import tables.
6. Current API key (masked) and its status.
7. Regenerate API key.

1. External import authorization: to switch on just before an import; it switches itself off after each import (successful or not).
2. Antivirus scan: imported files go through the Dolibarr antivirus if it is configured.
3. Email notification to the administrator after each import.
4. Blocked extensions by the security configuration of Dolibarr.
5. The notification email address of the import.
6. The scripts to download: PowerShell (Windows 10 and later), Windows Batch (CMD), Shell (Linux and macOS).

Importing a folder with a script

1. Generate an API key if not done yet (Regenerate API key), then download the script suited to the computer that holds the files.
2. In FileManager, switch on External import authorization.
3. Further down, How to use shows the command ready to copy for each script, with your key; choose the target source (the ECM or a connected storage).
4. Run the command on the computer; the script goes through the folder, recreates its subfolders and uploads the files, showing its progress.
5. The authorization switches off at the end; the import appears in the import history, with its target folder and its result.
6. Check the result in the explorer, then apply the permissions.

• -TargetPath "/" imports at the root of the source; -TargetPath "/Archives/2025" imports into that folder. The structure of subfolders is kept.
• For a connected storage, add its reference: -Section "<reference>" (PowerShell), /SECTION:<reference> (Batch), or as the fourth argument (Shell).
• The extensions blocked by the Dolibarr security are refused, and the antivirus is applied if it is configured.

Auto-Tree subtab

1. The tabs of the configuration.
2. The subtabs.
3. The setting search.
4. Automatic deployment enabled and Missing document reminders activated.
5. Their switches.
6. Create a tree template.
7. Redeploy a tree: applies a template to existing records.
8. Predefined templates: Customer tree, Supplier Tree, Employee, Project Tree…
9. The event that triggers the creation: Creation of third parties, User Creation, Project creation, Quote validation, Member creation…, and the path created, with its variables (Clients/__THIRDPARTY_NAME__).
10. Install: adds the predefined template to your templates.

A template describes the folders to create, their permissions, their links to the record and the expected documents (mandatory or recommended). The expected documents that are absent feed the list of missing documents of the explorer, and reminders are sent every day if they are enabled (chapter Searching and finding).

The predefined templates

The table shows the paths of a French installation. From FileManager 4.5.466 on, the root folders are written in the language of the administrator who installs the template, like the folders inside them: Customers, Suppliers, HR/Employees, Projects, Deals, Members in English; a template installed earlier keeps its path. Install copies the template into your templates: you can then change it freely (folders, expected documents, path — Customers/__THIRDPARTY_NAME__, for example).

Creating a template

1. Ref., Label and Description of the template.
2. The Triggering event: choose the group (Third parties, Users, Commercial (Sales), Purchasing (Suppliers), Projects, Contracts, Interventions, Shipping/Receiving, Tickets, Members, Products, Stock, Calendar…) and the object, then tick one or more events: Creation, Modification, Validation, closing, Paid, Signed… Each event selected shows as a chip. FileManager reacts to 66 Dolibarr events.
3. The Application Conditions, optional: the template only applies to the records that meet them (see below).
4. The Root path of the folder created, with its variables: Browse chooses the starting folder, Add variable inserts a variable of the chosen event.
5. Notify on deployment: warns by email when a tree is created.
6. Priority: the order of execution when several templates react to the same event (0 = first, 100 = last). Active, just below, puts the template into service.
7. Create saves the template; you then add its folders and its expected documents.

Path variables

Variables are replaced by the values of the record at deployment time. Every record has the date and entity variables; each type of record adds its own.

Examples: Customers/__THIRDPARTY_NAME__, Sites/__YEAR__/__PROJECT_REF__ - __PROJECT_TITLE__, Suppliers/__THIRDPARTY_COUNTRY__/__THIRDPARTY_NAME__, HR/Leave/__YEAR__/__USER_NAME__.

Application conditions

Conditions restrict the template to some records: customers and not suppliers, the third parties of a country, the projects of a certain type… The editor is built with the mouse:

• Add condition: a field of the record (for a third party: customer type, supplier, status, name, customer and supplier codes, town, zip code, country, state, legal form, headcount, entity type, intra-community VAT…), an operator and a value.
• Operators: is equal to, is different from, is in, is not in, contains, does not contain, starts with, ends with, is empty, is not empty, is greater than, is less than, is between, matches pattern.
• Combine with: AND (every condition), OR (at least one), XOR (an odd number of them, only one if there are two); NOT (invert) reverses the result. Add group nests a group of conditions with its own operator.
• Expert mode (JSON) shows and edits the same conditions as text, for example {"condition": "AND", "rules": [{"field": "client", "operator": "in", "value": [1, 3]}, {"field": "country_code", "operator": "equal", "value": "FR"}]}: customers (and customer-prospects) located in France.

The folders of the template

Once the template is created, its record shows the Folder structure. For each folder: its name, its Parent folder (or the root), its icon (a Font Awesome icon, fa-folder by default) and, if needed, a Related item:

• a folder linked to Proposals, Orders, Invoices, Contracts, Projects… is not an empty folder: it shows the documents of those business documents;
• with Filter by trigger object ticked, it only shows the documents of the record that triggered the template (the quotes of this customer); unticked, every document of this type.

The table of folders recalls the path of each one, its related item (with a funnel chip when it is filtered) and the number of expected documents. Further down, the Deployment history lists the records for which the template created a tree, with the date and the result.

Expected documents

In a folder of the template, declare the documents that should be in it:

FileManager recognizes a document by its file name: the extension must be in the list, then the name must contain the code, a known synonym, or look like the label. Synonyms exist for the common codes (mostly French words): KBIS (k-bis, extrait_k, rcs…), RIB (iban, banque, coordonnees_bancaires…), ID (cni, passeport, piece_identite…), CONTRAT, ASSURANCE (rc_pro, attestation_assurance…), URSSAF (vigilance, attestation_vigilance…), DEVIS, FACTURE, BC, BL, PHOTO, CV, DIPLOME. So Kbis-2026.pdf, extrait_k_mars.pdf or RIB_Bank.pdf are recognized without any setting. For English file names, choose codes that your users will actually type (IBAN, INSURANCE, PASSPORT…).

Missing document reminders

Every day, the scheduled job for missing documents lists the documents that are absent and sends the reminders that are due. A reminder groups into a single email all the missing documents of a record. It goes to the people who can get them:

• the user who triggered the tree (the one who created the record);
• for a third party: its assigned sales representatives;
• for a user: the employee themselves and their manager;
• for a project: the project manager;
• for a member: the member themselves;
• and the copy addresses set by the administrator.

Each one receives the message in their language. Reminders stop as soon as the document is uploaded, or after the maximum number planned. The follow-up can be seen in the Missing list of the explorer (Reminders column, chapter Searching and finding).

Redeploying a template on existing records

A template only reacts to the events that happen after it is created. For the records already present: Redeploy a tree, choose the company, the template and the path (Use the template default path or a custom path), then Deploy. The page also shows the existing deployments and the folder links of the record; Clean existing data starts again from scratch for a record whose tree was moved by hand.

Deleting a template

When a template is deleted, FileManager asks what to do with the folders already created: Keep folders with content, archive empty ones (the cautious choice), Archive all folders in _archives (with date), or Delete all folders (to the trash if enabled).

38 Sharing configuration

The Sharing tab sets the tracking of public links (visitor email address, location), the external public portal, the numbering of shares and the allow-list of sharing between entities.