Configure your Story

Your Story has tools to keep organized and consistent across the Evidence page, Fact timelines, and Drafts and Depositions. Use this article to understand these tools and develop some best practices for configuring your Story.

To learn about how to set Storybuilder permissions, see our Administer Storybuilder Permissions article.

Requirements

Any user with Edit permission on the Story can configure the Story with the tools described in this article.

Access configuration tools

You configure your Story from the Evidence page. To get here, go to Storybuilder > Evidence.

Labels 

Labels enable you to organize your information in the Evidence page by issues, people, and any additional categories you deem important. They can be applied to any Fact, document, highlight, or testimony in your Story, as well as highlights in your transcripts. Labels are  separate from codes and ratings applied to the documents during review.

Every label must belong to a category. The five default categories are: People, Issues, Fact timelines, Depositions, and Drafts. 

You can apply Story labels to Facts, and apply them to documents directly from Evidence panels in Depositions and Drafts. Learn more about creating and using Story labels in our Evidence page article.

Storybuilder settings

Storybuilder settings include settings that affect everyone in your project and settings that only affect your individual view. This article covers the settings that affect everyone in the project. To learn more about customizing metadata, which only affects your view, see our Story Evidence Page article.

Choose the document version to display in your Story (prefix priority list)

If you have multiple versions of a single document on the platform, such as a native and a produced version, you can choose which version of the document to display throughout your Story and its associated objects. You might use this feature if you have run a production and want to make sure that only the produced versions of your documents are referenced in your Story. If you prioritize the produced version prefix, that version is always displayed in Storybuilder, even if a user adds the original (# prefix) document. This feature also ensures you never have two or more of the same document version within your Story; only one will ever be displayed.

To set your prefix priority list:

1. Go to the Storybuilder Evidence page.
2. Select Settings > Version Settings.
   
3. Choose your order of preference for document versions from the filter bar at the bottom and use the arrows, or drag and drop the prefixes. The versions with prefixes higher on the list are prioritized.
   
4. When you are finished prioritizing your prefixes, select Submit.

Now, for all documents referenced throughout your Story (including on the Evidence page, Facts, Depositions, and Drafts), the version with the highest prioritized prefix is displayed. 

For example, when the prefix priority order is first DEF, then ABC, and finally #:

• Document A has three versions: #1.1, ABC123, and DEF123.
  Based on this prefix priority list, any reference to Document A will display the DEF123 version in this Story.
• Document B has three versions, as well: #2.1, ABC456, and GHI456.
  Document B does not have a DEF version on the platform, but it does have an ABC version, which is the next prefix on the prefix priority list. Therefore, any reference to Document B will display its ABC456 version.
• Any documents with neither DEF nor ABC versions on the platform will display the control numbered version of the document. 

Select Here's how it works on the prefix priority list to see a visual depiction of this tool.

Set the document name and date priority

Documents added to a Story are automatically named and dated according to the highest prioritized metadata value from a pre-populated name and date priority list in the associated Evidence page. This can be configured in the Evidence page's settings under Document names and dates.

By default, Everlaw titles the documents in the following order of metadata fields: 

1. Title
2.  Subject
3.  Filename
4.  Bates number
5.  Control number 

The default order of date fields is: 

1. Primary Date
2. Date Sent
3. Date Sent

To edit this priority order:

1. Select Settings > Document names and dates.
   
   This opens the Document names and dates dialog.
2. [Optional] You can add additional fields by typing them into the bottom of the panel. You can remove a field by pressing the red "X" next to it.
3. Drag and drop the fields in their preferred order.
   
4. Once you have set your priority order, select Save.

If a metadata field is included in the Name priority list, it appears as a renaming option if you edit the title of any document in the Story.

If you choose to edit a document's date value, you can select any of the metadata values associated with it, even if they are not on the Date priority list.

Rename your Story

Required permissions: Any user with Full Access to a story can give a Story a new name.

The default name for every Story is Project Story. To rename your Story:

1. Select the title in the top left
   
2. Type in the new name
3. Press Enter on your keyboard.

To favorite your Story, select the Favorite this Story button, which adds your Story to Favorites on your Everlaw Homepage. 

What's next?

Once you have configured your story, you can move on to understanding the Dashboard, or creating your first Draft or Fact timeline.