Managing briefing book templates

Generating reports takes only a matter of seconds in ClearPoint thanks to Briefing Book templates. Briefing Book templates allows you to export multiple pages out of ClearPoint to share with a wider audience. These instructions will review how to manage your briefing books.

Creating briefing book template

Documents library

Click on ‘Briefing Books’ under the ‘Documents’ tab in the control panel. Click on the PDF icon in the top right corner. A list of previously generated briefing books will appear. To filter on these books, use the search bar at the top of the page. To see only the books that you’ve created, uncheck the ‘All Users’ box. Click on the Download icon next to the appropriate book to view.

A list of previously created templates will appear. Click on the plus icon in the upper right hand corner. A new window will appear. Name the template. Select the level of Access you would like the book to have. To learn more about access rules, please see this article.

If you’re interested in making this report ADA accessible, please try creating it as an HTML export!

Editing a briefing book template

In order to access Briefing Books, click on Documents in the left Control Panel to expand the options. Select Briefing Books.

A list of previously created templates will appear. Click on the Pencil icon next to the appropriate template.

A new window will appear with options to edit.  Once your changes are made, click Save.

Adding or removing a PDF cover page

In order to upload a cover page to ClearPoint, you will first need to create a cover page using Word or PowerPoint, and save it as a PDF with the same page size and orientation you plan to use for your briefing book. By default, this is 8.5″ x 11″ landscape.

In the edit window click the gray area under PDF Cover Page to open the document selector and add your document. You can also drag a file into this area from your document library.

To remove a cover page, click the Delete icon.

Zooming in and out on a briefing book

The zoom function can be useful if you need to fit more or less items on a page. For example, zooming out to 90% allows more items to fit on to a single page.

To zoom in and out on a briefing book, click Documents and click Briefing Book. Click on the Pencil icon to edit the briefing book. On the edit menu click Template. Adjust the Zoom size accordingly.

Password protecting a briefing book

Organizations can add passwords to briefing book templates. This feature is useful for those who are sharing sensitive information such as finances. When others view the briefing book PDF document, they will be required to enter to password.

In the edit window, use the Password field to set the desired password. If this field is left blank, the briefing book will not have a password. Click Save.

Adding a watermark

Adding a watermark to your briefing book can be used to protect or indicate validity of the briefing book. Type the watermark text into the Watermark field.  A common usage of this field that we see is marking the briefing book as a “DRAFT” so that readers know this report is not yet finalized. After completing all changes, click Save.

After generating the briefing book template, the text indicated in the Watermark field will appear in gray across each page of the briefing book.

Editing page size or orientation

Within the edit window, use the Page Size dropdown menu to select one of the following size options:

• Letter: 8.5″ x 11″
• Legal: 8.5″ x 14″
• A4: 21cm x 29.7cm
• Tabloid: 11″ x 17″

Check the box next to Portrait Mode to switch from landscape to portrait orientation.

When all changes have been made, click Save.

Selecting briefing book contents

Users can control elements displayed in briefing books by editing briefing book templates. Open Documents in the control panel and click on Briefing Books.

To edit content in an existing briefing book template, click the pencil icon next to the template. If creating a new briefing book template, click the plus icon. A new window will appear.

Click into the Scorecard tab to begin selecting content. Check the box next to each scorecard you would like to include elements from. When you select a scorecard, its name will appear indented under the Scorecard tab. Click on one of the scorecards from this list. Use the tabs (Scorecard, Objective, etc.) at the top of this window to select the type of element page that will be included from this scorecard. Check the box next to the summary reports and detail pages to be included. You can use Check All to include all detail pages listed. Include Linked Pages will include elements linked to the summary report(s) you have selected.

Including linked elements from a summary report in a briefing book

Including linked elements from a summary report allows you to pull the detail pages of elements that are included in a summary report into a briefing book.

Using the Scorecard, Objective, etc. tabs, locate and check the box next to the summary report. Check the box next to Include Linked Pages. Note that individual elements of this type can no longer be selected from this scorecard. Click Save.

Reviewing briefing book contents

Click into the Contents tab. All included pages are visible here with Summary and Detail labels as well as element icons to distinguish between these types of pages. Contents can be deleted by clicking the trash icon next to the element. The order of elements and reports on the Contents tab reflects the order they will appear in the briefing book export. Click Save when finished.

Add recipients to a Briefing Book

By adding recipients to a briefing book or HTML report, you can have your reports automatically emailed to other ClearPoint users when they are generated.  You can also choose to have the report delivered only to yourself if you choose.

In the edit window, click into the Recipients tab. Select the users who should receive the briefing book, and click Save.

To generate the report, click on the generate icon. Select the appropriate reporting period. Click Include Recipients to automatically pull in the recipients designated for the briefing book.  You can also add additional people for this specific report. The generated briefing book will be sent to your email address as well as to the recipients you have selected.

Duplicating a briefing book template

You can duplicate a briefing book template to save time from creating a briefing book template from scratch.

In order to get to Briefing Books, click on Documents from the control panel and then Briefing Books from the Documents dropdown. A list of previously created templates will appear.

Click on the duplicate icon next to the briefing book that you want to duplicate. Click Duplicate. A new briefing book template will appear at the bottom of the list, and will have the name of the duplicated briefing book and (Copy) appended to the end. Click on the edit icon to change the name of the template and make any changes.

Generating a briefing book template

Click on Documents in the left Control Panel to expand the options. Select Briefing Books. A list of previously created templates will appear.

In order to generate a briefing book, you must use an existing template. Click on the Generate icon for the template you would like to use. Select the appropriate Reporting Period. Check box to Include Recipients and select Users if you would like the briefing book to be automatically sent to other users. Click Generate.

Report Generation Percent Complete

Report Generation allows you to see the percent completion of your report generation. This will give you a visual estimate of how much longer it will be before the PDF is complete.

Scheduling automatic report generation

Scheduling reports in ClearPoint is an important part of automating your reporting process. By creating the right schedules at the right time, administrators can ensure a smooth reporting cycle.

Under the Automation menu, click on Schedules.

Click on the plus icon to add a new schedule.

On the Schedule tab, users can customize the schedule. To schedule automatic report generation, select Generate Briefing Book or Generate HTML Export under the Scheduled Task dropdown menu. Another dropdown menu will appear to specify which Briefing Book or HTML Export. To set the schedule, select a First Run Date and time.

Check Recurrence to set the schedule on a recurring basis. In this example, the Briefing Book is set to generate every month, on the 15th day of every month. and will stop generating automatically on 12/31/21. Using a recurrence allows you to set schedules for your report into the future, further automating your reporting process.

Downloading a briefing book

A toaster will appear at the top of the page when the briefing book finishes, including a link to download it.  The generated briefing book will also be sent to your email address or accessed from the Alerts Inbox.

From the Briefing Book page, click the arrow next to the briefing book template to view up to three of the most recently generated exports. You can also click the download icon from here.

Alternatively, click on the download icon at the top right of the page for another access point to your generated briefing book. All generated briefing books will live in this tab for future reference and can be downloaded from here as well.

Notifications section

Briefing books will take a few minutes to generate. Once they are finished, a toaster will appear at the top of the page with a link to download the PDF.  In case you miss the toaster, the notifications icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen will also update.

Click on the bell icon. This will open a new window. To download the briefing book, click on the Download icon. You will also receive an email notification letting you know that the briefing book has been generated, as well as a copy attached. To preview the email, click on the screen icon. A new window will open. You can download the briefing book from here by clicking on the link in the ‘Attachment’ section.