Documents

Documents are pages your team writes together: meeting notes, runbooks, specs, policies and handbooks. Several people can type in the same page at once, every page keeps a version history, and each page controls who can open it. You can also share one page with someone outside UnitX through a link.

Key concepts#

Document (page)

One page of writing. A page can sit under another page as a subpage, and it can be filed into a knowledge base space.

Block

A page is made of blocks: paragraphs, headings, lists, checklists, quotes, code, callouts, toggles, tables, dividers, images, files and embeds. Each block has a type you can change.

Status

Draft, In review, Published or Archived. Status tells readers whether the page is finished; it does not change who can open it.

Visibility

Private, Team, Organization, Knowledge base or External. Visibility decides who can reach the page without being given access to it.

Access level

What you can do on one particular page: Viewer, Commenter, Editor, Publisher or Owner. It is shown under the page title as “Your access”.

Owner

The person the page belongs to, the creator by default. Ownership can be handed to someone else.

Who can use documents#

Create a document#

There are three ways to start a page, all from the top of Documents.

Start with a blank page#

1. Open the New document dialog

   Go to Documents and click New document.

2. Give it a title

   The title is required and can be up to 255 characters.

3. Choose a visibility

   The dialog starts on private. Pick organization if colleagues should be able to find the page straight away. You can change this later if you have Owner access to the page.

4. Create it

   Click Create document. The new page opens, ready for writing, as a Draft.

Start from a template#

1. Pick a template

   Click From template. The Start from a template dialog lists your organization’s own templates first, then the ones UnitX provides, which carry a Standard badge.

2. Fill in what it asks for

   Many templates contain placeholders such as {{meeting}} or {{date}}. Each one becomes a field. All of them are required: until every field has a value, the dialog shows Still needed: … and the button stays disabled.

3. Create the page

   Click Create document. The title and content are filled in with your values. Back returns you to the list of templates.

These templates come with UnitX:

You can’t edit or delete the standard templates. To change one, create a page from it, adjust the page, and save that page as your own template (see Save a page as a template).

Import Markdown#

1. Open the importer

   Click Import Markdown and paste your Markdown into the box. The limit is 500,000 characters.

2. Import it

   Click Import. Headings, paragraphs, lists, quotes and code become blocks in a new page.

3. Read the notes

   Anything that couldn’t be converted is listed with its line number, for example Line 12: Tables are not imported. Nothing is dropped without being listed.

Write in the editor#

The Content section of a page is the editor. Click into a block and type. There is no Save button to remember: changes are saved as you write.

Add and change blocks#

• Add block under the content adds a text block at the end. The buttons next to it add a heading or list directly.
• In an empty block, type / to open the command menu and pick a type, such as /h1, /bullet or /code.
• The menu on the left of each block shows its type. Choose another type to convert the block.
• Hover over a block and click the bin icon to remove it.

Title, icon and cover#

If you can edit the page, the Title field sits above the content: type a new title and click Save title. Above the title you can Add a cover (an image file) or Replace cover / Remove cover, and type an emoji into Icon (an emoji) to show it before the title.

Write together in real time#

Everyone who has the page open sees each other’s changes as they happen. Changes merge character by character, so two people typing in the same paragraph both keep what they wrote, and nobody overwrites anybody else. You see how many others are in the page (for example 1 other person here) and a note such as Someone is typing….

The indicator next to the Content heading tells you where your edits are:

Save now sends your edits straight away instead of waiting. After you reconnect, a note confirms that edits you made offline were restored and merged with everyone else’s.

Publish, archive and delete#

The buttons under the title change a page’s status:

Version history#

A version is a snapshot of the page you can return to. The first version is created with the page.

1. Save a version

   Under Version history, optionally type a Change summary and click Save version. Versions are numbered v1, v2, v3 and show when they were saved.

2. Restore an older version

   Click Restore next to a version. The page content is replaced with that version, and a new version called Restored from version N is added. Nothing in the history is deleted, so you can always undo a restore.

Comments#

The Comments section lets readers discuss the page. Type @ to mention someone. When a discussion is settled, click Resolve; resolved threads are hidden until you click Show resolved, and Reopen brings one back. See Comments and mentions for details.

Related work and files#

• Related work lists what the page is about: work items, projects, other pages and conversations. Use the search box to link one. The link also appears on that item’s own screen. Items embedded in the text are listed too, marked embedded in the page.
• Files lists files attached to the page. Click Attach a file to upload one. Files used by image or file blocks appear here marked used in the page and are removed by removing the block. See Files.

Export a copy#

Under Export and reuse, click Export Markdown, Export HTML or Export Plain text to download the page. An export contains only what you can see. Exporting needs only view access to the page.

Save a page as a template#

1. Name the template

   In Export and reuse, type a name under Save as template, such as “Runbook”.

2. Add a title pattern (optional)

   A Title pattern like Runbook — {{service}} makes the template ask for the service every time someone uses it. Placeholders in the page text work the same way.

3. Save it

   Click Save template. The template copies what is on the page now, plus its visibility and knowledge base location, and appears under From template for everyone in your organization.

Who can open a page#

Two settings work together. Visibility decides who can reach a page without being told about it. Sharing gives named people or teams a level of access to that page, and to the pages inside it. Under the title, every page tells you what you have and why, for example Your access: Editor — your role in this organization.

Visibility#

Changing visibility needs Owner access to the page, because making a private page visible to the whole organization is a decision about who sees it. The Visibility menu next to the title only appears if you have that access.

Access levels#

Your access to a page is worked out in this order:

1. Shares, nearest first. A share with you or one of your teams on the page itself, then on the pages above it, then on its knowledge base folder and space. The first share found decides your level, higher or lower than you would otherwise have.
2. Otherwise, the best of: Editor if you own the page; Owner if your role can manage organization settings; and, for organization, knowledge base and external pages, Editor or Viewer depending on whether your role has document.edit or only document.view.

Share a page with a person or team#

1. Find the panel

   If you have Owner access, scroll to Who can open this page.

2. Choose who

   Under Share with, pick A person or A team, then choose them from the list.

3. Choose the access and an end date

   Pick the Access level. Optionally set Until (optional): access lapses at the end of that day.

4. Give access

   Click Give access. The share is listed with its level. Click the remove icon next to a share to revoke it straight away.

• Shares are inherited. A share on a page also applies to its subpages. A share on a knowledge base space or folder applies to the pages filed in it.
• The nearest share wins. A share on the page itself overrides one inherited from above, in both directions. You can make one page read-only inside a space where people can otherwise edit.
• Team shares follow the team. Someone who joins the team later gets access without anything being redone.
• Visibility is not inherited. A private subpage under an organization-visible parent stays private.
• A lapsed share falls back. When a share’s end date passes, the person keeps whatever access they would have had anyway.
• Moving a page is re-checked. Access is worked out from where the page is now. You can only move a page under a parent you can edit.

Hand a page to someone else#

In the same panel, choose a person under Hand this page to and click Transfer ownership. The new owner is notified, and the previous owner is kept in the activity feed. Ownership lets someone edit the page; it doesn’t, on its own, let them change who else can open it.

Share a page outside UnitX#

A share link lets anyone read one page without a UnitX account. It is read-only, and it gives access to that page only: not its subpages, its comments or anything else in your organization. Creating and managing links needs Publisher access to the page.

1. Set the options

   Under Share outside UnitX, optionally enter a Password (optional) of at least 8 characters, and an Expires (optional) date. The link stops working at the end of that day.

2. Create the link

   Click Create link. The address is copied to your clipboard and listed in the panel. Use the copy icon to copy it again.

3. Decide how the page behaves

   Each link has its own switches: Search engines may index it, Readers may select and copy and Show UnitX branding.

4. Revoke it when you’re done

   Click the unlink icon. The link stops working immediately and can’t be switched back on; create a new link instead.

Each link shows whether it is password protected, when it expires, how many times it has been opened, and its state: active, disabled, expired or revoked.

What a reader sees#

The reader gets a plain page with the page’s icon, title, the date it was last updated and its text blocks, with no UnitX sidebar. If the link has a password they see This page is password protected and click Open after typing it. An expired link says This link has expired. and a revoked one says This link has been turned off. Expiry is checked before the password, so the right password doesn’t reopen an expired link.

Keep pages current#

The Staying current section records when a page should be looked at again. Its badge shows how current the page is. Nothing is ever unpublished, archived or deleted because a date passed.

1. Set a review schedule

   Choose Every month, Every quarter, Every six months or Every year (or No review schedule). The first review is counted from when the page was written, not from today.

2. Name a reviewer

   Pick a person, or Nobody in particular. The reviewer is notified when assigned and when the review comes due. Without a reviewer, the owner is told.

3. Set a review-by date

   For a page that is only true until a known date, such as a price list or a rota, pick a Review-by date and click Set date. The owner and reviewer are reminded before it arrives and once it has passed. Clear date removes it.

4. Confirm it is still right

   When a page is flagged, click Confirm it is current. This records a review without changing a word, and the clock starts again. Otherwise, update, archive or transfer the page.

To see every flagged page at once, use Knowledge health.

Star and follow a page#

Star at the top right bookmarks the page for you under Starred. Follow subscribes you to its comments and changes; see Following and watching. Neither gives you extra access.

FAQ#

Related pages#

• Knowledge base: spaces, folders and knowledge health
• Public knowledge base: publish articles for customers
• Files: attachments and who can see them
• Comments and mentions
• Roles and permissions