Do you know any good, free, desktop document management?
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
Office 365 - Sharepoint Online?
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I think categorizing like you have complicates things considerably. I think it would be best to sort by customer so all of your documentation relating to one customer is in one place.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
That was my exact thought when I read what was being done. Create a folder for document templates, don't touch it except to update those templates. Then create a folder for each customer, copy templates as needed and modify those, name them in a meaningful way. That or get a CRM system (SalesForce, Dynamics, Sugar), load your templates into a library and then your customers as accounts/contacts/etc. and then let it keep track of all that for you. Then you can focus more on running the business instead of wasting time trying to reinvent the wheel when someone has already made one that works.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
You might be able to get .dan.g.'s excellent ToDoList to do the job, as you can insert file links in comments. But it might be a bit awkward - I don't know. Did you google "file tagging"? A tabbles.net option comes up that isn't free, that looks decent. Another option that appeared is Microsoft's Tag Explorer, for free. It might use File Manager tags, so you would not need the program to view the tags, which is a plus. If none of those work for you, as others said, you might want to create what you need for yourself, if you have the time. If it was me, I'd use MS Access and get what you need real quick, as it is excellent for putting a design together fast.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
I have the same need for personal documents and was looking for (but still haven't found) a similar solution. I have no time for experimenting right now, but I was going to try Alfresco[^], the free Community Edition should be enough. Let us know if you find something.
Luca The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance. -- Wing Commander IV En Það Besta Sem Guð Hefur Skapað, Er Nýr Dagur. (But the best thing God has created, is a New Day.) -- Sigur Ròs - Viðrar vel til loftárása
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That was my exact thought when I read what was being done. Create a folder for document templates, don't touch it except to update those templates. Then create a folder for each customer, copy templates as needed and modify those, name them in a meaningful way. That or get a CRM system (SalesForce, Dynamics, Sugar), load your templates into a library and then your customers as accounts/contacts/etc. and then let it keep track of all that for you. Then you can focus more on running the business instead of wasting time trying to reinvent the wheel when someone has already made one that works.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
As Rick pointed out, you probably wouldn't see this in a reply to his comment so here is my suggestion. Get a CRM system (SalesForce, Dynamics, Sugar), load your templates into a library and then your customers as accounts/contacts/etc. and then let it keep track of all that for you. That way you can focus more on running the business instead of wasting time trying to reinvent the wheel when someone has already made one that works.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
I would say a combination of devising a folder hierarchy that works for you and Agent Ransack – Mythicsoft[^] (probably the best search application I have come across and I have now been using it for 10+ years)
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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I would say a combination of devising a folder hierarchy that works for you and Agent Ransack – Mythicsoft[^] (probably the best search application I have come across and I have now been using it for 10+ years)
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
Damn, this looks good. Going to try it out. :thumbsup:
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Damn, this looks good. Going to try it out. :thumbsup:
Yep - couldn't do my work without it nowadays. If you have a paranoid IT security department then Mythicsoft have rebranded it and called it FileLocator Lite - one place I worked at the IT support manager took one look at the name and said "There is no way I am letting you install software with a name of AgentRansack!" :rolleyes:
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Damn, this looks good. Going to try it out. :thumbsup:
It is good! :thumbsup:
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
You're obviously talking about using a library system that's based on meta-data, rather than a hierarchical directory system, so it's likely that you're asking the question in the wrong place -- us devs like our hierarchical directory thingies. The problem is that you want a "desktop" DMS, and it might be hard to find one that both meets your needs AND is not an absolute PITA to maintain. However, you could just install Joomla, or similar, on your local machine, and only use it on your local machine. There are no laws that say that a DMS system has to be on a dedicated server, so you can simply 127.0.0.0 everything.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
Echoing the others, write your own. :-D I have a similar problem and have loosely specced an outline for my own needs. One day I'll actually get around to writing it... For the time being I keep documents/files/notes/whatever in a folder hierarchy. This actually works surprisingly well, as long as I remember to make the effort to files things properly (including occasionally adding keywords for indexing, see below). In addition, I use Windows Search to index content (and metadata, where possible). This works exceptionally well. Windows Search is maligned by many but, for me, it's a fast, very capable and potentially extensible document content indexer. It just works. (I'm on Windows 10 but Windows Search works similarly on Windows 7).
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
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Roll your own.
Rolling his own solution is probably not feasible. The OP is running a startup, he probably does not have time to do extraneous programming.
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On windows, before you build your own document management system or something, "well organized folder structure + meaningful filename + a small app called Everything" really saved me a whole bunch of time
I recommend UltraSearch software. Extremely fast searches for arbitrary words in less than 15 seconds on your entire hard drive with a very simple interface. UltraSearch finds files and folders on local NTFS drives and provides the results including a file preview in just a few seconds. The free tool is available in German, English, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
Behzad Sedighzadeh wrote:
I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder.
This is EXACTLY the way a good document management system works: each of your indexed values (document type, customer, date, etc.) is a "tag" and is searchable. Your result set for a search is the subset which lies at the intersection of each individual field's query. Hierarchies are of limited use when trying to find a particular document, and require much greater human time performing such search when a "tagging" technique leverages the computer's time to do the search. I also understand the value of buying a package that meets 80-90% of your needs rather than spending vast quantities of time building something that is not directly profiting your business. I don't know which bundled systems would be inexpensive enough for a small business; I have worked with enterprise level document management systems. Currently, my company uses DocuWare, but I don't know if they have an affordable version. Good luck on your search.
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I have my own startup and am facing the problem of managing firm's documents. I have so many documents: Letters to individuals or other firms, Contracts, Technical documents, etc. I have different folders for different categories: Letters, Docs & Projects, Finance, Law Docs, etc. The problem is, I frequently forget which document belongs to which category an fall into endless problem of folder search. I have decided to use tagging system instead of storing files into categorized folder. Is this a good idea and do you know of any software that simply does this? I have Win7 inside a vm and the guest is Linux. I prefer a Windows software.
Behzad
Windows Search would seem to be the path of least resistance while allowing humans to be human (not break when you forget to tag with the correct word(s) or organize something properly to fit a strict rule). Full text search of common document formats is a capability as well, likely a big plus.
