Frequently Asked Questions

What versions of Microsoft Office does it work with?

I-Deal Docs requires Microsoft Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, or Microsoft 365.

How is it installed?

We supply a Windows Installer MSI package that will install the I-Deal Docs software onto a user’s computer. The files within this MSI package are deliberately stored in an uncompressed format. This gives you the option of repackaging the installation to suit the requirements of your existing software deployment systems.

What is needed on the server?

There is no server-side software component to I-Deal Docs. There is however a requirement for the following:

  • a database, typically SQL Server. This database stores information such as a Clause Library index (to make searching quicker) and a collection of categorised Common Addresses that your people setup (e.g. for Barristers, Courts, Councils and other entities that you regularly deal with). We supply a file containing the script required to create the tables in SQL Server
  • a folder on a file server for holding the centralised Clause Library documents. General users need read-only access to this clause library folder. Your template administrators need full update access. We use a folder on a file server (as opposed to storing the text in the database) because this gives you full control of the formatting and Style of the clause library content.

Does it integrate with Document Management Systems?

I-Deal Docs integrates with the following document management systems:

  • iManage – also variously referred to as Work / WorkSite / FileSite / DeskSite
  • OpenText – also variously referred to as Hummingbird / DocsOpen / DM5 / DM6
  • NetDocuments
  • RadixDM.

Can we use I-Deal Docs functions in our own macros?

The I-Deal Docs software has been programmed in a way that allows you to access most of its functionality directly from your own macros. For example, you can call an I-Deal Docs function to remove all text formatted in a specific Word Style name – this particular function steps into all of the Headers and Footers and Textboxes etc and will save you many lines of macro code. It should be emphasised though that to use I-Deal Docs does not require you to be writing macros.

Can we change the supplied ribbon?

Yes. I-Deal Docs includes a Word and Outlook ribbon customisation tool. This allows you to not only modify the supplied I-Deal Docs ribbon tab (e.g. change the wording on our buttons, change the size of the buttons), but also allows you to create additional ribbon tabs and to put additional groups onto built-in ribbon tabs. For example, you can very easily add a new group to Word’s Home tab and put buttons within that group to launch functions specific to your organisation.