Sopycat keeps two kinds of record, both stored in your library folder:
- Read confirmations: someone opened a manual and pressed I have read this. Useful for policies and new procedures.
- Follow-along runs: someone went through a manual with Follow along. Useful for training and for tasks that need proof they were done.
Records are kept in the library folder. Nothing leaves your computer.
Asking staff to confirm and the Records page need an Office key, during the trial too. See Office plan features.
Ask staff to confirm they read a manual
Manuals › open a manual › More options (⋯) › Ask staff to confirm they read this…
- Open the manual and choose More options (⋯) › Ask staff to confirm they read this….
- Leave Ask each reader to confirm ticked.
- If you want, pick a date in Due by (optional).
- If you want, type a short message in A line for the banner (optional), for example "New refund limits from 1 October".
- Click Publish.
The manual is now marked as published, and its card on the Manuals page shows Published.
If you untick Ask each reader to confirm, the manual is published without a banner. The records simply note that this is the current version.
Your staff need to open the manual in Sopycat, from the same shared library as you. If they only get a PDF or Word copy, they can't confirm it. See Share a library with your team.
What your staff see
When someone opens a published manual, a banner at the top says Please read this manual and confirm., with your message and the due date if you added them. Until they confirm, the manual is also listed on their Home under Needs attention, marked Confirm you have read this.
- They read the manual.
- They click I have read this.
- Sopycat says "Thank you. Your confirmation is on record." and the banner goes away.
Each confirmation is saved with the person's name and the time. The name comes from Settings › Name on Records. If that is empty, Sopycat uses their Windows user name. The banner tells them which name the confirmation will be logged as.
When you change a published manual
If you change a manual and want everyone to read it again:
- Choose More options (⋯) › Ask staff to confirm they read this….
- Click Publish again. The due date and banner line you used before are kept, and you can change them.
People who confirmed the old version now see This manual changed since you last confirmed it. Their old confirmations stay in the records, marked "earlier version".
Stop asking for confirmations
Open Ask staff to confirm they read this… again and click Take it back. The banner no longer shows. Confirmations already given stay in the records.
See who has read and done one manual
Manuals › open a manual › More options (⋯) › Who has read and done this…
This shows two lists for that manual:
- Confirmed they read it: each person and when they confirmed. Confirmations of an older version are marked "earlier version".
- Went through it with Follow along: each person, when they started, how many steps they did, and whether it was Finished, Stopped partway or In progress.
Each list has a CSV button to save it as a spreadsheet.
The Records page
Sidebar › Records
The Records page shows every record for every manual in your library. Across the top, four counts sum it up: runs Finished, runs Stopped partway, runs Not finished yet, and Read confirmations (with how many people are still waiting to confirm). Under them are two tabs:
- Follow-along runs, grouped Overdue, Not started, Incomplete and Completed.
- Read confirmations, grouped Overdue, Waiting and Confirmed.
Not started, Waiting and Overdue list what was sent to someone and is not done yet: a manual sent to read or do, or a role's plan (see Onboarding), and manuals published for confirmation. Overdue means past the day it was due.
Use the three lists beside the tabs to narrow it down: a manual instead of Every manual, a person instead of Everyone, or the last 7, 30 or 90 days instead of Any time. The counts follow what you choose.
On the Read confirmations tab, Waiting on confirmation lists each published manual, who published it, the due date, and who has confirmed so far. "No one yet" means nobody has. When the library's people list has names (More › Your library › People), the row also says who is still missing; see Who edits and who reads.
What each run shows
Each run is one row: the manual, who went through it, when they started and how long it took, a bar with how many steps were done (for example "4 of 6 steps done, 1 skipped"), and how it ended:
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Finished | Every step was done. |
| Stopped partway | They ended the run before the last step. |
| In progress | Started in the last day and not ended yet. |
| Left open | Started more than a day ago, and never finished or stopped. |
Press Steps on a row to see each step in order: the time it was done, Skipped with the reason given, or Not reached. Notes the person wrote are shown there too.
Save the records as a spreadsheet
- Open Records in the sidebar.
- Choose the tab you want, and a manual or person if you only want some of the records.
- Click Save runs as CSV or Save confirmations as CSV.
- Choose a name and a folder, and save.
A CSV file opens in Excel and most other spreadsheet programs.
Common questions
Where are the records kept?
In the library folder, alongside your manuals. If you use a shared library, everyone using it sees the same records. Back up the library folder and the records are backed up with it. See Backups.
Someone says they confirmed, but they aren't listed
Check they opened the manual from the same shared library as you, and look for their Windows user name in case their name wasn't set in Settings. If they confirmed before you clicked Publish again, their confirmation is marked "earlier version".
Is this a legal signature?
It is a record, not a signature. It shows that a named person clicked I have read this at a certain time. To have a document signed, see Sign and fill in PDFs.
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