Drafting Legislative Files (Legistar Text Editor)

Step 1: Create a new legislative file

Step 2: Drafting legislative file text using the Legistar Text Editor

Option 1:

This is the preferred method if you are using a predefined template or creating an on-the-fly draft with prepared text sections. 

1. Click the New drop-down arrow, select Templates, then select a template. A new record opens using the template you selected.

2. To add more file sections to the text, click the File Sections drop-down arrow, and select a section. Enter your text in the text window under the ..File Section. You will replace the brackets and the inside text with your text. 
3. Click Save.
4. Click Go Back.

Option 2:

This is the preferred method when you are working from a pre-existing Word file, something that was drafted by someone else, or in another word processor such as WordPerfect.

1. Click the New drop-down arrow, select Import, then select a .txt or .rtf file and click Open. The document you import must be an .rtf or .txt file and it must have the ..title and ..body sections identified. 
2. Click Save.
3. Click Go Back.

Step 3: Add attachments to the legislative file

You can add attachments of any file type and size to legislative files.

Warning! Attachment names should never include special characters (such as #, $, or ^).

1. Select the Attachments tab within the legislative files module.
2. To attach a file, click Attach from the bottom left-hand corner of the interface, locate the file for import, and click Open. The file is now attached to the legislative file. For more options, click the Attach dropdown arrow, and continue to the next step.

Important Note: You can also “drag and drop” attachments from your desktop directly into Legistar. Select the files you want to attach, and drag and drop them onto the Attachments screen. The File Size field displays the uploading progress for each file.  Any attachment that is added into Legistar needs to be ADA compliant prior to atttaching. 

3. If you select the Attach dropdown arrow, you can do the following:

• Attach File: locate the file for import, and click Open.
• Attach Hyperlink: enter a hyperlink in the field, and click OK.
• Scan: select a source from the Scan option, click OK, enter a Description and Expiration Date, then click Save.

Note: If you need to delete a file, select the file and click Remove.

Step 4: (Optional) Add sponsors and related files to the legislative file

1. Click the Associations tab.
2. Click Edit next to Sponsors.
3. Select one or more sponsors from the Available Sponsors list.
4. Click the arrows to move and rearrange the sponsors in the Selected Sponsors list.
5. Click Save, then click Close. The selected sponsors appear in the Sponsors field.
6. Click Edit next to Related Files.
7. Select one or more legislative files from the Available Files list.
8. Click Save, then click Close. The selected files appear in the Related Files field.

Note: You can also add code sections and indexes to the legislative file. Click Edit next to Code Sections to create new, import, and edit existing code sections. Click Edit next to Indexes to relate the file to a specific topic. You can also create new and import indexes.

Step 5: (Optional) Enter information in the Details, Info1, and Info 2 Tabs

The Details, Info 1, and Info 2 tabs contain customizable fields that may be named differently for your organization. Click each tab (if in use by your organization) and fill in these fields as needed. The following figure illustrates a Details tab example:

Step 6: Create an Approval Tracking Request

Note: Skip this step if you are not using ATS.

Note: You can also select an existing approver and click Delete to remove them from the sequence if necessary.

Note:  After you start the approval tracking process, only the approval requester and assigned approvers can edit the file until the approval process is complete.

Note: If you want to edit a file or add additional people to the approval sequence after sending it for approval, click the Approval Tracking tab and click Pause to pause the approval process. This enables you to edit the file or modify the sequence.

1. Open a legislative file and verify you are in Edit Record mode.
2. Click the Approval Tracking tab.
3. Click the Add Sequence drop-down button and select an approval sequence from the menu available. This sequence contains the list of approvers for this file. 
   
    
   
   If necessary, you can add an approver to the list:
   1. Click New on the bottom of the screen.
   2. On the right side of the screen, select an Approver Body.
   3. Select an Approver Name.
   4. Enter the number of Due Days.
   5. Select an Email Template.
   6. Click Save on the bottom of the screen.
   7. If necessary, reorder the approvers using the up and down arrows.
4. Click Start. This does the following:
   • Email Notification:  An email is sent to notify approvers of pending items with a hyperlink to the Approval Response Web form. The email has a standard message that your Legistar system administrator can modify.
   • Timestamp: The program automatically inserts the current date and time into the Requested Date field.  This is not editable. 
   • Approval Status Update: The file status changes to ATS Review.

Step 7: Search for legislative files

Note: You must be in Search Mode before you can locate a file; click the Clear button at the top of the screen at any time to return to Search Mode.

1. Enter search criteria in any of the fields at the top of the screen (e.g., Type, Status, In Control).

2. Click Search. If there is more than one record found, click Yes to display all records.

3. Click a record in the list to open it.
    

EZ Text Search

Enter keywords in the EZ Text Search field. Click the magnifying glass icon to open a text box for further defining your search. EZ Text Search only searches through legislative file text fields, and also the text and titles of attachments; drop-down and date fields are not searched. Also, EZ Text only pulls up exact phrases to your search text.
 

Date Range and Wild Card Searching

Within the Search menu in any Legistar modules, you can use the following date range search tools alone or in conjunction with the date entry shortcuts: