Keyword Setup

User Personas: Admin

Keywords are configurable tags you add to Daily Reports and Field Notes. They are how a delay or a site condition gets flagged in a way you can report on later, instead of being buried in a comment field nobody reads until there is a dispute.

Every organization starts with a preloaded set. Add to it, rename what does not fit how your company talks, and retire what you do not use.

To perform the actions described in this article, you must have the Company Settings permission.

Use the links below to jump to a topic:

• View and Manage the Keywords List
• Create a Keyword
• Edit a Keyword
• FAQ
  • Why can I not delete a Keyword?
  • Does renaming a Keyword change old documents?
  • Should I delete a Keyword or make it unavailable?
  • Where do Keywords appear?
• Permissions

For guidance on how to get value out of Keywords rather than just how to configure them, see the Strategic Use of Keywords article.

The keywords described in this article apply only to Field Notes and Daily Reports. Drawings also use tags, but those are configured and applied separately within the Drawings management tools.

View and Manage the Keywords List

1. Select Settings on the global navigation menu, then select Tags Management from the slide-out menu.

Create a Keyword

From the Keywords list:

1. Select the Actions button, then select Add Keyword(s).
2. Enter the new Keyword name.
3. Select + Add Keyword to add another, and repeat as needed.
4. Select Save when finished.

Add your whole list in one sitting using + Add Keyword rather than one at a time. And keep the list short: a Keyword list nobody can scan is a Keyword list nobody tags accurately, which makes the reporting worthless.

Edit a Keyword

From the Keywords list:

1. Select the Actions button, then select Edit Keyword(s).
2. View a Keyword and:
   • Edit the name of the Keyword inline
   • Select the Delete icon on an unused Keyword.
   • Use the toggle under the Status column to make the Keyword unavailable or available.
3. Select Save when finished.

Renaming a Keyword updates it everywhere, including on documents that already used it. The historical record follows the new name, so rename for clarity, not to repurpose a Keyword for something different. Only unused Keywords can be deleted. If a Keyword has been used on any document, make it unavailable instead.  For more information see the Available and Unavailable Statuses article for how this works across eSUB.

Making a Keyword unavailable is the safe way to clean up a list. Deleting is only possible on Keywords nobody ever used, which in practice means the ones that were mistakes to begin with.

FAQ

Why can I not delete a Keyword?

Because it has been used. Only unused Keywords can be deleted, so that the documents that reference a Keyword do not lose it. Make it unavailable instead.

Does renaming a Keyword change old documents?

Yes. The new name appears on every historical document the Keyword was used on. That is usually what you want when you are correcting wording, and it is a problem if you are trying to reuse an old Keyword for a new purpose. In that case, retire the old one and create a new one.

Should I delete a Keyword or make it unavailable?

Make it unavailable in almost every case. Deleting is only available for Keywords that were never used, and unavailable Keywords keep your historical reporting intact while stopping anyone from applying them going forward.

Where do Keywords appear?

On Daily Reports and Field Notes, and in project-level reporting built on those documents.

Permissions

Keywords are managed as Tags on the Company Settings page, so the Company Settings permission is what controls creating and editing them.

See also: Strategic Use of Keywords and Company Settings.