The ShareDo Outlook Add-in

The Outlook Add-in is dependent on ShareDo v7.7 or later.

While the add-in is available for New Outlook (see below), it is not available for Outlook Online (through a web browser).

Adding or removing the add-in may take hours to reflect in Outlook. This is a Microsoft constraint.

 

Overview

The ShareDo Outlook add-in lets you integrate directly with cases in your ShareDo environment while working from Outlook as your primary communication tool. The add-in allows users to perform the following ShareDo actions directly from Outlook:

  • Link and authenticate to a ShareDo environment.
  • File emails and attachments directly to a ShareDo case repository.
  • Create follow-up actions.
  • Capture and associate time.
  • Fulfil document expectations.
  • Author emails using sharedo email templates (including hydrate and refresh tags from sharedo data).
  • Utilise case participants as email addressees within the authoring journey. 
  • Quickly add participants to a case via email contacts.

Installing the add-in

These steps are for the standard Outlook. To install the add-in to New Outlook, see the section later in this article.

Also note that can take up to 24 hours for the add-in to appear in your ribbon bar, but is usually there after only a few hours. This is a Microsoft constraint and not something ShareDo controls.

 

To install the add-in into Outlook, click File in the Outlook menubar and select Manage Add-ins.

Search for and add the ShareDo add-in. After installation, the ShareDo add-in appears in the Outlook Home menu ribbon. You may need to restart Outlook to refresh the ribbon. See Microsoft's article, Use add-ins in Outlook, for more details.

Updating the add-in

As the add-in updates automatically when a new version is released, there is nothing you need to do.

Removing the add-in

To remove the add-in, follow the steps in this Microsoft article: Use Add-ins in Outlook

For Classic Outlook, use Outlook's Manage Add-ins feature, select the More Options ellipsis (. . .), and click Remove.

For New Outlook, do the following:

  1. Go to the navigation bar and select More Apps > Add apps.
  2. On the Apps page, select Manage your apps.
  3. Under Manage your apps, find the app you want to delete and select More options
  4. Click Remove.

Starting the add-in

The add-in will be greyed out and unavailable in Outlook until you select an email or click New Email to create an email. Doing so enables the add-in and clicking it will open the ShareDo login side panel.

Enter your ShareDo URL including https://, for example: 
https://test-outlookaddin.sharedo.co.uk

Then click Login with your ShareDo account. Log in with your account details, and on the next screen, click Yes, Allow to grant the necessary permissions.

Working with Multiple ShareDo Environments

To change the environment you're currently working with, for example, to change from vNext to Prod, sign out and use the Or click here to disconnect from the ShareDo link. This allows you to enter the ShareDo URL again and log into the new environment.

Working with the add-in

If you opened an email that is already associated with a work item but not yet filed, the ShareDo add-in panel shows the following:

  • Associated work item
  • The email's filing details
  • Attachments' details
  • Under the Actions drop-down:
    • Content blocks
    • Email recipients/case participants

If you resize the add-in panel large enough, the attachments file name and folder realign, and the Actions drop-down menu expands to a tabbed layout. 

To keep the panel open when you open or create an email, pin it using the icon at the top of the panel. The panel is pinned in the open state in the image to the right.

 

 

 

A new or unlinked email is easily linked to a work item by searching for the item as you would in ShareDo itself.

Once linked, the add-in panel updates to reflect email filing, attachments, and other details from the linked case in ShareDo. 

If you open an email that has already been filed, the destination folder and attachments are locked down, but you can record time or create follow-up tasks using the Actions drop-down below the list of attachments. See the section below for more details.

If you are creating a new email, after linking it to a case, use thebutton to show the case repository folders and files available to attach to the email. Select the files to attach and click the check button at the bottom to update the File Attachments section.

The counter shows the number of attachments selected for filing on the left and the number unselected on the right.

The add-in Interface

The add-in opens in a side panel and shows the following sections:

  • Link to work item: Search for a work item to link to just like you would as usual in ShareDo.
  • Recent: Recent work items you've worked with will be listed here.
  • Bookmarks: The last few bookmarks you've made in ShareDo will be listed here.
click image to enlarge

The footer of the add-in contains the following functions:

  • Use the Sign-out link to log out and to disconnect from the current ShareDo environment.
  • Use the Privacy Policy link to open a page showing the ShareDo Privacy Policy.
  • The gear icon opens the add-in's Settings:
    • The Append ShareDo tag to subject toggle lets you choose to add the work item reference for the email task to the email's subject line. 
  • The Reset button resets the add-in's internal database. All saved data will be lost. Do not use this unless a support member has advised it.

Changing the Add-in's Theme

The add-in's theme corresponds to the settings in Outlook. For instance, if Outlook is set to the Dark theme, the ShreDo Outlook Add-in will also adopt the Dark theme.

To set the theme in Outlook, click File > Outlook Options then on the General tab under Personalise your copy of Microsoft Office, select the office theme you wish to use.

In New Outlook, open Settings > General > Appearance, and set the Dark mode as desired.

File emails and attachments to a ShareDo case repository 

For new emails, the add-in panel's File Email Content and File Attachments sections let you choose the linked-case repository folder to file the email and attachments. Automatically mark certain files as not to be files (and unchecked in the file attachments list) by setting them up in the Inbound Email section of the Admin > Channel > Email configuration page. See the Configure Email Monitoring article for more information.

You can also lock all attachments to the same folder by checking the Use for all attachments box. The Actions drop-down menu beneath the File Attachments section lets you preview and insert content blocks into your email. These content blocks are the same as those available to the linked case within ShareDo.

When you are ready to file the email and attachments, click File to send to ShareDo, which then creates the chronology and audit events. The add-in notifies you of success or other status in a toast notice.

Actions drop-down menu (or tabs)

The Actions menu allows you to perform two sets of actions depending on whether or not the email has been filed.

  • Actions before you send/file the email:
    • Choose recipients from the participants on the case, and add new participants.
    • Choose content blocks to insert in the email.
  • Actions after you've sent/filed the email:
    • Create follow-up tasks.
    • Capture and associate time.

Recipients / Add new participant

Selecting Recipients from the menu shows all participants involved in the case and allows you to add them to the To or CC lines of the email.

If you add new recipients to the To or CC lines of the email who are not participants in the case, those addresses appear in the New Contacts section at the bottom of the participant's list. 
 

To add that contact as a participant to the case, click the plus icon to the right to open the participant edit panel. 

Clicking in the Role box lets you select the new participant's role.

Content Blocks

Selecting Content from the Actions menu shows the Content Blocks section in the panel. 

Search for content to add to the email body or filter the available content by selecting the filter buttons. The image above shows email content blocks (there are 3 of them in this example).

Click the position where you want to add the content to the email body and then click the icon to the right of the piece of content you want in that position to review and insert it.

After you have filed the email using the send to ShareDo button, the options in the Actions menu change to Record Time and Follow-up Task.

Create follow-up actions.

Create a task in this case by selecting Follow-up Task and filling in the details.

The Type of task and Owner are in the context of the linked case. Select the appropriate value from the available list. Enter a Title and Description, and select a Due date. Click Submit. The task is created in ShareDo for the case, and you will be notified by a toast message.

Capture and associate time.

Record time by selecting the option from the Actions menu.

The options in the Category field are in the context of the linked case. Select the appropriate one from the list and a corresponding Activity. Enter the Units, Duration, and Narrative, and select the Start and End times. Click Submit. The time entry is created in ShareDo for the case and you are notified by a toast message.

Fulfil document expectations.

When a document expectation is set up against a case in ShareDo, you can fulfil that expectation by selecting the appropriate attachment in an email and clicking the document expectation indicator icon to the right of it as in the image below. Doing so shows the current document expectations against the case. Select the appropriate expectation from the list and click Done to associate the attachment to that expectation.

Using the Add-in with New Outlook

If you've toggled the Try New Outlook switch and are using the New Outlook, you must turn on the optional connected experiences to use the ShareDo Outlook Add-in. Follow these steps to do that:

  1. Open Outlook settings by clicking the gear icon on the top right of the window.
  2. Select General settings.
  3. Select Privacy and data.
  4. Select Privacy settings.
  5. Make sure Turn on optional connected experiences is turned on.

Once this is done, you can add the ShareDo Outlook Add-in using the Apps menu either from the Outlook sidebar or from the ribbon of a new or existing email.

Add apps from the sidebar
Add apps from an email ribbon

When the Apps screen opens, search for ShareDo, and click the tile to add it.

To use the add-in with New Outlook, in an email, click the apps icon as shown in the image below and then click the ShareDo Outlook add-in. The Add-in's panel will open. Use it as documented in this article from the heading Starting the add-in.

Outlook add-in Administration / Troubleshooting

Before installing and using the add-in

Outlook Add-in Global Feature

The Add-in itself verifies that the Global Feature is enabled and if not, shows an error message:

Sharedo Environment Error. The Outlook plugin is not enabled in this environment. Please contact your system administrator.

See the article Outlook Add-in Global Feature for more information.

CORS configuration

Before using the Outlook add-in, please ensure you contact support to configure the necessary authorisation flow and Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) settings. Proper configuration of these elements is crucial to ensure the add-in functions correctly and securely. Failure to do so may result in operational issues. 

The Outlook Global Feature automatically configures CORS and authorisation flow for the Outlook Add-in.

If there is a problem with this configuration, you will typically encounter a problem where you are unable to connect to your ShareDo instance.

Content Security Policy

The Outlook Add-in requires that Office 365 URLs be added to the Allowed frame-ancestor origins text box of the Content Security Policy Global Feature. The help text from the Content Security Policy blade is shown here:

Frame ancestors and the Office add-ins: If you are using the official ShareDo Office add-ins via the appropriate web-based online application, you will need to allow certain O365 URLs to iframe the ShareDo identity server. Without doing so, the login form will not be allowed to render within the online interface.

Remember to recycle the cache after making these changes. 

 

Most errors you may receive should be self-explanatory, but for reference, here are a few more common errors:

  •  Error: Your email address does not match the one registered in ShareDo.
    Meaning: You're trying to file it from an email address that's not registered to ShareDo.
  • Error: The email subject is empty.
    Meaning: self-explanatory.

Dependency Configuration between Document Expectation and the Outlook Add-in

At the time of release, the Outlook Add-in requires a legacy Document Expectation feature flag to be enabled for all Document Expectation types and derivatives, or they will not be returned.

  1. To set this flag, navigate to Modeller > Work Types and the relevant Document Expectation work type.
  2. Navigate to Manage Features and Open Legacy Type Features.
  3. Ensure the "Marks this sharedo type …" checkbox is checked.
  4. Repeat for each Document Expectation type.