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First Time Setup

When you first open Certum Draft, you'll be guided through the initial setup. This page explains each step.

Step 1: Set Your Folders

Certum Draft needs to know where to find things:

Matters Folder

This is where your client matter folders are stored (or will be created).

Example: /Users/YourName/Documents/Matters or a shared folder like Dropbox

Shared Folders

If your office uses a shared folder (Dropbox, OneDrive, or a network drive), point to that location. This allows multiple people to access the same matters.

Templates Folder

This is where your document templates and matter type definitions are stored.

Example: /Users/YourName/Documents/Templates

Your templates folder should contain subfolders for each matter type:

Templates/
├── Conveyancing Sale/
│   ├── matter.json
│   └── precedents/
├── Conveyancing Purchase/
│   ├── matter.json
│   └── precedents/
└── Wills and Estates/
    ├── matter.json
    └── precedents/

Step 2: Matter Numbering

Choose how you want matters to be numbered:

Format Example Description
Year + Sequential 2025-00001 Resets each year
Short Year + Sequential 25-00001 Two-digit year, resets each year
Pure Sequential 013544 Never resets, continues forever

Continuing from Existing Matters

If you're migrating from another system and want to continue your existing numbering:

  1. Go to Preferences > Matters
  2. Select Pure Sequential (6-digit)
  3. Click Auto-detect to scan your existing matter folders
  4. Certum Draft will find your highest matter number and continue from there

Step 3: Folder Naming

Choose how matter folders are named. The default is:

{matterNumber} - {surname} {givenName} - {matterType}

Example: 013544 - SMITH John - Conveyancing Purchase

You can customise this in Preferences > Matters.

You're Ready!

Once setup is complete, you can: