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Policy & Document Management guide

Create a governed document

Create a Policy or other governed document using the document type, metadata and authoring method appropriate to the record.

Document Owner or Policy Manager Approximately 10–15 minutes Updated 9 September 2026

Outcome

Create a governed document, complete its metadata and either retain it as a draft or submit it into the approval workflow where approval is required.

  • The document type and template match the intended purpose.
  • Ownership, category, sensitivity and approvers are recorded.
  • The content has been reviewed before submission.
  • The document appears in Draft or Pending Approval with a clear status.

Before you begin

You need the appropriate Policy/Document permission. The selected document type determines which capabilities are available, including approval, publication, quizzes, review cycles, group targeting and external linking.

Policy & Document Management is the umbrella workflow.

It covers policies, procedures, standards, guidelines, plans and standard operating procedures. Approval and audience rules can differ by document type.

1. Create the document

1

Open Policies & Documents

Open Documents and start a new record. Depending on the available workflow, author from a template, create content directly, upload an existing PDF or maintain an external reference where that document type supports it.

2

Select the document type

Choose the correct document type. This choice is important because document-type capabilities control later approval, publication, acknowledgement, quiz, review and targeting behaviour.

The template workflow captures the document title, category, owner, sensitivity label, approvers and template selection in one place.
3

Complete the metadata

Enter a clear title, choose the appropriate category and sensitivity label, confirm the owner and select one or more approvers where required.

4

Choose and edit the template

Select the template category and the specific template. Review the generated content and adapt it to the organisation rather than publishing generic wording unchanged.

2. Save or submit

Save as DraftUse when content or metadata is incomplete and should not yet reach approvers.
Submit for ApprovalUse when the document is ready for formal review. PurpleWASP sends it to the selected approver or approvers.

After submission, confirm that the success message appears and the document is visible under Pending Approval.

Expected result

The document has a stable identity, owner and workflow status. Approvers receive an in-app notification and can open the document from their Pending Approval view.

Common problems

The template list is empty

Confirm that a template exists for the selected document type and category. An administrator may need to configure or enable the template.

No approver can be selected

Confirm that eligible users have been mapped to the required approval role.

The document remains a draft

Check required metadata and confirm that Submit for Approval, rather than Save as Draft, was selected.