Welcome to cmis
CMIS is the online information system for modern government.
It provides simple access to detailed information about the work and decisions of a local authority. Used by the council, its members and the public, it assists open government communication and e-government policies.
What CMIS does
CMIS (Committee Management Information System) is based on a database of council member and meeting records. It is a logical and intuitive system, designed for ease of use and administration.
CMIS helps a local authority to manage its democratic processes effectively – from earliest debates to final decisions and beyond. A sophisticated and flexible management system, CMIS is an efficient and user-friendly daily working aid.
CMIS gives members, officers, employees and citizens access to a council’s work. It improves transparency, accountability and access by enabling the public to review and comment directly on plans and decisions.
CMIS is also a powerful database. As its records for every committee build year on year, it forms a valuable history of council decisions.
Accessible from any browser enabled device – office or home PC, library or public Internet facilities – CMIS gives users details of:
| • | Members |
| • | Committees |
| • | Minutess, minutes and reports |
| • | Political affiliations |
| • | Attendance and interests |
| • | Decisions |
| • | Forward plans |
| • | Decision histories |
| • | Public documents |
What administrators can do
This guide is for those who have access to the system database and will be creating its records and using them for administrative purposes.
It will help you to personalise the system to your authority, and add, edit and control records and information.
You can retrieve, edit and create information
| • | Member records |
| • | Committee information |
| • | Meeting documents |
| • | Decision details |
| • | Standard documents |
| • | Templates |
| • | Mailing lists |
| • | E-mails |
You can configure the system and its records
| • | To your council |
| • | To your committees |
| • | To your financial year |
| • | To your chosen levels of security access |
And you can
| • | Search for information |
| • | Circulate documents |
| • | Store documents |
| • | Add photos |
| • | Create a library |
It’s easy to use - Wherever you are in the administrative area, you can easily navigate from screen to screen and function to function. Logical features make it simple to carry out administrative tasks and find information.
getting started
How this guide works
This guide tells you how CMIS administration features work and helps you use them. It is intended both for new users and those already familiar with the system who may want to master new areas.
The administrator guide has three parts:
Part One: Getting started
An overview of what the CMIS administrator site and an introduction to its general features.
Simple instructions for opening the site and logging get you ready to enter and edit information.
Part Two: Function guides –
This guide takes you through each of the main administrative areas of the CMIS system:
| I. | Committees |
| II. | People |
| III. | Decisions |
| IV. | Documents |
| V. | Configuration |
For each of area you will find detailed information and activity sheets:
| • | Information sheets – explain the features of each function. |
Use these to familiarise yourself with the tasks you can perform in each section of the administration site.
| • | Activity sheets –help you use the features effectively. |
Follow procedures step-by-step and practice performing tasks. Use activity sheets to learn new procedures or to remind yourself of what to do as you become familiar with the CMIS system.
How the site is arranged
The CMIS administrative area is divided into five main function sections.
Each section contains a number of administrative function options and aids. Easy to use features make it simple to start inputting data, editing information and creating documents in the following areas:
| 1. | Committees – From here you can edit meeting details by committee or date and view and edit meeting documents. You can add committee decisions and also record attendance, visitor and declaration of interest information. Here you can also edit committee membership details – names, dates of joining and leaving – and control and circulate documents to committees. |
| 2. | People – In this section you can organise information about council members: election and leaving dates, personal information, election histories and outside interests. You can add a photo and a pen portrait for each member. |
| 3. | Decisions – See and create comprehensive decision lists organised by committee or by member. View the status of forthcoming decisions and decision dates, and maintain existing decisions. You can add individual member’s decisions and control access to them. You can also upload documents or publish decisions from here. |
| 4. | Documents – View or delete documents, or generate new ones using adaptable templates. You can upload or delete standing documents, run standard reports or enter ‘What’s New’ messages. You can also circulate messages from here. |
| 5. | Configuration – This function allows you to personalise the CMIS system to your council. Add new or previous years, amend committee structure and add your own sub-committees and copy information from year to year. Add or delete committee member titles or venue details. Amend or add ward details or political parties for your authority and record outside bodies. |
How CMIS administration works
The CMIS system is based on a continually updated database of documents associated with council members and meetings. The administration area enables authorised administrators to manipulate information and carry out numerous tasks using flexible CMIS functions and features:
Member & Committee information
| • | Contact, party and ward details |
| • | Attendance, affiliations and interests |
| • | Meetings, Minutess, minutes and reports |
| • | Current and historic years |
Documents
| • | Create or upload and attach to meetings |
| • | Manipulate text and image files |
| • | Identify documents as reports, minutes, Minutess or resolutions |
| • | Assign security levels to documents and sections |
| • | Instant indexing and comprehensive searching |
| • | Prepare documents using templates |
| • | Convert historic documents to digital files |
Forward plans
| • | Publish proposals on the Web |
| • | Receive comments and feedback |
Integrated e-mail
| • | Automatic prompts to publicise new arrangements |
| • | Keep public informed of new information and documents |
Decision tracking
| • | Enhanced administration and management |
| • | Improved scrutiny and access to decision making |
| • | Call-in decisions for re-appraisal |
| • | Build extensive history records |
Security
| • | Use mutiple-level, role based administrative access features |
| • | Apply multi-tiered security access functions |
| • | Control document publication |
It’s easy to understand – the CMIS system is smart and responsive, it helps users to control processes and information with clear design, on-screen help and methodical, integrated features.
Site features and user hints
| 1. | ‘Context sensitive’ option buttons |
Just as the main sections of the site as indicated by buttons across the top of the page, the options within each section are indicated by buttons down the left hand side. The Elected members screen is the first page of the ‘People’ section:
a)
Buttons on the left list the divisions of each section where you are is indicated by
the orange flashes
This screen shows the first page of the ‘Decisions’ section:
b)
The ‘context sensitive’ buttons have now changed to show the options in this section
| 2. | Live links |
Throughout the administration site, underlined links are ‘live’. Click on them for more information or to perform a task.
For example, Elected members is the first page of the ‘People’ section. It has links to allow you to get members details and set election or leaving dates:
Live links are underscored
| 3. | Action buttons |
Throughout the CMIS system you can easily save changes you want to make or cancel actions you do not want. This means that as a new user you do not have to worry about exploring CMIS functions and entering information as you must make deliberate choices to save what you have done or carry out a function. Clear ‘Action’ buttons are always offered when you need to decide to save your actions – such as whether to keep or discard information entered, create minutes or send an e-mail:
Action buttons
| 4. | Menus |
When you click on a live link you will often be presented with choices in the form of a drop-down menu.
A menu box looks like this:
The arrow on the right indicates that there are more choices to see. Click on the arrow to view the drop-down menu:
For example, if you click on the live link Set election date as shown in 2 above, you will then see an Election details screen with menu options:
Three menu boxes are offered
| • | Click on the arrow to the right of the menu box to see the drop-down list of options |
Here are the options that appear in the ‘party’ menu on the Elected details screen:
Drop-down menu list
When you click on the option you require it will be highlighted and will appear as your selection in the menu box.
| 1. | Security access features |
Built-in security access features throughout the CMIS system have two main functions:
| 1. | To let those accessing the system see information for which they have the relevant level of security access |
| 2. | To let administrators work in appropriate areas and carry out agreed tasks according to their administrative roles |
Security levels
Six security options ranging from ‘Public’ to ‘Highest’ appear in a drop-down security menu whenever security access levels can be set. When the security menu box showing ‘Public’ appears, you can click to see the other available options:
Click to see drop-down menu of
security access levels
The ‘Public’ setting will allow all users of the public site to view the item. The other settings will restrict access to authorised users for that security access level.
Security access setting options are provided across CMIS system functions. For example, you can make documents such as Minutess, minutes or reports non-public and you can give parts of documents such as minutes and Minutess individual security access levels. You can control access to decision information or assign security levels to documents such as reports which you upload into the CMIS system.
Administrative roles
As an administrator, you will have clearance to perform certain tasks and will be assigned the ‘roles’ you need. When you try to perform an action on the CMIS system for which you do not have the required role, you will either not be shown an option or you will see a red error message:
Error message shown in red
| 6. | Calendars |
Whenever dates have to be entered, the CMIS system offers a pop-up calendar to generate date information automatically. The calendar will open on the current date and year but can be used to select past or forward years. Next to a date box, you will see a button indicating that a pop-up calendar can be used:
Calendar button
When you click on the button, the calendar will appear:
Buttons to change month
Current date highlighted
Buttons to change year
Action buttons
You can now use the calendar to set the new date:
| • | Point and click with the mouse to select a month, using the blue buttons |
| • | Point and click with the mouse to select a day of the month |
| • | Point and click with the mouse to select a year, using the blue buttons |
New month
New date
| • | Click on the ‘Select’ action button to save the new meeting date, or ‘Cancel’ to cancel |
You may also enter dates by typing them into the date box in the information panel, as shown at 2a above. The CMIS system will try to convert dates of different formats into a standard date. The following date formats will be recognised:
25/12/03
25/12/2003
25 Dec 2003
25 December 2003
| 7. | Publishing |
Throughout the CMIS system you have options to publish information, control its use and decide who may see it. You will always be prompted to make publishing decisions. While you are creating and editing documents you can save information, make amendments and add attachments until you are ready to publish. This status is shown in a message which indicates that the document is currently being edited:
‘Editing’ status message Live link to publish
Once the document is complete, you click the live link to publish it. When you publish a document, you make it available on the CMIS public site. The status of published documents is also clearly indicated on CMIS screens:
‘Published’ status message
Once published, a document such as an Minutes or minutes cannot be edited or altered except by those authorised to do so. When decisions are created they are given a published status and are visible on the public site but they can be called-in by those allowed to do so.
Security settings allow you to make documents or parts of documents non-public.