January 15th, 2013 by Derek Rawlings
#ClioTraining Tip: Adding a link to an external Google document on a Contact or Matter card in Clio
On a support call, I recently had an attorney ask if his firm could link to a document on their Matter card, so that with the click of a button they could open, change and save their changes. The firm in question needed to keep track of the liens and settlement negotiations that they went through, and wanted them to be visible as they’re frequently updated.
I suggested they create a link to a Google document and store it in Clio as a “Web Address” custom field. This allows them to have multiple people collaborate together and maintain a proper revision history. Since links from Google Drive are notoriously long, a URL shortener like Goo.gl helps keep their Matter card looking clean.
To set this up, do the following:
In Google Drive:
1. Create a document in Google Drive.
2. Click “Share.”
3. Copy the link provided to your clipboard.
In Goo.gl:
4. Paste the link into the box provided.
5. Click “Shorten URL.”
6. Copy the shortened URL to your clipboard.
In Clio:
7. Create an appropriately named “Web Address” custom field.
8. Paste the shortened URL into the custom field.
When changes are required a Clio user can click on the URL on the Matter page which launches Google Drive’s document manager in a separate tab. They can make whatever changes required, and close the document. While this example is used for tracking liens, the same technique can be used for any document or spreadsheet that benefits from being visible right on a Matter homepage and needs to be accessed or changed frequently.
