---
title: "Automate policy management to keep information up-to-date"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/CDMC/2193657250/Automate%20policy%20management%20to%20keep%20information%20up-to-date"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (aura-html)
[USE CASE]
Automating the review and approval process to manage the lifecycle of your policies and procedures can ensure that critical documents stay fresh and up-to-date. This helps reduce the chance of accidents, compliance violations, and other problems.
You can use a workflow to set expiration dates to notify you when it is time to review and update your documents to ensure that your policies and procedures are up-to-date, consistent, and secure.
## **What are the ways teams benefit?**
> ℹ️ **Maintain consistency **across your organization so that employees work from up-to-date versions of documents, reducing the risk of misunderstandings or outdated practices.
> ℹ️
> ℹ️ **Protect sensitive information** from unauthorized access or data breaches with security measures such as access restrictions and encryption available with document management.
> ℹ️
> ℹ️ **Continuously improve **company policies and procedures by conducting regular document reviews for relevance and practicality, tracking changes, and providing access to previous versions for internal and external audits.
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## Document lifecycles
> ✅ Document management is not just a matter of convenience; it's a critical element of effective governance, risk management, and compliance. It ensures that employees have access to the correct information at the right time in a secure and organized manner, ultimately contributing to a company's success and longevity.
With Comala Document Management, you can define document lifecycles that reflect the stages of your service and process designs.
You can define **specific workflow milestones and permissions for each stage**, ensuring only authorized users can access and modify the documents.
For example, you might have a proposal stage, a project plan stage, a development stage, and a testing stage. If you publish a policy or practice guide, you can prevent it from becoming stale by setting a period after which an “out-of-date” review is required.
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## Workflow for keeping info up-to-date - onboarding workflow
> ℹ️ The [Onboarding](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2192869918) use case, **Automate policy management to keep information up-to-date,** includes a link to apply the following workflow to all the pages in a space.
> Macro (excerpt)
>
> The **Workflow for keeping info up-to-date** ensures that information remains current by managing documents through a structured process. It is ideal for maintaining up-to-date information with flexible expiration settings.
>
> 
>
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> Documents transition through five states:
>
> - **Draft**
> - **Review**
> - **Approved**
> - **Rejected**
> - **Obsolete**
>
> **Approved** documents automatically transition to the **Obsolete** state after a modifiable default expiration period. Notifications are sent to the creator, watchers, and last updater at each significant workflow state change.
> ℹ️ Select **Apply this workflow** in the [Onboarding](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2192869918) use case to select a space and apply the workflow to all the pages in that space.
---
## Reporting
In-app tools track workflow document activity on pages with an applied workflow
- across pages in a space using the [Document Report](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2193033420)
- for an individual page using the [Document Activity report](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2193162907)
Configurable page reporting macros can be added to pages to create custom dashboards for your teams
- [document approvals macro](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2192777118)
- [document state macro](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2192677319)
- [document activity macro](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMCD/pages/614011443)
---
## Appfire blog
Check out customer stories, resources, and case studies in the [Appfire blog](https://appfire.com/resources/blog):
- [Build a better IT governance framework with Confluence](https://appfire.com/resources/blog/it-governance-framework-with-confluence)
- [Optimize corporate wikis with knowledge management](https://appfire.com/resources/blog/optimizing-corporate-wikis-with-knowledge-management)
- [Integrated Document and Knowledge Management: A Dynamic Duo](https://appfire.com/resources/blog/integrated-document-and-knowledge-management-a-dynamic-duo)
---
> ℹ️ ## ***Disclaimer***
> ℹ️
> ℹ️ *[Appfire](http://www.appfire.com)** does not claim compliance or certification of any of our tools. In addition to leveraging technical elements, compliant systems must implement procedural and administrative controls.*
> ℹ️ *The **[Appfire Trust Center](https://trust.appfire.com/)** has the latest information on the security, privacy, and compliance of our uniquely positioned products and services.*