Set up and use matter stages

Use Matter Stages to keep track of how a matter is progressing through its lifespan.

To set up Matter Stages for various matter types, navigate to Smokeball Settings and click on the Matter Stages tab.

Existing Matter Stage Sets will be shown and can be amended by double-clicking. Otherwise, click the Add New button to begin a new list.

Fill in the following information:

1. Name of the Stage Set.
2. The Matter Type the Stage Set will apply to.
   • You can create multiple Stage Sets for the same Matter Type.
   • You will be able to choose which Set to use on each new matter of this type.
   • You can also select multiple Matter Types for the same Stage Set.
3. Start adding stages and click New Stage to enter another. Individual stages can be moved up or down the order by the arrow buttons.
4. Each stage only requires a Name to be entered.
5. You can also choose to add an automated Client Portal Message to be sent when the new stage is reached for the first time on each matter.

Add a Client Portal message to a matter stage

You may wish to have an automated Client Portal message fired off to staff members or clients when the matter moves to the next stage. To set this up:

1. Select Add an automated Client Portal message.
   
2. Choose who the Client Portal message will be sent to from the drop-down list.
   
3. Type your message. Use the Insert Field drop-down list to enter variable fields in the message (e.g. Client Name, Matter Number).
   
4. Click Save to return to the Stage Set.
5. Repeat if you want to set up different messages/recipients for each stage.

Note: The message will be sent when you first set this particular stage on any matter.

Apply a workflow when transitioning matter stages

You can also set Matter Stages to display the "Apply a Workflow" window upon transitioning a matter to the next stage. To do this:

1. Enter Smokeball Settings, then select Matter Stages.
2. Double-click on the Matter Stage you wish to edit.
3. Select a stage in this stage set and tick Display "Select a workflow" prompt on transition to this stage.
   
   
   • The tick box on the first stage is greyed out, as the prompt will always appear on the first stage.
4. Select Save & Close.

Apply Matter Stages

Once you have set up your Matter Stages, you can apply them to a Matter:

1. Select the Matter Stages dropdown menu and choose the appropriate stage.
2. Click on the next stage and select Go to this stage to move the matter to the next stage. 
   
3. You can switch to different Matter Stage configurations. This feature is useful when working with complicated matters that have multiple levels or potential paths.
4. You can organise or track the status of your matters on the Matter List by selecting Matters and applying the Matter Stages filter.
   
   • Note: If you don't see Matter Stage as a heading, right-click on the grey table headers to add the option.

Good to know

• If you amend a Stage Set and there are existing matters using that set, the set will be updated on those existing matters automatically.
• If a stage is removed from a Stage Set and there were existing matters that had that particular stage selected, then that stage will remain selected on those matters. Once a matter is updated to a new stage, the deleted stage will disappear.
• If you change the matter type of a matter, it will remove the Stage Set applied to it if the new matter type is not compatible with that set.