Part 3 · Projects, time and knowledge

Knowledge base

Keep the organization's policies, procedures and registers, track the decisions of an engagement, and prove who received which version.

Symbifox 18.0 (September 2026 catalogue) · Modules: Project Knowledge Matrix, Document Nextcloud Sync, Documents: multi-party approval, Corporate Governance, Credentials · Revised 2026-09-12

The Base de connaissances (knowledge base) application brings together two things that usually sit apart: the organization's documentation (policies, procedures, manuals, registers) and the tracking of an engagement's decisions. It is for the people who keep policies up to date, those who lead an implementation project, and those who must show that a procedure was actually distributed. The result is documentation that is dated, versioned and distributed, and one matrix per engagement that replaces the tracking spreadsheet. This is the fullest chapter in the guide, because the application covers the most ground.

Overview#

Four concepts structure the application.

A document is a record: a name, a reference, a type, an owner, a next review date. Its content lives in versions. A version has a number, a change log, an approver and an effective date. Publishing a version freezes its content: that version is the one that was distributed, and it will not change again. A document's body can be written directly in Symbifox, section by section, or stay a pointer to an external file.

A distribution links a version to someone: a client or an employee. It records the sending date, the method, and the acknowledgement when the person confirms receipt. A distribution becomes outdated on its own as soon as a newer version appears. This is the feature that answers the question “who read what, and when”, and it is turned off by default.

A knowledge matrix groups the items of an engagement: a decision to make, information to obtain, content to produce. Each item carries its section, its phase, its owner, its deadline, its status and its attachments. The matrix is attached to a project and calculates its own progress. A matrix can also serve as a template, copied from one engagement to the next.

Finally, corporate governance holds the resolutions, the registers of directors and officers, the calendar of annual obligations and the minute book. The credentials vault stores a project's passwords and keys, encrypted, with their expiry date.

The dashboard brings all of this together as figures you can open.

The application is tied to Project: a matrix belongs to a project, an item can generate a task, and a document can be filed under an engagement. Decisions recorded here feed the steps of a process map (see Process maps) and show up in meeting reports. Documents can live on Nextcloud rather than in Symbifox (see Nextcloud and Collabora).

What sets the Symbifox approach apart: the record and the content are two different things. The life cycle, the dates, the distribution and the proof of receipt stay in Symbifox, wherever the file itself is stored.

Configuration#

Access and permissions#

Permissions are granted in Settings, on the user's record. The application has several, independent of one another:

• Matrices de connaissances (knowledge matrices), Utilisateur (user) or Gestionnaire (manager): view matrices and items, or administer them. Only the manager sees Configuration.
• Documents, user or manager: the user gets all of Documentation, and the manager also adds document types and document sections.
• Distribution et accusés de réception (distribution and acknowledgements): the three distribution entries. This is a separate permission, because the list of people who have not yet acknowledged receipt is sensitive information.
• Identifiants (credentials), user or manager: the Identifiants entry. A credential marked as restricted shows its password to the manager only.
• Gouvernance corporative (corporate governance), manager: the Gouvernance corporative entry and its five screens.

A person who holds none of these permissions does not see the application.

Settings#

The settings live in Settings, Base de connaissances section:

• Distribution et accusés de réception: turns distribution on. When it is cleared, the three distribution entries disappear, the reminders stop and the matching blocks leave the dashboard. Nothing is deleted: the distributions and the acknowledgements already obtained stay in the database.
• Rapport automatique activé (automatic report on) and Destinataires du rapport (report recipients): the dashboard summary goes out by email every two weeks, to the addresses entered. Envoyer maintenant (send now) triggers an immediate send so you can check the result.
• Configuration Nextcloud par defaut (default Nextcloud configuration): the connection offered to new documents, if you store your files on Nextcloud.

Base data#

Three sets of reference data are supplied, ready to use, and can be edited in Base de connaissances › Configuration:

• the matrix sections, sixteen on the demo, which classify items (scoping and boundaries, data and migration, compliance and privacy, operations and support, training and adoption);
• the document types, twenty-two on the demo, which tell a user manual from an HR policy or a register. Each type says whether it is internal or meant for clients, and carries its Gabarit de sections (section template);
• the document sections, fourteen on the demo, the catalogue of sections that make up the body of a policy written in Symbifox.

Add your types before you create your first documents: the type decides the sections and whether the document is internal.

Getting started#

This walkthrough creates a matrix on a Boréal engagement, records a decision in it and produces a report.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Matrices and select New.
2. In Name, enter “ERP migration, tracking matrix”, then choose the Project it belongs to. Save.
3. In the Items tab, select Add a line. Enter the ID de décision (decision ID) “D1”, choose the Section “Cadrage et périmètre” (scoping and boundaries) and describe the Élément de décision (decision item): “Functional scope of phase 1”.
4. Open the line to complete its record: Type “Décision”, Phase “Découverte” (discovery), Assigné à (assigned to) and Échéance (deadline).
5. When the decision is made, select Accepter (accept). The status bar changes to Accepté (accepted).
6. Select Créer une tâche (create a task) to pass the resulting work down into the project.
7. Go back to the matrix and select Imprimer PDF (print PDF).

You now have a matrix that shows its progress, an item decided and dated, a linked task and a report to send. The rest of this chapter shows how to keep documentation the same way.

Common tasks#

Record a decision and move it forward#

A matrix item serves as much to request information as to set a decision and its context in stone.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Éléments (items) and select New.
2. Enter the ID de décision, the Matrice (matrix), the Section and the Élément de décision.
3. Under Classification, choose the Type (information, decision, content) and the Phase.
4. Under Planification (planning), set the Priorité (priority), the Échéance and Assigné à.
5. In the Décision (decision) tab, fill in the Contexte (context), the Décision, the Alternatives considérées (alternatives considered), the Justification and the Conséquences (consequences).
6. Select Proposer (propose), then Accepter or Rejeter (reject), depending on the outcome.

The status bar shows where the item stands. An information item follows the other path: Démarrer (start), Marquer complété (mark complete), or Marquer S/O (mark not applicable) when the question falls away. Réinitialiser (reset) returns it to pending. Remplacer (replace) creates a successor and marks the current decision as superseded, without erasing it: an outdated decision stays readable, alongside what replaced it.

Link an item to a task and its dependencies#

A decision that goes nowhere stays an intention.

1. Open the item.
2. Select Créer une tâche: the name, the description, the assignee and the deadline are taken from the item.
3. Open the Tâches et dépendances (tasks and dependencies) tab to see the tasks already linked.
4. In Bloqué par (blocked by), designate the items that must be settled before this one.

The item then shows the number of linked tasks in its shortcut buttons at the top of the form, and a badge flags it as blocked until its prerequisites are complete. The task itself appears in the project as usual.

Capture a decision from a conversation#

A decision is often made in an email filed in a task's chatter, the message thread at the bottom of the record, rather than in a form.

1. Open the project task, in Project.
2. In the chatter, find the message that contains the decision.
3. On that message, select the light bulb icon.
4. The form for a new item opens, prefilled: project, matrix, author, quoted message body, linked task and provisional identifier.
5. Complete the section and the status, then save.

The item joins the project's first active matrix and is assigned to you. This action is offered to internal people only, on project tasks.

Import a matrix from a spreadsheet#

A matrix that already exists in a spreadsheet comes in without retyping.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Configuration › Importer depuis CSV (import from CSV).
2. Choose the Matrice cible (target matrix).
3. Select Upload your file and pick your file.
4. Set the Délimiteur (delimiter): semicolon, comma or tab.
5. Check Lignes d'en-tête à ignorer (header rows to skip) and say how many rows to skip.
6. Check Mettre à jour les éléments existants (update existing items) so that an identifier already present is updated rather than duplicated.
7. Verify the Éléments à importer (items to import) count, then run the import.

The items join the chosen matrix. Rows whose decision identifier already exists are updated or skipped, depending on the checkbox.

Start from a matrix template#

An engagement that resembles the last one does not have to be rebuilt from scratch.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Modèles (templates).
2. Open the template to reuse, or create one by checking Is Template on an existing matrix.
3. Copy it to the project you want.
4. Open the new matrix and adjust the items to the engagement.

Modèles and Matrices show the same records, filtered differently: the Is Template checkbox is all that separates them.

Send a matrix report to a client#

The report gives the client the real progress of the engagement, without building a table by hand.

1. Open the matrix.
2. Select Imprimer PDF to get it right away, with its indicators, its progress bar and its items grouped by section.
3. To send it, select Envoyer rapport (send report).
4. In the dialog, choose the Destinataires (recipients), and adjust the Sujet (subject) and the Corps du message (message body).
5. Optional: select Prévisualiser PDF (preview PDF) to reread it before sending.
6. Select Envoyer (send).

The email goes out in your organization's colours, with the report attached. For a recurring send, open the matrix's Envoi de rapport (report sending) tab, check Envoi automatique (automatic sending), then choose the Destinataires du rapport and the Fréquence (frequency): weekly, every two weeks, monthly, or a custom interval.

See who carries what in an engagement#

The RACI summary answers, at a glance, who is responsible for how many things on this engagement.

1. In your items, fill in Assigné à, Décideur (decision maker), Consultés (consulted) and Informés (informed).
2. Go to Base de connaissances › Résumé RACI (RACI summary).
3. Read the pivot table: people in rows, roles in columns, number of items in the cells.
4. From a project's record, use the shortcut button RACI at the top of the form to get this engagement only.

The screen stays empty as long as no role is filled in. The four roles are read straight from the items: there is no second list to maintain.

Create a document and keep it up to date#

The document record carries its identity and its schedule; its content comes afterwards.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Documentation › Tous les documents (all documents) and select New.
2. Enter the Nom du document (document name) and the Référence (reference), then choose the Type.
3. Enter the Responsable (owner), and the Projet (project) if the document belongs to an engagement. Leave it empty for a document that is valid across the organization.
4. Under Révision et expiration (review and expiry), enter the Intervalle de révision (mois) (review interval in months) and, if there is one, the Date d'expiration (expiry date).
5. Choose the Source du corps (body source): Fichier externe (external file) or Rédigé dans Odoo (written in Odoo).
6. Save, then select Activer (activate).

The Prochaine révision (next review) is calculated from the interval. Once the reread is done, Marquer comme révisé (mark as reviewed) pushes the date forward by as much. Archiver (archive) takes the document out of circulation without destroying it, and Remettre en brouillon (reset to draft) returns it to preparation.

Write a policy in Symbifox#

The text lives in the record rather than in a file that travels from computer to computer.

1. Open the document and set the Source du corps to Rédigé dans Odoo.
2. Select Appliquer le gabarit (apply the template): the sections planned by the document type are seeded in the Corps du document (document body) tab.
3. Write each section. The generated sections (version history, governance, approvals) fill themselves in.
4. Select Générer le PDF (generate the PDF) to get the document in your organization's colours.

The screen shows the number of characters written, the empty sections and those that have changed since the last publication. Appliquer le gabarit only adds the missing sections: it never touches what is already written.

Publish a version#

Publishing is the action that dates the content and makes it distributable.

1. Open the document, Versions tab, and create a version.
2. Enter the Version number, the Type de modification (change type: major, minor or editorial) and the Résumé des modifications (change summary).
3. Detail the Journal des modifications (change log), and attach the Fichier du document (document file) if the body lives outside.
4. Select Soumettre pour révision (submit for review), then Approuver (approve).
5. Select Publier (publish).

The version becomes the current version, and the previous one becomes superseded. Retirer (withdraw) takes a published version out of circulation, and Remettre en brouillon reopens it. Check Correctif mineur (minor fix) for a cosmetic change: the acknowledgements already obtained stay valid.

Distribute a document and track the acknowledgements#

A procedure distributed with no trace of receipt proves nothing.

1. On the published version, select Distribuer (distribute).
2. Choose the Type de destinataire (recipient type), then the Client or the Employé (employee), and the Méthode de distribution (distribution method).
3. Check Signature requise (signature required) if the reading must be signed.
4. Select Envoyer le document (send the document): the message opens, prefilled, so that you reread it before it goes out.
5. When the person confirms, select Marquer accusé reçu (mark as acknowledged); the date is recorded on its own.
6. Follow up if needed with Envoyer un rappel (send a reminder).

The distribution goes from En attente d'accusé (awaiting acknowledgement) to Accusé reçu (acknowledged). Rappeler (recall) cancels a distribution sent by mistake, Remettre en attente (set back to pending) starts over, and Notifier mise à jour (notify of an update) warns a recipient who holds an outdated version.

Store a credential and change its password#

The vault keeps a project's access details somewhere other than a shared spreadsheet.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Identifiants and select New.
2. Enter the Nom (name), the Projet and the Type: the type decides which fields are shown.
3. Fill in the URL, the Nom d'utilisateur (username), the Mot de passe (password) or the Clé API (API key), and attach the Fichier de clé (key file) if there is one.
4. Enter the Date d'expiration and check Restreint (restricted) for sensitive access.
5. After a check, select Vérifier (verify) to date that check.
6. To change the password, select Rotation du mot de passe (password rotation), enter the new one twice, choose the Raison (reason), then confirm.

Passwords and keys are encrypted. Révoquer (revoke) takes an access out of circulation, and Réactiver (reactivate) puts it back in service. The rotation leaves a dated trace in the chatter.

Adopt a corporate resolution#

A resolution is prepared, proposed, adopted, and printed ready to sign.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Résolutions (resolutions) and select New.
2. Enter the Titre (title), the Type de résolution (resolution type), the Catégorie de sujet (subject category) and the Date de la séance (meeting date).
3. Write the ATTENDU QUE (whereas) preamble and the IL EST RÉSOLU QUE (be it resolved that) body.
4. Enter the Proposeur (mover), the Secondeur (seconder) and the votes, or check Adopté à l'unanimité (adopted unanimously).
5. In the Signataires (signatories) tab, add who signs and in what Qualité (capacity).
6. Select Proposer, then Adopter (adopt) or Rejeter.
7. Select Imprimer PDF.

The resolution's reference is assigned when it is created. The Documents tab links it to the records of the minute book. When the Signataires tab is left empty, the signature block of a board resolution uses the directors in office on the date of the meeting, not today's.

Track corporate deadlines#

The compliance calendar recalls annual obligations before the date, not after.

1. Go to Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Calendrier de conformité (compliance calendar).
2. Open the event, or create one with its Type d'événement (event type), its Année fiscale (fiscal year) and its Date limite (deadline).
3. When the obligation is met, enter the Référence de dépôt (filing reference) and select Marquer complété.
4. Réinitialiser reopens an event closed by mistake.

The state goes from À venir (upcoming) to Échéance proche (due soon), then En retard (overdue), and finally Complété (complete). The calendar view shows the year at a glance.

The menus, one by one#

Base de connaissances: the application menu; it has no screen of its own. On a narrow screen, the entries that do not fit fold under the add button of the menu bar.

Base de connaissances › Tableau de bord (dashboard): the home screen. A red banner announces the number of documents that need immediate action, then come the blocks: document overview (active, internal, client, drafts, archived, versions this year), reviews and expiries, review and expiry calendars in steps of thirty days, content quality, knowledge matrices, credentials, distribution and governance. Each figure opens the list it counts. The Tous les projets (all projects) selector, at the top right, restricts the dashboard to one engagement; the corporate figures, which hold for the whole company, then disappear instead of showing a misleading zero.

Base de connaissances › Matrices: the list of matrices, with the name, the project, the number of items, the progress as a percentage and the Is Template checkbox. Two matrices on the demo, at 57% and 60%.

Base de connaissances › Éléments: every item, grouped by section and filtered on the active items. Columns: priority, decision identifier, section, decision item, phase, deadline, assignee, number of tasks and status. The useful filters cover lateness, deadlines this week, priority, blocking and phase.

Base de connaissances › Résumé RACI: the pivot table of roles by person and by project. Empty on the demo: the help text invites you to fill in the responsible people, decision makers, consulted and informed in the items.

Base de connaissances › Modèles: the matrices marked as templates, to copy to a new engagement.

Base de connaissances › Identifiants: the vault, as a list or as cards. Empty on the demo: the help text recalls that passwords and keys are encrypted at rest.

Base de connaissances › Documentation: grouping menu; it has no screen of its own.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Tous les documents: the complete list, filtered on the active documents. Columns: reference, name, type, internal document, current version, body source, project, next review, expiry date, owner, number of versions, distributions, pending acknowledgements and state. Review dates that have passed stand out in colour. Fifteen documents on the demo.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Politiques et procédures (policies and procedures): the same list, restricted to internal documents. This is the screen for HR policies, IT procedures and employee manuals.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Documents clients (client documents): the same list, restricted to the manuals, contracts and guides meant for clients.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › À traiter (to handle): the documents that have expired, are expiring soon, or are overdue for review. The screen to open first thing on Monday morning.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Distributions: every distribution, with the recipient, the document name, the version, the distribution date, the method, the person who distributed it, the acknowledgement date and the state. Fifty-two on the demo, almost all acknowledged.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Accusés internes (internal acknowledgements): the same distributions, restricted to employees. This is the proof of internal compliance: who confirmed reading the policy, and on what date.

Base de connaissances › Documentation › Documentation obsolète (outdated documentation): the recipients who hold an outdated version. The starting point of an update campaign.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative: grouping menu; it has no screen of its own.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Résolutions: the resolutions of the board and of the shareholders, with their reference, their type, their meeting date and their status. Empty on the demo.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Registre des administrateurs (register of directors): the directors, their appointment and end dates, the reason for the end and the residence. Empty on the demo.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Registre des dirigeants (register of officers): the officers and their title, with the history of appointments. Empty on the demo.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Calendrier de conformité: the annual obligations, as a list or as a calendar. Columns: name, event type, fiscal year, due date, completion date, filing reference and state. Five events on the demo, all overdue, which shows exactly what the screen is for.

Base de connaissances › Gouvernance corporative › Livre des minutes (minute book): the documents classified by section of the minute book (articles, by-laws, shareholder agreements, minutes, filed forms, financial statements). A document appears there only once its section is filled in.

Base de connaissances › Configuration: grouping menu, reserved for the knowledge manager.

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Sections: the matrix sections, with their code, their name, their description and their colour. Sixteen on the demo, general sections (discovery and objectives, requirements, security and compliance) and sections specific to an implementation.

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Importer depuis CSV: the dialog for importing a matrix (see Import a matrix from a spreadsheet).

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Types d'identifiants (credential types): the nine access categories, each saying which fields to show (domain, address, API key, key file).

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Types de documents (document types): the twenty-two types, with their code, their icon, the internal document checkbox and their Gabarit de sections tab.

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Nextcloud Documents: the connections to Nextcloud storage. Empty on the demo; see Nextcloud and Collabora.

Base de connaissances › Configuration › Sections de documents (document sections): the catalogue of sections that make up a document's body. Fourteen on the demo. A system section is supplied by the application and cannot be deleted.

Reference#

Fields of the Document form#

The labels below appear in French on the English screen, as the screens show them.

Fields of the Matrix item form#

Fields of the Document version form#

Fields of the Distribution form#

Reports and exports#

• Imprimer PDF, on a matrix: the engagement report, with its indicators, its progress bar and its items grouped by section.
• Envoyer rapport, on a matrix: the same report, sent by email with a covering message.
• Générer le PDF, on a document written in Symbifox: the document laid out in your organization's colours.
• Imprimer PDF, on a resolution: the resolution ready to sign, with its signature block.
• The dashboard summary, sent by email every two weeks to the addresses set in Settings.

Automations#

Six passes run on their own, with nothing for you to start:

• every day, the documents are reviewed: review reminders and expiry alerts at four levels (ninety, sixty, thirty and seven days before the deadline), flagging of the recipients who hold an outdated version, and follow-up on acknowledgements that are dragging;
• every day, the credentials whose expiry date is approaching or has passed change state on their own;
• every day, corporate deadlines less than thirty days away create an activity for the managers, with a priority that rises as the date approaches;
• every day, matrix items that are overdue or close to their deadline create a follow-up activity for their owner;
• every day, the matrices set to automatic sending send their report to the planned recipients, at the chosen frequency;
• every two weeks, the dashboard summary goes out by email, if the setting is on.

Each activity and each reminder goes out only once per level: a document does not generate a daily reminder for three months.

Modules that extend this application#

Understanding#

The record and the content are two things. A document is an identity, a schedule and an owner; a version is dated content. That is what lets a document outlive its files: the manual keeps its reference, its distributions and its history while its content goes from version 1.0 to version 4.0.

Publishing freezes, and that is the point. The live body of a document keeps changing after a publication. The published version, for its part, keeps a copy of its content, section by section. That text is the one that was distributed and attested, and it is the one that must stay readable three years from now. The screen tells you which sections have changed since the last publication.

Distribution is off by default, and turning it off destroys nothing. Many organizations want versioned policies without chasing acknowledgements. The setting hides the menus, stops the reminders and takes the blocks off the dashboard, but it leaves the distributions and the acknowledgements in the database. An acknowledgement is proof that a document was brought to someone's attention on a given date, and proof is not deleted because someone changed their mind about a feature. The setting does not touch access rights: use the distribution permission to restrict who can read these screens.

The dashboard figures are read from the states, not from the dates. An expired credential is a credential that the daily pass has moved to the expired state, not an active credential whose date has passed. The two populations are not the same, and the second is empty by design.

A matrix is not a spreadsheet. Each item is a full record, with its chatter, its attachments, its activities and its tasks. That is what lets you follow a decision between two meetings, know who carried it, and find out, a year later, why it was made rather than another.

The register of directors does not say who signs. A shareholders' resolution is signed by shareholders, and the module keeps no register of shareholders. Hence the Signataires tab: when it is empty, the signature block of a board resolution is derived from the directors in office on the date of the meeting, and for everything else, only the mover and the seconder are printed, with no capacity. Printing a guessed capacity under a name would be worse than printing none.

The limits. The approval cycle knows neither conditional levels nor delegation: a named panel that must conclude, nothing more. The RACI summary is read, not entered: the roles are filled in on the items. And the corporate figures cannot be filtered by project, since they hold for the whole company.

Troubleshooting#

See also#

• Project: the engagement a matrix is attached to, and the tasks created from the items.
• Nextcloud and Collabora: store document files on your Nextcloud and edit them online.
• Process maps: the decisions recorded here explain the steps of a map.
• Meetings: the meeting reports where the decisions are made.
• Privacy (Law 25 and other frameworks): the registers and policies required by law, including Québec's Law 25, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, and their distribution.
• Common actions in every application: lists, filters, chatter, activities, attachments.