DocuTrack HR Help Center & Knowledge Base

When multiple colleagues work in the same sheet, applying a standard filter changes the view for everyone. Google Sheets provides a dedicated feature called Filter Views to prevent this:

1. Click Data → Filter views → Create new filter view in Google Sheets.
2. A dark border appears around your spreadsheet, indicating you are in a personal view.
3. You can sort and filter by expiration status without disturbing any of your colleagues working simultaneously in the document.
4. You can name the filter view (e.g., "Urgent Visas Only") and save it for future one-click access.

DocuTrack HR strictly expects standard calendar dates in DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format.

Troubleshooting Tip: If dates are typed as plain text (e.g. "Next Friday" or "Oct 2026"), the reactive formula cannot compute elapsed days and marks the row with a red invalid badge. To ensure your date column is formatted properly, highlight the column and select Format → Number → Date in the Google Sheets toolbar.

The dates are set by you (the user); DocuTrack HR validates and tracks them.

• Your Date Column (e.g. Column U): Contains the actual expiration date or due date. You either type this date in (e.g. passport expiry) or use a formula (e.g. calculating a 90-day report from an arrival date with =S2 + 90). DocuTrack HR reads this date.
• DocuTrack HR Status Column (e.g. Column V): DocuTrack HR computes the elapsed days in its secure background engine and writes clean, styled status pills (URGENT, APPROACHING, VALID, EXPIRED).
• Why DocuTrack HR doesn't inject spreadsheet formulas: Writing computed values directly rather than injecting messy spreadsheet formulas (like =IF(DAYS(...)<15, ...)) prevents calculation loops, avoids formula corruption, and allows automated 8:00 AM Gmail triggers to run quietly without needing the spreadsheet open.

If your sheet calculates 90-day due dates from an arrival date using an ARRAYFORMULA, this is a well-known Google Sheets sorting trap:

1. The Cause: If the formula was placed in a data row (e.g. in cell U2), sorting the sheet alphabetically moves that person's row down (for example, down to U12).
2. Why top rows go blank: In Google Sheets, an ARRAYFORMULA can only spill downwards from the cell where it lives. Because the formula moved down to U12, rows 2 through 11 have no formula and become completely blank!
3. The Fix: Either place your ARRAYFORMULA inside the header cell (e.g. U1 or U4) where it never moves during a sort:
   =ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ROW(S:S)=4, "90-day Due Date", IF(S:S="", "", S:S+90)))
   Or use standard drag-down formulas (e.g. =S2+90 in each row). Standard formulas stay attached to their rows when sorted and never cause spill gaps.

Yes! To ensure staff members or assistants do not accidentally delete formula cells:

1. Highlight the Status or Days Remaining columns generated by DocuTrack HR.
2. Click Data → Protect sheets and ranges.
3. Set permissions to "Only you" or select "Show a warning when editing this range".

If scheduled reminders were not received, review this 4-step checklist:

1. Check Triggers Tab: Open the sidebar, navigate to the Global Hub tab, and verify that Live Sync and Daily Sweep show green Active badges.
2. Verify Expiry Date Format: Ensure the dates in your sheet are valid dates (e.g. 18/10/2026). If typed as text, the trigger engine skips the row for safety.
3. Check Selected Milestones: Ensure you have ticked at least one milestone (e.g. 15 Days Before or 30 Days Before). If all checkboxes are blank, no emails will fire.
4. Verify Staff Email Column: Ensure every staff row has a valid, properly spelled email address in the Email column.

Yes! While automated daily sweeps fire every morning at 8:00 AM, manual on-demand notifications are supported in your settings.

1. Click the row of the staff member you'd like to contact in your Google Sheet.
2. Open the DocuTrack HR sidebar.
3. Click Manual Update Burst (Email Selected Staff).
4. DocuTrack HR evaluates that row instantly and dispatches a personalized notification notice directly via your Gmail account.

Emails are dispatched natively via Google Workspace's Gmail service and adhere to Google's standard quotas:

* DocuTrack HR includes an intelligent recipient deduplication engine to ensure staff with multiple expiring documents receive one combined notification, saving quota.

The blue status banner confirms that the background queue is actively evaluating records in batches of 50. This guarantees zero formula lockouts or quota timeouts on large sheets.

You do not need to wait for it to finish. The banner will automatically disappear once all rows have been evaluated and status pills are rendered.

For maximum performance across large international schools and enterprise rosters:

• Delete Empty Trailing Rows: Google Sheets by default creates 1,000 rows. If your school has 250 teachers, delete rows 251 to 1,000 so the sweep doesn't examine blank cells.
• Archive Former Staff: Move alumni or departed teachers to a separate "Archive" worksheet. Keep your active tracking sheet focused strictly on active personnel.
• Avoid Heavy Volatile Formulas: Limit volatile external formulas (like NOW() or IMPORTXML) in the same worksheet to ensure sub-second response times.

When you first launch the add-on, Google presents an authorization consent modal. Here is the strict justification for each requested scope:

• spreadsheets.currentonly: Allows the script to read expiry dates and write status badges strictly in the spreadsheet you currently have open. It cannot access any other files in your Google Drive.
• gmail.send: Allows the add-on to dispatch automated expiry notifications and Monday summary digests from your authorized school address. It cannot read, search, or delete your existing emails.
• script.scriptapp: Allows DocuTrack HR to install and manage the silent 8:00 AM daily clock trigger.

Yes! IT Super Admins can install DocuTrack HR domain-wide directly from the Google Workspace Marketplace listing.

Admins can grant domain-wide consent so individual HR officers, principals, or department heads do not need to go through the authorization dialog individually.

Unlike basic add-ons that create a separate trigger for each reminder column, DocuTrack HR uses a single Master Trigger Controller. One trigger handles the 8:00 AM daily check, live status sync, and Monday digest sweeps across all tabs simultaneously, using only 1 of your 20 available trigger slots.

DocuTrack HR PRO licenses are tied to your authorized Google Workspace email address via secure OAuth tokens. Whenever you create a new Google Sheet for a new term or school year:

1. Open your new spreadsheet.
2. Go to Extensions → DocuTrack HR → Open Sidebar.
3. The add-on automatically validates your email against our licensing bridge and unlocks all PRO features instantly. No manual license key copying is required.

Yes! We highly recommend schools and corporate teams license their shared HR mailbox (e.g., hr@academyschool.edu). When the shared account owns the spreadsheet and activates DocuTrack HR:

• Automated daily notifications are dispatched from your official department address.
• Replies from staff members go straight to the shared HR inbox.
• Team members with edit access to the sheet can manage records seamlessly.

Free Tier: Unlimited spreadsheet tracking, real-time formula status badges (URGENT / APPROACHING / VALID), single-tab tracking, and manual test notifications.

PRO Tier: Automated 8:00 AM background cloud sweep, branded HTML email dispatch, Monday HR summary digests, multi-tab worksheet tracking, enterprise background batching for 500+ records, and priority developer support.