Editorial Update/Starting Update Tasks
This page details the steps you take to navigate the editorial site and start update in XMetaL for all types of amendment.
Editorial Site: From 'My Current Work' to 'Check out for edit'
The following instructions explain how to navigate the editorial site to start your update task; starting from your dashboard up until the point you have checked a provision out for edit. The Overview gives an outline of the process and links to more detailed instructions in What you will see on the Editorial Site.
Overview
- Click on My Current work on the editorial site to access your allocated tasks on your Dashboard.
- Select a document from the update tasks displayed under the purple heading Online Update and Review Online Update, this will take you to the Starting Update page.
- On the Starting Update page, scroll down to the Help and Support section beneath the 'Points in time you have been allocated to update' graphic. At the bottom of this section you will be able to download the Effects Spreadsheet, which will contain the details of the effects you need to apply in your update task.
- Before you begin any update tasks, you need to check the Effects Spreadsheet and familiarise yourself with the effects for the Point in Time you are updating. You can filter the IF Date1 (column W) so that it only shows the effects with the commencement date of the Point in Time you are working in. The data in the spreadsheet will alert you to any limitations to the amendments you are about to carry out or any additional information that should be present in the annotations. This will determine how you carry out the update and any checks you need to make to the automatically generated annotations. In particular, identify if there are any:
- limited extent amendments (columns I and/or J in comparison with column E);
- savings (column N);
- comments for the editor(column Q);
- notes (column R);
- appended commentary (column U); and/or
- qualifications to the IF Date1 (column X).
- Once you have checked the Effects Spreadsheet, return to the Starting Update page. Select the green Start Task button, this will generate the update task and then take you to the Update Overview page.
- On the Update Overview page, click on either the grey Details button which appears to the right of each provision in your Point in Time or the green Continue update button which will take you to the Update Details page for the first amendment listed on the Update Overview page. You will be either be taken to the Provision Level, High Level, Auto Annotations or the Blanket Amendments Update Details page depending on the type of amendment and the level at which it will need to be made.
- From the Update Details page you will be able to 'check out' the provision that you need to amend. When you select the relevant Check out for edit button, this will launch XMetaL, the program that allows us to edit the legislation. Note: When prompted, select Save file. Once the document has been downloaded, open it by double clicking it in the download box. Alternatively, right click on the file in the downloads box and select Open containing folder. From the containing folder, select your file, right click and select Open with - XMetal. XMetaL does not need to be open already.
- Now set up your XMetal workspace, and you will be ready to start the update task. Tip: Prior to starting the task in XMetaL, make sure that you have consulted the Effects Spreadsheet and are aware of any limited extent amendments, savings, comments for the editor, notes, appended commentary or in force date qualifications as this will help you to carry out the update task successfully.
What you will see on the Editorial Site
This section provides a description and a screenshot of the different webpages you will encounter whilst following the instructions in the Overview.
The Starting Update Page
The Starting Update page shows all of the 'Points in Time' that have been allocated to you for editorial update. The update 'barchart' shows the number of textual effects that need to be applied for each Point in Time. The dates on the 'barchart' are based on the commencement information for the effects within each Point in Time.
Downloading the Effects Spreadsheet
From this page you need to download the Effects Spreadsheet:
- Select the Download file button.
- In the pop-up save the file and select OK.
- Open the Excel document from the Download Folder of your browser:
- Click Yes in the pop-up.
- Once the Excel document has loaded, click Enable Editing on the yellow banner at the top of the page.
The Update Overview Page
The Update Overview page lists all of the amendment tasks that have coming into force dates on the date of the Point in Time you are working on.
The amendment tasks are grouped into a number of categories:
- High Level Amendments: Amendments that will require you to check out more than just a single provision e.g. a whole Part or Schedule.
- Provision Level Amendments: Amendments that only affect individual provisions, for example insertion of words.
- Automatic Amendments: These are amendments that do not change the text. The system will automatically create an annotation which you can check and edit if necessary. These can be non-textual amendments, coming into force effects, or automatic additions to existing annotations, for example the addition of a further coming into force date and reference to commencement order/s.
- Blanket Amendments: Amendments that needs to be applied to multiple provisions across the Act. This option allows you to choose what you need to 'check-out' in order to complete the amendments.
- Checked Out Documents: If any documents have not been checked back in during the update process, a list of those documents will appear under this heading. You can’t proceed to the next Point in Time, or complete an update task, unless all documents have been checked back in.
The Update Details Page - Provision Level
The Update Details page lists all of the amendments that need to be carried out for the provision selected for the specific Point in Time you are working on. This page allows you to:
- See the extent of the affected provision and the affecting provision. If the extent of the amendment is narrower than the extent of the affected provision this will be classed as a limited extent amendment.
- Link to the affecting provision so that you can check the amendment instructions before going into XMetaL.
- If any additional information was recorded with the effects that you need to consider during update, this will be flagged here. Click on any red exclamation marks to get a help tip.
- You can expand the amendment tasks by using the small purple arrow which appears to the left of the 'amending provision'. This will give you relevant details originally recorded in the effects spreadsheet, as well as providing access to a PDF of the original ‘marked-up’ version of the amending legislation. This may help resolve any queries if there is an issue with the amendment.
- There is a preview panel at the bottom of the page. Before update you can view the ‘previous version’ of the provision (which is the latest version from legislation.gov.uk). This step is highly recommended as it can alert you to any irregularity in the provision, or even in the document itself, which could later stop you from carrying out your editing. For the same reason we also recommend that you view the affecting legislation, by clicking on the Title of the document positioned under the heading 'Affecting Legislation. After update you will be able to see the newly updated version appearing here too, labelled as the ‘Newly Edited version’.
- There is also a 'Preview Provision' option, so that you can preview the legislation within the context of the whole item of legislation. This preview is useful if you want to view the 'timeline' for the provision.
Tip: On the Provision Level Update Details page, if you select the Details button to begin your update task, once you have carried out this amendment you will be able to navigate straight to the next amendment using the Next Amendment button. If you use the Continue update button, you will come back to the Update Overview page after each amendment.
The Update Details Page - High Level
The Update Details page for high level amendments is slightly different: it will show a list of the high level amendments that need to be completed for the Point in Time you are editing (Note: there may be more than one):
The details given are the same as for provision level amendments BUT there is no preview facility built into this page. You will need to select the ‘Preview Legislation’ option to preview the amendments on completion. Underneath the list of high level amendments you will be presented with a Table of Contents of the item of legislation you are updating. From this Table of Contents, you can check out higher levels of data e.g. Main body, Schedules, Parts, etc.
- Use the Details button in the list of amendments to link to the affecting provision and check the amendment instructions. In particular you should confirm where the amendment is to be made:
- Scroll down the Table of Contents and to find where your insertion is to go. When carrying out high level amendments you need to decide what ‘level’ you are going to check out in order to make the amendment. To do this you need to locate where the provision is to go and then ‘check out’ the parent level e.g. Cross-heading, Chapter, Part, Schedule to which that new provision will ultimately belong. (Further information on the structure of the documents held on legislation.gov.uk can be found here):
You need to check out the document out in this way to make sure that you can position the new provision in the right place in the item of legislation, with the correct XML tagging. Note: If the document you are editing is very small or old there may be no cross-headings or Parts etc. In this case you should check out the ‘main body’ or ‘Schedules’. The options to do this are available at the top of the Table of Contents on the Update Details page. - Once you have located the ‘parent level’ you need to ‘check it out’ to complete the amendment. Select the Check Out for edit button which appears next to the parent level, this will launch XMetaL, ready for you to carry out the amendment. Note: When prompted, select Save file. Once the document has been downloaded, open it by double clicking it in the download box. Alternatively, right click on the file in the downloads box and select open containing folder. From the containing folder, select your file, right click and select Open with - XMetaL. XMetaL does not need to be open already.
Whatever type of amendment you need to make, whether you are starting from the Provision level, High level or Auto-annotations page, when you check the XML out for edit you will then need to follow the instructions for Setting up your XMetal workspace.
Setting up your XMetaL workspace
- Once you have selected the green Check out for edit button from the Update Details page, select Save file in the pop-up. When the document has been downloaded open it by either:
- double clicking on it in the Downloads box, or
- right clicking on the file in the Downloads box and selecting open containing folder. From the containing folder, select your file, right click and select, Open with - XMetaL. XMetaL does not need to be open already.
- Once XMetaL has opened, you will see the provision that is to be amended (referred to as the amended provision) in the upper pane of the screen (full view). The screenshot below shows the view in XMetaL when the amended provision has just opened, by default the legislation will be shown in ‘tags on view’ and the Tasks in Resource Manager will be collapsed.
- In the lower pane, the Resource Manager window shows the amending tasks you need to carry out. To expand the list, click on the small cross to the left of the word 'task'.
- To open your amending provision (the provision which makes the amendment), double click on the expanded task in Resource Manager and enter your credentials in the pop-up. The provision will open in a new pane, you can work with the amended and amending provisions each in full view or alternatively you can view both panes simultaneously by tiling the windows (simultaneous view). The screenshot below shows both amended and amending provisions opened in full view in XMetaL, you can navigate between them by selecting the appropriate tab above the Resource Manager window.
- Firstly, using the tabs above the Resource Manager window, select the task-update tab to put your cursor in the amended provision pane,
- Secondly, select Window - Tile Horizontally from the menu bar at the top of the page. The amended provision pane will be the top pane and the amending provision will be the bottom pane. You can move these windows by clicking on the bar at the top of each window and dragging to a new position; for example, if you prefer to have the amending provision at the top and the amended provision at the bottom.
- You are now ready to carry out your amendment. For further guidance on carrying out amendments, see Textual Amendments and Non-textual Amendments
It can be useful to view both the amending and amended panes simultaneously. To change the view:
Tips:
- If the Resource Manager window does not open automatically it can be opened by selecting View - Resource Manager on the toolbar at the top of the page. The Resource Manager window can be moved around the page to a position that suits you for editing.
- In some cases double clicking on the task will fail to open the amending document. In such cases it is possible to manually open the amending document.
Related Topics
Editorial Update
XMetaL
Last updated SH 30/4/2020