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Understanding pre-filled and read-only “Changes Made” notes
Who is this article for?
Administrators who managers documents and reports.
Administration permissions are required.
During the document release process in Ideagen Quality Management Core (Ideagen Quality Management (Core)) users may notice that the “Changes Made” field is pre-filled and cannot be edited. This behavior often raises questions about whether it’s a system error or expected functionality. This article explains why this happens, how to verify the root cause, and the steps to resolve it.
1. Issue
During the document release process for a new revision, the “Changes Made” area displays pre-filled text (apparently from prior editor notes) and cannot be edited or cleared.
2. Root cause (Expected behavior)
- Ideagen Quality Management (Core) can surface Word review artifacts notably comments and tracked changes - as part of the document’s revision history.
- If comments exist in the source Word file (and/or Track Changes is left on with unresolved edits), the system may fill the “Changes Made” field from those comments, disabling manual edits at that step.
3. How to verify
- Check out the document from Ideagen Quality Management (Core).
- Open in Microsoft Word go to Review tab.
- Inspect for Comments (open the Comments pane) and Track Changes status.
- Confirm whether comments or unaccepted changes exist.
4. Resolution
4.1. Clean the Word File (Recommended)
- In Word → Review:
- Delete or resolve all comments.
- Accept/Reject all tracked changes (use “Accept All Changes” if appropriate).
- Save as modern .docx.
- Upload the cleaned file as a new revision in Ideagen Quality Management (Core).
- Proceed to Release; the “Changes Made” field should now accept manual input.
4.2. Retain Comments but separate narrative
- If comments must remain for audit purposes, use the Edit Reason (or equivalent) field in the workflow to capture a manual narrative, recognizing that the “Changes Made” area may remain read-only while comments are present.
Important Note:
- Establish a document hygiene SOP prior to upload/release:
- Resolve comments, finalize tracked changes, save to .docx.
- Use Edit Reason for release notes; keep Word comments minimal and purposeful.