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Linking and Relating Records

Introduction

Brief Connect allows you to link or relate records together, making it easy to navigate between connected items and maintain context across related work. Linking records creates a two-way relationship, so both records will show the connection.

Manual Linking/Relating of Records

You can manually relate any records in Brief Connect. This is useful for: - Connecting related records, decisions, and correspondence - Situations where records are superceded by a new record, or in cases of accidental duplication - Tracking related work across teams or topics

How to Link/Relate Records

  1. Open the record you want to relate to others.
  2. Go to the Related Records section (usually found in the record details or via the "Manage Related Records" option).
  3. Click the Add button to search for and select one or more records to relate.
  4. The selected records will appear in the related records list. This relationship is two-way: the other record(s) will also show this record as related.
  5. To remove a relationship, select the related record(s) and click Delete.
  6. Changes are saved automatically or via a Save button, depending on your view.

Note: Only users with edit access to the record can add or remove related records.

Automatic Relating for Correspondence Records

When you create or update a record of a correspondence type (such as a letter or email), Brief Connect will automatically relate it to other correspondence records that share the same participants.

How Automatic Relating Works

  • The system checks the "From" and "To" contacts on the correspondence record.
  • It searches for other correspondence records with matching email addresses in these fields.
  • Any matches are automatically added to the related records list for the current record.
  • This ensures that all correspondence involving the same parties is linked together, making it easy to track conversations and related items.

Tip: You can still manually add or remove related records in addition to the automatic links created for correspondence.

FAQ

Q: Can I relate a record to an external system? A: Not directly in the UI, but integrations can be built using Brief Connect's APIs and webhooks.

Q: Is there a limit to how many records I can relate? A: There is no strict limit, but very large numbers of related records may impact usability.

Q: Are related records hierarchical? A: No, all relationships are flat (many-to-many) and do not imply parent/child structure.