# Document Publishing

Document Publishing is the method used to make a document/report available on the web. When a document is published it becomes known to Ripplestone.

During the publishing process, the document file is copied to the web server that is hosting Ripplestone. In addition, the document is added to the known list of documents. Each published document is assigned to a specific folder and can include optional features such as a Title, Description, Author and Author Contact Information.

The system administrator has complete control over who can publish documents and what folders each user (through membership in a role) can publish to. To publish a document a user must be a member of a role with publishing capability. To grant a user the ability to publish see Editing Roles. The optional information such as Title and Description can be made mandatory by changing the publishing options in System Setup and Configuration.

A typical method of managing reports would be for a report developer to create and test a report on a workstation using the Crystal Reports Designer. After the report is known to be working, it is published to Ripplestone. Ripplestone makes a copy of the report, the original report file still exists after the publishing process.

For detailed instructions see Publish a Report