Order Folders
Order folders give a team one shared view of what needs attention: put an afternoon's collection, a chased backlog or one person's workload into a named folder and everybody filters the Orders list to the same batch. Covers creating folders, filling them by hand, in bulk or with a rule, duplicating, merging and retiring them, and how folders and tags work together.
A Shared View of What Needs Attention
A folder is a named container for orders, with a colour and an optional icon so it is recognisable at a glance. Folders are set up under Settings > System Settings > Order Folders, and the work happens on the Orders list, which has a Folder column, a Folder filter and Copy Folder on the row's right-click menu. Filter the list to a folder and you see that batch and nothing else: one place to look, the same for everyone on shift.
An order sits in one folder at a time, so "which batch is this order part of?" always has one answer. File an order somewhere new and it moves there, out of whichever folder it was in before. Helm tells you so in the bulk dialog, and from the Folder Info panel on a single order the move happens straight away, with no confirmation step.
Example scenario: your last courier collection is at 15:00 and 40 orders have to make it. You create a folder called Same Day Collection and add those orders to it from the Orders list. The floor filters to that folder all afternoon, and anything still in it at 14:30 is what needs chasing.
Folders & Tags Together
A folder answers "which batch of work is this order part of?" A tag answers "what is true about this order?" You want both: the folder moves as the work moves, and the tag stays with the order. If you want an order in two places at once, one of them should be a tag.
Before You Start
Folders are permission-gated action by action: filling, retiring and deleting are granted separately from creating. Ask whoever administers Helm to check your permission group covers the parts of the job you do.
Editing a folder's name, icon or colour uses the same permission as creating one, Order Folder Create. Order Folder Update covers the Status switch.
Folder names must be unique. Helm rejects a name already used by another folder in your company, and names are limited to 150 characters.
A colour is required, an icon is not. The colour is what makes a folder readable on a busy Orders list, so choose deliberately.
Keep a folder Active while people file into it by hand. An Inactive folder stays in the list and keeps its history, and rules can still file into it, but it is not offered in the picker on an order or in the bulk Add to Folder dialog.
Creating a Folder
Go to Settings > System Settings > Order Folders.
Choose Create Folder.
Enter the Name. This is what the floor will search for, so name it after the work rather than the day: names are unique, and dated folders pile up.
Pick a Colour. The options are Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Purple, Pink, Brown, Mint, Beige, Cyan, Navy, Maroon, Black and Gray.
Choose an Icon if you want one.
Confirm with Create Folder. It is created Active and immediately available on orders.
To change a folder later, select its row to open Edit Folder, adjust the name, icon or colour, and choose Save changes. Renaming does not disturb the orders inside.
Reading the Order Folders List
Use Search Order Folders to find one by name. The list is sorted by Last Order Added, most recent first, and only manual filing moves that date, so a folder that a rule keeps full can show nothing at all and sit at the bottom. Judge those by Order Qty in Folder.
Filling a Folder
Folders are created in Settings and filled from the order side. Two routes are manual, three automatic, and they behave differently.
One Order at a Time
Open the order and use the Folder Info panel. Select a folder from the picker and it applies straight away, with no confirmation step. Selecting the folder the order is already in takes it out again, which is how you clear a folder from here. The picker carries a Go to Folder Manager link.
A Batch From the Orders List
On the Orders list, select the orders you want to move.
From the bulk actions, choose set Folders, then Assigned Folder.
Choose the folder and confirm. Helm queues the change and tells you when it has finished, so a large selection does not hold up your screen.
To empty orders out again, select them and use Remove from Folder.
Adding a batch to a folder moves those orders out of whichever folders they are in now. The dialog says so but does not name the folders they are leaving, so check the Folder column on your selection before you confirm.
Automatically, With a Rule
Three kinds of rule file orders unattended:
An order rule with the Add To Folder action. The practical way to keep a folder current as orders import. See the Order Rules article for how to build the rule.
A Despatch Target Rule. Under Further Actions, Add Folder files the order when the rule matches.
An order rule with the Pregenerate Label action. This one walks the order through up to four folders unattended: into the Collection Folder when the rule matches, into the Processing Folder while the label is produced, then into the Success Folder or the Failed Folder. A Collection Folder belongs to one rule only, so a folder in your list may be owned by a rule.
Rules take a shortcut manual filing does not, which changes what to expect afterwards:
The first row is the one to design around: a rule that files an order does not set off a second rule listening for Added on Folder Event, so trigger the second rule on something the order itself changed.
Filing the Orders a Pick Left Behind
When a pick finishes with orders it could not pick, Helm raises a Pick Problems notification and the move is yours to make: open it, choose Actions, then Move to ‘Pick Failed’ folder. Helm creates the Pick Failed folder the first time anyone uses that action, reactivates it if it was Inactive, and moves the excluded orders in. Nothing moves until somebody chooses it, so treat Pick Failed as a queue you fill and clear.
Duplicating, Merging & Retiring Folders
Duplicate and Delete sit on each row's Actions menu. Tick folders in the list and you also get Merge Folders, which works only across a selection.
Merging asks for a New Folder Name, New Folder Icon and New Folder Colour, so the result is a new folder rather than one original absorbing the rest. Bulk deletes and merges run in the background.
Merging deletes the folders you selected and cannot be undone, and no rules run on the orders that move.
Keeping Folders & Their Rules in Step
Setting the Status to Inactive is the tidy way to retire a folder: it disappears from the pickers while the folder and its history survive. Rules are not bound by that. An Add To Folder action, a Despatch Target Rule or a Pregenerate Label rule carries on filing into an Inactive folder, and because rule filing does not move Last Order Added, nothing in the list hints that it is still in use. Change the rule first, then set the folder Inactive.
Do the same check before deleting or merging. A folder named in an Add To Folder action, or set as a Collection Folder, Processing Folder, Success Folder or Failed Folder, leaves that rule pointing at nothing once it is gone, so repoint the rule first.
Example: Labels Pregenerated Ahead of Picking
You create four Active folders: Pre-Gen Collection in Blue, Pre-Gen Processing in Beige, Labels Ready in Green and Label Failed in Red.
An order rule with the Pregenerate Label action names them as its Collection Folder, Processing Folder, Success Folder and Failed Folder, with Collection Date as Next Business Day.
Through the day, 60 orders match the rule and land in Pre-Gen Collection. Nobody filed them by hand, so Last Order Added stays empty and you read Order Qty in Folder instead.
Helm works through that folder in the background. Each order moves into Pre-Gen Processing while its label is produced, then on to Labels Ready or Label Failed: today, 57 and three.
You filter the Orders list to Label Failed, check the Order Timeline on those three for the reason, and fix them. Labels Ready is picked and empties as it goes, and the same four folders are reused tomorrow.
Getting the Most Out of Order Folders
Keep a Handful of Folders That Mean Something
Good operators run few folders, each one a piece of work somebody owns. Folders compete with each other: every rule and bulk action that files an order quietly unfiles it from somewhere else, so a dozen overlapping folders is a dozen ways to lose a batch.
Read the Order Timeline to See Who Filed What
Folder moves are recorded on the order in the Order Timeline, under Order Changes in the Timeline Filter. Each entry names the person and the folder, worded as "moved order to folder" or "removed order from folder". A move records the arrival in the new folder rather than a departure from the old one, so trace an order by its successive arrivals. Deleting a folder writes nothing to the orders' timelines, which is why you note what a folder held before deleting it.
Try a New Folder Rule on a Small Selection
Filing an order by hand or in bulk runs any order rules triggered on Folder Event and re-applies your Despatch Target Rules. If one of those has Add Folder set under Further Actions, it can move the order straight back out into a different folder, which looks like filing that will not stick. Try folder-based rules on a small selection first.
FAQ
Can I Put an Order in Two Folders at Once?
An order has one folder at a time, and adding it to another removes it from the first. Use Order Tags when an order needs more than one label.
How Do I Set a Folder to Inactive?
Empty it first: a folder with orders in it cannot be made Inactive. Use Remove from Folder on the Orders list, which needs Order Folder Detach, then switch the status.
What Happens to the Orders in a Folder I Delete?
They are unattached and otherwise untouched. Nothing is written to their timelines, and the Folder filter can no longer find them as a group, so note what a folder held before deleting it.
How Do I Use a Folder I Have Just Duplicated?
Switch its Status to Active in Settings > System Settings > Order Folders. A duplicate is created Inactive, and Active folders are the ones offered on an order.
Where Did the Pick Failed Folder Come From?
Helm creates it the first time anyone chooses Move to 'Pick Failed' folder from a Pick Problems notification. If it already exists but was set to Inactive, that action reactivates it rather than creating a duplicate. Nobody sets it up in Settings first; it appears on demand and stays on your Order Folders list from then on, ready to be reused the next time a pick leaves orders behind.
If orders are not turning up in the folder you expect, check whether a rule is filing them elsewhere before assuming the folder is at fault. If you are still stuck, contact support with the folder name and an example order number.
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