> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.docusnap.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Documents Fundamentals > What a document is, its types and states, which roles carry the approval, and what it is used for. In the *Docs* area you create documents, write their content and export them. A document is always created by hand, through the *Document* button. Whether it goes through a review cycle with roles and approval is a decision you make when creating it; it cannot be changed afterward. ## Document and Controlled Document No review cycle. You write and export it freely, with no approval. Adds a review cycle: roles, versions and an approval that makes the version valid. An uncontrolled document never has approvals. Controlled documents are included from Business on. ## Type A document carries a *Type*: *Policy*, *Process*, *Work Instruction*, *Plan*, *Manual*, *Form* or *Other*. For a controlled document the type is required; for an uncontrolled one it is optional. ## Status A controlled document carries a *Status* with four values: | Status | Meaning | | - | - | | *Draft* | in progress, no approval requested | | *In Review* | approval requested, decision pending | | *Approved* | the approved version is in force | | *Archived* | out of force, no valid version left | An uncontrolled document carries no status. The document list shows a dash in its *Status* column. ## Responsible and Approver A controlled document carries two roles: the *Responsible* person and the *Approver*. Both are set on the *Properties* tab. Anyone who may write in the *Docs* area can set them, regardless of their own role on the document. Whether an approver is required depends on *Strict Mode*. Without it, a responsible person is enough, and both roles may be the same person; in Strict Mode an approver is required and must be a different person than the responsible one. Also only in Strict Mode is the responsible person the only one who may edit the content. ## Approval and version Approval always targets one specific version. It carries a version number, the date and person of the approval, and the change reason of the request; a *Signed PDF* can be downloaded once the export is ready. ## Evidence for controls and risks A document can attach to controls and risks. The control requires evidence, the document provides it, and the approval proves that the evidence holds. The relation is made on the document's *Overview* tab: *Link* attaches an existing control or risk, while *Control* and *Risk* create a new entry that Docusnap365 links to the document. *Link* requires write permission in the *Docs* area, *Control* and *Risk* require write permission in ISMS. What a control or a risk means in ISMS terms is described in [ISMS](/docs/en/isms/understanding-risk-management) — here, only that a document is linked to it matters. ## Limits The decision for a controlled document holds for the document's entire lifetime. There is no later way to turn document control on or off — decide when you create it. ## Related [Creating a Document](/docs/en/documents/create-document) covers the creation dialog and its required fields, [Adding Content](/docs/en/documents/content) covers writing the chapters. The approval process and version history are covered in [Document Control](/docs/en/documents/document-control) and [History](/docs/en/documents/history); a full walkthrough is the tutorial [Approving a Document](/docs/en/documents/tutorial-approval). How a detail page is generally built is described in [Assets Fundamentals](/docs/en/assets/overview). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.