A letter arrives asking for information by next Wednesday. Someone acknowledges it, another colleague prepares the answer, and the final response leaves through email. A correspondence register should keep those steps connected so the next person can find the original request, the replies and the evidence of what was sent.
In Folderit, you can use an Incoming letter form and a Reply letter form. A linked-form action copies selected details into a new reply record, gives it an inherited reply number when the source is numbered, and connects both records under Related items. Staff still review and send the response, then record its dispatch.
Here is an illustrative setup for an administration team. The names, dates and references are fictional. It combines documented features rather than a process tested in a live account; check the complete handoff before rollout. The Tailor plan includes eForms and custom records.
Separate the incoming letter from each reply
Keep one record for the incoming item and a separate record for each reply you need to retain. An acknowledgement and a substantive answer can then have different dates, files and dispatch evidence while both remain connected to the original.
This distinction is useful in ordinary registry work. The Mauritius civil service’s Managing the Registry manual distinguishes incoming details such as receipt date, sender and subject from outgoing details such as dispatch date, addressee and dispatch method. It is a public-sector example, not a universal rule or a Folderit compliance requirement.
Start with two templates under Admin tools → Form templates. Folderit’s eForms guide covers creating the templates, adding fields and submitting records.
| Information | Incoming letter | Reply letter |
|---|---|---|
| People | Sender name and contact: Text fields. Assigned officer: User. | Recipient name and contact: Text fields. Reply owner: User. |
| Subject | Subject: Text. Sender’s reference: Text, where supplied. | Subject: Text. Recipient’s reference: Text, where useful. |
| Dates | Received date and Letter date: Date fields. Response due date: Date. | Prepared date and Dispatch date: Date fields. |
| Evidence | Incoming document: File. Handling notes: Textarea. | Reply document and Dispatch evidence: File fields. Dispatch notes: Textarea. |
| Handling | Handling state: Select, with Open, Closed and No response required. | Dispatch state: Select, with Draft, Sent, Cancelled and Delivery issue. |
Require the incoming sender, subject, received date, assigned officer, state and source attachment. If some letters need no response, leave Response due date optional and have the intake officer check that every Open item has a meaningful deadline. Do not invent a date simply to fill a field.
On the reply, require the recipient, subject, prepared date, owner and dispatch state. Leave dispatch date and evidence optional at creation because the reply has not been sent. These are manually maintained handling fields; they do not duplicate or replace a formal approval decision.
Give incoming records a usable number
Open the Incoming letter template’s gear menu and choose Set up numbering. Select Active, confirm Incoming letter under Apply to forms, name the scheme, then build its reference using fixed text, Number and any required year component. Check Next number, Preview and Reset frequency before saving.
Use the form-record numbering instructions to match your organisation’s convention. A reference such as IN-2026-001 is an example, not a prescribed format. The template’s Record name pattern controls the displayed name separately from Document number.
Keep the sender’s reference in its own field. Your internal register number identifies the record in your system; the external reference helps the recipient recognise the matter in your response. Neither should silently overwrite the other.
Add a Create reply action and map only reusable details
- Create both templates and their fields first.
- Under Admin tools → Form templates, open the Incoming letter template’s gear menu and select Add linked form.
- Choose Reply letter as the destination and set Button text to Create reply.
- Map incoming Subject to reply Subject, Sender name to Recipient name, Sender contact to Recipient contact, and Sender’s reference to Recipient’s reference.
- Leave Do not copy for information that should be completed afresh, including incoming dates, handling state and attachments.
- Review the pairs and save.
The linked forms guide explains how the configured action creates a new record. The author opens the incoming record, selects Create reply, checks the carried-over details, completes the remaining fields and submits.
Check the recipient every time. The person who sent the original letter may have asked for the response to go to another address or representative. Copying contact data saves retyping; it does not establish permission to disclose the contents to that recipient.
Do not map Received date into Dispatch date, or copy Open into a reply’s dispatch state. Start the reply as Draft. An entered status does not send a message.
Understand the reply sequence before adopting it
When the source has a Document number, leave the reply’s Document number empty to use inherited numbering. On submission, Folderit appends a sequential suffix. For an original numbered IN-2026-001, the first reply becomes IN-2026-001-1 and another reply created from that same original becomes IN-2026-001-2.
The number may still be blank while the user completes the form. It is assigned on submission. The inherited number takes precedence over the destination template’s own automatic numbering scheme and also works when the source number was entered manually.
Folderit links source and reply under Related items on both records without requiring an extra Relation field. The new reply initially appears in the source record’s folder. If you move it afterwards, the number and relationship are retained.
For a continuing exchange, you can configure Reply letter → Incoming letter in the reverse direction. A record created from IN-2026-001-1 can then inherit IN-2026-001-1-1 and link to that immediate source. Decide whether your team wants that branching reference or a new incoming sequence. The selector offers other form templates, not the original template itself.
Keep the response deadline separate from dispatch
Worked example: North Quay Facilities sends a request received on 21 October 2026, with an agreed response date of 28 October. An officer creates incoming record IN-2026-001.
The team sends acknowledgement IN-2026-001-1 on 21 October and the substantive answer IN-2026-001-2 on 27 October. Both replies are created from the original incoming record. The officer keeps the original Open after the acknowledgement and closes it only after confirming that the substantive response meets the request.
For advance notice, configure an automated form reminder on Incoming letter: choose Response due date, set a suitable offset such as three Days Before, and require Handling state = Open. Select an appropriate user or group, or use Add recipient from field if Assigned officer is offered as an eligible recipient field. Use the exact message placeholders shown in the editor.
Conditions are checked when the reminder starts and again when it is due. Test closure before the due reminder, changed dates and reassigned owners. A reminder does not calculate the appropriate response deadline, assess whether an acknowledgement is sufficient or close the incoming record when a reply is created.
Use the organisation’s normal review and sending procedure. Afterwards, set the reply’s dispatch state and date, and attach appropriate evidence of dispatch. A failed delivery should remain visible as Delivery issue until someone resolves it. The Sent value records dispatch; it does not prove that the addressee received or accepted the answer.
Make the register useful to colleagues covering the work
In the folder’s Columns settings, show Document number, Subject, assigned person, relevant dates and handling state. If both templates should use one Subject column, link their new Subject fields to the same compatible metadata field when creating them. Identical labels on independent fields do not combine values. The eForms guide explains the shared-metadata setup.
Use search filters to find Incoming letter records with Handling state = Open and Response due date before today’s date. Choose the form type first, then the field-specific metadata conditions. Check a known overdue record appears. The general Date filter is not a substitute for the response-date field.
Plan permissions before filing sensitive letters. An Assigned officer field or Related items link does not grant access. Check that someone covering an absence can open both the incoming record and its replies, while restricted colleagues cannot.
Check the handoff with a small sample
Before using the register for real correspondence, create one fictional incoming item and two replies. Check the copied recipient details, inherited numbers, Related items links and initial folder. Move a reply and confirm it is still connected. Then try an overdue item, a letter requiring no response and a failed delivery.
Finally, ask a colleague to reconstruct the exchange using only the register. They should be able to find what arrived, who owns the response, which answer was sent and what remains outstanding. For the wider rules around references and metadata, see the master document register guide.
