Page updated 22 October 2007

Users can create bulletins at any time, whether connected to the Internet or not. At the end of an edit session, one of three actions takes place:

1. The user clicks "Save Draft" to store the bulletin in the Saved Bulletins folder. This saves the work so far on the user's computer, and allows the user to continue editing at a later time. If an Internet connection is available, the draft bulletin will also be backed up to a Martus server.
2. The user clicks "Save Sealed" to store the bulletin in the Saved Bulletins folder, and disallow any further changes to the bulletin. To incorporate updates to sealed bulletins you can create a new version of the bulletin. When an Internet connection is available, it will be automatically sent to a secure Martus server.
3. The user can choose to cancel any edits they have made.

At any time, the user may choose to discard a bulletin from their computer. Doing so will not affect any copies that have already been sent to a Martus server.

Sharing your data with your colleagues. Your organization's Headquarters, or other partners, may want to access some of the bulletins you create. To accomplish this, you may choose to share specific bulletins with other Martus users, if desired. “Headquarters” accounts can be created, which will permit them to view selected bulletins, including the private data in them, only if you give them permission. They will not be able to create bulletins using your account, but can send bulletins to a server on your behalf if you do not have internet access. Setting up Headquarters accounts provides several advantages: it gives your partners and organization's leaders more information, and it ensures that someone will be able to access your private bulletin data even if you lose access to your account.

Deleting your data. If you need to ensure that no one can access your Martus account from your computer, you can delete all the bulletins currently on the computer, using the Delete my Data command. Before doing this, make sure you've backed up your data to a Martus server so that you can retrieve your bulletins again, once it is safe to do so.

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Martus bulletins are created and saved locally on your personal computer. Whenever an Internet connection is available, both sealed and draft bulletins are automatically sent to a Martus server.

A user can periodically save a draft copy of a bulletin, and then continue editing it at a later time. Once a bulletin is sealed, however, it cannot be modified, even by the original author. This ensures that a bulletin cannot be altered, even if a password is later compromised. If additional information is gathered, or a bulletin needs to be changed, you can create a new version of a sealed bulletin to capture any updates, without over-writing the previous versions.