The document store makes it very easy to share any type of file with the members of your online community.  Document management is easier if documents are in pdf format when you store them, especially if they are large documents.

Remember that you can't put documents into the Secure Documents area unless the Document Store tool is activated and used to upload the documents.  If your community doesn't want a Document Store site section activated, activate it to upload the secure documents, make sure they appear in the Secure Documents area in the Secure Area site section, then delete the Document Store tool so it doesn't appear in the menu and the secure documents will still be available from the Secure Area.

To make a file available for download from the document store:

1. Go into the Site control - secure area
2. Select Manage tools
3. Select Document store
4. Select General - Files for download (to make the file available to everyone)
   Select Secure - Documents (password protected area)
5. Select Upload document
6. Select Browse and locate the file on your local computer
7. Select Upload File to upload the file to your community site
8. Add a title to the Document title field and a description to the Document description field
9. Select Add details
10. The message Document added should appear.  Your file is now available for download.
    

Tip

It is useful if you try to convert word documents into .pdf files (and quicker). Powerpoint presentations are usually not suited to the web and can have massive and unworkable file sizes. 

Example: Plan.doc (60k pdf)

The user can then decide if their machine is capable of downloading and reading the document. You could also provide a hyperlink to Adobe Acrobat reader if you think your user might not have the pdf reader.