Document metadata management is the practice of attaching structured, searchable properties to files so your team can find, classify, and organize documents by what they mean, not just what they are named. infoRouter lets you create unlimited custom property sets, assign them to documents and folders, and search across them using exact values, ranges, and date criteria. The result: any document can be found by what it is, even images and audio files with no text to search.
The Problem: File Names and Folder Structures Are Not Enough
Your team names files inconsistently. Folders go three, four, five levels deep. Someone saves a critical invoice as "scan_001.pdf" and drops it in the wrong directory. Full-text search can find words inside documents, but what about images, scanned paperwork, audio recordings, and video files? Those have no indexable content at all.
Without metadata, those files are invisible to search. With it, they are as findable as any Word document.
How infoRouter Metadata Works
Custom Property Sets
infoRouter lets administrators define custom property sets. These are groups of metadata fields tailored to specific document types or workflows. Each set can contain text fields, numeric values, dates, dropdown selections, and multi-option fields.
Examples by document type:
- Invoices: Invoice Number, Company, PO Number, Amount, Due Date, Payment Status
- Proposals: Client Name, Project Budget, Submission Date, Status (Draft / Submitted / Approved)
- Contracts: Contract Number, Parties, Effective Date, End Date, Value, Type (NDA / Service Agreement / Lease)
- Images: Resolution, Format, Date Taken, Camera Model, GPS Coordinates
- Emails: Sender, Recipient, Subject, Date Sent, Attachments (Yes/No)
- Legal Documents: Filing Date, Jurisdiction, Case Number, Attorney Name
Documents are not limited to one property set. An image can also be tagged as part of a proposal. An invoice can be associated with a project. Layer as many property sets as needed.
Searchable Ranges, Not Just Exact Matches
Standard search engines let you find "Amount = 400." infoRouter lets you search "Amount > 400" or "Due Date between January 1 and March 31." This turns your document repository into something closer to a queryable database, without requiring any database expertise from your users.
Folder Inheritance
Assign a custom property set to a folder, and every document added to that folder inherits those fields automatically. Authors are prompted to fill in the relevant metadata at upload time. That cuts down the "I forgot to tag it" problem and keeps tagging consistent. With infoRouter Connect switched on for the folder, the data is extracted for you instead.
Document Type Rules
Library administrators can define document types that trigger specific property prompts. Upload an invoice to a library that requires invoice metadata, and the system prompts the author for Invoice Number, Amount, and Due Date as part of the upload.
Permission-Controlled Editing
infoRouter's security system controls who can create, edit, and delete metadata. This is separate from who can edit the document itself. This means a document author can fill in metadata fields, but only an administrator or library manager can change the property definitions. Metadata stays consistent and trustworthy.
Where It Matters Most
Making Un-Indexable Files Searchable
Images, audio files and video have no full-text content to index, and neither does a scanned document until it has been through OCR (infoRouter Connect adds OCR for scans). Custom metadata makes all of them findable. Tag a scanned contract with its contract number, parties, and effective date, and it becomes as searchable as a Word file. Consistent properties are also one of the six things that make a document library AI-ready.
Compliance and Archiving
During archiving, library managers assign metadata that ensures documents remain discoverable years later, even by users who were not part of the original project. For organizations subject to SOX, ISO 9001, or records retention legislation, metadata provides the classification layer that auditors expect.
Global and Library-Level Scope
Property sets can be defined globally (available across all Libraries) or at the library level (specific to a department or project). Library-specific sets keep the interface clean. Users only see the metadata fields relevant to their workspace.
Who Uses It
The same metadata functionality is available to organizations of any size at an affordable entry point.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can a single document have multiple property sets assigned to it?
- Yes. Documents are not limited to one property set. You can layer as many property sets as needed, so an image can also be tagged as part of a proposal, or an invoice can be associated with a project.
- How does metadata help with files that have no searchable text, like scanned images or audio?
- For images, audio and video, custom metadata is the way to make them findable. Scanned documents can also go through OCR with infoRouter Connect. Tag a scanned contract with its contract number, parties, and effective date, and it becomes as searchable as any Word document.
- Who controls the metadata definitions versus who fills in the fields?
- infoRouter separates these permissions. Document authors can fill in metadata fields, but only administrators or library managers can create, change, or delete property definitions.
- Can authors be prompted for metadata at upload time?
- Yes. Assign a property set to a folder, and authors who add documents through the web interface are prompted for its fields. It is a prompt, not a hard block: documents added by WebDAV, zip or bulk upload skip it and arrive as a generic document. In folders where infoRouter Connect is switched on, that gap closes: however a document arrives, Connect detects its Document Type and extracts its data automatically.
- Are property sets global or specific to a single library?
- Both. Property sets can be defined globally so they are available across all libraries, or at the library level for department- or project-specific metadata. Library-specific sets keep the interface clean for users.
See It in Action
Request a guided trial to see how custom property sets, folder inheritance, and metadata search work with your document types.