Troubleshooting & FAQ

Policy questions are mostly about the approval lock: approved policies are read-only, which is what makes their status and version history trustworthy. The rest covers empty overviews, PDF downloads, changelogs, and links inside policy documents.

Frequently asked questions

Why don't I see any policies in my overview?

This is almost always a missing control link or the Out of scope tab, not a real access problem.

Possible causes:

• Your policies are not yet linked to controls
• Policies are in the "Out of scope" tab
• You don't have access rights for these policies

Solution:

1. Check the Out of scope tab - Click "Out of scope" at the top of the overview
2. Link policies to controls - Go to the Controls section and link policy-tests
3. Check your permissions - Ask your administrator for access

Can't I edit an approved policy anymore?

This is normal behaviour. Approved policies are read-only to ensure compliance.

Solution:

1. Click "Create new draft" in the approved policy
2. Tidal automatically creates a new draft with the same content
3. Edit the draft as desired
4. Approve the new version when ready

Where do I find my downloaded policy PDF?

Every PDF export includes the full document, its approval metadata, and a version table on the last page.

PDF downloads contain:

• The complete policy document
• Metadata header with approval information
• Version table as last page

Finding your download:

1. Check your Downloads folder - Default location in most browsers
2. Filename format - Usually: PolicyName_Version_Date.pdf
3. Browser download history - Ctrl+J (Chrome) or Ctrl+Shift+Y (Firefox)

Common problems

Policy status is incorrect

This is usually a stale browser cache rather than the status actually being wrong.

Symptoms:

• Policy shows "Draft" but should be "Approved"
• Status doesn't update after approval
• Test results don't match policy status

Possible causes:

• Browser cache - Old information is displayed
• Simultaneous editing - Multiple users editing at the same time
• Synchronization delay - Status update is still in progress

Solutions:

1. Refresh the page - F5 or Ctrl+R
2. Clear browser cache - Ctrl+Shift+R for hard refresh
3. Wait 30 seconds - Let synchronization complete
4. Check other browsers - Test in incognito/private mode

Changelog and versions don't match

Problem: Version numbers don't match the actual changes.

Solution:

1. Open the policy editor
2. Click menu button (three horizontal lines)
3. Go to version history in the sidebar
4. Click pencil icon next to the version
5. Update changelog and version number

Links don't work in policy documents

For a policy written in Tidal, check the URL is complete and test it in preview before publishing.

For internally managed policies:

• Check URL format - Use complete URLs (https://)
• Test links before publication - Click links in preview mode
• Update broken links - Edit document and replace links

For uploaded documents:

• Links in PDFs - Check that links are clickable in original document
• Word documents - Links must be active before upload
• Test after upload - Download and test the uploaded version

Still can't figure it out?

Send an email to support@tidalcontrol.com, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.