This document aims to provide essential information and best practices for preparing documents to be automatically hyperlinked on the Opus 2 platform.


We recommend the parties provide a sample document where references have been inserted, for the purposes of testing, prior to undertaking the cross-referencing exercise in its entirety. This will enable us to assess the processes being applied to the documents and make sure that they will be in the correct format moving forward.


1. Cross-referencing Documents in Opus 2 

 Ensure all cross-references are enclosed in curly (or square) brackets and refer to the document’s unique:

  • Opus 2 pagination reference e.g. {A/1} for Bundle A, Tab 1;
  • Document ID/Exhibit No. e.g. {C000001};
  • Opus 2 ID e.g. {M_000123}


The references used must exactly match the target document's metadata in order for the autolinking tool to identify and create the relevant hyperlinks.


If you wish to refer to a specific page of a document, you can update the reference by appending a forward slash and adding the page number in question e.g. {A/1/1} for Bundle A, Tab 1, Page 1 or {C000001/8} for Page 8 of C000001 – a hyperlink will then be created at page level.


It is also possible to refer to a page range by adding a hyphen (-) between the first and last pages e.g. {C/15/20-26}. This will create a link to the first page in the range but acts as an indicator for the reader as to what section of the target document is relevant.


When adding hyperlink references to a document offline you can copy the relevant information from the target document on the platform. Simply navigate to the necessary page that is to be referred to and then click the link icon in the document toolbar. This will provide a list of the document stamps and enable you to copy the relevant reference within curly brackets to your clipboard by clicking the stamp name:



2. Referring to Transcripts in Closing Submissions

The format for cross-referencing to evidence given in the hearing and recorded in the transcript is {DayX/Page:Line} e.g. {Day4/33:15} for Day 4, Page 33, Line 15. Please note that the Day reference must include the full value assigned on the platform e.g. {Day 3CMC3/14:7} or {Day 1LH1/120:15};  


If you wish to refer to a page range within a transcript you need to include the first and last page of the range in separate curly brackets, separated by a hyphen and ensuring there is a space on either side of the character 

e.g. {Day4/33:15} - {Day4/34:6}.


It is possible to refer to a line range by adding a hyphen (-) between the first and last lines e.g. {Day4/33:15-19}.

Transcript references must always contain a colon character (:) even if no line is specified.


References to transcripts on the platform should only be added to documents when all outstanding amendments, if any, have been finalised as the references will be subject to change until all amendments have been actioned.


3. Points to Note

Please ensure that:

  • There are no spaces within the curly bracket reference; 
  • Hyphens (-) are used when referring to page ranges and/or separating two references.
    • En dashes (–) and em dashes (—) will not be identified by our tool. As such any references containing the characters will not be created and will subsequently be listed a broken links report provided by a member of the Solution Operations team.
  • There is a space between references if you are listing them so that the tool can detect each individual reference e.g. {Day4/33:15} {B/2/22} {C/3/33}.
  • Where punctuation is used to separate the references, the space also remains e.g. {Day4/33:15}, {B/2/22}, {C/3/33}.
  • Any links to websites will be lost upon upload and need to be activated manually. The request to activate web links will need to be included in an instructional email to the team alongside their Bundle/Tab/Page locations for them to be identified and created with ease.


4. Overlay Feature

If your cross-references have been created based on a Document ID, Exhibit No. or Magnum ID, we are able to activate the “Hyperlink Overlay Feature”. In doing so, the right-hand margin of your hyperlinked documents will be automatically populated with the final hearing bundle references (Bundle/Tab/Page), meaning that it will not be necessary to update this information in the lead up to your hearing.


5. Hyperlinking Process

We are happy to initially receive documents that do not have hyperlink ready references within them as these can then be replaced with updated copies at a later date. Once we have received the updated documents with the cross-references, we will replace them and run automated hyperlinking tool over them. Any hyperlinks enclosed within curly (or square) brackets that cannot be made will be listed in a broken links report. Please note, any user annotations made on the original document should be automatically transferred to the updated version during the replacement exercise, on the basis that the content of the new file is not substantially different from the existing file on the platform.


The broken hyperlinks can be addressed in two ways: 

  1. The parties can amend the broken links in offline copies of the documents (please ensure this is carried out on the original copy of the document which does not have the Opus 2 pagination already on it). Once amended, we will then replace the documents on Opus 2 with the updated copy and re-run the hyperlinking tool. This will create any new hyperlinks identified. Please note that you will not be charged again for any pre-existing hyperlinks on the document.  
  2. The parties can provide the correct reference and instruct us to create the hyperlink(s) manually. Please note that although the hyperlink will be directed to the correct document, the reference will not change on the face of the document.


Should the parties provide a replacement document where references already linked on the platform have been amended, the hyperlinking tool will not identify these as hyperlinks that need to be recreated. We will therefore need to be notified of any instances where this occurs in order for the outdated hyperlink to be removed and the newly updated hyperlink to be created.