All guides · Reference
← All guides
Getting started
Everyday work
Writing a protocol
Review and approval
Consent forms
Study documents
Exports and reports
Amendments
Administration
Platform administration
Reference

Common questions and problems

Quick answers: signed out unexpectedly, missing buttons, stuck exports, and more.

Quick answers to the questions we hear most. Each answer links to the guide that explains the topic fully.

I was signed out unexpectedly#

Trelice signs you out after about one hour without any activity — no typing, clicking, or scrolling. This is a regulatory safeguard, not a fault. While you are actively working, your session extends itself quietly and you will never be interrupted.

One minute before the sign-out, a small window titled Session Timeout appears with a countdown. Click Stay Logged In to keep working. If it reaches zero, simply sign in again — Trelice returns you to the page you were on, and any unsaved section edits are offered back to you with a Restore button. See Signing in and your account.

My account is locked#

After 5 wrong password attempts in a row, the account locks for 30 minutes. You can wait it out, or ask an administrator to unlock you immediately — they open your account on the Users page and click Unlock. See Managing users and invitations. If you have forgotten the password, use Forgot password? on the sign-in page.

A button or page described in these guides is not on my screen#

Two possible reasons, both normal: your role does not include it, or your organization does not have that product. For example, the Administration menu group only appears for administrators, and consent form pages only exist if your organization has an ICF product. See Roles and permissions — and when in doubt, ask your administrator.

The Submit for Review button is gray or missing#

Look at the small message beside where the button should be — it tells you exactly what is missing:

  • "Save content first to enable review." or "Fill in at least one field and save to enable review." — the section is still empty. Write something and save.
  • "Assign a reviewer to enable submission." — no reviewer has been chosen yet.

If clicking the button gives an error naming a role, your organization's review workflow requires a reviewer of that role at some level, and nobody with that role is assigned yet. Add one, then submit. Full details in Sending a section for review.

My export never finished#

Exports are prepared on the server: the button shows Queued…, then Generating…, then the download starts by itself. Large documents can take a minute or two.

If you see "The export is taking unusually long. It may still complete — retry in a minute.", the document is probably still being built — wait a moment and try the export again. If you see "The export failed. Please try again.", simply retry; if it fails repeatedly, tell your administrator. Leaving the page does not cancel the job, but you will need to start the export again to get the file. See Downloading PDF and Word documents.

I can't edit a section#

Editing is deliberately locked in two situations, and the section shows which:

  • "Editing is locked while this section is under review." — reviewers are looking at it. If you need to change it now, click Withdraw from Review; it returns to draft.
  • "This section has been approved. Create an amendment to edit it." — approved content is protected. Changes go through an amendment, where each change carries a written reason and is re-reviewed.

If a template restricted the section to a particular writer role, only users with that role can edit it. See The protocol editor at a glance.

It says someone else is editing my section#

A blue banner — for example "Maria Lopez is also editing this section. Your save will warn before overwriting their changes." — means two people have the section open at once. Nothing is lost: if the other person saves first, Trelice pauses your save and lets you choose between loading their version or keeping yours. Every version is snapshotted either way. Best practice is simply to take turns. See Comments and working together.

I got an email about a due date#

Sections can carry an authoring due date and a review due date. Trelice emails you when yours is approaching, and again if it passes. The email links straight to the section. You can also be nudged by a colleague from the Pending tasks page — that arrives as a task reminder. Which emails you receive is up to you: see Notifications and reminders.

Consent forms must be understandable to an 8-year-old — a regulatory requirement, measured automatically. A red badge reading Reading level too high means the section cannot be submitted until it is simpler. Shorten the sentences and swap technical words for everyday ones ("high blood pressure" instead of "hypertension"). A green badge means the target is met; an amber one means close, but simplify further. See The master consent form.

A yellow warning about consistency appeared on my section#

That is a Golden Thread Alert. A related section changed — for example, someone edited the endpoints — and Trelice is asking you to check that this section still agrees with it. The banner names the changed section and shows what changed. Review your section, fix anything that no longer matches, and the alert clears on acknowledgment. Reviewers cannot approve a flagged section until they tick I've verified cross-section consistency. See Golden threads: keeping sections consistent.

How do I print a guide#

Open the guide in the app (click Help in the left menu, then the guide's title) and click the Print this guide button at the top-right of the article. Your browser's print window opens — choose your printer, or pick "Save as PDF" to keep a file. Only the guide itself prints; the menus around it are left out. Pressing Ctrl+P on Windows or Cmd+P on a Mac while a guide is open does the same thing.

Note: Still stuck? Start from Welcome to Trelice for the big picture, or look up any unfamiliar word in the Glossary. Your administrator can see the audit trail and can usually reconstruct what happened.