Why your society needs a document vault
Governance disputes often start with "show me the record" — and the committee cannot find the approved bye-law amendment, the signed vendor contract, or last year's audited accounts.
Pain point 1: Records scattered across WhatsApp and Google Drive
A PDF forwarded in 2019 is not the same as the registered bye-laws. New committee members inherit chaos, not continuity.
Fix: One Document Vault per society with categories (bye-laws, minutes, financials, resolutions, and more). Admins upload once; residents find the current version at Documents.
Pain point 2: Residents see drafts or sensitive files by mistake
Treasurer working papers, draft audit notes, or unsigned contracts should not sit in a shared folder everyone can open.
Fix: Default visibility is admins_only. Admins choose members visibility and publish
only when ready — via the audited set_document_visibility RPC.
Pain point 3: No proof of what was shared and when
"We never received the minutes" is hard to answer when distribution was informal.
Fix: Publish decisions are written to the audit trail. Pair vault uploads with a notice when you release AGM minutes or financial summaries.
Pain point 4: Public or permanent download links
Forwarding a Drive link can expose society records indefinitely.
Fix: Plinth stores files in a private bucket. Downloads use 120-second signed URLs — enough to open or save locally, not to leak a permanent public address.
Pain point 5: AGM and election compliance
Registrars, auditors, and members ask for bye-laws, election notices, and meeting minutes together.
Fix: Keep governance records beside voting, GBE, and AGM minutes in one platform.