British Standards Online Guide September 2021
British Standards Online Guide September 2021
British Standards Online Guide September 2021
British Standards Online has introduced an extra layer of security to its platform. The
FileOpen plugin needs to be installed on any device that wants to download and print British
Standards documents.
Hover over the ‘FileOpen System 3.0’ icon and select ‘Launch’.
Close the pop-up window that appears. This is for information only – no action is required.
A ‘Cloudpaging Player’ window will also appear. As the FileOpen plug-in has already been
launched you can close this window as well, with no further action required.
• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe Reader
• Foxit Reader
• Nuance PDF Reader
• Nitro PDF Reader
• Tracker PDF-Xchange
• Bluebeam PDF Revu
Important note for all devices (personal and University owned and managed)
Changes to browser settings may be needed to ensure that British Standards documents
open in the PDF reader rather than in-browser which is often the default.
If you're using Google Chrome and encounter problems opening your documents, please
follow the steps below:
1. From the Chrome home page click on the three dots at the top right of your page
and select ‘Settings’ from the menu.
1. Scroll down to the privacy and security section and click on 'Site settings'.
2. Scroll down and click on ‘Additional content settings’.
3. Click on 'PDF documents'
4. Ensure 'Download PDFs’ is switched on.
If you’re using Microsoft Edge and encounter problems, please follow the steps below:
1. From the Microsoft Edge home page click on the three dots at the top right of your
page and select ‘Settings’ from the menu.
2. Click on ‘Cookies and site permissions’.
3. Scroll down and click on ‘PDF documents’.
4. Ensure ‘Always download PDF files’ is switched on.
If the document continues to open in-browser after following the above steps you may need
to update the settings of the PDF file.
From Windows:
1. Locate the saved location of the PDF
2. Right click on the PDF and click properties
3. Check ‘Opens with’, and if a browser is showing (e.g. Google Chrome), click ‘change’ and
amend to ‘Adobe’ (or another PDF reader that you have opted to use).
From MacOS:
1. Locate the saved location of the PDF
2. Right click and click ‘Open with’
3. Click ‘Adobe Acrobat Reader’ (or another PDF reader that you have opted to use).
Frequently asked questions
I already have the FileOpen plug-in installed, do I need to re-install it?
If you already have the latest FileOpen plug-in, you will not need to re-install it.
Do I need to be connected to the internet to open the documents?
You will need an internet connection to authenticate the documents for the first time. After
that, you will be able to access the documents offline.
How do I access documents if my operating system isn’t compatible with FileOpen?
For Google Chromebook users, please use the FileOpen Viewer available in the Google Play
store. For other users please contact the British Standards Online Subscription Support team
on [email protected].
When I open the PDF in my browser, I get an error message. Why is this?
The FileOpen plug-in does not support opening encrypted PDFs in-browser. To view the PDF,
it must be opened in Adobe PDF viewer, FileOpen viewer, or similar PDF viewer applications.
I’d like to share the document with someone else. Can I?
An individual document (in this case, a PDF file) viewed after download is licensed to a sole
named user who is permitted to install a single electronic copy of it, for use on a single
computer. We understand that users often view their standards from multiple computers
however and have built in flexibility for you to open documents on up to three devices to
allow for this.
How do I purchase documents on behalf of a colleague?
The licensed watermark on any PDFs bought at the BSI Shop will be that of the registered
user who has placed the order. Should you wish the document to be licensed to an
alternative user, they will need to register and purchase themselves.
To prevent any document purchased in your name being locked to your computer, please
forward without opening the document. The user can then save the PDF to their own
system, and open using Adobe or an alternative PDF viewer.
How many times can I print the document?
You are permitted to print a single copy of a document. Printing one or many pages, or the
entire document will count as a single print so we recommend that if you need a printed
version, that you print the entire document.
Do I need to install FileOpen for documents that I have purchased in the past?
No, the FileOpen plug-in won't be necessary to open previously bought or download
documents.
Can I make annotations to the PDFs and save them?
Yes, you can. However, we recommend adding a small annotation to your document, save
it, close it and reopen again to make sure this functionality is fully working. If you encounter
any issues please contact the British Standards Online Subscription Support team on
[email protected].