Lesson #6: Collaborating More Easily

Although file systems and e-mail are most commonly used to collaborate they do not necessarily make is simple and transparent. Xythos begins with familiar file system features and adds features that can help people work with one another without running into familiar problems like...

Earlier we saw how sending links instead of e-mail attachments can resolve some of these problems. In this lesson, we will take a look at other collaboration tools.

 

Task #6a: Creating a Shared Folder

Whether the group in question is a formal department or a temporary cross-organizational team, the starting point for collaboration is usually a common place where all the important content can be accessed. In Xythos terms, that usually means creating a folder and sharing its contents with the team members.

In this lesson, we will create a shared folder for members of the same research project.

  1. In Document Manager select Home from bookmarks.

  2. In the user's home directory, click New Folder.
    The process of creating a new folder starts with giving it a name.

  3. Enter Project Phoenix for the folder name and click Next.
    Whom do we want to grant access to this project folder? The next pages will grant different levels of privileges to team members.

  4. In the field for Search for Users, enter Wilson and click Find.
    Our first team member will need full access to the contents of this folder.

  5. Click on the name Cindy Wilson in the user list, and then click OK.
    We also need to include a team member who does not have a Xythos on Demand account, who needs read access only to review documents.

  6. In the Choose Users field, enter your e-mail address after the Cindy Wilson entry.
    There should automatically be a comma after Cindy Wilson’s name. If not, be sure to add one to separate the two users.

  7. Click Next.

  8. In the Share page, give Cindy Wilson Full Access, and assign the other user Viewer (read-only) access.
    As you may remember from the earlier sharing lessons, Xythos will change the permissions on this folder to give Cindy Wilson access, and also generate a Ticket.

    In the list of steps at the top of the page (look for: Name the New Folder -> Choose Users -> Verify Permissions -> etc.), click Configure.

    We are skipping the e-mail step, since we do not need it for this lesson.

  9. Check the Default Versioning option.
    Now every time someone makes changes to documents in this folder the system will keep the earlier versions. This option makes it possible to revert to an earlier draft if you do not like the current working version.

  10. Check the Default Logging option.
    This option creates a log for every document added to the folder. The log is a paper trail of everyone who has viewed or changed the document.

  11. Check all of the Subscription options. From the Frequency drop-down list, select in a daily report.
    Logging keeps a complete history of activity on a document. Subscriptions send you regular e-mail notifications about this activity.

  12. Click Finish and then OK.
    Congratulations! You have created and configured a shared folder for your project. If you had used the e-mail option, the team members would have been immediately notified of the new workspace.

  13. Next, create two sub-folders in the Project Phoenix folder. Double-click on the Project Phoenix folder to open it. Using the New Folder button, create a folder and give it the name of Reviewed. Skip steps 2 thru 5 on the wizard by clicking on Finish after step 1. The new folder will inherit the settings of the parent folder, Project Phoenix.

    Create a second folder and give it the name of Rejected.
    We will need these folders for a later lesson.

At this point, you might think about other tools your team might need. For example, you could create a Wiki in the project folder, linking to all the important documents, explaining the goals and status of the project, and listing contact information for the team members.

 

Task #6b: Tracking Activity on a Document or Folder.

Before we can start tracking activity, we need to add some documents to the Project Phoenix folder. We will then look at how logging works in more detail and use another way of subscribing to notifications about changes.

  1. Based on the last step of the previous lesson you should already be in the Project Phoenix folder. If not, open it now.

  2. Click the Upload button to add some new documents to the Project Phoenix folder.

  3. Double-click one of the documents you just uploaded.
    The document should either open in another browser window, or in an application you have installed on your client system.

  4. Go back to the Xythos Web View, right-click on the document you just opened, and select Manage - Logging.
    For this document, two events have occurred. First, you automatically created the log when you uploaded the document to the folder. Remember, your new folder has logging turned on by default. The log also includes a Read event, recording when you opened the file.

  5. Click the RSS button.
    In most browsers, what you now see is a new window with the RSS feed for the document. RSS is an increasingly popular way to subscribe to newsfeeds, blogs, photo albums, and practically any other Internet-based content that is updated. The feed includes a link to the document, if you want to open it.

    Somewhere in the RSS feed page, you will see a link or button that lets you subscribe to the feed. RSS subscription works differently in each browser. Read the online help for your browser for more information about RSS subscriptions.

    Since you are subscribing to a document, you will get a notification, using this e-mail-like method, whenever someone creates a new version of it. If you subscribe to a folder, you will receive updates about any new or modified content in the folder.

  6. From the folder listing near the top of the page, click the breadcrumb link for the Project Phoenix folder.

  7. Click the Manage icon for this folder.

  8. Click the RSS icon.
    You now see a similar RSS feed to the one you created for the individual document. However, in this case, you see an entry for every document in this folder.

 

Task #6c: Saving Earlier Versions

Finally, we will see how to preserve earlier versions of documents, and how to keep other users from creating new ones while you are editing them.

  1. Close the RSS feed windows and return to the Xythos Web View.

  2. Click the link to the Project Phoenix folder to exit the Manage page.
    You should now be back in the folder.

  3. Right-click one of the documents you uploaded and select Manage - Versioning.
    This page lists all of the versions created for a document. You can click on the name of each one (for example, Version 1) to view its content. If you were to upload the same document through the Web View into this folder, or you were to edit it from the desktop (for example, through the optional Xythos Drive), the Xythos system would create a new version automatically.

  4. Check the box next to Version 1 and click Checkout File.
    You have now reserved the next version of the document for your changes. The document is locked to other users, and the new version awaits your changes.

  5. Click Overwrite button.
    We will assume for the moment that you have actually made changes to the document.

  6. Click the Browse button, and select the same document from your desktop.

  7. Click Start Upload.
    When the upload is finished, you are returned to the folder. We will assume that you are happy with the changes, in which case, you need to make the new version official.

  8. Right-click the document and select Manage - Versioning.

  9. Click the Checkin File button.
    Click the name of the Project Phoenix folder to return to the folder listing.

 

What's next

We just learned how we can collaborate more easily. In the next lesson we will look at how to automate the document submittal process with the Xythos Dropbox.