Lesson #1: Getting to Know Web View

Welcome to the first lesson! We will start with the basics of how to use Xythos features from a Web browser. Whether you are a new user or an experienced pro knowing your way around the "Web View" is an important first step.

 

Task #1a: Moving Around the Folder Structure

One of the most basic tasks is browsing the documents and folders you have stored on Xythos on Demand.

  1. If you are not already signed-in to your user account, open a browser window.
    In the URL window, enter www.xythosondemand.com.

  2. In the Sign-in page, enter your username and password, and click SIGN-IN.
    You should see the Xythos Web View. You are now in the user home directory where you will see several folders.

    Above the folders you will see the toolbar buttons representing common tasks. The buttons to the left represent actions (for example, Copy, Move and Delete) taken on selected documents and folders. The toolbar buttons on the right trigger actions that apply to the current folder as a whole (for example, Upload, New Folder).

    The next level up, you see a combination of navigation tools that help you move around the folder structure plus tabs for switching to different views. The default view, the Document Manager, shows the world of documents and folders. The Files tab shows documents and folders. The Tasks tab, takes you to other kinds of content, such as workflows and Reports & Tools provides reports on various activities.

  3. Move the mouse over the My Documents folder in the user home folder and right-click.
    You now see the right-click menu, which makes available every important action and piece of information a click away.

  4. From the right-click menu, select Bookmark. In the pop-up that appears, click OK.
    You have now added a bookmark to this folder. Bookmarks help you access quickly and easily any document and folder you use regularly.

  5. Near the top of the screen, click the Shortcuts button.
    You see a list of shortcuts to documents and folders, including the bookmark My Documents which you just created. You also see a list of saved searches, another handy way to access content you use regularly. We will return to saved searches in a later lesson.

    To the right of the Shortcut button is the Up button which moves you up one folder in the folder hierarchy. To the right of the Up button, you see your exact location in the folder hierarchy.

  6. Click the triangular button before the users folder.
    You should now see the folders available at the top level of the directory structure, including Sample, Shared and Users. These "breadcrumbs" are an easy way to move around the folder structure.

  7. Select Sample from the list of folders.
    You now see the contents of the Sample folder, including documents and a Wiki. We need to get back to the home folder so we will use a shortcut.

  8. Click the Shortcuts button and select Home.
    You always have this shortcut to your home folder, regardless of any other shortcuts you create. Now that you are back in your home folder, we can play around with some of the documents and folders here.

 

Task #1b: Working with Documents and Folders

Now that you know how to find documents and folders, let’s do something with them.

  1. Click the Upload button.
    We are going to start by adding new documents. The Web View provides an easy way to upload multiple documents and folders from your desktop to Xythos on Demand.

  2. If you see a link to Advanced Upload, click it now.
    The Basic Upload is just fine, but the Advanced Upload is better. It is a Java applet so you may need to wait while your browser loads the Java runtime engine.

  3. Open a folder on your local hard drive.

  4. Drag and drop a document into the Advanced Upload window.
    You can drag documents from multiple locations into the window before uploading the entire batch. Additionally, you can drag folders into Advanced Upload in which case all of the folder content is added to the upload queue.

  5. Add one or two additional documents to the upload.

  6. Click Start Upload.
    You will see the progress of the upload. When it is done the folder and its documents now appear in your home folder.

  7. Check the box to the left of a document you just uploaded.
    You have now explicitly selected the document for the next action you will take.

  8. Click the Rename button. Rename

  9. In the window that appears, change the name of the document and click OK
    There is a lot more to a file than just its name, and the other information you see in the folder listing. Given the large amount of information you can collect about a file (who has viewed it, what sort of content it contains, etc.) as well as the wealth of actions you can take, it is better perhaps to think of the file as an information rich document.

 

Task #1c: Viewing Information About a Document or Folder

Let's take a quick glance at the different kinds of information available about documents.

  1. Once again, check the box next to a document you uploaded.

  2. Click the Manage button. Manage
    You now see a list of the different categories of information about the document. There is a lot here, so let’s start with the basics.

  3. From the drop-down menu, select Summary.
    Here are the basic document properties, such as the document name, size, last modified date, and so forth. You also see a glimpse into some additional options, such as whether the document is versioned. We will use one of these options before we finish.

  4. From the list of document attributes on the left-hand side, click Logging.
    You have the option of maintaining all the important events on a document, such as who viewed it, and when they did so.

  5. Click Enable Logging.
    Since nothing has happened since you started logging events, the first message you will see is, "The log is empty." Whenever you open the document to view it and then return to this part of the Web View you will see a notation that you viewed the document at a specific date and time.

  6. In the upper left corner of the Web View, click Home.
    We are now back in the documents and folders view.

 

What's next

Now that you're comfortable with the Web View, we'll show you in the next lesson how to tailor it to fit your needs.