Akumina Workspaces is a tool which allows you to collaborate around an entity (project, document, event, or any other defined entity).  It supports template-driven project-based collaboration that has specific people involved, may have a specific timeline, a series of milestones, tasks and content, with the ultimate goal of completing a project.

This guide provides an easy to use reference for the major features available in the Akumina Workspaces.

Public vs. Private Workspaces

Akumina Workspaces supports:

• Public Workspaces – workspaces which can be viewed and joined by any user in the organization who has access to the Workspace Listing page (via permissions in the site in which it is hosted).  A user can browse the content of a public workspace as well as “join” that workspace to be able to participate in the discussions and to contribute to its content.
• Private Workspaces – workspaces which can only be accessed by users who have been added as members of the workspace.  The creator of a private workspace is by default the workspace owner.  They can add other users as members, as well as designate any of those users as co-owners.  Non-members will not see a private workspace or be able to search for it on the Workspace Listing page.

Workspace Listing Page

1. Featured Workspaces – lists the last 10 PUBLIC workspaces created by date
2. My Workspaces – the workspaces that the current user belongs to
3. Public Workspaces – the complete list of public workspaces that are available
4. Search name or tag – typing three letters of more will filter the displayed list of workspaces to show only those with a title or tag that contains the search term.
5. Workspace Tile – shows the workspace name, image, and the number of current Tasks and Documents in the workspace.  Clicking on the workspace image or the right arrow will launch the workspace.
6. Create a New Workspace – clicking this button will launch the “Create Workspace” wizard.  Note that this button can be put under permission control so that only authorized users can create new workspaces.

Creating a New Workspace

Creating a new workspace is fast and easy with the wizard based approach.  Click on the “Create a New Workspace” button to start the process.

Note: You must be a licensed Office 365 user to create Workspaces as the Office components such as SharePoint, Outlook and Planner are used in the creation process.  See the “Installing Workspaces” section for more information.

The following steps in the wizard are used to configure and create your new workspace:

1. Workspace Name – enter the name for your workspace.  Only a space, underscore ( _ ) or hyphen ( - ) are allowed for special characters. No characters such as /,&,$,#,@, etc are allowed
2. Workspace Description – enter the text for the description which will appear in the header of the workspace.  This description can be updated at any time after the workspace is created.
3. Add Tags – adding tags is a good way to make the workspace easier to find on the listing page.
4. Add Image – adding an image is optional.  If you don’t add an image, a tile will appear with letters from the workspace name. Only JPGs and GIFs are allowed.
5. Workspace Type – this is where you set the workspace to the public or private.
6. Next button – click the next or back buttons to move through the wizard.

Akumina Workspaces allows you to choose a template which defines the components that will be included in your workspace.  But don’t worry, you can always add or subtract components in your workspace later as your needs change.

The File/Document template includes the Document Library, Conversations and Milestone components.

 

The Event template includes the Document Library, Conversations, Task Management and Photo Gallery components.

 

The Project template includes the Document Library, Conversations, Task Management and Milestones components.

 

The Custom template allows you to choose your own components to be included in your workspace.

 

Note that the pages listed will be added to the workspace.  You may have to add or remove some of the Home page widgets manually for Tasks and widgets.

1. Search for a user – typing a user’s first or last name will display the matching user(s).
2. Add the user – clicking on the “Add” button on the user profile card will add the user to workspace during creation. Note that the person creating the workspace is added automatically as an “owner” of the workspace.
3. Create Workspace – once all the settings are complete, clicking on this button will start the creation process. The process takes up to one minute. When the workspace is created, you will automatically be brought to the Home Page of the new workspace.

 

Using Your Workspace

Home Page

When you first access the new workspace, the components that you selected on the Templates page of the wizard will be displayed.  You can then begin populating those components.

 

1. Workspace Header – name, tags, picture and the description of the workspace.  Also provides access for owners to edit the workspace details using the pencil icon (), and to delete the workspace using the trash can icon.
2. Member Management – lists group member avatars (up to 10), provides access to the member management screen, as well as allows the current user to “Leave Workspace” which will remove them as a member.
3. Workspace Navigation – provides access to the current pages in the workspace.
4. Conversations Home Widget – lists the conversations in the workspace with the topics listed and the expand arrows to see each topic thread
5. Tasks Widget– lists a summary of the workspace tasks and allows you to create a new
6. Recent Documents Widget – list the most recent documents added to the workspace
7. Upcoming Milestones Widget - lists the milestones defined for the workspace.  Since there is not Milestones page, all the milestone viewing and management is done from this widget.

Conversations

There are two ways to view conversations in the workspace.

Conversation Summary Widget (Home Page)

 

1. Start New Conversation – click to display the topic and comment field to start a new conversation thread
2. Expand Conversation – click the arrow to expand or collapse the thread for a specific topic
3. Add a reply – when a conversation topic is expanded, the reply box is displayed to add your reply
4. View All – clicking this link will navigate to the Conversations Page

 

Conversations Page

 

1. Start New Conversation – click here to add a new conversation thread
2. Conversation topic list – on this page, only the conversation topics are listed in the left panel.  This allows from more topics to be viewed.  Clicking on a conversation topic displays the complete thread for that topic in the right panel.
3. Conversation thread – displays the thread for the selected topic
4. View Document link – if a conversation is associated with a document, this link is displayed which navigates the user to the preview page for the document
5. Reply and Delete – the reply button opens the reply field.  The Delete button on is displayed in the following conditions:

• • An Owner in the workspace can delete any conversation topic or reply in the workspace
  • A Member can delete any conversation thread that they create, which includes deleting any of the replies in that thread
  • A Member can only delete replies that they created as part of a thread created by another member

Documents

Adding a Document

A new document can be added from either the Document Summary Widget or the Document Listing page.  In both cases, the following modal is displayed:

 

1. Browse – opens explorer window to find the local document
2. Add as a new version to an existing file – checking this box will add the document as a new version to a file that already exists in the workspace with the exact same name. If this box is checked, you cannot start a new conversation in this dialog.
3. Start a new conversation for this file – as part of uploading a document, you have the option of starting a new conversation.  If this box is checked, then the Topic and Comments fields become active.

 

Recent Documents Widget (Home Page)

 

1. Document Item – lists the name, owner and last modified date for the document. Clicking on the document title launches the preview page for the document.
2. Documents to show – sets the number of recent documents to display (5, 10, 15)
3. Add Document – opens the upload document modal
4. View All – navigates the user to the Document Listing page to view all the workspace documents
5. Refresh – this button is provided to refresh the document list when necessary to view an up-to-the-minute list of documents.  Useful if another member has just added a new document.
6. Action Menu – accessed by clicking on the ellipses.  Allows the user to take action on the document directly from this listing

 

Document Listing Page

Provides the list of ALL documents in the workspace.

 

1. Document Item – lists the name, owner and last modified date for the document.  Clicking on the document title launches the preview page for the document.
2. Documents to show – sets the number of recent documents to display (5, 10, 15)
3. Add Document – opens the upload document modal
4. View All – navigates the user to the Document Listing page to view all the workspace documents
5. Refresh – this button is provided to refresh the document list when necessary to view an up-to-the-minute list of documents.  Useful if another member has just added a new document.
6. Action Menu – accessed by clicking on the ellipses.  Allows the user to take action on the document directly from this listing

 

Document Preview Page

 

1. Action Menu – the action menu applies to the current document being displayed.  It allows the user to Check-in/Check-out, Share, Download, Promote and Delete the current document.
2. Preview Pane – displays a preview of the current document (if it is a type supported by Office Online) and allows for editing of the document using the “Edit Document” function
3. Associated Conversation – if there is a conversation already started for the document it is displayed here.  If there is no conversation, a “Start New Conversation” box will appear.
4. View Versions – provides access to the list of previous versions of the document for viewing.  Clicking on a previous version will display that version.

Tasks

Adding a Task

A Task can be added from either the Task Widget on the Home page, or from the Tasks page itself.

 

1. Task Title – the name of the task.  Special characters are allowed in these titles
2. Bucket – the bucket in which the task should be placed.  There must be at least one bucket defined (see the Tasks page description)
3. Progress – the current status of the task.  The choices are Not Started, In-Progress or Completed
4. Start Date/Due Date – these values must be set for each task.
5. Description – description of the task to help further define what is being done
6. Assign to Member – any task can be assigned to one or more members.  Only the current workspace members are available for assigning to a task.  Begin typing the members name until their card is displayed.  Click “Add” to assign the task to that member.

 

Task Home Widget

 

1. My Tasks – displays the active tasks assigned to the current user.  To see the completed tasks as well, select the “Show Completed” checkbox.
2. All Tasks – displays all the active tasks in the workspace.  To see the completed tasks as well, select the “Show Completed” checkbox.
3. Add – clicking this button opens the task add modal
4. Refresh – refreshes the task list to show any new tasks since the last page access
5. Sort by – allows the list of tasks to be sorted by Bucket, Due Date or Status
6. Task info – clicking on the task title launches the task modal.
7. Action Menu/Status indicator – the Action menu (ellipses) allows for marking a task as complete without having to access the task modal.  A task can also be deleted.  The status indicator changes color depending on whether the task is Not Started, In Progress or Overdue.  A task is Overdue beginning the day after it is due.

 

Tasks Page

The Task Page provides several different views of the workspace tasks to more effectively manage creating, assigning and tracking task status.  Tasks can be organized into any number of Buckets (optional), with views sorted by Bucket, People, Status and Due Date.

 

Task card

In all views, the task card contains options for viewing, updating and managing the task without opening the task modal

 

1. Task Title and Description – clicking on the task title opens the task edit modal
2. Status – displays the current status of the task
3. Mark Task as complete – marks the task as complete (only shows on mouseover of task)
4. Edit Task – opens the task edit modal (only shows on mouseover of task)
5. Delete Task – deletes the task after confirmation  (only shows on mouseover of task)

 

View Tasks by Bucket

 

1. Sort By – choose the view for the tasks (Bucket, People, Status, Due Date)
2. Add Bucket – a bucket is a means to organize your tasks into different topic areas.  Only one bucket is required, and you may add as many as needed.
3. Refresh – refreshes the task list to show any new tasks since the last page access
4. Action buttons – these include editing the bucket name, deleting the bucket (which will also delete any tasks still in the bucket) as well as the expand/collapse button.
5. Add Task – adding a task using this option will automatically assign the task to the bucket
6. Show/Hide Complete tasks – view or hide tasks in the bucket which have been completed

 

View Tasks by People

 

1. Sort By – choose the view for the tasks (Bucket, People, Status, Due Date)
2. Add Task – adding a task using this option will automatically assign the task to the person
3. Show/Hide Complete tasks – view or hide tasks for the selected person which have been completed

 

View Tasks by Status

 

1. Each Status is represented by an expandable section

 

View Tasks by Due Date

 

1. Overdue Status – any task that has passed its due date will appear here
2. Next 14 days – any task which has a due date starting today + 14 days will appear here
3. Upcoming – any task which has a due date which is more than 14 days from today will appear here

 

Milestones

Milestones can be created to communicate key dates for the workspace team.  A milestone does have a status associated with it.  If the milestone date passes without the milestone being marked as “Complete” the status will show as “Past due date”

 

1. Add – opens the Add New Milestone modal.  A milestone has a title, description and date.
2. Milestone title – click on the title to edit the milestone
3. Milestone status – shows the days remaining or if a milestone is past due
4. Action Menu – click on the ellipses to display the Action menu.  The menu allows you to “Edit”, “Delete” or “Mark as Complete”

Photo Gallery

The Photo Gallery can be used to add images to your workspace content.

 

Photo Gallery Listing page

 

• Sort by – Sort the photos in the gallery by Title or by the Date Added
• Photo Item – each photo item contains a thumbnail image, the photo name and the date added.  To delete a photo from the gallery, click on its trash can icon.
• Add Photo – to add a photo to the gallery, click on this button to show the add photo dialog

 

Add a Photo

Adding a photo is as easy as selecting the image using the Browse button, entering a title for the image, and clicking “Add”.

 

 

View a Photo

Clicking on a photo thumbnail will open the photo viewer to display a larger version of the image.  You can also navigate through the images in the gallery using the left and right arrows.

 

Managing Workspace Members

Membership in a workspace follows the following rules:

• For Private Workspaces, new Members can be added to a workspace by either the Owner or any current Member of that workspace
• For Public Workspaces, any user can “Join” the workspace, and any current Member can add someone as a new member.
• Only Owners can change the permission level for a workspace member (from Member to Owner for example) or Remove a user in either a Public or Private workspace
• A Member can remove themselves from either a Public or a Private workspace by using the “Leave Workspace” link in the header

The workspace members function is accessed by clicking on the “Manage” link in the top right of the workspace:

 

 

Manage Members page

 

1. Add Member – Typing a first or last name in this box will display matching users that can be added to the workspace.  Users are added as a Member level by default.  Owners of the workspace can elevate their permissions if needed.
2. Member Search – clicking on the “Name” label will activate a search box which can be used to filter the member list to find a specific member.  Used when the member list for a workspace is long.
3. Member Entry – includes both the display name and the email address of the user
4. Remove – only visible to Owners, clicking this button will remove the user from the workspace
5. Permissions – only visible to Owners, used to set the permission level for workspace users.  See the “Workspace Permissions” section for more details.
6. Save – once changes are made, you must click the Save button to put them into affect.

Workspace Permissions

In a Workspace, the functions that can be performed are based on a user’s permission level.  The following shows the permissions required for major functions in a workspace for Owners and Members:

Action	Owner	Member
Access The Workspace Settings Options (Pencil)	x
Access Any Pagebuilder Functions	x
Add A Member	x	x
Delete A Member	x
View/Change Permission Settings For Members	x
View/Filter List Of Members In A Workspace	x	x
Create Workspace Bucket	x
Delete A Workspace Bucket	x
Rename A Workspace Bucket	x
Add A Task	x	x
Delete A Task	x	x
View Task Details	x	x
Edit A Task	x	x
Upload A Document/Create Conversation	x	x
Delete A Document	x	x
Edit A Document	x	x
Share A Document	x	x
Download A Document	x	x
Promote A Document	x
Add A Milestone	x	x
Edit A Milestone	x	x
Delete A Milestone	x	x
Mark A Milestone As "Complete"	x	x
Upload A Photo	x	x
Delete A Photo	x	x
Edit A Photo's Details	x	x
Set Sort Order For Conversations For Workspace	x
Create Conversation	x	x
Reply To A Conversation	x	x
Owner Should Be Able To Remove Any Conversation Or Reply To A Coversation In The Workspace	x
Conversation Topic Creator Should Be Able To Delete The Conversation Or Any Replies In The Conversation	x	x
Reply Owner Should Be Able To Remove Their Reply	x	x

Editing and Modifying a Workspace

Even after deploying a workspace, Owners can still update and change aspects of their workspace the team’s needs change.  This makes Akumina Workspaces a more powerful and flexible solution.  The following sections provide details or what can be updated in an existing workspace.

Updating Workspace details

By clicking on the pencil icon () in the workspace header, the Update Workspace modal is displayed.  This page is the same as in the original Create Workspace Wizard and allows you to update all the aspects of the Workspace including the name, description, tags, image, and whether it is public or private.

 

Enabling New Pages

The Update Workspace modal also allows for adding or removing pages from the workspace.  For example, if you generated a workspace and initially thought you wouldn’t need a Photo Gallery, but now wanted to add it, you could select the Photo Gallery page option and it will appear in your workspace once you “Update Workspace”.

 

Adding, Moving and Deleting Widgets in the Workspace

Akumina Workspaces also allows for adding, moving and deleting widgets from the workspace.  For example, if you generated a workspace and initially thought you wouldn’t need to use Milestones, but now wanted to add it, you can easily add it by putting the page in “Edit Page” mode and accessing the “Widget Gallery”.

 

To access the “Edit Page” mode

• Click on the tab on the right side of the screen (note you need to be an Owner of the workspace to have access to this function).   The Edit Page flyout will appear.
• Click on “Edit Page” to enter edit mode

 

Once you enter the edit mode, you will see the list of available widgets for adding to the workspace.  First, we want to add the “Milestones” widget to the Home Page.  Either scroll down the list of widgets, or type “milestone” in the widget search box. Click on the “Milestone Widget” entry.  This will add the widget to the page at the top of the left drop zone.

 

While still in Edit Mode, you can also change the location of any of the widgets by simply dragging and dropping them to new locations.  You will see the new location highlighted by a dotted line until you drop the widget. Note that you can “collapse” or hide the flyout while you are dragging and dropping to make it easier.

 

Finally, to remove an existing widget, simply click on the “x” on the widget.

NOTE: the data associated with the widget will not be deleted, only the widget itself.  If you decide to add the widget back in later, your previous data will still be intact.

 

To commit any of the changes you have made, you must click on the “Save” button at the lower right of the flyout.  If you want to exit without saving any of your changes, simply click the “Exit Edit Page” button.

 

 

Deleting a Workspace

NOTE: Only owners of a workspace can delete the workspace.

WARNING: DELETING A WORKSPACE DELETES ALL CONTENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORKSPACE AS WELL.  DELETING A WORKSPACE IS NOT RECOVERABLE.

 

To delete a workspace, click on the trash can icon in the workspace header.  You will be prompted to confirm the deletion request.

 

Workspace Notification Emails

Certain actions completed within the workspace will generated notification emails as follows:

Adding Users to a Workspace

• On initial creation – users added during the creation process receive the standard Office Groups welcome notification which includes the name of the Workspace.
• Adding a new user to the workspace after creation – the user receives the standard Office Groups welcome notification which includes the name of the Workspace.

Milestones actions:

• When a new milestone is added to the workspace, notifications are sent to workspace members OTHER than the one adding the milestone
• When a milestone is updated, notifications are sent to workspace members OTHER than the one updating the milestone
• When a milestone is deleted, notifications are sent to workspace members OTHER than the one adding the milestone

Conversations actions (including those associated with Documents):

• When there is any reply to a conversation topic.  The notification is sent to all who have contributed to the thread up to that point.