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Quick Guide for Using IBM Connections

This document will provide instructions for the following activities that you and your team can perform using IBM Connections:

  • Conducting meetings (below)
  • Working in your Community Forum (Team Room) (page 6)

Using Chat (page 10)

  • Using Connections Docs (page 13)

Conducting Meetings

This section explains

How do I host or join a meeting?

How do I start sharing applications, screens, or files?

How do I add files and other content to share?

How do I leave a meeting?

How do I end a meeting?

How do I host or join a meeting?

If you are hosting a meeting, you will need to find out your meeting ID and email or text it to your team members. You can find your meeting ID by following the same steps as those outlined below for hosting a meeting.

You host and join meetings from the same page.

  1. In IBM® Connections Cloud header, click Apps > Meetings (New).
  2. Do one of these steps:
  3. If you are the host, click Host Meeting. Your Meeting ID Number will appear.
  4. If you are a participant or the manager of someone else's meeting, under Join a Meeting, enter the meeting ID, and then click Join Meeting.

To enable video and audio, click on the phone icon at the top of the page and select “Join call with my computer”.

If you are the host, please ensure that you click Record to record your meeting.

How do I start sharing applications, screens, or files?

By default, everyone who joins a meeting in a meeting room can share a single application, all or part of their screen, and files that are in the meeting room Library.

To find out whether an item in the Library can be shared, select it. Share displays with any selected item that can be shared.

Note: You might be prompted to install a plug-in before you can share an application or your screen.

  1. In a meeting room, do one of the follow actions, depending on whether someone else is already sharing:
  2. If no one is sharing, click Start Sharing in the sharing area.

Note: If a file in the Library is stored in Files, make sure that the most recent version of the file is in the Library. Click next to the file and select Check for Updates. Only the file owner and meeting room owner and managers see this option.

  • If someone else is already sharing, click Let Me Share in the sharing area.
  1. Click what you want to share.

Note: If you are sharing an application or full screen on a Mac, a preview window of what is being shared displays. You can click the Preview twistie to collapse the Preview window and show just the tools. You can also minimize the window.

  1. Click OK.

What you share now displays in the sharing area for everyone to see.

If you are sharing a document or file, use the tools in the global toolbar to page through and annotate the document, and to adjust the display size.

How do I add files and other content to share?

If you have permission to present in a meeting, you can add content, such as files, links, screen captures, and polls to the meeting room Library. Files that are stored in the Library can then be shared during a meeting. If meeting participants are given permission, they can also download these files. Other items in the Library are available for participants to view.

Note: If you add a file that is not supported or that does not have a three-digit file extension (such as ODP), the file can be added to the Library for download, but cannot be shared.

Note: Working with files stored inMy Files might not be available to you.

  1. In a meeting room, click in the navigator to add a file from your computer or to add a link.

  1. Optional: If this option is available, select Start sharing this document immediately if this action is what you want to do.
  2. Optional: If this option is available, select Upload this file to My Files if you want to add the file to both the meeting room Library and My Files. Files in the Library that are stored in Files display next to them.

Note: If the file is added to My Files, by default, Give current meeting room participants reader access to this file is selected. This setting allows current meeting room participants to open the file in My Files and to download it. It also allows current meeting room participants and meeting room managers access the file. Clear this setting if this action is not what you do not want to do.

  1. Click Add.

After a file is added to the Library, select it to see the options available. For example, you can share, download, preview, and carry out other actions on a file.

How do I leave a meeting?

Anyone in a meeting room, including the meeting room owner, can leave a meeting at any time. When you leave, the meeting remains active for everyone still in the meeting room.

Do one of the following actions, depending on whether you are the meeting room owner, manager, or a participant.

  • If you are a participant, click Leave Meeting in the meeting room toolbar.
  • If you are the meeting room owner or manager, click End Meeting > Leave Meeting.

The meeting room closes for you, but remains open and active for everyone still in the meeting room. If you were connected to the meeting audio conference call, leaving the meeting room also ends the call for you.

How do I end a meeting?

Meeting room owners and managers can end a meeting.

The following actions take place when a meeting ends:

  • Ends sharing of anything that is being presented.
  • Ends the meeting for everyone in the meeting room, including for the meeting room owner and managers.
  • Ends the audio conference call for everyone.
  • Clears all entries from the Meeting Stream area of the meeting room, except for discussion entries.
  • Keeps any content, such as files, in the meeting room Library.

Note: To remove all content from the meeting, in the Library, click > Remove Room Content and confirm the deletion. Files that are stored in Files are removed from the Library, but not from Files.

  1. In a meeting room, click End Meeting > End Meeting for All in the meeting room toolbar.

  1. Optional: Select Create a meeting report, if it is not already selected.
  2. Click OK.

Working in your Community Forum (Team Room)

This section explains how to

Add topics to a community forum

Share files with your community

Adding topics to a community forum

Start a discussion with members of your community by adding a topic to one of the community forums. Anyone who can access the forums can view the new topic.

Before you begin

The Forums app must be available in your community for you to be able to add a discussion topic. When you see a Forums area on the community's Overview page, this means that the app is enabled for your community. You must be a community member to post topics to a community's forums.

Procedure

To add a topic to a community forum, complete the following steps.

  1. On the community's Overview page, click Start a Topic in the Forums area of the page. If you are the first member to add a forum topic, the link displays as Start the First Topic.

  1. Required: Enter the title of the discussion topic in the Title field.
  2. To mark the topic as a question, select Mark this topic as a question.
  3. Enter one or more tags in the Tags field.
  4. Enter the content of your topic in the rich-text field provided. Be as descriptive as possible. Remember that you want to start a discussion, so include relevant information to interest other community members and get them involved.
  5. Required: Select the community forum where you want to add the topic from the Forum list.
  6. To attach a file to the topic, click Attach a File and browse for a file.
  7. Click Save.

Sharing files with your community

Share files from the Files app with members of your community.

Before you begin

Any community member can share files and folders with a community from the Files app. A folder is a place to group files with related or similar content. Your community must contain the Files app for you to be able to share files with the community. The app is automatically added to a community when it is first created. However, you can add the app to the community again if it is removed.

File owners can also share files with a community or give a copy of a file to a community directly from the Files app. Anyone can share files with a community to which they have access, but only the community owner and the file owner can remove the file reference from the community.

Note: The file size limit for uploading a single file is 500 MB. By default you can store up to 1 TB of files in your personal files and additional storage can be obtained for a single user. Stored files include all versions of uploaded files. If needed, you can delete old file versions to create additional storage space.

Each community can store up to 50 GB of files.

About this task

The Files app allows community members to share local files and files from the Files app with the rest of the community. Sharing files is a great way to foster collaboration within a community. By encouraging members to upload files to the community, you can work together on shared documents and build up a repository of community information.

Procedure

To share files with your community, complete the following steps.

  1. From the Files app on the Overview page, click Add Files.

Note: If you are the first person to share files with the community, click Add Your First File.

  1. Do one of the following steps:
  2. To upload a file from your local file system:
  3. Click My computer.
  4. Click Browse to find the file that you want to share.
  5. Edit the file name if necessary, enter some tags in the Tags field, and then click Share files.

The file is now owned by the community. You do not see it in your My Files list of the Files app.

  1. To share a file from the Files app:
  2. Select the type of file that you want to share from the options.

Table 1. File-sharing options
Option / Description
Recent Files / Files that are recently uploaded to the Files app.
Pinned Files / Files that you marked as prioritized in the Files app.
My Files / Files that you uploaded to the Files app.
Shared With Me / Files that are shared with you from the Files app.
Other People's Files / Other people's files that are shared with the organization or files that they shared with you from the Files app.
Pinned Folders / Folders that you prioritized in the Files app.
My Folders / Files from your personal folders in the Files app.
Shared Folders / Files from shared folders in the Files app.
  1. Select one or more files from the list that displays.
  2. Specify whether you want to allow community members to edit the file or files, and then click Share Files.
  1. If you do not see the file that you are looking for, enter the file name in the search field and click the search icon.

Using Chat

This section explains how to

  • Open a chat
  • Start a chat

How do I open a chat?

When you log in to IBM® Connections Cloud, displays in the footer of every page. This is the chat widget. Use the chat widget to sign in to and out of Chat, change your status, and open your contact list. By default, you are signed in to Chat.

You can do the following tasks.

  • Click to open your contact list.

Your contact list automatically displays your network contacts. Closing your contact list does not sign you out of Chat.

  • If you are not already signed it to Chat, click to sign in to Chat and display your current availability status.

You also see the status of other users wherever their names display, for example, in meetings and in their profiles.

  • If it is not already selected, select Automatically sign me in to automatically sign in to Chat every time you log in to IBM Connections Cloud.

How do I start a chat?

When your contact list is populated with the names of individual contacts and groups, it is easy to start a chat with them.

  1. Start a chat with someone by double-clicking their name in the contact list. You can also use the search box if the person is not in your contact list. If the person is available, a chat window opens.

  1. Type your message in the chat window.
  2. Optional: Click an icon in the chat window to change text attributes or add other content, such as an emoticon, to the chat.
  3. Press Enter to send your message to your chat partner.

Using Connections Docs

This section provides instructions on how to

Upload documents to share

Co-edit with others in documents

Collaborate by using Connections Chat in documents

Create and act on comments in documents

Connections Docs is a new office productivity suite for working on documents, spreadsheets and presentations—together—in the cloud. It provides real-time co-editing, allowing users to work on documents individually or collaboratively. Comment on a document, or even participate in a discussion. All this without the need of desktop software.

Get started

Begin using Connections Docs in the Files application. Click the New button, and then select the file type that you want to create: Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation. The file is created in Connections Docs and you can edit your contents in the cloud.

Uploading documents to share

You can upload to My Files any type of documents that your administrator allows. You control who can view, download, or edit the documents.

Your administrator determines who can upload files and limits the amount of space that you have for storing files. When you reach that limit, you cannot add anything new to IBM® Connections Docs Cloud. The amount of space that you are using is displayed in the My Files view, at the end of the list of files. You can delete old versions of your files to create space.

To upload a file to My Files, follow these steps:

  1. Click Upload Files.
  1. In the Files field, click Browse to select the file that you want to upload.

Note: You can repeat this step to upload more files. The files to be uploaded are listed and you can click the file to edit the file name, or click x to delete it from the list.

  1. Optional: In the Tags field, type keywords that are separated by a space.
  2. Select one of the following choices:

Option / Description
No one (shared with me only) / Make the file private. Only the owner can see and edit it. Check off whether to allow others to share the file.
People or Communities / Share the file with specific people or a community. Perform these steps:
  1. Select a Person or a Community.
  2. Select the as Reader or as Editor access level:
  3. Readers can read, comment on, download, and recommend a file.
  4. Editors can read, edit, comment on, download, recommend, upload a new version, and set properties on the file.
  5. Perform one of the following tasks:
  6. To share with people, click the field to display the names of people that you recently shared files with. If the name that you are looking for is displayed, select it. If the name is not displayed, type the name or email address, and then select the person.
  7. To share with a community, type the name of the community, and then select the community when it is displayed.
Important: When you share a file with a public community, the file becomes public.
  1. Add an optional message for people with whom you have shared the file.
  2. Check off whether to allow others to share the file.

Public (shared with everyone) / Make the file available to everyone in your organization. They are assigned Reader access.
  1. Click Upload.

Co-editing with others in documents

Multiple editors on a team can edit a document at the same time. You can edit in a different, or the same, paragraph, table, image, and other document elements. Every editor can see the changes in different colors at the same time.

Each participant in the co-editing group must have access to the document as an editor. For example, if you want to co-edit a document with your team members, you must share the document with them and set their access levels to Editor. To co-edit with others, perform the following steps: