Blog

News, features and status updates for Sosius.
24 July 2011
Real-time Chat
Feature Overview

Sosius's chat allows you to instantly communicate with members, partners and other users on your company platform.
  • Works in real time
  • Chat with a single user, multiple users, or with a group
  • Add members to an existing chat
  • Ability to select online and offline users
  • Offline users will see updates upon next login

How Does it Work?

The grey bar by default reflects the number of online users. Clicking on the bar enables you to select a user you would like to start chatting with.

If the grey bar isn't visible you can turn it on by going to Profile & Settings - > Edit Details - > Enable Chat, or if you are part of a company account then please contact your company administrator to turn this feature on. Company Administrators can enable the chat company wide by going to Profile & Settings -> Company Managements, including the option to override this feature for individual company members.

How do I start a chat?
  • Through the Chat bar on the bottom right of your browser
  • Within a workspace, via the network online panel on the left side of the page
  • On a user's profile page. A chat button will be visible if the user is online
Who's online/offline?
  • Online users are indicated by a darker grey coloured font
  • When a user is offline, this font turns to a lighter shade of grey

The Options Menu

Clicking on the grey bar brings up the Options area where advanced chat features can be found.

Start a chat
Use this to start a group chat as a multi or group conversation
  • Multi Conversation - Select members to add to a chat. Member list here shows online and offline members. Offline members will receive messages upon Login to Sosius.
  • Group Conversation - Select a group to have a conversation with. Groups here refer to groups that have already been created under the Company Administrator account.
Previous chats
Show a list of previously held conversations. Please note that conversations already open in the grey tabs will not appear here.

Close all windows
Instantly remove the previous/existing chats from the bottom of the browser. This will not delete chats, but simply remove them from your view.

Play sounds
Turn the sound notification On or Off. When Sound is turned On, it will be played when messages are sent or received.

Other Features
  • Conversations can be reordered by dragging the grey tabs around.
  • Remove individual conversations by clicking on the x next to the grey tab.
  • Clicking on the arrow on the top left of a chat window minimizes the window.
andrew.cameron-webb
01 June 2011
Updated Dashboard and Messaging
We've updated Sosius with some awesome new features that will make working on Sosius even more fun. Based on your great feedback, we are confident that this major improvement will increase the usability, efficiency and joy of using Sosius.

The new dashboard comes with an improved design

We've updated the dashboard with a new layout, better filter options and quick links to your groups. You can do everything from the new dashboard. Quickly navigate and update your workspaces using our new intelligent updater.



Email members and groups

We've built a fantastic new messaging system: email members and groups directly from the dashboard with full conversation history.

See who's in your workspaces

Filtering your dashboard by workspace now displays a new 'Sharing' member panel so you can easily see who has access to that workspace.

Enhanced preview options

You can now preview files, events, database entries, discussions, blogs and much more with our new enhanced preview viewer. When you are previewing an item the comments are updated in realtime allowing you to discuss feedback with your colleagues who are online.

See who's online now

Your dashboard's network member list now updates automatically when someone logs in so you can see who is online at the moment.

Stay tuned for more updates

I would like to thank all of you who have provided feedback in the recent months, your comments are helping shape Sosius! In the next few weeks we will be releasing some more awesome features - stay tuned!
andrew.cameron-webb
13 October 2010
Introducing the new streaming Sosius Dashboard
I'm delighted to be able to tell you: the new realtime streaming Sosius Dashboard is here.

This major upgrade and redesign has re-written the rules of online collaboration, with a huge list of new features that means using Sosius Dashboard is an improvement on even being in the same room at the same time with your colleagues. It's not only Real Time, it's enhanced Real Life.

The new functionality gives you information when you want it, in any way you want it, and responds to your particular needs. It looks and feels like a social network, allowing you your space within the company, your voice within a project, and your influence on a conversation. It's easy, secure, and complete; a relief to know where to go to find everything.

Here are some of the amazing features:


You're always up to date

You can instantly respond to changes, add comments and start discussion threads, all without leaving the Sosius Dashboard. It makes working easier, faster and fun. Collaborate in real time with your colleagues, get updates on changes as they happen, or see at a glance what's been going on the next time you log back in. No more searching across a variety of different places. When a new document that needs your approval arrives, preview it directly and add your comments, all without leaving the dashboard.



Zoom in, zoom out

Got a lot going on? No problem. Our filtering options mean you can quickly narrow down what's incoming to one project, one person or even one thread. Customise your dashboard to see just what's relevant at any one time.



Keep in touch, stay on top

The new Sosius Dashboard makes it easy to post status updates into the stream. Let people know what you're working on or what you need next. Respond to your colleague's posts with comments or upload a file or image. Broadcast to everyone or chat to a single individual. And if you are an observer, not a participant, then sit back and watch an evolution!



Requirements

Even though the new realtime dashboard is easy to use, it is based on advanced, new technology which require a modern browser. That means if you are using older software, you cannot utilize this new feature. At this time we will not be offering support for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 and 7.

At Sosius we recommend using Mozilla's Firefox, Google's or Apple's Safari. All of these browsers are free, and offer both performance and security improvements compared to older browsers.

Welcome to a new experience

All in all, we are confident that this major improvement will increase the usability, efficiency and joy of using Sosius. Try it out and let us know your thoughts.
andrew.cameron-webb
17 June 2010
June Update
Sync Projects to your local calendar

We have implemented a feature that lets you sync Projects from Sosius to your local calendar, in the same fashion as you sync calendars. Your local calendar will display the Project name, task titles, start and due dates, as well as links to the actual tasks in the service. Seeing as we use the iCal format for this, you can also add your project-tasks to calendars in Sosius this way, just like you would subscribe to an external Google calendar or similar.



Reset Permissions and Ownership

On the Manage Existing Permissions page for any item, we included a new option simply titled Reset. Here you can with the click of a button remove permissions and ownership of items (with the option to cascade children). This means that you can copy/move material, and very quickly remove any unwanted ownership/permissions that came along.



ACL Improvements (Navigator Folder visibility)

First of all, allow me to state how excited I am to bring you such a seemingly technical and boring feature! To explain I will use a couple of examples.

The navigator has always been somewhat problematic because it exposes items located in the parent node. So for instance if you in the below example, only had access to Subfolder 2, you would still see Subfolder 1 and Subfolder 3 as well, even though you could not access them.



While this might seem like an insignificant detail, the fact of the matter was that it limited the flexibility of our folder structures.

Now we have changed this, striving towards the concept: You only see what you have access to. Meaning that in the above example, where you only have access to Subfolder 2, this is all you will see:



Picture Folder as a Sales-team, and each of the Subfolders as different Clients, who should not know of each-other, and it gets easy to see how valuable this is when creating folder structures that needs to fit your own companies needs, as well as your clients.

Expanding on that concept, we also made some changes to how items in the "Content window" are displayed. Take the following example: You have access to Folder, but you have explicitly been denied access to Subfolder 1 and Subfolder 3 - we now use the same concept: you only see what you have access to:



As Subolders 1 and 3 are no longer visible in this scenario, this means no more fumbling around creating unnecessary root workspaces, navigator-disabling, or ill-conceived use of the hidden functionality.

One thing to be aware of is that the breadcrumbs needs to be visible in order to maintain navigation and the URLs (this example: Sosius >> Folder), so any parent nodes will be visible. This means that a good practice from now on will be to name these main categorizing folders "discretely".

Depending alerts

When you are using the project tool, a lot of times it makes sense to set up a task as being dependent on another. So what you really want to see when you are finished with the first task, is an alert being sent out to the person who is assigned to the next task. We have changed the issue response page to include an option to Alert Depending Members, which allows for just that.



Other improvements from this update

To reduce the length of this blog, I will try to summarize the other, smaller items we have been working on this month more briefly:
  • The Logout URL which Company Admins are able to define in their Company Management page, now also works for the company admins themselves, not only the other users.
  • You can now enable/disable the Java uploader from your settings (all mentions of Active X are also removed).
  • We have changed the wordings on the Company Management page, so that you no longer have mysterious options such as "Restrict Workspace Disabled".
  • You are now able to enter three-digit telephone country codes (for countries such Finland and Ireland)
  • You can CC yourself when sending Direct Access links, by simply selecting the corresponding checkbox.
  • The Calendar Month view now works better in Internet Explorer (as well as other browsers)
andrew.cameron-webb
20 April 2010
Introducing Web Folders
Work Locally
Mount Sosius workspaces on your computer

I'm very excited to announce Sosius now supports Web Folders. The new Web Folders feature, which is is based on WebDAV allows you to have your files and folders appear in a network drive. To put it simply, it mimics the behavior of an external hard drive and ultimately integrates Sosius as a part of your computer.

The Benefits

  • Manage your files

  • The Web Folders eliminates the need for a browser to manage your files and folders stored in Sosius. Copy, Rename, Cut, Move, Paste and delete, just like you would do it on your local computer.

  • Use your favorite software

  • Seeing as you now have your Sosius content as a Networked Drive, you can use your local software to edit files. The Open, Save and Save As options in all applications will allow you to directly reach or place files in Sosius. Save your documents using Microsoft Word directly to Sosius. Edit existing spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel. And that's not all, other handy features you might be used to are available as well: Mac OSX's Quick Look works, as well as the preview pane in Windows 7.

  • File transfer

  • The Web Folders takes the sting out of transferring data. Upload and download folders, folders including subfolders and selections of files. Use the copy/paste dialog or simply drag and drop them using your file-manager.

  • Resume transfers

  • Transferring files using Web Folders supports resuming on advanced clients. This means that if you are disconnected from your wireless when you have uploaded 50mb of a 100mb file, you do not have to upload the entire file again, only the remaining 50mb.

  • Versioning

  • The Web Folders supports Versioning. You will always have the latest version available to you in the Web Folders. Uploading new version will automatically put the older one into the versions-list, available in the Web Interface.

  • Permissions

  • The Web Folders supports the Permissions applied in the Web Interface, meaning that you will have access to the same files, with the same permissions as defined in the service, and nothing else.

  • Create Shortcuts

  • You can create shortcuts to any item in your Web Folders. Place shortcuts to your active project on your Desktop for quick and easy access.

  • Multi-OS Support

  • WebDAV is a common protocol, and most modern operating systems support it natively. This includes Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OSX and Linux. It is simply a matter of enabling these features and setting them up with your username and password. In addition there is a number of dedicated WebDAV clients which you can use with the Web Folders for more advanced functionality.

    Learn how to set up Web Folders on your computer.
andrew.cameron-webb
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