Collaboration

Socialcast (Collaboration) is being retired.

Date Announced - December 7th, 2018

End of Life - January 2019

Why is this going away?

After reviewing customer activity with the Collaboration feature we identified that this feature was not being actively used by any customers. With that in mind, it's been decided to deprecate the feature so that we can focus on other areas of the Planful platform.

What action do I need to take?

No action required. If for some reason, we missed you and you are using this functionality, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or call us at (855) 622 7602, international customers call US +1 (650) 864-8866.

Where do I go for more information?

Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or call us at (855) 622 7602, international customers call US +1 (650) 864-8866.

Overview

In an environment where multiple users share artifacts (Scenario, Reports and so on), there is a need for collaboration.

With Collaboration, (Socialcast's integration with Planful) you will be able to communicate and collaborate on a particular artifact (Scenario, Reports). User communications are enabled at a granular level.

Threads

A Thread is a communication between users in a discussion list. Threads be made private or public based on your requirements.

There of two types of discussion threads:

• Public Thread: Any user with access to the artifact (scenario/report) can view the thread.

• Private Thread: Access to the thread is controlled by the owner of the group. Only users who are given access by the group owner will have access to private threads.

Collaboration facilitates communication in the form of discussion threads. Users can post comments, upload files, post status messages, makes comments and like the discussion.

For example, you can create a group for a planning scenario. All users who have access to this scenario can view the thread from the Planning Control Panel or in the widget on the main page that is available to show all threads if public. If private, access to the thread is controlled by the owner of the discussion thread.

Super User Tasks - Provisioning

To provision users for Collaboration, you must have super user permissions.

Configuring Collaboration Details

To configure collaboration details:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin > Configuration Tasks. The Configuration Task List page is displayed.

2. Click Collaboration Configuration. This opens the Collaboration Configuration page.

3. Click Enable Configuration. This below fields are enabled.

   • Service Provider - Select the name of community link provide from the drop down list.

   • URL - Provide the community URL.

   • User Name - Provide an Administrator type of user name created in Socialcast. Ideally, use the same account that you created.

4. Click Authorize. You must authorize Socialcast to access your Planful account by providing user ID and password as this requires OAuth authentication

5. Click Save.

Creating User/Mapping in Socialcast

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Admin > Configuration Tasks. The Configuration Task List page opens.

2. Click Collaboration Configuration. This opens the Collaboration Configuration page.

3. Click Collaboration Mapping. This opens the Collaboration Mapping page.

4. Choose users required for Collaboration. Only the users in the Mapped Users pane will have access to Collaboration.

5. Select the users to map/unmap accounts from Socialcast.

6. Mapping creates user accounts in Socialcast using the same user accounts that are available in Planful. Users can however, create accounts directly in Socialcast as well and map them using the Collaboration Mapping page.

7. Unmapping deletes user account from Socialcast.

8. User creation is performed user by user. When the first user is mapped, Planful tries to create a user in Socialcast and confirms the user creation. Next, the user can be mapped or a bulk mapping can be done.

9. Click Save.

Tasks for the End-User

End User Planning Control Panel Collaborations

1. Navigate to the Planning Control Panel. A list of scenarios that are accessible for users are displayed. Select a scenario and click the Chat icon.

2. When you click the Chat, you create a discussion thread for a scenario. The user who creates a thread becomes the owner of the thread.

3. Make your discussion public or private depending on your privacy policy and the content being discussed.

• Select Public, to allow all users with access to the scenario discussion.

• Select Private to make the discussion available only to approved users.

Once a discussion is created, anyone with access to the scenario can join the discussion by clicking the Chat icon.

Threads are unique. They apply only to a single artifact (Scenario, Budget and Reports).

End User Task Dynamic Report Collaborations

1. Navigate to Reports > Dynamic Reports.

2. Select a report. The Collaboration icon is displayed in the right side of the menu.

This opens the discussion thread. You can collaborate with other users using the collaboration for dynamic reporting.

• For every report, there is only one thread, which is applicable only to that report.

• Collaboration appears as a small icon in screens to which you have access to.

• If a discussion thread is already created for a scenario or report, and if you are provided with access permissions, the content streams within the Collaboration widget.

End User - Accessing Collaboration

Apart from Planning Control Panel and Dynamic reports, you can click the Collaboration icon on the left navigation pane.

Click the Collaboration icon on the left navigation pane to display the Planful:Home Stream page. The Planful:Home Streampage provides a discussion thread applicable to your environment. On this page, you can post status, likes, and comments in discussion forums.

FAQs

How is a discussion thread created?

A discussion thread is created when you click Create Discussion in the Collaboration widget.

Who owns discussion threads?

The user that creates the thread owns it.

How to provide a name for the discussion thread?

The name of the thread is based on the configured attributes or combination of artifacts that are configured as contexts for discussion threads.

For example, a discussion thread for a scenario is created as “Scenario Name”. A discussion thread for a report is created using the name of Dynamic report.

What happens when multiple artifacts share the same name?

For instance, let's say a scenario and a Dynamic report have the same name. To avoid confusion, when a discussion thread is created it is suffixed by the type of discussion. For instance – Scenario “Budget 2016” will be created in Socialcast as “Budget 2016 (Scenario)” and a report is created with the Report suffix as follows: “Budget 2016 (Report).

How is Security enforced for a discussion thread?

Security for a discussion thread is enabled when a thread is created as Private or Public. For a Private discussion, when a user tries to access the thread, a Collaboration widget displays an option for the user to place a request. The request is sent to the owner of the thread who can then grant permission to the user's request.

Can I convert a secured discussion (Private) to a Public discussion?

Yes, if you are the owner of the thread, you can choose to convert the security of a discussion thread to Public.

What happens to a user account in Socialcast when you delete a user account in the Planful application?

The user account in Socialcast is not immediately deleted. You must use unmap the user account in Planful or delete the user account directly in Socialcast.

What happens if you delete a user account in the Socialcast application?

If you delete a user account in the Socialcast application, you will not be able to access the discussion threads in Planful.

What happens if you delete artifacts names such as names of scenarios, budget in Planful?

Within Planful, if you delete names of artifacts such as scenarios, Dynamic reports and so on. This will not impact discussion threads in Socialcast. The discussion thread in Socialcast will continue to exist.

What happens if you delete an artifact's name; such as the name of a scenario or Dynamic report in Socialcast?

Within Socialcast, if you delete discussion threads, the reference to the discussion thread is lost within Planful. When a user attempts to click Create Discussion, a new discussion thread is started.

How to extend the Expiration Date in Socialcast?

When the configuration is carried out for Socialcast Collaboration, a token is provided by Socialcast which is stored by the Planful application. From a security perspective, this token is refreshed periodically, which will result in the token expiring. The Socialcast administrator will need to re-save the configuration once the token expires, to get a new one.

The default value of 'Refresh token lifetime' is 90 days and as an Administrator of Socialcast, can be extended for up to 999 days. This will avoid the need to resave the configuration every 90 days.

To change the expiration setting for the token, navigate to Admin Settings >> Apps in Socialcast.

The revised expiration date is shown once the token is refreshed. For instance, if the original expiration date is May 02, 2017 and you revise the number of days to 999, this will extend the expiration date approximately to January 25, 2020. So, if you login to Socialcast before May 02, 2017, the expiration date would still be shown as May 02, 2017 as the earlier token has not yet expired. After May 02, the earlier token would expire. Thereafter January 25, 2020 would show as the token would be refreshed.