Contextual folders, and cabinets are repository containers with optional rich-text descriptions, and built-in discussions. These features provide the ability to capture, and express the work-oriented context of a folder’s hierarchy. Such contextual information might include details about project goals, tasks, roles, milestones, and so forth. Since full-text search keeps an index of all descriptions, and discussions in a repository, they are easy to find, along with the items to which they relate.
Rich-text descriptions display at the top of a contextual folder, like a room’s welcome message. They can provide, for example, document summaries, instructions for using project materials, or pointers to other locations. Because they can include formatted text, pictures, and hyperlinks, folder descriptions can be informative, personalized, and appealing in order to draw users’ attention.
Discussions embedded on a contextual folder page encourage team members to focus communication towards the nexus of their work (such as for document reviews) instead of using email, for example, for project correspondence. Organized in a tree of comments, these discussions help to capture, and preserve the work-related flow of information.
In some form or another, all project teams converse about a variety of topics, such as case issues, scheduling decisions, development plans, product ideas, and customer feedback. Discussions in contextual folders let teams save, and have ready access to such ad hoc but historically valuable exchanges.
To create a new contextual folder:
Navigate to the location for the new folder.
Select File > New > Folder.
The New Folder dialog box opens.
In the Create tab, specify the following properties:
Name (required). The name of the new folder.
Type. The type of folder.
Description. In the rich-text editing window, create a description that will appear below the navigation path on the folder’s page (optional).
To subscribe to the folder, select the Subscribe to this folder checkbox (click [+] Show options if necessary to view the option).
You can either continue to another tab, or click Finish to create the folder.
Click Finish to close the dialog box, and create the folder.
Or, you can click Cancel to close the dialog box without creating a folder.
To enable a discussion for the folder, you must select the Show Discussion checkbox on the Info tab of the folder’s properties dialog box.