Sharing and collaborating

One of the best aspects of the Global Collaborative is the way that you can share your documents with others. You can give other members of the Global Collaborative different levels of access to your documents and folders. It allows a group of people to work together on a private document or set of documents. 

This is done via the [Sharing] tab. Only Managers have access to the Sharing tab. The process works in two steps:

1. The people you want to work with must join the Global Collaborative as individuals (become a Member).
2. As the manager of the area, you give them permission to view or edit the documents that you want to work on.
   

Roles

There are several different roles (levels of permission) that you can give to someone when you share your documents. 

Anonymous user

An anonymous user is anyone who has not logged in.  They can only see material that you have Published. They cannot create or edit documents and they cannot see Private documents.

Member

A Member is a person who has joined the Global Collaborative as an individual. Like an anonymous user, they can only see Published documents. They cannot see Private or Pending documents. They have a private area where they can create documents.  They cannot, however, Publish those documents.

A Member is treated as an Anonymous user when they are not logged in.  So if you are trying to do something or see something and you can't, make sure that you are logged in.

Writer

A Writer can create new content, like rich documents, on the Global Collaborative. They can edit these documents and can Submit them (make them Pending) for others to Publish.  However, they cannot Publish any documents.  They can only edit their own documents.  They cannot delete any documents except in their own personal folder.  They cannot see Private folders in the navigation menu.

SuperWriter

Superwriter is broken and we recommend that you do not use it.

Currently Superwriter cannot create Published documents.  They can see Private documents, but they cannot read them. They can see the contents of a folder. They can edit and delete Published documents.

Reader

If you use the [Sharing] tab to grant Reader access to a folder, then the Reader can read your Private and Pending (submitted) documents. They can Submit Private documents (making them Pending) and can Retract Pending documents (making them Private). They can see Private folders in the navigation menu. They cannot Publish any documents. They can only create, edit and delete private documents in their own personal folder.

Making people readers is particularly powerful if you turn comments on. That way, the people that you want can see a Private document and leave comments about it. However, they cannot see Private folders in the navigation hierarchy, so if they navigate away from a private folder, they may not be able to get back to it.

Writer + Reader

Roles can be combined. Writer + Reader is an excellent combination if you want someone to be able to create first draft documents, but not publish them. Writer + Reader can do everything that a Writer can do and everything that a Reader can do.  They can read Published, Pending and Private documents. They can see Private folders in the navigation menu. They can create rich documents and Submit them (making them  Pending) and retract them (making them Private). 

Writer + Reader cannot edit documents other than their own.  They cannot Publish documents.

Reviewer

If you make someone a Reviewer, they can edit read, edit and delete all types of documents.  They can also change the status of a document from Private to Pending to Published and vice versa. They can create new content.  They can see all types of folders in the navigation hierarchy, which means that they can navigate between Private folders without any problems. 

Reviewer is a good level of access to give to staff who know their way around the Global Collaborative and are working on it constantly.

Manager

A Manager can give other Users access to an area and change or revoke that access, as well as doing all the other things mentioned above. Managers can also turn on RSS syndication for a folder.

Owner

When you create a new document or folder, you automatically become the Owner of that content. An owner can do everything that a Manager can do. An Owner can make other people into Managers of that content.

In theory, an owner can make other people into owners, too.  It isn't a great idea, so please don't do that without talking to Nautilus first.

Systems administrator

The Systems administrator role is reserved by Nautilus for the people that actually run the Global Collaborative.

Poor combinations

It doesn't make sense to combine Member with any other type of user.  Every other type of user can already do what a Member can do.

Similarly, it doesn't make sense to combine Reviewer or Manager with any other type of user.  Reviewers and Managers can do what every other type of user can do already, so they don't gain anything from the combination.

More information

The attached document details what each type of user can do, and what they cannot do.