Interact-Interact v7 Widget Sizes

-- this is obsolete after the 7.2 launch which includes an increase amount of widget size options --

I'm just getting my feet wet with the responsive framework of Interact-Intranet v7 and the widget design challenges that go along with that. 

When our v7 instance loads, for a heart-beat we see a light-grey widget outline which quickly fills in with content.  It looks as though the canvas accommodates 4 vertical columns on the landing homepage and 3 on subsequent area homepages due to the side navigation consuming a column.

Click the image for a larger view

When I added the Twitter widget I noticed that while it looks good on my 1280x1024 monitor it doesn't fully display on my 1024x768 monitor (employee standard).  I could have guessed a few times and probably come up with a good size, but knowing the widget sizes and understanding how they work is pretty important so I thought I'd put in some due diligence.

To help me figure out common widget sizes, specifically for the smaller widgets, I typically create free text widgets that include a simple 100% x 100% table with a colored background.  Then I take a screenshot of what I'm looking at and use Paint to figure out the dimensions.  With v7 I've run into an issue embedding a table into the free text widget so I did the next best thing - inserted a square red image!  I initially used a 1278x990 image, but later scaled it down to 280x280 because of issues I was running into with spacing issues caused by the image being rectangle. 

Click the image for a larger view


Note: These test were done in IE10.0.  I found that using Firefox altered the widget sizes slightly (2px difference at both sizes w/o a title).

The next test I ran was to determine the impact of resizing on the content of an image.  For this I used a 1k x 1k image of horizontal and vertical lines.  The result is that the image appears to automatically resize based upon width.  Because the widget sizes are fixed and images are aligned to the top, the bottom of the image is cut off.

Click the image for a larger view

What does this all mean?

If you are going to use an image in a free-text widget you would be advised
to not include a title since the title seems to have priority and the image is secondary.  Additionally, titles can wrap depending upon the resolution the page is viewed at which can cause a fairly significant difference in the amount of image height that displays.

What happened to the Twitter widget?

In the end I settled on a Twitter defined widget size of 275px (height) which displays the full widget at 1280x1024 and enough of it at 1024x768.

Click the image for a larger view

Interact Intranet: Diagnosing problems with AD sync

From time to time you might notice issues with accounts in your intranet not properly synchronizing with your AD system.  If this is the case the first step is to contact support which will give you the fastest resolution to your problem.

If you are handy with SQL and AD you can try to identify the issue yourself by examining the AD sync logs which are stored in a table called UMI_audit.

This query will return any errors from the last two weeks:
    select * from UMI_audit where errormsg is not null
This query will identify any users that aren't configured to sync:
     select * from umi_person where sync = 0  

The most common issues we encounter with AD sync are accounts that have been orphaned as a result of incorrect expiration.

If your IT department isn't willing to give you AD access and you aren't sure how to verify data on the AD side, I'd recommend installing Softerra LDAP browser.  With a minute or two of configuration you'll have a READ only view into your organizations AD system.

Softerra LDAP Browser is a lightweight version of Softerra LDAP Administrator. It supports read-only operations that do not modify LDAP directory data, e.g. browsing, search, export, etc. For complete, fully functional management of LDAP directories you need Softerra LDAP Administrator.

Softerra LDAP Browser is the industry-leading software for browsing and analyzing LDAP directories. It provides a wide variety of features for handy viewing of directory contents, getting information about directory infrastructure and objects.

Right after the very first release Softerra LDAP Browser has become a real breakthrough in IT market thanks to its simplicity and power in equal measures. The software holds highest positions for 10 years already. Some of its features are unique - to date there is anything to match their efficiency in the existing LDAP software packages.

Intranet, Portal, Social Network, Community vendor list

In my opinion, the days when intranets were distinct from social networks is behind us.  Most intranet vendors these days include every social feature that social network vendors offer, and vice versa.    Similar to the transition half a dozen years ago when the term intranet consumed the notion of portals.

Below is a list of a few vendors that brand themselves as social, intranet, portal and community providers.  Feel free to email me or comment below if I'm missing anyone.

Acquia

Anahita

Atlassian - Confluence

Big Tent

Bloomfire

BlueWiki

BoonEx

BrightSpot

BuddyPress

Chatter

CommunityFire

CrowdVine

Elgg

Elgg Social

eXo

Fuze

Grou.ps

Groupiest

Grouply

GroupSite

IBM WebSphere

Igloo

INGage

Interact-Intranet

JCow

Jive Software

JomSocial

Kapow

Liferay

Lithium

MindTouch

Mixxt

MooSocial

MoxieSoft

Newsgator

Ning

Noodle

Oracle WebCenter

Orchid Software

Oxwall

PHPFox

Plone

Qlubb

SayMedia

ShareTronix

Social Go

SocialCast

SocialEngine

SocialText

Spurz

StatusNet

Telligent

ThoughtFarmer

Tibbr

Traction

Wall.FM

Webs

WSO2

Yammer

Interact Intranet v5 Search Index Rebuild

Each time we apply an update to our Interact v5 environment our search index jams and fails to index new content.  After 5-6 of these occurrences I've discovered the trick to rectify this issue which allows the search index to begin functioning in a normal manner again - it also indexes content that it had previously missed. 

While I don't recommend any customers use this process without first discussing with Interact, I'm posting the steps because of the frequency in which I need to refer to them:

• Login to SQL and open the Interact db
• Expand Storage
• Expand Full Text Catalogs
• Right click on Catalog1
• Click Rebuild

The repair will take a few minutes depending upon the size of your index (we have roughly 10k items in our search index and the rebuild takes about 10 minutes).  While the index is being rebuilt nothing will be returned in your search results.

Interact-Intranet: Using Google Analytics to Capture More Data

Widget tracking isn't accounted for in the v5 Interact-Intranet Analytics module. If you don't have that module you can implement your own custom code file logging or if you have the module and want to track custom widget (or free text widget iframes) you might want to consider going the Google Analytics route.  In addition to tracking your custom widgets you can also use Google Analytics to track your site as a whole and see just how many people are using features and functions that you otherwise wouldn't be able to track.

This is a guide of my efforts to track our entire site and our custom widgets.

Update: Recently found there are a lot of additional 3rd party analytics tools!
Checkout this great list http://www.onextrapixel.com/2013/07/16/ten-best-alternatives-to-google-analytics

Step 1: Login to Google Analytics

http://www.google.com/analytics/

Step 2: Create an Account

From the home window start by clicking the "New Account" button. You can have multiple accounts and I would recommend creating one for your entire intranet. The only important piece of information when doing this step is correctly entering your Web Site URL. Intranets can be tracked assuming they meet the following requirements:

• your corporate network must be able to reach the ga.js JavaScript file at http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js or https://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js
• your intranet must be accessible through a fully qualified domain name such as http://intranet.example.com. The ga.js JavaScript will not work if your intranet can only be accessed using a domain name that is not fully qualified, such as http://intranet.

Step 3: Create a Profile

The profile for an Analytics Account is the gateway to the website reports: it determines which data from your site appears in the reports. more info on accounts, users properties, and profiles

Step 4: Add Tracking Info

Copy the tracking code snippet to your clipboard.  Next go to your intranet's analytics: Administration: Third Party Analytics area and paste the code  into the text-box.  Click the save button and your tracking will begin immediately.

Step 5: Verify Your Tracking

Click the Reporting tab at the top of the page, then on the side navigation select the Real-Time Standard Report: Overview.  You should immediately begin seeing your site's usage metrics come through.  Only the Real-Time reports are live, all other reports will populate around midnight PST with the previous day's data.

Step 6: Track Custom Widgets

In the previous steps we implemented tracking on your entire site.  To track non-intranet or widget views you'll need to additionally add the same tracking code to those specific files.  While JavaScript isn't allowed in free text widgets, if you embed an iframe within that widget you can add the JavaScript to a custom page that is called within the iframe.

Notes

We haven't noticed any performance issues as a result of using Google Analytics.

Interact-Intranet: Content Administration Guide

Below is a brief guide to the permissions required for various levels of content administration in Interact-Intranet v5.  This is a work in progress so please comment or email me with any additions or changes that I can make to this guide.

	Author	Approved Author	Admin
Can add documents	Yes, but submission requires approval	Yes	Yes
Can edit other peoples documents	Yes, but submission requires approval	Yes	Yes
Can add calendar entries	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can delete and set other peoples documents to inactive	No	Yes	Yes
Can approve content submitted by others	No	Yes	Yes
Can add images to a gallery	No	No?	Yes
Can modify area homepage widgets	No	No	Yes
Can modify content area structure	No	No	Yes

When an author begins the process of creating a document the file immediately becomes locked to them and can only be submitted for approval by themselves - not even an admin. Often times authors change their mind after beginning the process and will abandon these files which leaves many orphaned documents in the system. These files can be identified by their orange status within the Manage Documents section.

$5 and 5 minutes: Help support the March of Dimes and celebrate, honor and remember babies who touched your life

Dear readers...

I am excited to share with you that I am participating in the Hunterdon County, March for Babies event on April 28, 2013 and all of you are welcome to come!

It's been over 8 years since I began working at the March of Dimes and learning about the consequences resulting from babies born too soon, and sadly how common it is.  The mission of the March of Dimes is extremely important to me because I've had so many friends impacted by premature birth.  I am supporting the cause by attending their event AND raising funds that will go toward advocacy efforts, cutting edge research, and programs and services to help give every child a healthy start.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the March of Dimes I'm significantly increasing my fundraising goal this year to $1,000 and I know I will reach it with your help!
You can make a donation at marchforbabies.org/geoffgarcia in less than 5 minutes!

Thank you for supporting something so important to me.
Geoff

Employee Engagement — Power your Bottom Line

The impact of a disengaged workforce can be staggering when it comes to productivity and profitability. In fact, new research shows that as many as 67% of your employees may be less than fully engaged — and the average company loses $2,246 per disengaged employee every year. Engaged employees are not only 57% more effective; they’re also 87% less likely to leave your company.

Copied from: http://www.adp.com/solutions/employer-services/solutions-for-multinationals/insights/mnc-insight-detail.aspx?id={CEE81AEF-450C-4651-A9BF-4D7982CC89D1}

Interact Intranet: Custom Location Directory

One of the most widely used applications on our intranet has been a custom developed location finder to help our employees find addresses of our 250 locations.  We recently migrated to Interact Intranet and developed a new custom location finder which queries against location and personnel information from within the database. 

The out of the box people directory can displays location information if you configure it, but it takes a few extra steps to get to the data. We plan to offer both the People Director and Location Directory to our users through homepage widgets and the Applications menu from our top navigation.




If you have a location finder on your intranet I'd love to know what features you've built into it, and any suggestions you might have so we can make ours even better thanks!




Screenshot 1: The dropdown contains a list of our chapters (aka States) and regional offices.  By selecting from the list the lower panel does an inline refresh to show the appropriate content.

 

Screenshot 2: Click on the "View Staff" link from the first screenshot displays a list of everyone that works in the office you selected.

Interact Intranet: Active Directory account synchronization

Synchronization of Active Directory accounts can be a bit tricky so hopefully this chart comes in handy for some customers.  This relates to version 5.1.5 and might not apply to future releases.

Domain Checkbox "Deactivate Non-Group Members?"	If you do this to an AD account...	This is what happens to your Interact account...
Unchecked	Disable	Deactivated
	Delete	Remains active
	Remove from sync group	Remains active
Checked	Disable	Remains active
	Delete	Deactivated
	Remove from sync group	Deactivated

NOTE: Interact cannot be configured to automatically delete users. If you want to delete a user from Interact you must do it manually through Site Admin.