find, share, use
Cloud intranet
Product description Copyright © 2016 Company Net Ltd Contents
Homepage and layout Homepage widgets Administration Homepage ...... 3 Most popular ...... 18 Automatic log-in ...... 29 Master pages ...... 4 Tasks and tools ...... 19 Security groups ...... 30 Navigation Search Mobile and tablet Global navigation ...... 5 Content search ...... 20 Responsive design ...... 31 Local navigation ...... 6 People search ...... 21 Breadcrumb navigation ...... 7 Staff profiles ...... 22 Search panel ...... 23 News Quick find ...... 24 News centre ...... 8 Authorship tags ...... 25 Highlight news panel ...... 9 Internal news ...... 10 Sites Breaking news ticker ...... 11 Sites and subsites ...... 26 Content and publishing Social features Pages ...... 12 Yammer integration ...... 27 Page editor ...... 13 Comments and ratings ...... 28 Pages library ...... 14 Document library ...... 15 Blogs ...... 16 Noticeboard ...... 17 Homepage and layout 3
Homepage
What it is The homepage is the heart of your intranet. It draws information from throughout the intranet, with a variety of homepage widgets available. The homepage comes with a selection of personalisation options, which can be turned on or off by administrators. This layout personalisation is stored either in a cookie or against their Active Directory profile.
Why we developed it The homepage is your users’ way into the knowledge and content held on your intranet. One style of Kira homepage If the homepage is unattractive, unintuitive or too dense with content, users will soon stop using the intranet as a whole. Kira works to ensure the homepage of your is a dynamic, fresh and relevant starting point for users, whether they arrive seeking information or are just browsing.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Homepage and layout 4
Master pages
What it is Master pages define the look and feel of your website, providing an overall layout, and generating the branding, header and footer elements. Layouts can be selected based on the profile of the user currently browsing the site. This allows different business areas, geographical locations or internal brands to enjoy a different look and feel, while using the same underlying intranet and content.
Why we developed it By using a set of master pages, the design of your site can be quickly altered or even changed completely. Master pages also allow the user experience to be personalised based on the user’s needs and situation. A typical page layout based on a master page
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Navigation 5
Global navigation
What it is The global navigation bar offers direct routes into the content of your intranet. This top-level menu is fixed and will always appear the same for every user. Typically this menu includes links to the homepage, News Centre, Employee Directory and Quick Find. We can work with you to develop an information architecture based on your users’ needs, from which additional top-level menu items can be drawn.
Why we developed it The global navigation provides a consistent and familiar entry point to the most important information on your intranet. Some examples of top-level navigation
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Navigation 6
Local navigation
What it is A second level of navigation is provided by the area the user is currently browsing. This lets users access related content with just a few clicks. In the example pictured, the user is browsing the “Customer Hub” site. The local navigation provides links to its parent site (Departments) as well as other sites at the same level (Customer Relations, UK Finance) and child pages of Customer Hub (Contact Us, Meet the Team). This navigation therefore remains static within each site. This provides a constant reference point for users, as well as clear signposting to other related and relevant parts of the site.
Why we developed it Local navigation means users can explore a particular area of the intranet, such as a departmental site, without getting lost. It provides a consistent set of links that also help the user identify where they are in the site structure.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Navigation 7
Breadcrumb navigation
What it is Breadcrumb navigation provides a very clear picture of where the user is currently located within the intranet. Each level is also a link that can be clicked to take the user back up the hierarchy.
Why we developed it As with local navigation, the breadcrumb navigation feature helps prevent users from getting lost, and shows them their current location in the site hierarchy.
Examples of breadcrumb navigation
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] News 8
News centre
What it is The News Centre is a dedicated section which brings together news from across the organisation in one place.
Why we developed it We know that one of the biggest advantages a good intranet offers is the ability to share news across the whole organisation. On the back of research with many of our customers, we developed our News Centre to go a step beyond that, tailoring news to be totally relevant to the user.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] News 9
Highlight news panel
What it is The highlight news panel is a homepage widget which brings key news items and their associated images to the attention of users. The widget is very flexible, and can be presented as a static panel or as a dynamic carousel of items.
Why we developed it The highlight news panel was developed to reflect the fact that some news articles are more important than others. By promoting certain news stories in a very visually attractive way, users are more likely to read and act on them.
Static (left) and dynamic highlight news panels
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] News 10
Internal news
The internal news widget provides a highly- What it is configurable way of displaying news items An unlimited number of additional news items beyond the Highlight News Panel. can be added to the homepage as required In the real world, most businesses will want using internal news item widgets. to display more than just the most important Every news article has a ‘priority’ setting in news items. its metadata. This lets content creators set The internal news widget lets you give visibility the importance of a news item, and controls to additional news items that might otherwise whether the item appears in the highlight news go under the radar. panel, or further down. Multiple styles of internal news items can be created, allowing them to be grouped by priority. As with the majority of content on your Kira- based intranet, news items can be filtered based on the user’s identity, business area and physical location. This ensures that, for example, a marketer in Edinburgh does not receive news that is only relevant to IT staff in London.
Why we developed it
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] News 11
Breaking news ticker
What it is The breaking news ticker appears above the Highlight News Panel. It relays important recent news in a very visual and attention-grabbing way.
Why we developed it Our customers requested a way to use the intranet to convey important breaking information, such as travel problems or adverse weather conditions. The breaking news ticker enables administrators to issue an alert that will catch every user’s attention.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 12
Pages
This ensures a consistent user interface and What it is user experience, whether you are editing a Most content on your intranet is stored in page on a subsite, a news item or a blog post. pages. Pages can contain content including That means a smaller training requirement text, images, links and embedded media. and a far smoother content creation process, As well as the content, each page will also significantly reducing traditional barriers to display: content creation. • who created the page, and when (with a link to the author’s profile, and – if Skype for Business is integrated – employee presence information) • who last updated the page, and when (with a link as above) • tags such as business area, department and location, plus any additional metadata tags specified by the author • optionally, the opportunity to rate and comment on the page
Why we developed it We developed Kira intranet to use Pages at its primary form of content.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 13
Page editor
When a user edits a page, it becomes ‘checked What it is out’ to that user, which ensures others can’t Kira provides a built-in page editor for creating make changes to that page until the user is and editing content. This features the familiar finished editing. Office Ribbon, and is totally intuitive to use for The user can then publish the changes by anyone familiar with using packages like Word. checking the document back in. This process When creating a new page, or editing an can be automatically interrupted by a existing one, the page editor lets content workflow if the document requires the consent creators add: of an approver before publication. • a title • rich page body content Why we developed it • a main image Great content is the at the heart of every • a short page abstract used to promote intranet. We wanted to reduce the barriers to the page elsewhere on the site - if none is entry for creating and editing content. provided, the opening lines of the body We worked in collaboration with a large text will be used instead number of business, communications and • the scope of the page (e.g. normal page, IT professionals across a range of sectors to Page editor news article, corporate announcement) develop the page editor. • what department and geographic location The result is something so easy that anyone the page relates to who can write an email can create a page on • tags to help users find the page the intranet.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 14
Pages library
What it is The pages library lets you see all the pages on a site, and manage them in bulk. It displays information about every page, including when the page was last modified, and by whom; who the page is currently checked out to, its owner and its average rating.
Why we developed it The master overview provided by the Pages Library gives authorised users oversight of every page within a site. This is very useful for keeping an eye on the site content as it grows, managing more than one page at a time, and ensuring everything is up-to-date.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 15
Document library
What it is Each site has its own Document Library. The Document Library is a place to which content editors can directly upload files of any type. These files can then be linked to from pages to provide handy downloads. Files added to the Document Library are also automatically indexed and will appear in search results.
Why we developed it The document library provides a centralised location for every ‘attachment’ on a site, allowing administrators and users to get an overview of exsisting documents and preventing multiple versions.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 16
Blogs
What it is Blog pages allow specific users (selected by administrators) to have their own blogs. Rather than using SharePoint’s built-in blogs feature, which we found to be lacking in some areas, we developed this more advanced content type specially for Kira. A blog widget can be placed on the homepage which draws the latest posts from your organisation’s blogs into one place. Each blog then has its own section of the intranet and is presented with the newest posts at the top.
Why we developed it The built-in blog feature in SharePoint did not offer our customers a good user experience. We created our own blog solution to fit better into the intranet and to provide a consistent content creation experience across the site. Homepage blog widget (left) and a typical blog (right)
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Content and publishing 17
Noticeboard
What it is The Noticeboard appears on the homepage. This feature allows users to post personal ‘classified’ notices for the attention of their colleagues. This could include items for sale, notices of social outings and charity events. Clicking a noticeboard item opens up a page about that item with a full description. Users can add and remove their own notices, or set an expiry date so the notices remove themselves once no longer relevant. The noticeboard categories can be fully tailored to meet the needs of your business.
Why we developed it The noticeboard helps foster a sense of community on the intranet homepage, keeping users coming back. It also provides an incentive for users to learn basic content creation and editing concepts, opening the door to them creating more substantial and useful content.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Homepage widgets 18
Most popular
What it is The Most Popular widget provides links to the most popular pages on your intranet. It bases the popularity ranking on number of page views. The number of popular links to display is configurable. Most Popular can be used on the homepage, on sites, and on subsites.
Why we developed it Using page metrics gathered automatically by the intranet, this widget can significantly shorten user journeys to the most popular content on your site, ensuring users can get the information they need even more quickly.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Homepage widgets 19
Tasks and tools
What it is The Tasks and Tools panel appears on the homepage, and provides quick links to external systems with a grid of graphical icons. It is automatically tailored to the user’s business area and geographical location, so (for example) users working in different countries would be linked to their respective country-specific HR systems. Tasks and Tools items are also indexed and therefore will appear in search results.
Why we developed it Tasks and Tools provides a seamless link between your intranet and external systems, meaning users do not have to remember or bookmark multiple systems. It thereby ensures the intranet becomes the first port of call for users, regardless of what information they need to find.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 20
Content search
Search includes a ‘rollover preview’ – a What it is small preview of the linked document or Kira is underpinned by a very powerful page when a user moves their mouse over a enterprise search system. result. Virtually all the content on your intranet is This allows people to quickly assess whether indexed, including sites and subsites, pages, a search result is relevant to them. news items, Tasks and Tools links, document libraries and events. Why we developed it Search results are rich and relevant, Our customers have told us that search is ensuring users find the right information, the most important part of the intranet to first time, every time. get right. On this basis, we developed search Search results can be filtered by facets to be extremely smart, providing rich and including business area, originating relevant results every time. department, author, document type, specific In fact, search powers many of the other tags, geographic location, and date of last features of the intranet, including the modification (as a range). These filters are majority of the homepage features, and the provided to the side of the search results. News Centre. If a particular document or page is deemed relevant to a particular search term, it can also be manually promoted, ensuring it comes top of the results every time a user searches for that term.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 21
People search
activity feed. What it is Clicking a person in people search People search allows users to search results will take you to their full staff for people across the organisation. It profile. provides an experience consistent with Content Search. If your intranet has Skype for Business integration, it will also show a user Full integration with Active Directory presence indicator by their photo to means the search results are kept up- show whether they are available, and to-date with any changes made across will display a Skype communication the system. box when hovered over. People search not only allows you People results can be filtered to find people by name, but also by by a number of facets, including department, job title, projects, skills or department, skills, projects, and interests. location. Results immediately display the person’s name, phone number, photo Why we developed it and email address. Finding people is a core feature of any Rolling the mouse over a search result intranet. We have made the experience will display further information about of finding people as rich as possible, the person, including skills, projects while maintaining a clear and intuitive and interests. It also provides a link layout. to follow that person in your social
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 22
Staff profiles
Integration with Skype for Business means What it is a person’s presence status, as well links to Staff profiles display a full page of information initiate communication, can be provided on about people in your business. staff profile pages. They are typically accessed either through Where staff profiles are shared between Kira clicking a result following a people search, or and other SharePoint-based systems, Kira by clicking a person’s name elsewhere – such can detect whether the user arrived from the as where they are the author of a page, or intranet or from another system. where they have posted a comment. It will then theme the profile accordingly – The staff profile includes: either with an ‘intranet’ view or a ‘classic • Role details: job title, department, area of SharePoint’ view. business, office location • Contact details: phone number, mobile Why we developed it number, email address, line manager Staff profiles are an essential part of every • Personal details: skills, past projects, intranet, immediately providing useful contact interests information, as well as data that lets users assess whether they are the right person to Staff profiles also feature our dynamic contact. organisation chart, which lets you browse people in a highly-visual way, seeing where they sit in the organisation chart. This helps reveal connections and may help provide alternative contacts if needed.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 23
Search panel
What it is The search panel appears on every page of the intranet, and provides a consistent way to instantly initiate a new search. The search panel allows users to search for content or people by default, but these selectors can be optionally changed or added to if needed (such as team search or news search). Why we developed it Since search is so integral to any intranet experience, we wanted to make sure it was immediately accessible from every part of the site. Typically the search panel appears at the top right of every page, which user experience testing shows is the natural place people look to begin a search.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 24
Quick find
What it is Quick Find is a feature built into the main navigation. It provides quick links that go straight into pre-filtered searches. For example, a ‘Policies’ Quick Find link would take the user to the search results for all policies.
Why we developed it Quick Find takes advantage of Kira’s powerful search capabilities to provide short routes directly to the most useful or searched-for content on your intranet. This makes the search journey even shorter and enables your staff to access the content they need more quickly.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Search 25
Authorship tags
What it is Authorship tags provide a link wherever an author’s name is mentioned. The link goes to the user’s profile. Where the intranet has been integrated with Skype for Business, the authorship link also has a presence indicator (showing the user’s live status), and will also pop up a Skype communication box when hovered over. Why we developed it The tags allow users to find out more about the author of a document, get in touch with them, Authorship tag appearing on a page, with a Skype for Business communication box and follow them in their social activity feed. This promotes communication within the organisation, and gives users a quick way of contacting the author of a page, document or news item.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Sites 26
Sites and subsites
What it is Sites and subsites underpin the structure of your Kira intranet. They provide spaces for groups, projects, departments and teams to create content in their own area of the intranet. Administrators can restrict the editing powers of content creators to a particular site or subsite.
Why we developed it Sites and subsites are important in creating a structure to the intranet. Further, giving each department its own area to cultivate adds to the sense of ownership of the intranet and means each area is created and developed by subject matter experts.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Social features 27
Yammer integration
What it is Your intranet can be integrated with Microsoft’s Yammer corporate social networking service. This provides a window into conversations taking place among your colleagues, available directly from your intranet. Optionally, a specific Yammer group will be shown based on which part of the intranet you are in.
Why we developed it Yammer integration incorporates social media- style status updates and discussions into your intranet. It creates a space where colleagues can share information with each other in a way that is captured for the future, while also creating a community around your intranet.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Social features 28
Comments and ratings
What it is Comments and ratings allow users to interact with pages, by providing a rating out of 5 stars, or adding a comment. After rating a page, the user’s rating is added to other users’ ratings, and an average rating displayed.
Why we developed it Ratings allow intranet administrators to monitor how popular content is, and whether there are any problematic pages. They also provide a way for users to interact with the content and voice their opinion quickly. Comments add to this by allowing users to discuss content with their colleagues, and share additional knowledge directly on the page.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Administration 29
Automatic log-in (Single sign-on)
What it is Single sign-on allows authorised users to use the intranet without having to sign on a second time. Their access to the intranet is transparent, with no log-in prompt. Single sign-on is available where users have already logged on to the corporate network via Active Directory, either by accessing the intranet via a corporate desktop or laptop PC, or by connecting over the corporate Virtual Private Network (VPN). In Kira Cloud, this feature depends on certain ADFS features being enabled and configured within your existing IT infrastructure.
Why we developed it If a user is already logged on to a computer via the secure Active Directory log-in process, single sign-on removes a barrier to intranet access by not requiring a second set of credentials.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Administration 30
Security groups
Why we developed it What it is Security groups are essential to the good Security groups govern access rights to view, governance of intranet content. create, edit and approve content on the intranet. They can be used to ensure particular areas of the intranet can only be edited – or even Typically, users would be divided into four viewed – by specific groups or individuals; they groups: can also be leveraged to ensure that a content • Visitors approval workflow is followed. • Content authors • Content approvers • Administrators Other groups can be defined and group permissions altered by administrators as necessary. We’ve made adding a user to a group very easy; an administrator simply selects a group and starts typing the user’s name, which automatically brings up any matching users to be added.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected] Mobile and tablet 31
Responsive design
What it is Kira-based intranets are always built with mobile in mind. The intranet is designed to be fully-responsive, meaning it will adapt to best fit the user’s screen size and format. As well as reflowing layouts, this means the functionality of certain elements is altered to suit the device. For example, buttons that perform an action when a desktop user rolls over them with the mouse are altered so no rollover is required. This accommodates the fact that touchscreen devices such as mobile phones do not have a mouse cursor with which to roll over.
Why we developed it Mobile and tablet devices have become ubiquitous, and there is a clear expectation that your intranet should work on them. Every Kira intranet meets modern web standards, ensuring a smooth and consistent user experience, regardless of the user’s device.
http://company-net.com/kira/ +44 (0)131 559 7514 [email protected]