User Tips

Workspaces

  • Redliner is built on the concept of shared workspaces, where you invite specific members in to collaborate. Each workspace can include several documents related to one client, project or theme. All members of a shared workspace have access to every published document located within that space.
  • There is no limit to the number of workspaces you can create or how many members you can invite into a workspace, but each member must create his or her own Redliner account to access the space.
  • Any alteration made to a workspace impacts every member. For example, if a workspace member deletes a document, it is deleted for everyone. Likewise if a member hides a document, it disappears from view for every workspace member.
  • You can not retrieve documents that have been deleted from the workspace. However, the commercial release of Redliner will offer this feature.
  • If a workspace becomes overcrowded, you can hide certain documents and files from view. Just click on the “+” next to the document or file name, select “properties” and check the “hidden” box next to “Attributes.” (We recommend that you use this feature only on documents that are not being accessed regularly by members of the workspace.)
  • You can view “hidden” files by clicking on the “show hidden files” box in the upper right hand corner of a workspace.

Document Creation, Publication and Collaboration

  • The Redliner beta imports .doc, .xml, .rtf, .html and .txt files.
  • Text also can be copied from another source and pasted into Redliner documents.
  • The Redliner beta offers limited text formatting. Text formatting that is currently unsupported, such as bullets and numbering, is not preserved when documents are imported or text is pasted into a Redliner document. All standard text formatting will be supported and upon commercial release.
  • Until a document is published, “Save” stores a current version of the document that only the originator can open. The document appears in the “Documents and Files” window of the workspace, but is tagged as “not published.” Other members of the workspace can see the document link, but can’t enter the document. (“Save & Distribute” activates once a document is published.)
  • We recommend waiting until your draft is complete before publishing a document for the first time.
  • Once a document is published, every member of the workspace can open it and contribute edits and comments. From that point on, whenever workspace members hit “Save & Distribute” their changes become available immediately to all other workspace members (with the exception of private comments which are only available to the individual workspace member you’ve selected).
  • Whenever members of the workspace “publish” subsequent versions of a document, their current version becomes the new “clean” copy for everyone, and all edits and comments are moved into the history. Redliner alerts users if they attempt to publish a document that still has pending redlines for other members of the workspace.
  • The Redliner beta does not support leveled access to documents, allowing some workspace members to edit, some only to make comments, and some just to read the text. Leveled access will be included in the commercial release.
  • The Redliner beta has limited word processing features. A full set of standard word processing features including bullets, insert, and spell check, will be available in the commercial release.
  • A document must be “published” before it can be printed.

Redliner Dashboard and Auto Notifications

  • Every time workspace members “Save & Distribute” changes, automated notices appear in every other member’s dashboard, under “What needs my attention.” If workspace members do not have Redliner open, their first dashboard notification will trigger an email alert. (One email alert is sent per 24-hour period until members access their Redliner accounts.) Each time members access and exit Redliner, the email alert system is re-enabled.
  • The same document may be listed more than once in your “What I’m waiting on window.” This occurs when a clean version of a document has been published and edited by other members of the workspace before you’ve had a chance to address your redlines in the prior version. Each link to the document clearly displays the publication time and date so that it is easy to determine the order of events. You can enter the respective versions from your dashboard and address your pending redlines in each.
  • The “What I’m waiting on” window of your dashboard tracks comments for which you’ve requested a response. Comments that don’t require a response are not tracked.

Security, Hosting and Retention

  • Security features have not been implemented in the Redliner beta, but state-of-the-art SSL encryption, similar to the technology used by online banking and backup services, will be available in our commercial release. At that time, clients can choose to encrypt all data in their Redliner workspaces and have full control of the passwords required for access. Data will be encrypted at the client end and remain indecipherable during transfer and storage on our servers.
  • Data created with the Redliner beta is hosted on our servers. When Redliner is released commercially, clients will have the option of hosting data with on our secure servers or on their own appliance PC incorporated into their Local Area Network.
  • Documents and workspaces created with the Redliner beta will be saved for as long as the associated account is maintained. Our product roadmap also includes a “retention policy” feature. This will allow clients to set parameters for various retention policies and flag documents accordingly. Alerts will automatically be issued when deletion is appropriate, along with prompts to complete the action. Clients who choose to host their data locally will determine their own retention/deletion mechanisms.

Versions and History

  • You may access every published version of a Redliner document by opening the document and selecting a version from the drop down menu that appears to the right of the document name (in the upper left hand corner of the screen).
  • If you prefer a previous version, you can restore specific parts by copying and pasting them into the current version. Or if you’d like to restore the entire text of a previous version you can open it and “publish” it. This immediately makes it the new current version for the workspace.