Traditionally an intranet was given a unique URL with some relation to the name of the intranet. eg http://staffnet or http://thehive. For many organizations this is as far as the complexity extends regarding the intranet URL. Often an organization contains more than one URL for its internal applications that make up the intranet. For larger organizations a unique domain for all intranet related applications is used. Read more »

In addition to iD serving as a site for staff on an internal network, it can also serve the same or different content as an internet accessible platform for external users. This is commonly known as an extranet. Read more »

Our latest release, iD 4.1, is now available for upgrade.  The new version includes a combination of exciting new functionality, and several major usability enhancements.

We wanted to let all of our valued clients know exactly what to expect from their upgrade, to ensure everyone is taking full advantage of all that’s on offer in the latest version of iD. We have prepared an iD 4.1 Upgrade Considerations document detailing how each of the changes will affect what you see and do every day with iD.

It is an invaluable resource for all clients making the move to iD 4.1. Click here to see it.

If you have any further questions, please contact support@intranetdashboard.com.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year from everyone here at iD.

We are very excited to announce our latest and greatest version  – iD 4.1 – is now available.

iD 4.1 boasts several new features and a host of functionality enhancements, making it easier than ever to build the intranet that works for your business. See iD 4.1 in action.

Highlights include:

NEW iD CMS Video Component

We have expanded the already impressive suite of included iD CMS components to include the all new Video Component.

The process of displaying a video within your intranet is now as simple as drag and drop. Upload, store and display video files directly within iD, without the need for any additional software. The Video Component includes 3 players as standard – HTML, Silverlight and Flash, and also supports embedding from external sources such as YouTube.

We’ve taken all the hassle out of displaying videos,  clearing the way for you to create your most interactive and engaging intranet yet.  See just how easy it is in this instructional video.

Push Notifications

Automatically alert users to important changes to business-critical content on your intranet, with iD’s all new Push Notifications. Keep users informed and up to date with evolving content, simplifying communication and improving compliance. Alerts can be distributed quickly and easily via email or RSS feed to all relevant users and/or user groups.

Ensure your users never miss a thing. Find out more.

Comments and Ratings – Usability Enhancements

iD’s existing social media features -  Comments and Ratings – have received a makeover in iD 4.1, scoring several major usability enhancements in line with industry best practice.

Like everyone else, we’ve found we’re not immune to the obvious charms of Facebook. So much so that iD’s new inbuilt rating system now reflects the social networking giant’s, offering intranet users the option to ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ content. Find Out More.

Comments can now be contributed to your intranet in a similar fashion to YouTube, ensuring users are familiar with the functionality even if they’re not yet familiar with your intranet. Find out more.

Unlike both Facebook and YouTube however, the functionality is flexible and allows administrators to turn these features on/off on a per subsite and per app basis.

Comments and Ratings Reporting

iD 4.1 includes comprehensive new admin reporting functionality for both Comments and Ratings. Get a better understanding of exactly how the functionality is being used, and make the most of invaluable user feedback.

Easily monitor your intranet’s effectiveness and use, for the combined purpose of  improvement and evaluation. Administrators can also moderate all comments and ratings, giving you better control over the manner, and to what extent the functionality is used.

To coincide with the release of our all new iD API, we have created a series of comprehensive help resources to help you get started building your very own custom iD Apps.

It has always been our policy to make it as easy as possible to get the most out of iD, and the new iD API proves no exception.

We have collated the mountains of information being passed between the enormous brains of our Development Team, condensed it, checked and rechecked it and have now officially made it available to you via the iD Help Site.

Visit the iD Help Site and take advantage of the wide range of resources including:

• Getting Started Guide: Explains the iD API basics including instructions for use, installation information, and system requirements.

• iD API Documentation: Navigate through the namespaces, classes, methods and properties that make up the iD Platform.

• Developer Forums: Currently only available to iD Clients – Ask questions, suggest features and be a part of the community.

Click on the lovely green button below to get your hands on all the info you need to start creating new add-on iD Apps & iD CMS components.

With the all new iD API, it’s easy to build the intranet that works for your business.

Let’s set the scene – we’re all in sunny Santorini, the pearl of the Aegean Sea…

Now you have returned from your undoubtedly fabulous day dream and/or the travel agent, we can resume.

So consider for a moment now that your servers are a lone donkey responsible for delivering precious cargo to your users every day, perched safely at the top of this gorgeous volcanic island. Before these dignified and hard working creatures can brave the steep cobble stone steps, you need to load them up with cargo and unwitting/uninsured tourists.

Ask yourself – would you load all your cargo in a single side bag, leaving the other empty and your precious Ass off balance? Or would you share the load evenly between both bags and ensure the safe and efficient delivery of goods?

The answer is simple – balance the load. (End metaphor)

Read more »

They say change is as good as a holiday – and while most of us would be inclined to vehemently disagree that swapping office chairs with Jim from Accounts or switching up your screen saver is quite as thrilling as a week in the Bahamas – the theory does have merit.

So if sponsoring a company trip to a swim up bar in the south of Mexico isn’t your idea of responsible allocation of budget for this fiscal year, why not inject a little daily change into everyone’s life via your intranet?

New and updated content can appear on your intranet from a range of sources at virtually any time. Without a formal way of notifying users, valuable new information risks going unnoticed – particularly relevant considering the advent of applications such as iD CMS and the new Front End Security model in iD3.

Using Notifications and the News application, you can now conveniently display a feed of modified content in the layout of a subsite, ensuring your intranet updates quite literally make headlines.

Read more »

Living in the age of the increasingly mobile workforce, secure external access is becoming an integral element in the success of any intranet. Employees need your intranet and the business-critical information it contains to move with them in order to do their job – wherever it might take them.

The main concern for organizations looking to set up external access to internal systems is security. Considering the sensitive and strictly internal nature of the information contained within your intranet, you need to be sure only valid users are accessing it.

If you have iD set up to be externally accessible over the internet, you can restrict access to the Admin interface to your specific internal IP Range. This adds an extra level of security, not to mention peace of mind, by preventing any ‘outsiders’ from accessing the Admin interface and trying to guess your password. This is especially useful when you know you’ve been a little less than creative when selecting one.

All you’ll need is access to the webserver, and someone with a basic knowledge of IIS. The steps below will be different if you’re using IIS6 or IIS7, but let’s start with 7…

Read more »

Is your People Search searching more than people?

One of Intranet DASHBOARD’s most popular and frequently-used applications is People Search – a virtual phone book for your organization. People Search can be used to quickly and easily locate the relevant contact details of any iD user within your Active Directory.

Active Directory however, includes an enormous amount of information – not all of it relevant to your particular search. It may for example, include contact details for all employees of an affiliate organization, or even “non-people” contact data, such as the details of a particular office or branch of your business.

If you want to ensure the only results returned are for people of the living, breathing kind, there is an easy way to prevent any “non-users” appearing in your search results. If you’re currently using ActiveDirectory security mode, you can do this using LDAP Restrictions.

Read more »

Murphy’s Law… Huài yùnqì…Mala Suerte – whoever you are, however you say it, bad luck spells bad news for your intranet and the broader business. The safety of such a valuable and business-critical resource should never be left to chance, or even worse – in the pessimistic hands of the mysterious Murphy, who ominously promises us ‘anything bad that can happen, will happen’.

This is exactly why it is so important, nay imperative, to ensure that a copy of the data stored on your intranet is readily available should your server(s) decide on an impromptu vacation. Not only is there the potential for your intranet to be offline for an extended period of time (which if you’ve played your cards right, should send your employees into a frenzy), there is also the chance you could lose all your data, not to mention the countless hours of hard work invested.

For those of us fortunate enough to have never experienced the gut-wrenching sensation brought on by the senseless loss of data you have neglected to backup, despite being regularly prompted to do so by your nay saying computer – lucky you. The majority of us who have would agree that in order to guarantee your future sanity, retention of hair and maintenance of happy working relationships – backing up data is a must.

There are a number of different ways you can keep backup copies of your intranet, with the two most popular and frequently implemented ones being:

• Remote server backups of your databases and web files

• Separate Disaster Recovery/Failover Server(s)

Server backups can be taken by following our basic ‘Backup and Restore Guide’. Server Administrators may also wish to automate their backups regularly with one of a number of various different tools available.

Disaster recovery is generally setup with a primary and secondary server. In the case the primary server fails, traffic is redirected through to the secondary (or failover) server, usually through the use of a load balancer. If setting up a disaster recovery server is something you’re interested in (rightly so!), the process can be a little complex so feel free to contact our Support Team for more information.

In addition to all of the above, a good ‘Disaster Plan’ should always outline the measures, steps and processes you have in place to either prevent disaster, or how to recover quickly from one should you have a brush with the (Murphy’s) Law.