KnowledgeTree gets a bit of silver lining with the new Tag Cloud plugin. A tag cloud basically serves as a visual representation of data or content on a website. The content or data is weighted and depicted in such a way so as to make it obvious what has a larger occurrence and what occurs less frequently. Still not making sense?…Whats that? An example? No problem

Let’s say you have a basket of fruit made up of:

-4 x apples
-2 x bananas
-10 x oranges
-1 x pear

If you put each type of fruit in their own container, it might end up looking a bit like this:

So without being a mathematical genius you would easily be able to tell at first glance which fruit you have more of, just by looking at the size of the containers. If you guessed oranges, give yourself a gold star….if you didn’t please join little Timmy in corner of the room…thanks

This is how a tag cloud work. Its takes data/content, puts them into ‘containers’ based on specific criteria and you get to see which containers are bigger and which are smaller.

How does it work in KnowledgeTree?

Inside of KnowledgeTree you now have a Tag Cloud dashlet.

You will notice how text elements vary in size. Each text element is actually a tag. These tags are attached to each document you add to the repository, and if you remember our example with the basket of fruit, you can think of these tags as our containers. As each document is assigned a descriptive tag, those documents with the same tag are dropped into their own ‘container’.

Here we see how tags are added.

What you see in the dashlet is a visual representation of this as some tags appear to be bigger than others, indicating that that tag was assigned to more documents than others. So bigger tags = more occurrences and smaller ones = less occurrences. Pretty simple eh?
Clicking on these tags will redirect you a results page displaying all of the documents that have been attached the relevant tag.

The results page.

Conclusion

To some it might seem to be useless fluff, but to others it’s a useful tool allowing you to get a birds-eye view of the kinds of documents being added to your repository. You either like it, or you don’t, but being able to view data in this way is both useful and easy on the eyes.

For all of you out there who have not been formally introduced to RSS or find it just a bit too intimidating of a buzz word to get your head around (like those magical cell phones thingys and TV remotes), drop your stone clubs, lift your knuckles off the cave floor and gather ’round

RDF Site Summary, the first incarnation of RSS was developed in 1999 by Ramanathan V. Guha. This was RSS version 0.91 and the basic concept behind it (as with every version after) was to allow for web syndication….the ability to make website content, or sections thereof available on other sites. These days the acronym has become a bit more obvious in its definition and is known as Really Simple Syndication. By harnessing the power of XML, websites can now provide web surfers and other sites the ability to view a snapshot of their content.

As users of this technology, we are given the ability to filter the vast information available on the web down to content relevant to our needs and also being able to monitor how, when and by whom this content was updated.

Now, if before that brief ‘blah-blah’ session any of you were scratching your head in the hopes of dislodging from your skull the answer to the question of why RSS would be useful for Knowledgetree, I bet you’re all going “Oh! Now I get it!”. So now that we are all savvy to the concept and of RSS, lets continue.

KnowledgeTree has gained RSS functionality in two ways.
First off the system takes on the role of a RSS provider. You can now subscribe to documents and folder via any RSS client (this is also known a RSS aggregator). Provided you have the required privileges to view the file or document, accessing it is as simple as plugging a link into your favourite RSS aggregator and entering your login details (by this, I am referring to your KnowledgeTree user login details).

The second major RSS feature added to KnowledgeTree is its ability to act as a RSS aggregator. What does this mean? It means that you can now monitor your favourite feeds from the convenience of your own dashboard (I know…it sounds like a late-night infomercial, but its true, promise.)

Ok, now if you are still not really getting it (sigh! What am I going to do with you) let’s take a quick stroll through the interface and see where the new RSS features have been added and how to make use of them.

The Dashboard

Here we have the RSS client dashlet. Pretty, isn’t she.

By default, we see the internal RSS view. This feed is directly linked to your document subscriptions. From this view you can monitor every document or folder you are subscribed to. You will notice also that there is a drop-down menu positioned in the top left-hand corner of the dashlet. This menu is used to select another external RSS feed you are subscribed to. This list of external RSS feeds is managed via the link directly to the left of the drop-down menu.

An external RSS feed.

Managing external RSS Feeds


As previously mentioned, you can manage your own personal list of external feeds via this window. If you missed it, this screen is accessed via the ‘Manage External RSS Feeds’ link found on the client dashlet (stay with me now).

KnowledgeTree RSS

The true potential of RSS is harnessed inside of the document explorer section of KnowledgeTree. When browsing through the repository, you will immediately notice the RSS link and logo inside of the action portlet on the left.

This action allows you to do two things. Firstly, by clicking on the ‘RSS’ text, you are redirected to a page which provides you with a brief explanation of how to use the RSS link.

You will notice that on this page you will find the URL you can use to subscribe the feed for the selected document/folder. This link can be used in any RSS client/aggregator. An explanation of the use of the RSS icon is also provided…which leads us back to the action in left portlet bar. Next to the RSS text link, you will find an RSS icon. Unlike the text link this icon takes you directly to the feed. This URL can also be copied and used in any external RSS aggregator.

KnowledgeTree RSS = Security

To make KnowledgeTree RSS secure, http authentication is utilized. What this means is that to access any feed on a document or folder, you need to have the required permissions to do so (as defined inside the KnowledgeTree DMS). Consequently, when subscribing to a feed you will be prompted to enter your username and password. These login details are identical to you KnowledgeTree login details.

Tips and Tricks

A useful tip is to take note of the link to the rss feeds for documents and folders. For a document, the URL ends with rss.php?docId=… and for a folder, this URL ends with rss.php?folderId=… There is a way to access the listing of documents you are subscribed to inside of KnowledgeTree. This is accomplished by using the URL without any parameters appended onto the end of it (just rss.php).