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Introduction

Lotus Quickr is a team collaboration offering from IBM that provides ready-to-use capabilities that leverage Web 2.0 features. It provides services such as document library, blogs, and wikis that can be dynamically added to the places created by users. Places are team spaces, which assemble the required set of components, and can be defined with appropriate membership. The software lets you provide membership to predefined roles such as Manager, Editor, Contributor, and Reader.

Users can contribute content to Lotus Quickr places in different ways based on their purpose and role in the organization. If the objective is to share policy documents with employees, the content can be posted to a wiki. If the marketing department wants to publish the latest presentation templates and product or service brochures for effective distribution, they can do so in a document library. If the sales business unit wants to prepare a response to a request for proposal (RFP), they can collaborate and work on different versions of a document in a library. Knowledge can be effectively disseminated by a subject matter expert (SME) who can post relevant information to a blog.

Lotus Quickr provides multiple ways to contribute or access information as a part of team collaboration. The effective way can be chosen based on the tools that the user community uses daily. Lotus Quickr provides connectors that plug into desktop applications such as the Lotus Notes client, IBM Lotus Sametime® client, Microsoft® Windows® Explorer, and Microsoft Office® applications and enable easy access to content. Users can choose the suitable connector based on the desktop application they use most often in their routine work.

Administrators have few tasks to perform apart from monitoring the system resources and developing one-time tasks to back up and restore the Lotus Quickr content. The following sections describe a set of tasks to be performed for effective deployment of Lotus Quickr in an organization. The explanation is offered with the assumption that the requirements for team collaboration are well defined, for example, "what content" and "who has access to content." Nonfunctional requirements are outside the scope of this article.

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1. Install Lotus Quickr

Lotus Quickr ships with an installation program that guides you through the installation process, –whether you are installing a single server to get Lotus Quickr running quickly for a development environment or whether you need the high availability and capacity of a cluster for a production environment. You need to review planning considerations before you install Lotus Quickr so that you can determine the type of environment (development or production). The primary components required in a Lotus Quickr setup are Web server, Lotus Quickr server, database, and enterprise directory.

Lotus Quickr 8.1 provides many installation and configuration options on Linux and Windows operating systems. Lotus Quickr runs on WebSphere Application Server and uses IBM DB2 universal database to store content and configurations. Lotus Quickr supports a host of LDAP servers including IBM Tivoli® Directory Server, IBM Lotus Domino®, Novell eDirectory, Sun Java System Directory Server, Microsoft Windows Active Directory as user repositories. For more details on the supported hardware and software, refer to the Lotus Quickr system requirements.

Before starting the Lotus Quickr installation, you need to complete a few tasks to ensure that the host machine is ready for installation. The tasks can differ based on your choice of operating system. Some sample tasks are these:

• Verify operating system version details
• Check available disk space
• Check network setup
• Manage the length of the path environment variable
• Set the file descriptor limit
• Enable document conversion services

Lotus Quickr can be installed as a single component with its own integrated database (IBM DB2). The typical topology diagram is shown in figure 1.

For high-availability production environments, a clustered setup, running multiple instances of Lotus Quickr and WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment Manager, is recommended. A sample cluster topology is shown in figure 2.

Typical reference architecture, shown in figure 3, can leverage the clustering features of WebSphere Application Server.

The installation process for Lotus Quickr consists of the following high-level tasks:

1. Install Network Deployment Manager (required only if the configuration is clustered).
2. Install Lotus Quickr by selecting the installation type:
   
   • Departmental or express
   • Advanced single server
   • Advanced enterprise cluster
3. Provide file path and administrator user credentials.
4. Install External IBM HTTP server (IHS).
5. Install WebSphere Application Server plug-in.
6. Enable LDAP security if necessary.
7. Transfer database if necessary.

The departmental or express installation option is the easiest of the three options available because it puts all the components on the same server. This installation type uses a predefined user id for the database setup, which might conflict with organizational policies.

The advanced single server installation option also installs all components on the same server. In this option, you can provide a database user id of your choice. This option is recommended if you plan to install a stand-alone server, but would like to add this server to a cluster in the future.

The advanced enterprise cluster option provides ready-to-use clustering to speed deployment of Lotus Quickr clusters. When you are installing this option, you can select between a primary and a secondary node. Selecting the primary option installs a primary node and creates a cluster. Selecting the secondary option adds a secondary node to an existing cluster. The DB2 database installed with the primary node is automatically used by all other nodes in the cluster.

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2. Configure Lotus Quickr

The most important configuration tasks that need to be performed on a Lotus Quickr installation are configuring the database, configuring security, and configuring the Web server. Lotus Quickr includes a configuration tool that allows you to accomplish typical post-installation tasks using a wizard-based tool. The initial panel of the configuration wizard provides you with a list of configuration tasks, such as transfer data to a different database, connect an additional node to a database, enable LDAP security, and disable security. The configuration tool also allows you to launch the program in console mode to run the configuration without the graphical user interface.

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3. Create taxonomy

Users can see a login page at the Lotus Quickr URL (http://servername:portnumber/lotus/quickr); when they provide the credentials and successful authentication, they see a default page that includes links to all the Lotus Quickr places for which the users have access. The places are shown under different tabs based on permissions and frequency of access. Users can place frequently accessed places in My Favorites . All the places to which users have access are shown in My Places, and the places to which all users have Read permissions are listed under Public Places.

Places

A place is a top-level container for all the pages and components. Appropriate access permissions can be defined to a place according to predefined roles such as Manager, Editor, Contributor, and Reader. Options in the default page and in other pages depend on the level of permission the user is given. A place is created for a set of team members who work as a team or who need to share information related to a project. Multiple places could be defined for different teams, even for teams in the same unit. Just one place, on the other hand, could be defined for all members of the business unit, if the unit is not large enough to require separate places. The content to be shared and the number of members to have access to the content define the number of places to be created.

The places list for the logged-in user’s access control is displayed in figure 4.

Pages

A page is an entity that provides a label or tab at the top, inside a place, and that can host one or more components. A page cannot be created exclusively except by the administrator. Instead, the page is created automatically when a component is added to a place.

Figure 5 provides the view of a selected place, pages in the place, and the components of a place.

Components

A component is a reusable feature that can be selected from a palette and added to a page. Lotus Quickr provides nine ready-to-use components that can be easily included by clicking the Customize button on any page. These nine components are briefly described here:

• Blogs. A blog is a Web log, where an individual or a team can post all information relevant to a topic. It provides a simple mechanism to share information with wider audiences in an organization; it is ideal for knowledge dissemination. Each blog is typically maintained by an individual who has expertise in a specific area, and the blogger updates it regularly.
• Wikis. A wiki provides a collaborative authoring environment where a team can brainstorm about an idea, discuss a topic, or post useful information. Anyone in a team can create a wiki entry, and others can post their comments.
• Library. A library provides an effective document-sharing platform with such features as upload, download, use an approval workflow, and version the documents. Documents can be structured according to folders and categories and browsed in the form of views.
• Announcements. This component is used to broadcast announcements to the teams and individuals in the organization. A built-in rich-text editor allows you to include rich text such as images, hyperlinks, and formatting in each announcement detail. Figure 6 shows the Announcements view.
  
  
  
  Figure 6. Announcements view
  
  
  
• Contacts. This component lets you save contact information, for example, contact information for team members, in a centralized place for easy consumption by the team members.
• Project tasks. This component provides a quick glance of project tasks and the percent completion in terms of status. It is a good tool for projects with multiple tasks to be performed by various team members. You can use a graphical display of the status with color coding and alerts for situations in the which the due date has gone by to provide additional capabilities.
• Feed reader. This component displays feeds generated from within Lotus Quickr; the feeds can be from the library, wikis, or blogs.
• Discussion forums. This component allows a team to add various forums to a teamspace, add various topics to a forum, and add posts to a topic.
• Team calendar. This component keeps track of items such as meetings, events, and deadlines by creating calendar entries. Events can be created that span less than 24 hours, for a specific day, and for a reoccurring event. Milestones can be set for an event.

A user who has Manager-level permission for a place can add the appropriate components to a place. This user can decide what type of content would be required in that place and can add the appropriate components.

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4. Set up document library

The library component of Lotus Quickr needs a special mention because it provides various useful features for documents shared by a team. This component essentially lets you structure documents using various techniques such as folders, as shown in figure 7, categories, and views. Workflows can be defined to take the documents through a simple and linear approval process that is built into Lotus Quickr. Custom metadata definition and template creation are possible using property sheets and document templates. Custom document types can be defined to associate a workflow, define document templates, and chose versioning options.

Figure 8 shows the documents contained in a folder.

The following are the key elements of the library component, which can be leveraged for structuring documents.

Folders

A folder in document library is similar to the folder in the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is a container for documents for which access control can be defined. The folder structure can be viewed in the tree format as in Windows or in a table format with customizable columns. Following are a few considerations for maintaining the folder structure:

• Decide on the folder structure.
• Keep the folder structure to a maximum depth of not more than three levels; otherwise, the navigation becomes cumbersome.
• Provide access control to the folders.

Categories

A category provides another dimension for organizing the documents. When you upload the documents, you can associate each document with one or more categories. Documents in a library can be navigated according to folders or categories. Categories are helpful when all the documents having certain commonality have to be retrieved from multiple folders. Perform the following to associate categories with documents:

• Define the categories to be used in the library.
• Select appropriate categories when you upload documents into a library.
• Educate users about navigation using the categories.

Views

Views provide a method to retrieve all documents from a folder, from subfolders, or that satisfy a condition. The condition can be conveniently defined based on such attributes as Author, Date, or Document Type. Lotus Quickr supports ready-to-use and predefined views such as Submitted Drafts, Drafts for Approval, and Checked out by me. The views can also be personal (which means that they can be viewed only by the person who created them) or shared (which means that they can be viewed by others who have access to the library). Consider these tips for creating different views:

• Define the kind of views required in the library; identify the conditions in each case.
• Create views based on the above mentioned conditions.
• Keep the views to a minimum, and make the views personal wherever possible.

Property sheets

A property sheet provides a method by which custom metadata can be defined for a given document type. You can provide the values for the metadata while uploading the document of that type. The property sheet helps to provide more attribute values that are not provisioned by default and can be quite helpful in searching for content in Lotus Quickr.

Consider the following for defining propery sheets:

• Identify the metadata to be defined for a given document type.
• Consider the search criteria when you are defining metadata.
• Define the metadata through property sheets.

Document templates

A document template is used in the same way that you use a template in Microsoft Office. It is a starting point in document creation. The contents of the template appear as the contents of the document when you create the document.

Consider the following for document template creation:

• Document name extensions match the extensions of the template.
• No custom metadata is associated with the template.
• Custom metadata comes from the property sheet of the document type.

Workflows

A workflow, associated with a document type, defines the approval process required for an uploaded document before it gets published and becomes visible to authorized users. The approval process could be sequential or parallel. Multilevel workflow, which means that all users need to approve the content in the defined sequence, is also possible. Figure 9 displays the workflow definition in the document library.

Following are the steps you take to associate a workflow with a document type:

• Identify the levels of approval required.
• Identify the users and groups that can grant permission at each level.
• Associate the workflow with the appropriate document type.

Versioning

A document version is a copy of a specific instance of the document. When a document is created and versioned, it represents the original document. Every time a document is changed, the new version replaces the current document.

Following are the characteristics of document versioning:

• Using versioning, a copy of the document can be saved before the change occurs.
• A document can be restored to a previous version.
• Document versioning is enabled using document type definition.

Document type

Document type provides a mechanism by which a nonstandard document can be defined, a property sheet attached, a document template defined, versioning options chosen, and workflow associated. Document type makes binding all these parameters possible. When the document of a particular type is being uploaded, all the predefined parameters come into effect.

Consider thse tips when defining a document that as part of the document type definition:

• Identify the property sheet.
• Identify the document template.
• Decide on versioning options.
• Decide on the workflow.

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5. Connect to Lotus Quickr

Connectors provide an easy way to contribute and access content. They are plug-ins into commonly used desktop applications such as Microsift Windows, Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Sametime, and Microsoft Office.

• Microsoft Windows. With this connector, an additional entry is made available in Windows Explorer, similar to My Documents. Users can add places of interest, which are included like any other folder in Windows, with this entry. Users can then drag and drop documents into this folder. Appropriate icons are used to denote the various stages or modes of the document, such as check-out, locked, and draft.
• Lotus Sametime. This Lotus Quickr connector plugs into Lotus Sametime and provides document accessibility functions.
• Lotus Notes. This Lotus Quickr connector plugs into Lotus Notes and provides document accessibility functions.
• Microsoft Office This Lotus Quickr connector plugs into Microsoft Office applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, to provide the required document management functions from within the application.

The following tips can help you to use connectors appropriately:

• Decide which of these connectors is of interest in the organization.
• The connector download feature is available in the default Lotus Quickr installation; educate users about this download.
• Provide user training on using the appropriate connectors.

Figure 10 displays different connectors view.

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6. Define roles and provide access control

Lotus Quickr is typically configured with an enterprise directory (LDAP system), which hosts the users and groups information. These users and groups can be given access to various artifacts in Lotus Quickr, essentially places and library artifacts. The level of access is determined by the role to which the user or groups is associated. The predefined roles available in Lotus Quickr are Administrator, Manager, Contributor, Editor, and Reader:

A user or group can be assigned to any of these roles for a place, and the permission levels can be defined as shown in figures 11 and 12.

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7. Search content

Lotus Quickr provides powerful and efficient ready-to-use search capabilities. The content from blogs, wikis, and libraries is automatically indexed, and full-text search is made possible. The keyword search can be executed on different parameters such as document type, categories, user, and custom metadata defined through the property sheet. Figure 13 shows the Search Center window.

Consider these tips for search implementation:

• Verify search capabilities using different criteria.
• Educate users about the search possibilities.

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8. Understand administration

Lotus Quickr provides the Site Administration link for performing day-to-day administration tasks such as managing policies, content, users, and groups or accessing more advanced administration features. Each of the features listed above is available in a separate tab. As Lotus Quickr is built on IBM WebSphere Portal technology, you could use the Advanced Administration tab to access WebSphere Portal administration portlets.

Before you start administering your portal you need to ensure that you are able to access Lotus Quickr using a Web browser. You might also have to use the WebSphere Application Server console. Ensure that you have appropriate user identities with administrative privileges before performing administration using either WebSphere Application Server console or WebSphere Portal administration portlets. Some of the administration tasks require that you restart the Lotus Quickr server.

To start or stop the Lotus Quickr server, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt and change to the following directory:
   Linux: <WAS_profile_root>/bin
   Windows: <WAS_profile_root>\bin
2. Enter the following command to start the Lotus Quickr server:
   Linux: ./startServer.sh WebSphere_Portal
   Windows: startServer.bat WebSphere_Portal
3. Enter the following command to stop the Lotus Quickr server:
   Linux: ./stopServer.sh WebSphere_Portal -username <admin_username> -password <admin_password>
   Windows: stopServer.bat WebSphere_Portal -username <admin_username> -password <admin_password>

NOTE: To start or stop the Lotus Quickr server in a managed node, you can use the deployment manager’s administrative console.

The typical administration tasks for a Lotus Quickr administrator are these:

• Managing access, users, and groups
• Managing libraries
• Managing pages, layout, and content
• Linking to Lotus Quickr documents on remote servers
• Managing connector policies
• Setting the LTPA timeout for sessions
• Configuring portals
• Supporting languages

Because Lotus Quickr is built on IBM WebSphere Portal technology, you can use the administration tools provided with the portal such as the XML configuration interface and the portal scripting interface:

• The XML configuration interface provides a batch-processing interface for portal configuration updates, allowing you to import or export entire portal configurations or parts of a configuration.
• The portal scripting interface allows you to create scripts that portal administrators can use to perform administrative tasks from a command line.

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9. Backup, archive, and restore

Backup, archive, and restore functionality of a Lotus Quickr place allows administrators and application managers to back up a copy of a place, archive the place, and when required restore the archived place.

You can enable backup of a place by following these steps:

1. Log in to Lotus Quickr.
2. Open the place.
3. Select Customize - Properties - Edit Properties - Edit. For the property “Application Backup for Archiving and Restore,” select Enable and click OK.
4. Repeat this sequence for all the places that require backup.

To enable backup, archive, and restore functionality in a cluster, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
2. Select Resource - Resource environment providers - New.
3. Enter WP ApplicationInfrastructureXMLService as the name.
4. Save the changes.
5. Select WP ApplicationInfrastructureXMLService - Custom Properties - New.
6. Enter backup.root as the name, and enter E:\Backup as the value. E:\Backup is a shared drive, and this is the share for all nodes.
7. Save changes and restart deployment.

Backup, archive, and restore actions are available for places using the Manage Places option as shown in the figure 14:

• Click the Backup icon to create a copy of the application.
• Click the Archive icon to archive the application.
• Click the Restore icon to restore a backup or archived copy of the application.

To move the backup from one server to another server, follow these steps:

1. After the backup is created on server1, <portalserver>\backups is created.
2. Copy this backup from server1 to <portalserver>\backups on server2.
3. Restore the place on server2.

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10. Extend Lotus Quickr services

Lotus Quickr can be customized and extended using REST services, Web services, the Lotus Web Content Manager API, and theme customization. Components that can be extended in Lotus Quickr are the following:

• Document library customization using REST and Web services feeds
• Document menu customization
• Customized content that is displayed using feeds from other sources and personalization
• Look-and-feel changes using themes and skins customization

Modification and creation of new Lotus Web Content Management-based components. A new customized component added to the components list is shown in figure 15.

The customized News component added to a place is shown in figure 16.

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Conclusion

Lotus Quickr provides a simple but effective platform for team collaboration. The product provides ready-to-use Web 2.0 capabilities with rich UI features. Those features are demonstrated through components like blogs, wikis, and document libraries with comments and alerts features, which emphasize content contribution to the teamspace from users. The product is easy to set up, and the basic functionality required for collaboration in a team can be configured quickly. This readily available functionality can spur enough knowledge sharing and networking in the team to foster great collaboration momentum in the organization.

Resources

Learn

• Read the developerWorks® article, “Working with components in IBM Lotus Quickr, part 1: Creating a news component."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks article, “Build up your own search center using IBM Lotus Quickr content services."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks article, “Using REST services for IBM Lotus Quickr administration."
  
  
• Refer to the Lotus Quickr 8.1 Information Center.
  
  
• Refer to the Lotus Quickr wiki .
  
  

Get products and technologies

• Try Lotus Quickr .
  
  

Discuss

• Participate in the discussion forum.
  
  

About the authors

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• 1. Install Lotus Quickr
• 2. Configure Lotus Quickr
• 3. Create taxonomy
• 4. Set up document library
• 5. Connect to Lotus Quickr
• 6. Define roles and provide access control
• 7. Search content
• 8. Understand administration
• 9. Backup, archive, and restore
• 10. Extend Lotus Quickr services
• Conclusion
• Resources
• About the authors
• Comments

Next steps from IBM

• Try: Lotus Quickr
• Demo: Lotus Quickr
• Briefing: Smarter collaboration with IBM Lotus solutions
• Buy: Lotus Quickr

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