The pain of browsing Livelink...

Robert_Davies_(unlondonadmin_-_(deleted))

Hi folks.This has come from a number of our users (and from us as well!)I don't know about anyone else but we're getting fed up with having to browse down three or four levels through Livelink when what you want is in the same project/folder you are looking at.We think that what is really needed here is a way of having the 'browse livelink' dialog start where you are currently, with a shortcut that sends you hurtling back up to the Enterprise workspace.Given my customization experiences so far I am really not eager to this myself. So can anyone from OTC confirm that this is likely to be included in 8.1?Assuming a negative response; Does anyone else agree that this would be a useful addition to Livelink? Does anyone want to collaborate on the customization?Best regards/matt.

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David_Forbes_(dforbes_-_(deleted))

Some users find the use of Favourites to be an effective way to bookmark commonly accessed areas of Livelink.Now, a bit of a commercial....:-)Among the many desktop application integration features, Formark AuthorLink also presents an integrated Livelink tree control coupled with the Livelink browser interface.This provides the user with the ability to easily navigate the Livelink hierarchy. More info can be found at http://www.formark.com/office.htmlDavid

Robert_Davies_(unlondonadmin_-_(deleted))

AFAIK the favourites are not presented as an option when you click the "Browse Livelink" button, for example when posting a discussion topic/reply.Part of the problem here is that I often find I am not wanting to browse for "favourite" type information. I just want something that is close at hand, but am forced to navigate back down the hierarchy. It get's pretty tedious.I'm hopeful OTC will add this in 8.1 (hint, hint) but if not, or if they aren't forthcoming about it then I will have to try and do it myself. I guess that there are others out there who would like the same enhancement and might be willing to help out if the going get's tough.Any takers?Best regards/matt.

Arlene_Elder_(GlaxoWellAdmin_(Delete)_1421884)

I did not understand the initial topic but not I see what you mean. Yes it a total pain in the ****, and also I have no idea what is in 8.1As far as customization, if this is not in 8.1 I would be interested in implementing this as well, so maybe some collaboration here would help. I guess we will have to see about 8.1 first though.

eLink User

I totally agree - the browse livelink dialog box is a pain.Our in-house training course doesn't really "teach" the users the whole structure of our system (only the basic outline). Having to navigate down the levels (on their own) then causes problems. Ok, perhaps this is a training issue and something we need to address, though it is still a pain. I am the TeamTalk Technical Admin and i don't know the whole of our structure. What chance do the users have??Surely, on an extremeley large system, people aren't going to know everything about the whole structure and are likely to waste time navigating up and down the levels.OT - i think this needs to be addressed in future releases (ie 8.1)SteveSun Valley Admin

Simone_Oettinger_(SOettinger_(Delete)_177592)

Open Text is looking into developing "personal portals" within Livelink. This is be something similar to "My Yahoo" pages, if your are familar with that. This would give each user THEIR view of the Livelink system, and certainly reduce browsing of the entire Livelink hierarchy. Simone

Robert_Davies_(unlondonadmin_-_(deleted))

Hi Simone.I'm all for making livelink easier to use, however without some idea of when this technology may actually arrive we're left unable to judge whether we should do the work now or wait.Given how hard customizing livelink is I really want to do it as little as possible.Is there any chance of OTC being more forthcoming?Would it really be so terrible to say yeah or nay about whether the feature we are discussing is going to be in 8.1?Best regards/matt.

Bill_Morton

Matt,The 8.1 release will not work exactly like you have suggested, but there is a change in that area. Livelink now remembers the last location whenever a user selects an item using the "Browse Livelink" button. The next time the same user goes to "Browse Livelink" the select item window opens to the last location. The location is reset each time the user exits their web browser.There have been other requests for a "Browse Livelink from here..." sort of feature, which we are considering implementing as a user-settable preference (i.e. set so that browse remembers last location, or starts at current location).-Bill

Robert_Davies_(unlondonadmin_-_(deleted))

Hi Bill.Thank you for the clarification, this is useful.From the description I am not sure if the feature will solve all our problems, but it does sound like an improvement.As with so many things like this I think I want it all ;-)Best regards/matt.

Jonathan_Morgan-Jones_(TMATelecomAdmin_(Delete)_14

Prior to acquiring Livelink, we saw this as a problem from the outset and it applies to any hierarchical system which only readily allows 1 to many relationships between the various data items.The solution I hope to implement is to allow many to many relationships between data items and folders, effectively turning the folders in 'categories', with their own independent hierarchy. In this environment, it is also possible to have a category belonging to many super-categories, further allowing the entire structure of the site to become very flat.The philosophy behind this is based not so much on how something is stored, but how it is retrieved. i.e. Any single document or other data item will often belong in many categories and how you look for those will be based on the category of interest at that time. For example: I may have a consultation document, produced by Oftel on the distribution of radio frequencies in the Mobile market. I would want to store that document (or in this case the URL) under Oftel, Mobile and Radio Frequency Distribution in the UK. (I could do this with aliases, but it's a pain). Someone looking for this information could well be looking for radio frequency distribution, rather than Oftel|Mobile|Radio, where it might otherwise have been stored. Simply, the more relevant places a data item can live in, the more likely you are to find it.How I hope to achieve this in Livelink, initially, is to bastardise the alias object, such that it no longer has any independent properties - it simply becomes a pointer to the original document and all it's properties, therefore are those associated with the original (i.e. Only the original can be deleted, taking with it, all it's associated aliases). I will then alter the Add dialogue box to allow the 'Create in' form item to be extended to a list. I will also add a dynamic navigation (possibly replacing the 'Go to...' box) to allow any category within the site (that you have permissions to) to be accessed from that point.If anyone would like to help me with this, I think I'm going to need all the help I can get.I hope the attached may make it a little clearer.

Marie_Lindsay_(MLindsay_(Delete)_15608)

One of my favorite features of the Livelink Explorer 8.1.0.5 is that it _does_ show me the items I've marked as Favorites. I sure wish that the "Browse Livelink" function worked the same way.