Evan Person's blog

We've made getting files into KnowledgeTree very easy and there are so many options that there's something for everyone. Drag and drop straight into the browser is my favorite but I know some of our customers swear by our cross platform Explorer for quick navigation and sorting and others won't even hear of using anything other than KnowledgeTree for Office so they can upload content directly as it's saved in MS Word or Excel, whichever is their primary tool during the work day.

FolderSync - released in Beta last week provides another powerful way to work with KnowledgeTree content on your desktop. Simply select the KnowledgeTree folders that you want to work with on your local drive and FolderSync will ensure that you always have the latest version. Updates made by colleagues in your cloud vault will be synced to your local drive and changes made by you locally will be synced to the cloud so that everyone has the same version and stays "on the same page".

My high school Geography teacher (who had a particular bent for technology) used to tell us how computers and the advent of the information age were going to change the world.

His basic thesis, along with many of the leading futurists of the day was that the efficiencies created by computers, in particular the impact of the PC on productivity would literally change the way we live and work. While no-one can dispute that we are living through these changes, I don't think they have been quite what was envisaged.

Although at the time I was many years from the working world, I distinctly remember that the quantity of leisure time available was predicted to radically increase. There was talk of three day work weeks and long walks in the park with loved ones...not the connected world in which we are always reachable, always in contact and always feel compelled to instantly answer that one last mobile email while our families vie for our attention.

Well despite the fact that the new connected world has brought as many stresses as advantages, every once in a while something comes along that really does deliver on the promise of making life simpler rather than more complex and saving time to boot. KnowledgeTree for Outlooks is one of those things, and we're very excited about it!

The KnowledgeTree cloud service was updated today. While we are working on some really exciting new projects and pieces of functionality that will be released in the weeks ahead, this update includes some very useful (albeit less glamorous) improvements to the service.

LDAP
Making things easy is one of our passions here at KnowledgeTree so we are glad to have released a completely updated version of our LDAP implementation. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an application protocol for reading and editing directories over an IP network. Customers who want to use their own authentication sources such as Microsoft‘s Active Directory (AD) Server to authenticate their users may now do so. Not only is this new implementation simpler to configure and more robust, but is also facilitates user group syncing – changes in user groups on the AD side will be propagated into KnowledgeTree. For all those overworked system administrators out there this means that you don’t have to worry about keeping yet “another system” up to date. The user and group changes you make on your Active Directory server will be mirrored in KnowledgeTree.

We are pleased to announce the release of Version 1.0 of KnowledgeTree Explorer CP for KnowledgeTree SaaS customers.

For those of you who are not familiar with KnowledgeTree's cross-platform explorer, it's a desktop productivity tool that enables Mac, Linux and Windows users to browse KnowledgeTree and interact with their KnowledgeTree content through a familiar file and folder tree driven interface.

The Alpha and Beta versions of Explorer CP have proved very popular with KnowledgeTree users and version 1.0 comes with some great new features we know you have been waiting for!

The new features in this release include:

Updated January 20, 2010 (10:00 ET): Updated pricing and availability information
Updated December 16, 2010 (08:00 ET): Added tiering and deployment details

We are excited to announce the beta release of our new KnowledgeTree for Office toolbar! KnowledgeTree for Office enables you to interact with your KnowledgeTree content and collaborate with other KnowledgeTree users directly from within your Microsoft Office productivity apps.

Co-authoring documents from within Microsoft Office applications, Always have the latest version available
KnowledgeTree for Office also supports document co-authoring: be notified when new versions of documents are saved to KnowledgeTree, and optionally merge those changes into the document you are currently editing.

We are excited to announce that through a partnership with OneLogin, (an identity management and single sign-on provider for cloud apps) KnowledgeTree is now easier to access and more secure for corporate users than ever before.

If, like us, you are a bit of a cloud fanatic, you probably have at least a dozen cool cloud apps you like to use regularly. The problem is this usually means either a dozen user names and a dozen passwords, or the same lame (and worse) insecure password for all your applications.

While reuse of the same passwords is never a good idea, for KnowledgeTree users who usually access KnowledgeTree in the corporate context, password reuse could put corporate data at risk.

OneLogin has solved the problem of password proliferation by enabling system administrators to manage the login credentials of users who access corporate cloud applications. OneLogin has over 1,000 preconfigured cloud applications in it’s directory. As a system administrator, you simply choose the applications you want your organization to use, add the users who need to access them and invite them to OneLogin.

From a user perspective, once you have a OneLogin account, you can either access your cloud apps from your corporate OneLogin apps dashboard, or simply use the OneLogin browser extension to log in to your apps directly using your OneLogin credentials.

Sometimes it really helps to see a concept in action to really appreciate how it works. That’s why we just conducted a webinar with our partner, CAPSYS, to illustrate how to do end-to-end document capture using two cloud-based applications – KnowledgeTree and CAPSYS CAPTURE.

The webinar (recording available here) gives a great overview of both products, but more importantly, it shows how they work together to make common business processes more efficient.

In our example, the company Empire Technologies uses CAPSYS in the warehouse, where Luke scans in packing slips from shipments he receives. He’s able to capture the PO number and other fields to create metadata that gets passed to KnowledgeTree via Hot Folders.

Once the document lands in KnowledgeTree, it is automatically enrolled in a workflow that routes it to Lando in purchasing so it can be matched to the purchase order and sent to accounting.

In our second scenario, Leia in human resources has to scan a completed I-9 form and two supporting pieces of identification. After she scans the form, a passport and a California driver’s license for Chewbacca, the documents are scanned in secured folders that only HR can access. Further, a notification can be sent to the hiring manager that the paperwork is complete.

I used to love the way Captain Kirk would calmly say “Beam me up Scotty”, before he was transported back to the Starship Enterprise after defeating which ever evil alien nation was trying to unleash its chaos on the world - or at least on the Starship Enterprise and its crew that week.

There was something magical about seeing Kirk, thousands of miles away, being able to issue that short command to be transported to the exact spot he needed to reach to be safe and sound in the blink of an eye. Well, the good news is that you - or at least your documents - can now relive some of that Star Trek magic with KnowledgeTree’s latest release of HotFolders.

HotFolders is KnowledgeTree’s desktop tool for facilitating the uploading of documents to KnowledgeTree. When HotFolders is installed, it monitors a designated local or network folder and uploads documents which arrive in that folder to KnowledgeTree. HotFolders has always been incredibly useful for automating uploads, especially high volume uploads. The new version of HotFolders makes it easier than ever for you to get documents or folders into KnowledgeTree from your desktop on an ad hoc basis.

In Advanced mode, each document must be assigned an XML file which serves as the manifest where file name, upload location and other metadata can be specified. This “Advanced mode” for HotFolders is still available, but now it is easier than ever to use HotFolders for ad hoc file operations in Basic mode.

I read today that although the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4th, 1776 it was probably only signed on August 2nd (this is the subject of a lot of scholarly debate, but I digress). This little delay makes the timing of today's update of KnowledgeTree serendipitous - we can share this great date with a little Declaration of Independence of our own...

Through integration with the Zoho collaboration and productivity suite, KnowledgeTree users can now create, share and edit cloud content in a multitude of file formats online. Rather than creating documents locally and then uploading them for collaboration, documents can now be “born in the cloud”.

In addition to common Microsoft Office document (.doc) and spreadsheet (.xls) file formats, you can create and edit rich text (.rtf) and text (.txt) files. Prefer the OpenOffice file formats? No problem, these are supported too. As a KnowledgeTree user, you can declare your independence from desktop software by using the Zoho integration for your document collaboration needs.

In addition to enhanced collaboration functionality, this release of KnowledgeTree also sports a completely new Browse Documents view. We know that your highest priority is to access your content, but that your next priority is to work with your content as quickly and easily as possible. The new Browse documents view not only provides improved performance in an attractive and modernized interface, it lets you interact contextually with your content.

Now, you can download, check-in / check-out, email and set document alerts right from the browse document view (whereas before you had to drill down into the details page to perform document actions).

Thumbnails are displayed when you mouse over a document, and icons with tips on mouse over indicate document states (such as checked out or finalized). Multi-file and folder actions can still be performed on this page using the file or folder check boxes for selection. This is just the first phase of some major improvements in how these critical actions are presented in KnowledgeTree... watch this space.

No matter the date, you can declare your independence from the tyranny of managing your documents via email or shared drives. KnowledgeTree coupled with Zoho will put you on the road to liberation.

Last Friday (July 9) we released several great new features on our SaaS platform. This is the first update since KnowledgeTree’s fresh new interface was made available to users of our 30-day free trial. The focus of this update was on usability and we’re sure you’ll be as excited about some of the changes as we are!

New users will notice the “Getting Started” dialog that loads the first time you access KnowledgeTree and presents how-to videos. Not only will this help trial users get the most out of their trial, but it’s a great refresher for everyone else too. The Getting Started videos complement the comprehensive help and support provided through the Get Help link where you can find the answers to more in-depth questions, log issues and make suggestions for product enhancements — all through one easy to use interface.