GCdocs16: Quick Reference Guide for the Smart View Interface
Launching GCdocs
GCdocs is comprised of two user interfaces. The Classic View and the Smart View. By default, you may be presented with the Classic View user interface.
- To open the GCdocs sign-in page, type the web address or URL provided by your organization in the address bar of your web browser and press Enter.
- If prompted, enter your username and password and select Sign In
To navigate from the Classic View to the Smart View interface, select My Account and then Smart View.
Once in the Smart View, click Home to view the Landing page.
The Smart View interface
Navigating GCdocs Smart View
The landing page provides quick access to several areas used to navigate GCdocs.
Landing page
Tiles provide access to various areas and actions, including the Enterprise workspace, your Personal workspace, your Favorites page, your Recently Accessed documents, a Search function and your My Assignments page.
Icon definitions
Icon definitions
| Name |
Icon |
Definition |
| Help |
 |
provides access to the Open Text online help |
| Search |
 |
displays the search bar and allows you to perform a simple search |
| Favorites |
 |
allows you to view your list of favourite items from anywhere in the Smart View |
| Profile menu |
 |
provides access to your personal profile and allows you to switch to the Classic View or to sign out |
| Hints and Tips |
 |
provides access to helpful hints and tips on using GCdocs |
| Advanced Search |
 |
provides access to the advanced search feature |
| Home |
 |
brings you back to the Landing page from anywhere in the Smart View |
| Filter |
 |
in the Enterprise or Personal workspace, allows you to find content using filters, such as the application type, size or document owner |
| Add Item |
 |
allows you to add items, such as folders, documents, etc. |
| Show description |
 |
click to view the description field of an item |
| Comment |
 |
click to comment on an item or to view comments |
Add/Remove
Favorite |
 |
click to add or remove an item as a favourite |
Inline Action Bar
Provides basic actions for manipulating items, such as documents. Quick links to Properties, Rename, Edit, Share and more actions commonly used are easily accessible.
Inline Action Bar
| Name |
Icon |
Definition |
| Properties |
 |
displays Description, Created, Created by, Modified, Owned by, Type |
| Rename |
 |
allows you to edit the name of an item |
| Edit |
 |
allows you to edit a document and create a new version |
| Share |
 |
allows you to send a link to an item by email |
| More actions |
 |
provides access to other basic actions such as download, reserve, add version, etc. |
| Download |
 |
allows you to download a document and save it outside of GCdocs |
| Reserve |
 |
allows you to reserve an item and remove editing rights |
| Copy |
 |
allows you to copy an item to another location |
| Move |
 |
allows you to move an item to another location |
| Delete |
 |
allows you to delete an item from GCdocs |
The actions available for items are context sensitive. Depending on the type of item and your level of permissions for it, the Inline Action Bar or the More Actions menu may display many or a limited number of actions that can be performed. The same is true when using the Multi-select box, selecting one item versus many items will modify your Action Bar menu.
You can also perform basic actions using the Action Bar by selecting the item's check box.
Items and documents
Viewing item properties
To view an item's metadata, select the Properties icon from the Inline Action Bar.
The General section under Properties includes basic information (metadata) such as date created, created by, modified, owned by, type and size.
The Description field is also displayed on this page. You can navigate the Properties menu to view Versions (that is, all the versions of a document), Activity, Holds, etc.
Accessing and editing documents
To access content, you can browse the Enterprise or Personal workspaces, navigate using the Favorites or Recently Accessed tiles or perform a search. You can also refine the list of items displayed in a folder by using filters. Once you find the document you are looking for, you can open the document with read-only access, download it or edit it.
Read-only access or downloading a document
To open a document with read-only access, click on the document name. This will launch a pop-up with options to either open the document or download and save the document outside of GCdocs.
Editing a document
To edit a document, hover over the line item and click Edit from the Inline Action Bar. This will open the document in its native application and allow you to make changes and save a new version.
Note: A user must have Modify and Reserve permissions to be able to modify a document. Otherwise, the edit option will not be available in the Inline Action Bar.
Adding existing documents
Navigate to the folder where the documents will be added and select Add Item and then Document.
Browse to locate the documents you want to import to GCdocs, select them and then click Open.
Note: A pop-up banner will appear to indicate documents were successfully uploaded.
Adding folders
Navigate to the location where the folder will be created and select Add Item and then Folder.
Name your folder and select Add.
Note: The Add Item function lets you create other items such as shortcuts, web address links and wiki pages.
Adding existing documents using the Drag and Drop Method
Using your web browser, navigate to the folder where the documents will be added.
- Minimize the GCdocs web browser window or make it smaller, and then, using Windows Explorer, navigate to the location where the documents are located.
- Select the document(s) and drag them into the browse area of a folder in GCdocs.
Renaming an item
To rename an item, such as a document, hover over the line item and click Rename from the Inline Action Bar.
Rename your item and press enter. Pressing Esc or clicking on Cancel Edit icon will cancel your renaming action.
Sharing an item
To share a link to an item by email, such as a link to a document, hover over the line item and click Share from the Inline Action Bar. Your default email application (for example, Outlook) will launch with a new email that contains a link to the item in the body of the email.
Reserving a document
The Reserve action allows you to lock a document. This prevents others from modifying it.
- From the More actions menu of the document's Inline Action Bar, select Reserve.
- Your document is now reserved and is identified with the reserved icon.
- To unreserve your document, from the More actions menu, select Unreserve.
If you hover your mouse over the reserved icon, a bubble will indicate who has the document reserved. Clicking on this same icon will unreserve the document (if you have it reserved).
Did you know? The Add Item function lets you create other items such as shortcuts, web address links and wiki pages.
Working in Favorites
Accessing your "Favorites"
The Landing page includes a "Favorites" tile to allow you to quickly access documents, folders or other items that you added as a favourite.
Clicking on "Favorites" takes you to your expanded Favorites page. From this view, you have access to your favourite items and the Inline Action Bar.
You can also click on the arrows to expand or close the tile.
You can search your Favorites by clicking on the Search icon or select multiple items to share them.
You can access your Favorites on the top right corner from anywhere in Smart View.
Adding items as "Favorites"
To add an item to your Favorites list, click on the white star to Add Favorite. You can rename your Favorite if you choose. This will not rename the item. Select Add. Your star has now turned black. The item will now appear in your Favorites list, which can be accessed from the Landing page.
Searching
To perform a simple search, you have two options:
- Click Search on the top right of your screen. Type your search terms in the Search bar and press Enter (or click "Start search").
- Use the Search tile from the Landing page. This option provides other fields to help refine your search.
Note: For a "Documents" search, the Search bar (option 1 above) will search in the document's name and content. The Search tile (option 2 above) will only search in the document's Name field.
On the Landing page, you can click on the Advanced Search icon to access more advanced search options. Note that this will switch you over to the Classic View interface.
Interpreting Search Results
Once you have performed your search, you will see the Search Results page. Note that only the items that you have the permission to see will appear in your search results.
Features in the search results page include:
- Relevance
- keyword searches will locate the key word in both the document's name and content and sort by relevance by default.
- Sort by menu
- allows you to sort your search by creation date, category, date, size, etc.
- Inline Action Bar
- allows you to perform actions, such as Edit, Share, Download, Reserve, etc.
- Filter menu
- allows you to apply filters to your search results
Recently Accessed
The Recently Accessed tile allows you to see documents that you have recently viewed or modified.
Clicking on "Recently Accessed" takes you to your expanded Recently Accessed page. From this view, you have access to the Inline Action Bar for each document.
You can also click on the arrows to expand or close the tile.
Note: You can search your Recently Accessed documents by clicking on the Search icon or select multiple documents to share them.
Permissions
Managing permissions
The Permissions Manager action lets you view user permissions granted on an item. If you have been granted authorization, you may be able to modify permissions of an item.
Viewing permissions
Expand the More actions menu from the item's Inline Action Bar and select Permissions Manager.
The Permissions Manager page will open. You can view the current permissions for an item.
You can modify the permissions by selecting Edit Permissions. Make modifications to the users or groups and select Update to save your changes.
If you do not see "Edit Permissions", it is because you do not have the rights to modify the permissions for the item.
Granting access to a user or group
- To grant access to a user or group, in the Assigned Access frame, select the Grant Access icon.
- Find the user or group.
- Assign the appropriate permissions and select Update. The permissions have now been updated.
Navigating between the Smart View and Classic View interfaces
Smart View to Classic View
To navigate from the Smart View to the Classic View, select your Profile menu and Classic View. This will bring you directly to the Classic View from the page you were on in the Smart View.
Classic View to Smart View
To navigate from the Classic View to the Smart View, select: My Account and Smart View.
Note: Not all functions are currently available in the Smart View. If you notice that the option to switch to the Smart View is not available under My Account from a particular page while you are in the Classic View, it is because that function is not available from the Smart View. For example, the Advanced Search function is only available in the Classic View.
Note: Not seeing the option to switch to the Smart View from the page you are on? Try navigating to the folder and document view and then switching to the Smart View.
