So you've taken the smart step of connecting your employees with Noodle. What next? With so many applications and features to choose from the question must be asked, "how do I put together a functional intranet that will give me employees the benefits that Noodle can give them?"

With so many applications and ways to customize your Noodle, this page is designed to provide some advice to administrators on how to get started with Noodle. Check out the example structure following the explanations to see how a site can be organized to get the most out of Noodle.

• Customizing how your Noodle looks
• Creating Sections and adding Modules
• Designing Section Headlines
• Creating Groups
• Assigning Access Rights
• Adding Users
• Launching your Noodle
• Example

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Customizing how your Noodle looks

The Noodle interface gives a few quick and easy ways to customize the look of your Noodle. They are all accessible from the General Settings tab, in the Settings section, within System Tools:

• Pick the Color for your Noodle - This setting allows the color scheme for Noodle to be altered. Select a colour from the pallette and click Choose Color to confirm.




• Company Login Logo - Add a custom image to your login page here. Size is not restricted or altered, however, consideration should obviously taken regarding screen sizes and resolutions.
• Company Toolbar Logo - This is a 130x55 pixel image that will be displayed in the very top-right of the Noodle interface, in the top-bar.
• Top bar background - This setting allows an image to be selected to be used for the Top Bar background. Check the Tile checkbox to repeat the image.
• Quick Bar background - This setting allows an image to be selected to be used for the QuickBar background. Check the Tile checkbox to repeat the image.

Other methods can be used for LAN installations for customizing Noodle, including the use of JavaScript injections. Documentation on this will be released soon.

Creating Sections and adding Modules

Now your Noodle has your logo and colour scheme, we can begin looking at adding Sections and Modules. Sections have 2 purposes. They act as containers for Modules and the Headline displayed when the Section name is selected can display either a portlet view, an html page or a list of it's contents.

The first step is to decide on how the navigation will be structured. A common methodology to follow is as follows:

• Top Section: Company Headlines - This is the first section that is created and is also known as the Dashboard or Homepage. This section can contain modules that will be available to everyone in the company, such as the main Calendar.
• Departmental Sections - After the Company Headlines Section, departmental sections can be created that reflect the structure of the organization. These sections should contain applications and modules for the respective departments.
• Project Sections - If you have ongoing projects or initiatives, sections can be created to allow resources to be made available specifically for members of project groups.

Designing Section Headlines

Once the Sections and applications have been created, Pages can now be designed to pull information from modules and activity to be displayed in the relevant portlets. Portlets can be arranged to display the most relevant information at the top of pages, as well as new announcements.

Creating Groups

Once the structure has been created, we can now look at creating groups that will allow us to control permissions and access rights. Group names should be explantory of the role they represent. To create groups, click on Groups inside System Tools. Existing Groups will be displayed at the top of the page, click on a group to display it's members in the lower part of the screen. Members can also be added to Groups here at any time.

Assigning Access Rights

Once groups have been created, Access Rights can be now be assigned to Sections and Modules to provide an appropriate permissions structure. Users can only view information they are privileged to and make changes that reflect their authority.

Adding Users

Now that the structure has been completed and groups have been created, we can now begin adding users to Noodle. There are two ways to add users to Noodle:

• Method One - Single User Addition - this method is mostly useful when adding a small number of numbers. To create users one at a time simply use the Add User form in the People section within System Tools. The minimum information that is required to create a user using this method is First Name, Last Name, Email, Username and Password. Users can also be placed in a group when created.
• Method Two - Multi User Import - This method makes it easy to create many users without having to manually fill out the Create User form. To begin click on the Quick Import link at the top of the People section with System Tools. This import method is designed to take in any number of email addresses and create users with the first part of the email address for the username, for example, stu.higgins@vialect.com would create a user with the username stu.higgins. Any number of users can be created at once as long as the number does not include the amount permitted by your license. Once the email addresses have been pasted into the textbox, a group can be specified in which these users will be placed. Because of this, it is recommended to decide which users will belong to which Group and do the import for each Group separately.

Launching your Noodle

Launching Noodle is a great opportunity to use the power of intranet functionality to connect an organization. Take some time to plan an event and include activities that promote using Noodle. Here are some ways to encourage employees to use Noodle:

• Personalize the Profile - The User Profile provides an individual area for each employee where personal information can be shared. Encourage members to provide information, upload an avatar and create a biography. This will give employees a sense of ownership. They can also create modules, accessible from their profile that can be extremely useful, such as a personal Calendar to manage time and a Folder for personal files.

Example

Here is an example of a Noodle structure including Sections, Modules, Groups and Access Rights. The company structure, required modules, permissions and layout will all be discussed.

We are going to discuss a fictional company who are implementing a Noodle intranet. Following some canvassing of available products, they ave decided that a Noodle system will provide them the resources they require at excellent value.

Company Structure

The organization is split into 4 main Departments - Corporate, Marketing and Development, Sales and Operations.

Following the 4 standard links at the top of the navigation (My Profile, Messenger, What's New and People), the Company Headlines Section will hold a Discussion Forum to provide members with a means of open, non-time reliant communication, a Blog for management to post articles and information of interest and a Calendar for notifying staff of company events.

Admin Group

The Corporate Group will consist of the 3 Partners - Joe Jones, Rob Royal and Steve Slate, who will have administrative access to the entire intranet. This group will not require a specific publicly available Section.

Marketing and Development Group

Marketing and Development consists of one Manager, Dave Dunn and 2 staff, Mandy Marsh and Andy Aliss. All members of this department will belong to the Marketing group. The team will require a section that will allow the team to share the following resources:

A Page for Relationship Marketing - this page will contain modules for managing the Relationship Marketing - a Database for survey information and a Folder for sharing informational .pdf documents. All Marketing staff should be able to save database entries and read, upload and modify files in the Marketing folder.

A Page for Business Marketing - this page will contain a Wiki Page to allow users to update a knowledgebase containing information about industries and trends and a Database with product information. All Marketing staff should be able to update the Wiki and the database.

Sales Group

The Sales group will consist of 2 Users, Fred Fuller and Cheryl Chase. The Sales Section will contain a Database for storing prospect information, a Calendar for keeping track of appointments and a Folder for sharing Sales-related documents. Sales staff should have the ability to create and modify Database entries, as well as read, upload and modify documents in the Sales Folder.

Operations Group

The Operations Group will consist of Operations Manager Len Lewis, as well as regular staff Don Dryden, Tina Tate, Frank Ford, Gladys Graves and Kelly Kelsey. The Operations team will require a Section containing a Task Manager to allow manager Len Lewis to assign tasks to Operations staff.

Here is a view of the entire navigation as seen by the System Administrator.

-  |  |   Here are the set Links. These will be common for all users.  |  | - -  |  |   Company Headlines Section - Viewable by all Users.  |  | - -  |  |  |   Marketing and Development Section - Viewable by members of the Admin Group and   Marketing Group.  |  |  | - -  |   Sales Section - Viewable by members of the Admin Group, Marketing Group and Sales   Group.  | - -   Operations Section - Viewable by members of the Admin Group and Operations Group. - -  |  |  |  |   System Tools Section - Viewable by members of the Admin Group.  |  |  |  | -

Section Headlines should be designed to display the most relevant information in the locations that will be seen quickly and by everyone who needs it. Locate Portlets on the page in a manner that puts the important information at the top - if Documents and Calendar Events are a priority, place connected portlets at the top of the Section Headline.

Adding Users to Noodle

Now we have the Groups, Sections and Modules created - this gives us the backbone of our Noodle intranet. The next step is to add our users. The 3 Administrators will be added manually so only our 3 remaining Groups, Marketing, Sales and Operations need to be added. This will be done using the Import method to allow for multiple users to be simultaneously created and invited to Noodle. This process is done from the People Section, within System Tools and subsequently using the Quick Import link. Add the email addresses for each User and finally specify the Group in the drop-down menu, before clicking Invite.

Launch and Promotion

Once Noodle has been designed and Users invited, a great opportunity lies in the hands of the organization to involve employees in what should be a big occasion. An intranet opens up many opportunities and an involved organization can bear much fruit, including cultivating ideas, sharing information and creating a culture.

Launching a Noodle Intranet can be a fun and involving event for every member and should be designed in a way that will encourage users to continue to use Noodle to promote company involvement and connect with their colleagues. Organize a company event that will involve everyone, encourage users to ensure their profile is updated with an avatar and contact information, as well as adding their co-workers to their Coworkers list. Try to give Users access to as many sections and as much content as possible - you never know where the next great idea will come from!