10 Steps Guide
If you want to start managing your project as quickly as possible using eZ Netflow, simply follow this quick start guide.
Step 1 - Create your eZ Netflow Account
Creating a new eZ Netflow account is easy. Just register for a 30 days free trial.
Step 2 - Create an administrator account
Immediately after the registration wizard, you will receive an email with your own account URL, administrator username and password. So the first user account will give you access to eZ Netflow as an administrator. The company will become the owner company of your eZ Netflow instance.
Step 3 - Log into eZ Netflow
That’s an easy one: Just enter the user name and password you defined in step 2.
Step 4 - Create more companies and user accounts
When you log into eZ Netflow for the first time you may need to do the following:
* Enter more details about your company.
* Add accounts for other people working in your company. You can make eZ Netflow send them an e-mail with their account information, so they can join you immediately.
* Add client companies. (If you have partner companies or subcontractors, treat them as client companies.)
* Create your first workspace. (We will discuss this in more detail in a minute.)
Step 5 - Create a workspace and set permissions
Creating a workspace is basically a matter of entering a name and a description. When you save the workspace, eZ Netflow will ask you which other users should get access permission to it. For your collegues (i.e. people working for the same company) this is simply a question of yes or no. For your clients, partners and subcontractors you can specify in more detail what they are allowed to do.
Step 6 - Create some milestones
Project management is about getting things done in a specified amount of time. So the first thing you will usually do when you start managing your project is defining some milestones. This is important because you will later assign task lists and messages to milestones, so you have to create the milestones first.
When you create a milestone you can assign it to a whole company or a single user. By the way: It’s a good idea to check “Send email notification to user” so everybody is informed if he or she is in charge of something.
Step 7 - Create some task lists (or tasks)
Now let’s specify what has to be done. Create at least one task list and enter some tasks. It’s your choice if you assign the task list to a milestone. But you should absolutely assign each task to a user, because otherwise nobody will take care of these tasks.
Step 8 - Add some notes
eZ Netflow is about collaboration, and collaboration is about communication. So create a note, welcome everybody to the project, tell something about the project and the people working on it, and give some directions about how people should use the tool.
Step 9 - Create folders and upload files
It’s a good practice to store all relevant documents in one place. eZ Netflow offers a simple document management system, so create some folders and upload files that are crucial for the project. And if you update a document: Don’t simply overwrite the old version but create a new version to have a history of all changes. Add comments when you update a document so you can track changes over time.
Step 10 - Explore advanced features like tags, reports, workflows and real-time monitoring
If you got that far we are confident that you will find your way through eZ Netflow on your own. Simply explore tagging and custom reports. For Enterprise Edition users, you will explore BPM and BAM services and other powerful features this advanced edition has to offer.
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