Workspace Properties Upgrade

One of the more unique features of PBworks is the ability to combine structured and unstructured data.

Structured data is the kind of information you might find in a database with a very specific format, like a phone number.

In contrast, unstructured data is a blog of information that doesn’t impose any requirements, like a wiki page.

PBworks often combines structured with unstructured data.  Take Tasks, for example.  Some aspects of a task are structured (due date, person responsible).  But others are unstructured (comments and updates).  Sometimes, the two are even more firmly intertwined.  For example, you can add a link within a task (structured), but the wiki page or file that you linked to is unstructured data.

One of the key structured data elements PBworks provides are Workspace Properties.  These properties can be defined and assigned to the workspaces in your network, making it easy to designate a Project Leader or Due Date.

Properties can be formatted as text, a number, a date, a user, or a pre-defined list of options.

We just released a major upgrade to Workspace Properties, which takes this powerful tool and makes it even easier to use.  Some of the newly released features include:

1) Support for multi-value properties.  Let’s say you’re listing the offices involved in a project.  Now you can designate New York and Los Angeles.  If you’ve already assigned more than one property value to a workspace, we’ll automatically check off multi-value support for you.

2) Workspace Properties are now visible on the Workspace Card.  When you mouse over a Workspace, the Workspace Card pops up to provide you with options and information.  the newly upgraded Workspace Card now displays all the properties of the workspace.  And if you’re a Workspace Admin, you can even edit them right on the Workspace Card.

3) Properties section of the Workspace Summary Tab.  Want to make sure all your users can see the properties?  The Summary Tab now includes a section that allows you to “Show properties.”  Just decide if you want 1, 2, or 3 columns, and we’ll format a table listing those properties, complete with a background color that matches the workspace theme and color scheme.

This Workspace Properties upgrade is active for all our business users, and comes at no extra cost.  We plan to be doing more with structured data in the future, so stay tuned!