Documentation:ActiveCollab

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This page consists of a short comparison of Basecamp and activeCollab features as well as an in-progress tutorial on all activeCollab features.

Basecamp vs. activeCollab

Basecamp and activeCollab are meant to save the same purpose, but, while they most certainly share many aspects, there are differences in style, features, and certain functionalities. This guide provides a detailed overview of just what features to expect from activeCollab and the differences and similarities between activeCollab and Basecamp.

• Comparison Overview

activeCollab Sections

activeCollab comprises of multiple sections including the Dashboard, Project Tabs, and Administration Tools.

1. Dashboard
2. Project Tabs

Administrative Tools

System

Roles

The Roles page is an important part of the Administration Tools in that it provides the Administrator the means to create sets of system and project permissions based on the involvement needs of the individual. Each person in the activeCollab system needs to have an assigned role. There are two types of roles: System Roles and Project Roles.

System roles define user access across all of activeCollab. The UBC Roles page has six different preset System Roles which are as follows:

1. Administrator: The administrator has access to the whole system. Administrative status also overrides any Project Role that this user might have.
2. Company Manager: The company manager has access to all project related features, can add users to the company, and can manage company details and invoices; however, they do not have access to the administrative panel. Please note that any user added by a company manager into their company would have a Client Company Member system role.
3. Project Manager: The project manager has access to all project related features, however, they do not have access to the administrative panel and they cannot manage other people's accounts.
4. Member: Members can only access the projects they've been assigned to. Their project interaction levels are defined by their Project Role settings.
5. Client Company Manager: The client company manager has minimal access to projects and cannot access objects marked as private (unlike Administrator, Project Manager, and Member). This user can look at and add global documents as well as manage their company's information and invoices.
6. Client Company Member: The client company member has the same permissions as their manager except that they cannot manage company information and invoices.

The following is a table that defines all the current permission settings for each System Role (click on the buttons in the table header to sort a column alphabetically):

Permission	Administrator	Company Manager	Project Manager	Member	Client Company Manager	Client Company Member
System Access	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admin Access	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Project Management	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
People Management	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Add Project	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Manage Company Details	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Can See Private Objects	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Manage Trash	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Manage Assignment Filters	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Can Use Documents	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can Add Documents	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can Use Status Updates	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Can Manage Invoices	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Use Time Reports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Manage Time Reports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No

The following table expands on the significance of each permission.

Permission	Description	Module
System Access	This permission sets whether a user can access activeCollab. Set this to No if you don't want to delete a specific user accounts but you want to restrict them from accessing the system for the moment.	System
Admin Access	Set this permission to Yes if you want to give administration permissions to users in a selected role. This permission overrides every other permissions and additionally gives users access to the Admin panel.	System
Project Management	Project managers have full permission for everything relating to projects in activeCollab. They can see and access any project and have complete access inside each one. Project managers can create projects even if add_project permission is set to No!	System
People Management	People managers have all permissions regarding account management in the People section. They can create new users or manage existing users and companies without any restrictions.	System
Add Project	Sets whether user can create new projects or not. When creating a project, members of client companies will see only people and companies they have previously worked with. They will not see everyone! Administrators and project managers can always create new projects no matter what is set here!	System
Manage Company Details	Set to Yes if you want to allow a user to manage company details. The user will then be able to change the company information of the company that they already belongs to, as well as being able to add new people and receive/access Invoices issued to it. Please note, if no-one from a company has the correct permission, you won't be able to send email notifications for new invoices to anyone in it, because there will be no eligible recipient for such an email!	System
Can See Private Objects	Set to Yes for roles that must be able to see objects in activeCollab marked as private. Usually, this permission is set to Yes only for members of your own company and to No for the client roles. This makes it easy to hide internal discussions or other confidential information that should be kept in-house.	System
Manage Trash	Setting to Yes will allow the user to browse through trashed objects and restore them or delete them permanently	System
Manage Assignment Filters	Set to Yes only for roles that should be allowed to either create new or manage existing assignment filters. If set to No, users will be able only to use existing filters, but not create new or change the settings of existing ones.	Resources
Can Use Documents	This permission enables users to access the optional global Documents section. When they have access to this section, users will be able to see the Docs icon in the toolbar and view all files placed there.	Documents
Can Add Documents	This permission enables users to upload new files and post new text documents in the global Documents section. Please note that this permission is ignored if the role does not also have the can_use_documents permission set to Yes.	Documents
Can Use Status Updates	Set to Yes to allow a user to use the Status Update tool.	Status
Can Manage Invoices	When set to Yes, person with this permission will be able to create new Invoices, issue existing invoice drafts, mark them as billed or canceled, and to delete Invoices.	Invoice
Use Time Reports	This permission determines whether a user can use the time reports functionality or not. Time reports are available both globally and per project. If this permission is set to No, the user will not be able to see or use any time reports.	Time Tracking
Manage Time Reports	Set to Yes for roles you want to be able to create or manage time reports.	Time Tracking

This table is based on a Permissions table found in the activeCollab "Administrator's Guide".

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Troubleshooting and Notes

Please keep in mind that some activeCollab modules are optional and could, therefore, be disabled by administration. Not all features may be present in your version of activeCollab and some features may not be described in this guide either. If you feel that there are topics that should be covered, please feel free to add your own entries. Furthermore, if you strongly feel (and have confirmed) that any of the following information is not up to date or correct, do not hesitate to edit sections. This guide is based on activeCollab 2.

The majority of this guide focuses on features currently available to Project Manager roles in the UBC system. Member and Client Company roles will not have access to all features outlined in this guide. Most features that are currently only available to Administrator roles are outlined in the Administrative sections of this guide. For more on ROLES, please visit the Administrative Tools -> System -> Roles section. This guide is based on UBC activeCollab settings as of July 2011.