Using the IBM Connections Desktop Plug-ins for Microsoft Windows

Use the plug-ins to share files and information between Microsoft™ Windows™ applications and IBM® Connections or IBM Connections Cloud.

The following features are available from Microsoft Windows Explorer:
  • Upload local files from Windows Explorer or from your desktop
  • Share uploaded files with people, communities, or folders in IBM Connections
  • Work on files locally and publish them to Files, communities, Activities, or Wikis
  • View people's contact details and get in touch with them (Not available on Connections Cloud.)
  • Pin, follow, or like files and folders
  • View or contribute comments for a file
  • Lock a file when you are editing it to prevent file conflicts
  • View and restore files from the trash
  • Share folders with Communities
  • Use sync capabilities to keep local copies of files synchronized with exact copies on the server.
  • Use document management capabilities to upload, manage, organize, and collaborate on community files in libraries. To use this feature, Filenet Document Management capabilities must be deployed on your Connections server. (Not available on Connections Cloud.)
The following features from Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint):
  • Features added to Word:
    • Add a document to Files or Communities
    • Add a document to a library
    • Attach a document to an Activity or Wiki page
    • Publish a document to a Blog entry
    • Search for content in IBM Connections
  • Additional Word features (Connections only):
    • Add someone's profile information into a document
    • Add a bookmark from IBM Connections into a document
    • Add a URL from a document as a bookmark in IBM Connections
  • Features added to PowerPoint:
    • Add a presentation to Files, Communities, or to a library
    • Attach a presentation to an Activity or Wiki page
    • Search for content in IBM Connections
  • Features added to Excel:
    • Add a spreadsheet to Files, Communities, or to a library
    • Attach a spreadsheet to an Activity or Wiki page
    • Search for content in IBM Connections

Limitations

Some features are not available when you are connecting to a Connections Cloud server. For example:
  • Type-ahead is not available to assist you in finding a group name.
  • Type-ahead is not available to assist you in entering the names of external users in the Add to File dialog and the Share dialog.
  • If you are uploading a file or email to Activities, the option to create a new activity is not available.
Note: If you previously installed any version of the IBM Connections Plug-in for Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows, installing this plug-in silently removes the Microsoft Explorer features from the older plug-ins.

You have two options for installing the plug-in. Individual users can install the plug-in, or you can perform a silent installation to install the plug-in for a group of users.