WorkStreams General Manual

Installation

The WorkStreams Add-in Core does not require administrator rights for installation. Users can install it manually by clicking a link, or it can be pushed silently and auto-configured to all or a subset of users in an organization through any client software distribution model, including group policy.

After installation of the WorkStreams Add-in Core there will be a new program folder named WorkStreams in the Start menu under Programs (or in the Windows 8 Start Screen Application List). In this folder is an item named WorkStreams Add-in Core. Clicking the WorkStreams Add-in Core shortcut will upgrade the software to the latest version if an update is available. If the latest version of the Add-in Core is already installed, then a dialog is displayed which shows the current installed version and an option to unregister it. There is no need to click this shortcut unless you are specifically asked to do so.

WorkStreams Implementation

WorkStreams Apps are configured for use through centrally managed WorkStreams Implementations. A WorkStreams Implementation contains the information for how each WorkStreams App should be configured for an organization or an individual user. A WorkStreams Implementation may contain interface customization details and/or preferences, database connectivity information, and any other settings particular to one or more WorkStreams Apps that an individual or organization utilizes. Upon starting Outlook, if there is Internet connectivity, the WorkStreams Add-in Core pulls the latest WorkStreams Implementation information through the WorkStreams web services and caches it encrypted locally for use when there is no Internet connectivity.

Licensing

WorkStreams Apps are licensed per mailbox. A user who is licensed for a particular WorkStreams App may use it from any number of machines and instances of Outlook that are connected to the same default mailbox. Upon starting Outlook the primary email address for the default mailbox is identified and used to load and configure the appropriate WorkStreams Apps.

Internet Connectivity

Utilization of WorkStreams Apps requires connectivity to the Internet during the initial installation of the WorkStreams Add-in Core and the first time Outlook is loaded after installation. Connectivity to http://*.WorkStreams.com and https://*.WorkStreams.com is what is required. Some WorkStreams Apps support functionality while not connected to the Internet, but even those WorkStreams Apps require the specified connectivity for installation and the first time Outlook is run after installation so that the WorkStreams Implementation information can be pulled and cached locally.

Upgrades

WorkStreams Apps may occasionally require upgrades due to changes to the underlying Outlook object model, operating system update compatibility, bug fixes, feature enhancements, etc. If an upgrade is required then upon starting Outlook the WorkStreams Add-in Core will upgrade itself automatically. The next time Outlook is restarted the new version of the user’s WorkStreams Apps will be available.

Software Requirements

WorkStreams Apps are supported for the following operating systems and versions of Outlook:

Operating Systems

• Windows XP, Service Pack 3
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 10

Outlook Versions

• Outlook 2007
• Outlook 2010 (x86 and x64)
• Outlook 2013 (x86 and x64)
• Outlook 2016 (x86 and x64)

Most WorkStreams Apps will work with any backend mail server including but not limited to Microsoft Exchange, Gmail, Eudora, IBM Lotus Domino, IceWarp, Ipswitch, Novell GroupWise, Open-Xchange, Zimbra, Sendmail, and Oracle Communications Messaging Server.

Windows UAC should not be turned off for use of WorkStreams Apps. Some WorkStreams Apps may support not default Windows UAC settings, but this is on a case by case basis.

Event Management

WorkStreams Apps are built to be enterprise quality. Part of what this means is that if anything does go wrong WorkStreams staff is notified so that the issue can be addressed. If a bug or problem due to a new type of update or configuration does occur during the use of a WorkStreams App, the WorkStreams team is generally already working to resolve the problem prior to any user reports coming in.

Localization

WorkStreams Apps are built to support complete localization. This means that all text in all interfaces in WorkStreams Apps loads from a system that supports presenting text in the language that the user computer is configured to display. Not all WorkStreams Apps currently support all languages. If you would like to have a WorkStreams App available in a language that is currently not supported please let us know!

Data Synchronization

WorkStreams Outlook Interface

WorkStreams Main Menu in Outlook

Once a WorkStreams App has loaded in Outlook you will see a new tab or menu at the top of the main Outlook window titled WorkStreams. The buttons available in this main WorkStreams menu will vary depending on what functionality is utilized in the WorkStreams Apps that are running. At a minimum the following buttons will display:

About

• Displays the details for the current version of the WorkStreams Add-in Core, which Implementation is loaded, the user’s primary email address for the default mailbox, which WorkStreams Apps are loaded, and details about the Outlook and Windows instances.

Submit Feedback

• Enables a user to submit feedback about a WorkStreams App and/or requests for additional functionality. WorkStreams appreciates all feedback.

Request Support

• Enables a user to submit a support request regarding a problem with any aspect of WorkStreams. This is the best way to report any issue as underlying details of the user’s installation and any relevant events are included in what is sent to the WorkStreams team so that we most efficiently address the issue.

Help

• Quick access to the WorkStreams General Manual from within Outlook.

Optional buttons that may display in the main WorkStreams menu depending on which WorkStreams App functionality is utilized for the loaded Implementation include:

Show Task Pane

• If the WorkStreams Task Pane has been closed, clicking this button will reload it.

Mailbox Report

• This button generates a mailbox report summary which is sent to the user as an email.

Reset Local Database

• This button restarts the Outlook Data indexing process. This means that all of the data that has been created as part of the indexing process will be deleted. This will have no effect on your actual Outlook Data, only the metadata about your Outlook Data. This will also delete any Views that you have saved. This requires Outlook to be restarted. Once Outlook is restarted, the indexing process will begin again.

Item View Populating Manually

• This button is a toggle that changes the behavior of how items that match the filters in a WorkStreams View are loaded into the Item View. When this toggle is turned on items load automatically into the Item View as filter values are changed. When this toggle is turned off the Item View is only populated upon manually clicking the View Items button. Allowing the Item View to populate automatically works well for a mailbox of a relatively small size, but for mailboxes that have several gigs of data performance is better when auto-population is turned off. This option is automatically turned off during indexing for mailboxes with a large number of items.

Optimized Queries Enabled

• By default WorkStreams populates the WorkStreams View display controls using optimized queries running against pre-calculated data statistics. This improves the speed and user experience of sorting and drilling down through your Outlook Data. This button is a toggle which allows you to disable the optimized queries and instead populate the WorkStreams View display controls using direct queries of the Outlook Data, which will be more up to the moment accurate but slower.

Reset WorkStreams

• This will reset the WorkStreams Add-in Core connection to the current Outlook profile. This button is one way to switch to a different WorkStreams Implementation if necessary. Clicking this button and accepting the reset will clear any existing local WorkStreams cache files and close Outlook. The user will be prompted to specify a WorkStreams Implementation to link the Outlook profile to when Outlook is next loaded.

Reset All Prompts

• WorkStreams Apps often allows a user to choose to no longer be notified with ‘are you sure’ type dialogs. This button will clear the suppression of any of these dialogs that the user previously chose to suppress.