Help:Viewer
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Contents |
[edit] Overview
[edit] What is the Groundcrew Viewer?
The Groundcrew Viewer is an intuitive piece of software for organizing, produced by Citizen Logistics. | Read more about Groundcrew.
[edit] How do I access the viewer?
If you have a Groundcrew squad already, you can access the viewer from:
http://groundcrew.us/{your_squad}/live/
If you don't yet have a squad yet, you can visit our Plans and Pricing page to set up a trial account.
[edit] What is required to use the viewer?
The viewer fully supports Firefox 3.x and Safari 4, and partially supports older versions of those browsers.
The viewer does not support any version of Internet Explorer at this time. We will be working on this, as it's important to us that organizers can work in public libraries and places which often have outdated equipment.
[edit] How do I suggest a feature or report a bug?
We'd love to get your feedback. You can contact us directly, or use the report a problem link in the upper-right hand corner of the viewer.
[edit] Demo Mode
[edit] What is demo mode?
Demo mode is a fake squad that resets each time you reload the viewer in your web browser. It is a sandbox that you can play in without actually affecting anything. There are no real people and no real text messages, so feel totally free to explore and experiment. You can access it any time from:
http://groundcrew.us/demo/live/
[edit] Agents
[edit] Why are there no agents in my squad?
In the future, as Groundcrew becomes a recognized platform for broad social organization, existing agents will be available for brand new squads.
For now, though, most squads start out empty, and you need to recruit agents to join your squad.
If you have already invited agents to join your squad but they do not appear in the viewer, they may still need to confirm their mobile phone number and send their location to Groundcrew.
[edit] How can I add agents to my squad?
Join
Agents can join your squad directly from the join page, at:
http://groundcrew.us/{your_squad}/join
Invite
You can send email invitations from the viewer by clicking on invite agents in the Manage tab. These people will not immediately appear in the viewer, but will receive emails that include a confirmation link. Once they click the confirmation link, provide a mobile phone number and confirm that, and provide a location, then they will appear on the map.
You can check on the status of these invitees from the current invitations link in the Manage tab. Agents will appear on the map only once they have a city and a mobile set. If an agent has gotten lost in the process, you can easily send them a repeat invitation from this tool.
Import
You can import agents from your CRM on the squad administration page or via our import API method.
We also have Salsa and Salesforce applications in the works for easily syncing agent data.
[edit] Landmarks
[edit] What are landmarks?
A landmark is a particular location on the map that can be used as the basis of a mission. You can create a landmark mission and automatically select all agents within a specified radius of the landmark.
[edit] Where do landmarks come from?
There are two answers:
First, when you zoom in close enough, Google Maps automatically populates the map with Panoramio landmarks, which are community-powered photos of locations tagged to those locations. These can be used and edited just like any other landmark in the viewer.
Second, you can create your own landmarks. Click on the Manage button in the lower-left, then click the add landmark link. Click anywhere on the map to set the location, then fill out a name for the landmark and optionally a type. Once you have created a landmark, it will appear to all organizers on the squad.
[edit] How do I edit a landmark?
Click on the landmark, then click on the edit icon. You can change the name and the type of the landmark.
Currently, there is no interface for uploading a landmark photo or moving a landmark. We can do that manually for you, and we will be adding these features soon.
[edit] How do I delete a landmark?
Click on the landmark, then click on the red x below its name. This will remove the landmark from the map. Note, however, that you will no longer be able to view missions that took place at that landmark.
[edit] Searching
[edit] How do I search?
Type something into the box in the upper left, next to your squad name, and hit Enter. The facebar and the map will adjust to show only the agents matching the search. You can jump straight to the search form by pressing the f key.
You can also search for every agent with a tag by clicking that tag in an open agent window.
You can clear the search by clicking the X next to the search form.
[edit] What can I search for?
Currently, you can search for agents by name and by tag.
[edit] Tagging
[edit] What are tags?
Tags are single word labels applied to agents that can categorize those agents in useful ways. For example, you could tag all your core volunteers with the word core. You can then filter your list of agents in the viewer by searching on this tag.
Tags can help find a group of agents again quickly, capture knowledge about a new agent, or split up work between several organizers.
[edit] How can I apply tags?
Tags can be added in the viewer from the Manage tab, or by pressing the t key. Once the tag form is open, select the agents you would like to tag, enter the tags (single words, separated by spaces), and click Tag.
You can also apply tags to agents when you invite them from the squad admin pages.
[edit] Statuses
[edit] What is an agent's status?
Agents are categorized in different states, such as "on assignment", "pending", "responded", and so on, to indicate their current availability. Agents are grouped into these states in the facebar, with the most recent agents on the left side of the state. To quickly select all agents in a state, like all the available agents, just click on the status name in the facebar below that group of agents.
[edit] What do the different statuses mean?
- available
- The agent is available for an engagement and not currently tied to any other missions.
- in dialogue
- The agent is has been sent a message but hasn't replied yet.
- inaccessible
- The agent is cannot be reached through the viewer.
- neglected
- The agent is has a question or problem that hasn't been addressed fast enough.
- on assignment
- The agent is has accepted but not yet completed a mission, or has been asked but not yet answered a question.
- pending
- The agent is has been offered a mission but hasn't yet accepted or declined.
- questions / concerns
- The agent is has a question or problem (the agent has sent in a message with a '?').
- reporting
- The agent is sent in a report recently.
- responded
- The agent is responded to a question
- responded "no"
- The agent is responded in the negative to a question
- responded "yes"
- The agent is responded affirmatively to a question
- unresponsive
- The agent is has been offered a mission or sent a message, but hasn't replied fast enough.
[edit] Selecting Agents
[edit] How can I select multiple agents?
Hold down the <option> or <command> key while clicking on agents in the facebar or on the map, or while clicking status names in the facebar. Each selected agent will be highlighted in yellow.
You can also first search for agents by some common trait (like a tag), and then select all the results.
[edit] Missions and Messages
[edit] How can I interact with agents?
You can send messages, missions, and questions to individual agents or groups of agents.
[edit] What is a message?
A message is text sent directly to an agent's mobile phone, as is. Sending a message has little effect on an agent's state. This is the simplest kind of communication.
[edit] What is a mission?
A mission is an ongoing engagement that an agent can accept or decline. When you send a mission, agents receive a message like "New mission: <your text>. Accept? (y/n/?)". When agents accept the mission, they will be "on assignment" until they complete their mission. After they accept, you have the option of giving them additional instructions via messages.
[edit] How do I start a mission around a location?
Missions can be started either at an arbitrary location or at an existing landmark.
To start a mission anywhere, click the Assess tab's start mission link, then click anywhere on the map. You can then choose to invite either the currently-selected agents or agents within a radius. Provide a location title, mission, and followup instructions, and click Send.
To start a mission at an existing landmark, click on a landmark on the map or in the landmarks menu, and then follow the instructions above.
[edit] What is a question?
Sending a question to a group of agents allows you to easily collate their answers. When you send a question, agents will receive a text message like "Question: <your text>", and their answers will be collected into a single window on the map.
You can ask a question in several ways:
- for an individual agent, directly in the agent's window
- for a group of agents, by selecting all the agents, clicking the Deploy Selected Agents button, and selecting question in the Interact form
- for an entire city, via the Assess tab's ask a question link
You can see answers to all questions from the Assess tab's show answers link.
[edit] What if I want to send a message to everyone?
You can send an email to everyone in your squad, even if they're not on the map, by using the blast email tool in the Assess tab.
By default, this email will go to everyone in your current city, or everyone in your entire squad if you have the viewer zoomed out to worldwide. You can limit the recipients by specifying some tags. Only agents that have at least one of the tags you enter will then receive the email blast.
[edit] Events and Information
[edit] How do I know when something occurs?
As agents do or say things, little black windows appear on the right side of the map. These will stick around for 15-20 seconds and then disappear automatically.
Everything that agents have said or done recently is also collected into the Recent Events window, which you can open from the Assess button in the lower left. From this window, you can click on agent names to open their agent windows on the map.
And finally, you can open an operation window on the map to see all events related to that operation (see the next question).
[edit] How do I see a list of recent missions and questions?
All missions and questions, collectively known as operations, are listed in the Operations menu in the lower-right hand corner. You can click on an operation in this menu to open the related operation window in the map.
Questions and answers are also collected into a single window, which you can open from the Assess tab's show answers link. Click on the down arrow next to the question title in this window to see other questions and answers.
[edit] CEML Scripts
[edit] What is CEML?
When your organizing needs outgrow these basic options, the viewer supports a simple, easy to learn scripting language for organizing more intricate group actions. CEML, the Coordinated Event Markup Language, allows you to pair people up, automatically elect team leaders, help agents find one another in the streets, collect information, and more. See http://groundcrew.us/2009/08/10/introducing-ceml.html and our developer support personelle for more infromation.
[edit] How do I start a CEML operation?
We'll be implementing this feature soon!
[edit] How do I write and load my own CEML script?
We're still working on this feature, too. For now, check out some CEML examples.
[edit] Misc
[edit] Are there any limits to the text messages I can send?
There are a couple technical limitations:
- Text messages are limited to 160 characters, so missions and questions (which include some extra automatic text) are limited to around 100 characters. If you provide a longer message or mission text, we will split it over up to 4 numbered text messages, but it's much better for your agents if you keep the texts short.
- Mobile phone providers have a pretty limited set of characters that they support. We auto-replace many unsupported characters with supported ones, like quotes with slashes (so can't becomes can/t).
[edit] How do I refresh my view?
There's no need. The viewer automatically shows new information from agents and other organizers every few seconds. However, if there's been an error in the code (oops!) and you get some odd error message, reloading your browser window may help.
[edit] Are there keyboard shortcuts?
Yes, here's a full list. In the viewer, type '?' to see help on keyboard shortcuts.
