This is the place to come to get into the details of how the Vuuch ESS platform works. Please check back often as we are always updating the information on how to Vuuch-enable additional applications Below you will find a description of our SaaS platform, information about our APIs, a plug-in for WordPress and an HTML widget.
Vuuch Platform
The Vuuch platform is delivered to customers in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Vuuch SaaS consists of a standard (Linux-Apache-MySQL-php) LAMP web stack (accessed by customers via www.vuuch.me and shown on the accompanying chart in blue) and a set of application specific plug-ins developed using the Vuuch Open Enablement API's (shown in grey).
The plug-ins and Open Enablement APIs are available to permit anyone to develop a Vuuch plug-in. Using the APIs and samples we provide should make it easy for those who want to connect to Vuuch to additional PLM systems and/or desktop application. If you are interested in working with the API or using the platform in house contact us at contact@vuuch.com.
Vuuch page context
Vuuch pages provide context for teamwork primarily by representing files. For example, if you Vuuch-enable a PowerPoint presentation, the PowerPoint file is what Vuuch uses to establish context for the user. In other words, users make sort and select Vuuch discussions to interact with by sorting on file type. In the case of a CAD assembly or a CAD part, the assembly and part files are the context. Vuuch also supports a page type called "generic" which is not associated with a specific file type. In addition, Vuuch allows the definition of a custom page type, which can be used to set the initial context for users. This is useful to set context for users in customer workflows or in specific applications. Context provides the mechanism by which Vuuch makes work deliverables "social." For example, if customer service logs a complaint on a specific product through Vuuch this entry becomes "social" and all of Vuuch's capabilities to involve a team and manage the deliverables involved with this complaint are available. Along with the fact that Vuuch understands manufacturing concepts like "product" and "part," this is what makes Vuuch different from any other social technology. In a typical social networking solution you follow people. In Vuuch you follow context.
People
As you work in Vuuch, you are connected to people through context items (that is, Vuuch pages). As you navigate in Vuuch you will see the people you are working with. For example if you log into the Vuuch web user interface and sort your Vuuch Content for Excel you will see all the people you are working with on Excel files. This list is dynamic, meaning it changes based on activities and page invites. People can be added dynamically to an activity using their email address or by selecting them from a list of contacts (maintained as email contacts and as Vuuch account holders).
People are connected to or related to context in one of two ways. They are a participant of a specific active activity and/or they are invited to the page that represents a specific context item (this is equivalent in consumer social network terms to being a "friend" of the item). Because adding and removing people is dynamic, Vuuch does not require the pre-determined team definitions or access control lists typical of previous generation collaboration platforms like Microsoft SharePoint.
Vuuch enablement API
We are encouraging developers who want to enable their applications with social technology to develop using the Vuuch platform. Vuuch enablement APIs are freely available form us. Contact us about your project. The WordPress add-in and the HTML Widget are examples of social-technology enables applications that were developed using these APIs. The APIs are delivered as HTML in combination with a set of specific wrappers for Java, C++ and C#. Additional wrappers are planned.
Vuuch for WordPress
Vuuch discussions can be marked "public" on www.vuuch.me The Vuuch for WordPress add-in makes it possible to post such information to a WordPress blog. The Vuuch for WordPress plug-in will sync Vuuch public activities with a WordPress blog.
For example, if Vuuch is managing a "tips and tricks" discussion about SolidWorks that is classified as public, Vuuch users could create a question using Vuuch, it would be posted on any WordPress blog that is running the plug-in and, remarkably, as people comment on the blog, the originator of that discussion would be notified right within SolidWorks. Download the Vuuch plug-in for WordPress and begin following Vuuch public discussions on your blog.
Installation Instructions
- Delete any previous installs of the WordPress plug-in by disabling it and removing it from WordPress
- Download and unzip Vuuch for Wordpress
- Copy unzipped Vuuch folder to WordPress plug-in directory
- In WordPress admin panel, enable Vuuch for WordPress plug-in
- Configure Vuuch for WordPress
Vuuch Public Discussions HTML Widget
This plug-in permits the posting of Vuuch public activities on any web page. Contact us if you would like to access the HTML widget.
