What is Clearvale?
Clearvale is an Enterprise Social Network that leverages Web 2.0
technology to provide easy and secure collaboration between
employees, partners, customers, and the general public. You can
limit your network to just people within your company. Or, you can
set up your network to include people outside of your company, such
as partners, customers, or even the general public. Clearvale is
very flexible, and you can use it in many different scenarios where
you have a group of people who need to work together.
How do I get started using Clearvale?
Go to www.clearvale.com and create a free Clearvale Express
network. Once you create a network, you need to add content to the
network and then invite other people to join your network. The most
successful networks have many active members who contribute to the
life of the network by uploading documents, writing blogs,
participating in forums, commenting on content, and so on.
What are the different versions of Clearvale?
If you start with the Express version of Clearvale, your Sales
associate can easily upgrade your existing network to the
Enterprise version when you are ready to upgrade.
How do I control who can access my network?
You can configure your network so that it is public (anyone can see
any content), private (a person must be invited to the network and
sign in to see content) or somewhere in the middle. Clearvale
offers full control over who can see the content in your
network.
How do I set up a public network?
You can take steps such as the following to create a public
network:
How do I set up a private network?
You can take steps such as the following to create a private
network:
What is a Clearvale community?
A Clearvale community is an area of the network where a group of
members can share information about a topic, project, or shared
goal. Anyone can create a community in Clearvale. Owners of a
community can choose to invite members or make the community open
and let whoever is interested join. The community becomes a
repository of information where members collaborate together and
store information. For example, if you have a community devoted to
a group of employees testing a new food flavor, you can use the
community to share project documents and schedules, post videos of
taste testings, and provide a forum to share ideas.
Using communities effectively allows you to create a rich history
of a project, with documents and exchanges between members
contextualized and located in a central location for future
reference.
Why would I want my employees to begin blogging or using
videos?
Clearvale is designed to increase productivity and knowledge
sharing by using a paradigm with which many people are familiar. By
allowing knowledgeable employees to share their expertise, other
staff members can learn in an informal manner. Like any tool, such
as email or the Internet, a possibility for misuse exists. However,
strong corporate policies can help prevent any issues from
arising.
I’m not very technical. Do I need to have my IT person help
me with Clearvale?
You do not need a background in IT to setup, use, or maintain
Clearvale. In fact, most users will find Clearvale very easy to
use, as it resembles the Web 2.0 tools with which many people are
already familiar.
Which web browsers does Clearvale support?
The following browsers are supported for Clearvale:
We do not support all possible browser extensions. For example, on Internet Explorer, Clearvale does not support the Google Chrome Frame extension.
Where can I learn more about Clearvale?
Click Help on the menu bar of your Clearvale
network. Additionally, view videos or read the FAQs, feature
spotlights, and documentation provided on Clearvale
Connect.
Who maintains Clearvale?
Clearvale is operated by BroadVision (NASDAQ: BVSN), an
international software vendor of self-service web applications for
electronic commerce, enterprise portals, and human resources
management.
Can Clearvale be integrated with my system?
Clearvale does support integration. BroadVision would have to
review the systems at your facility to determine whether it can
provide integration support.
Do I retain the copyright and other legal rights to content
that I post to Clearvale?
Yes, you retain your legal rights to your content. When you
upload your content, you grant us a license to use and display that
content. For more information, please visit our Terms of
Use.
Can I upload content for which I do not own the
copyrights?
BroadVision prohibits the posting of infringing materials on
Clearvale. You may only upload content to Clearvale if you are
certain you have the legal right to do so. If you are not certain
you have the legal right to use the content, please refrain from
posting it on Clearvale.
I created a new network, but my confirmation e-mail has not
arrived.
Please follow these steps to resolve this issue:
If I change my password on one network, do my passwords
change for all other networks I have registered with?
Yes, if you are a member of multiple networks using the same email
address as your login name, your password will always be the same
across all networks. If you change your password via one network,
that change will be propagated to all of your networks.
My account was hacked or “phished.”
If the security of your account has been compromised, you should
take the following actions:
For Windows:
http:/
http:/
For Apple/Mac OS:
http:/
How can I send you feedback or bugs that I have
discovered?
Send us an email at support@broadvision.com.
BroadVision provides support to all customers who are paying for
Premium Services or have purchased Support services.
I created a network and it looks very generic. Can I
customize it for my needs?
Yes, if you are using Clearvale Enterprise. Before you begin
inviting people to become network members, you will want to
customize the appearance of your site. You can customize as much or
as little as you want. Select
Admin>Appearance to make
changes.
If you are using Clearvale Express, you cannot customize the look
of your network. If you want a network that you can partially or
fully customize, contact your Sales associate to see about
upgrading to Clearvale Enterprise.
I don’t like the default background. Can I use my
own?
Yes. You can upload a new image for your background or specify a
background color. When you change the background, however, make
sure that there is enough contrast between the text and new
background image, as well as the logo. If not, you can upload
a different image or change the text color so that it displays
clearly against the your background.
How do I upload a different background?
Select Admin>Appearance. Scroll down to
Page Header, select a color to use as the background or browse to
the image you want to upload and use as the background. Click
Save to see your new background.
In Appearance>Advanced, I selected a theme for my
network but don’t like it after all. If I change it, will
anything happen to the information on my site?
You can select a new theme for your site at anytime; all data and
user information is retained.
I need to have my organization’s logo display on the
network. Can I do this?
Yes, you can upload your own logo or image so that it displays in
the upper left-hand corner of the page. Select
Admin>Appearance>Branding. Scroll down to
Logo and browse to the image that you want to upload. Click
Save when done.
In addition, you can include your own logo on the Network Login and
Registration page. To do so, scroll down to Banner and upload your
image and then optionally specify a welcome message. Click
Save when done.
I created a new network and need to setup the home page.
What do I do?
As the administrator, you can change the arrangement of your
network’s home page. On the home page, click Edit
Layout. Then drag the widgets you want from the widget
gallery to a location on your page. Make sure to click
Save when done.
I want to display more than one video (or Twitter Feed,
etc) on my home page. Can I do this?
Yes. You can drag more than one of the same type of widget onto
your page. For example, you might want to configure one Twitter
widget to display Tweets from your CEO and another to display
Tweets about your company.
Who should I invite to my network?
Each network is different. Think about the purpose of the network
and who are the right people to participate. For example:
Your network needs people who are able to add content as well as
people who will be reading and "consuming" the content.
How do I invite members to my network?
After you set up a network, you need to invite members to it. You
do this by signing into your network as an Admin user and clicking
Members>Invite
Members. Specify the email addresses of the users to
invite. Assign the user a role, usually Writer.
Also, add them to any communities that are relevant to them. If you
have many users to invite, you can bulk upload a file of email
addresses.
Why don't I see the members I just invited listed under the
Members tab?
Members are not added to the network until they accept the
invitation by clicking the link in the invitation email and follow
all the steps of joining the network.
The people I invited didn't receive the invitation. What
happened?
It could be the person you invited did not receive the email due to
one of the following reasons:
Do I need to create a member profile?
Member profiles are useful in a Web 2.0 environment. For example,
you might have a colleague who resides in another office; his
profile might contain information about a project he just
finished—one similar to the project you are just starting. Profiles
allow colleagues to connect and share information that they might
not otherwise in the typical Web 1.0 (“one-way” communication)
environment. And, you can always control the amount of information
you share.
What if someone joined my network that I do not
want?
Administrators can disable members from the network at any time. To
disable a member, select Admin>Member
Administration. Find the member, and change their Role to
Disabled. This member can no longer sign into your
network.
Can I create a custom invitation to send to
invitees?
If you are using Clearvale Enterprise, select
Admin>Email Templates to create your
personalized invitation. Pay special attention to the variables
defined in the template such as, %NETWORK%, %LINK%, %TIMEOUT_DAYS%,
and so on. These variables will be assigned a value when the
invitation is sent. If removed, your invitation may not be
successful.
Why do I see an "invalid email" message after trying to
invite network members?
If you are using Clearvale Enterprise, your network might be
defined to require that members have an email address with a
certain email domain. (This is specified on the
Admin>Network Administration page.) In this
case, members must have an email address that matches the domain(s)
specified for the network. So, if your network is limited to the
"BroadVision" domain, you cannot invite members who do not have a
BroadVision email address. If you try to invite members with a
Yahoo or GMail address, it is considered invalid. If you want
to open your network up to people with different email addresses,
remove the email domain restriction.
How do I get started adding content?
Think about what kind of content that you want to add to your
network: documents, images, videos, blogs, forums, and so on. Then,
decide the best place to add the content. If it pertains to all
network members, place it on the main page of the network. If it is
specific to a group of network members, consider adding it to a
community.
How should I organize my files?
Clearvale provides several tools to help you organize your
files:
Why can't I make content appear on the home page of my
Clearvale Enterprise network?
The administrator of your network controls how content appears on
the home page of the network. They can configure the site so that
blog entries, forum topics, files, images, and videos automatically
appear on the home page of the network. Alternatively, they
can configure the site so that content does not appear on
the home page by default and instead the administrator hand-picks
the content that appears on the home page. In this case, you need
to work with your administrator to edit your content so that it
appears on the home page. Or, you can request administrative rights
and make the changes yourself.
I would like to place a blog within a community. Is
this possible?
If you are using Clearvale Enterprise, then you can include a blog within a community. First, add the Blogs widget to the community. Then, click the Add Blog Post link in the footer of the Blogs widget. When you add a blog post in a community in this manner, Clearvale assumes you want the blog to appear in the community and pre-selects to share the blog with the community.
Why can't I add content to a network?
You might not be logged into the network. Check the title bar and make sure that you see your name and that you do not see the Login link. If you are sure that you are logged into the network, you might be assigned to Reader role. If you have the Reader role, you cannot add content to the network. If you have the Reader role, you can provide comments on other members' content, participate in polls, send messages to other network members, create bookmarks, and update your profile (assuming that these features are available in your network).