Collaborative Tools has been given a few new features in the past two months, with a few more to come soon.

First, there is a new calendaring system that everyone can use. The calendar system is composed of two distinct components: a standard calendar of events and a planning tool. The calendar will be familiar to users of our other calendaring systems while the planning tool may be a completely new concept.

Based on the popular online planner, Doodle, our new tool allows group administrators to create a meeting or event plan and solicit group members for availability. Once the group administrator feels that enough votes have been cast to select a date, he or she can simply click on the time and Collaborative Tools will add it to the calendar.

Since we have not yet created documentation regarding the calendar and event planning tools, please contact Dave Krause if you have any questions.

The second new feature gives group administrators the ability to edit the name and email of newly added users, provided the user is listed as "Unverified." This happens when a new account is created to allow access for a non-ANR person to the system. Previously, the system would only allow the new user to edit this information.

Administrators can click "Edit Roster" to view the list of members. "Unverified Users" will have an edit link next to their names. Once a user logs into the system for the first time, this editing capability will disappear. Active users must control and update account information individually.

The future of Collaborative Tools includes integration with Adobe Connect. Many of you have heard us mention this as a possibility. Our chief technician of really complex tasks and equally complex solutions, Bryon Noel, has already successfully integrated the ANR Portal with a test server provided to us by UC Davis IT. Once we are given the go-ahead to move to a production environment, you will be able to create Adobe Connect meetings in the Portal and ultimately, in Collaborative Tools.