Setting Up a Team Project

Each team authoring project must have an administrator (usually the documentation manager or lead writer). The administrator makes the project available to other team members by uploading it to the central repository and configuring the settings. For more information on team authoring, including requirements, see About Team Authoring.

Doc-To-Help supports three repository types:

  • Microsoft® Team Foundation Server Files are stored in your company's Team Foundation Server repository.

  • File System Repository Files are stored at a location accessible via your company's file system, usually on a computer belonging to your organization's network. The only prerequisite for sharing a project in a file system repository is that all team members must have access to the shared folder on the network.

  • Web Repository Files are stored at a location on the Internet, on a web server. They can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet, including from behind a firewall. Sharing a project with a web repository lets you share your team project with anyone connected to the web. Doc-To-Help uses Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) technology. WebDAV is a protocol that allows connectivity between a remote server and a local machine for easy file sharing among multiple users. WebDAV is supported by all major web servers, but it is not necessarily enabled for any server location. It requires certain privileges, so you may need to consult your system administrator to determine the locations you can use for a web repository.

  1. Open IIS Manager and in the pane on the left, select Default Web Site (or the website you want to set up).

  2. In the center pane double-click on WebDAV Authoring Rules.

  3. In the Actions pane (on the right) click on WebDAV Settings.

  4. In the Property grid find the Property Store and click the Browse button to change this setting.

  5. If there are no items in the Namespace Collection Editor (in the Members pane), click the Add button, which will add a default namespace for storing WebDAV properties.

  6. Return to the WebDAV Settings. In the Property Behavior section, set Allow Property Queries with Infinite Depth to True.

Note If WebDAV is not already enabled on your computer, you will need to enable it before you can set up IIS. To do this, do the following:

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Click Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off. The Windows Features dialog opens.
  3. Expand Internet Information Services > World Wide Web Services > Common HTTP Features.
  4. Select WebDAV Publishing.
  5. Click OK.

Note If you are using an older version of IIS, check with your network administrator to verify the settings needed to use WebDAV.

The project administrator must share the project to the repository. This copy will become the master project (or the team project). After the team project is created, team members can connect to and download the team project to create their own working copies.

  1. Create a new Doc-To-Help project or open an existing one.
  2. Select File > Team Authoring>Share Project for Team Authoring. The Share Project Wizard opens.
  3. Click Next.

  4. Under Select Repository Type, choose one of the following:

  5. Click Next.

    • For Team Foundation Server Enter the Team Project Location URL. You can click to browse to a different server.

    • For File System Repository Enter a network location or click to browse to a folder on the network.

    • For Web Repository Enter the URL of the virtual directory you created. Once you enter the URL, you can click and browse the directory, as well as create a new folder. If you are using Windows Authentication, leave Use Windows Authentication selected. If you are using another form of authentication, clear the check box and enter your login credentials.

  6. If you selected File System or Web Repository, click the Repository Test button to test the connection to the repository and the files and subfolders. Click Close.
  7. Click Next.

  8. In the Repository Options window, set the backup options:

    • Limit the number of backups for each file This is used to set the limit on the number of backups kept for each file in the repository. The default is 5, but you can change it in the Number of backups kept box. If you do not set a limit, every time a file is checked in, a new backup file will be created in the repository, and there is no automatic cleanup of old backup files.

    • Allow users to delete old backups in check-in Select this check box to permit other team members to delete old backup files when they attempt to check in a newer version of a file and the backup limit for that file has been exceeded.

    • Ask user confirmation to delete backups Select this check box if you want a confirmation dialog to appear when a team member deletes old backup files. This option is only available when the Allow users to delete old backups in check-in check box has been selected.  

    Note These options can be changed using the team administration utility at any time after the team project is created. See Changing Repository Settings.

  9. Click Next.

  10. Click Yes to confirm your repository information and click Next to create the team project. The Upload Project dialog opens.

  11. Once the upload process is complete, click Close. At this point, your project has been uploaded to a shared directory and the copy in which you were working is the working copy. This is the version you will use to perform all authoring tasks. The team project in the repository is the master copy.

    Note The team project should never be manually opened or altered. If you wish to make changes in the team project, make the changes locally in your working project, and then check in the changes to the central repository.

  12. Click Finish.

If you are using Internet Information Services (IIS), first you must set up a virtual directory on the web server in order to share a project using a web repository. This virtual directory will be the location of the team project.

The following steps may be slightly different depending on your operating system.

  1. Click the Start menu and select Control Panel.
  2. Click Performance and Maintenance and then click Administrative Tools.
  3. Double-click Computer Management.
  4. Expand the Services and Applications node.
  5. Expand the Internet Information Services and Web Sites nodes.
  6. Right-click Default Web Site and select Add Virtual Directory. The Add Virtual Directory dialog opens.
  7. In the Alias text box, enter a name for your virtual directory. This name will be part of the URL for your web repository.
  8. Next to the Physical path field, click . In the dialog that opens, browse to the physical directory on your machine that contains the content you want to share and click OK.
  9. In the Add Virtual Directory dialog, click OK.
  10. In the Connections pane, select your new directory.
  11. In the Features View pane, double-click WebDAV Authoring Rules. The WebDAV Authoring Rules dialog opens.
  12. In the Actions pane, click Add Authoring Rule. The Add Authoring Rule dialog opens.
  13. In the Allow access to this content to section, select All users.
  14. In the Permissions section, select Read, Source, and Write.
  15. Click OK. The virtual directory is now set up. You can view the rules and permissions for the directory in the Features View pane. Make sure the directory has Read, Source, and Write privileges.

Note You may need to consult your network administrator to set up the virtual directory. Setting up a virtual directory will vary by operating system. Once you have a virtual directory created, you can then share the project.