Author 5.0 Quick Start Guide - businessoptixhosted.com 5.0 Quick Start...Business Optix: Surrey 3 St Georges Yard | Farnham | Surrey | GU9 7LW London (FusionExperience) International

Business Optix:

Author Version 5

Quick Start Guide

Copyright © 2011 Business Optix | businessoptix.com | 2

Table of Contents

The Author application

The Welcome page

Libraries

Opening an existing Model

Creating a New Model

Model Pages and Views

Sidebars and Notes Area

The Ribbon

Editing in Text View

Editing in Diagram View

Property Types

Author Online

License Activation

Working Online

Corporate Libraries


Author 5.0 Quick Start Guide

Business Optix brings the rigor and

discipline of business modelling and

design into focus for the business user

It is ideal for managing and

communicating business best practice,

standards, policies and procedures

Author is the Business Optix authoring

tool

This Quick Start will show you just how

simple Author is to use


The Welcome page

The Welcome page is a live web

page, giving you quick access to

the latest online

Help and Documentation

Downloads

Demos and Business Optix

Support.

If you are not connected to the

internet, all links on the page will

be disabled.

At the left are buttons for viewing

recent models, connecting to a

library and creating a New

Model.

NOTE:

The area at the top of the main Author window

shows the familiar Office-style ribbon.

Back to Index


Libraries

The Libraries page is where

you go to connect to a library.

You may have several different

libraries available, in which

case select the one you want to

work with using the Library

dropdown.

You can Work Online or Offline:

in either case, you are still

connected to a library. The

library controls the types of

model and output styles

available, as well as the

Samples you can explore.

NOTE:

Author licensing requires connection (to any

library) at least every 28 days, after which you

will see this dialog when you start Author.

Back to Index


Opening an existing Model

The Samples panel lists

example Business Optix

models (different libraries

may show different lists):

just click on one to open it.

You can also browse for

and open an existing

model, using the Open

button on the the Home

ribbon, or the Application

menu.

Or select any of your

Recent Models, shown

both on the Start Page and

on the Application menu.

Back to Index


Creating a New Model

You can start building a new model by

clicking on the New Model button on the

Start Page, the Home ribbon, or the

Application menu.

Author will show you the types of model

available to you. The types of model

available will depend on which library you

are connected to (the example shows the

standard set available in the Business Optix

library).

To start creating a new process, double-

click on the Process icon.

Back to Index


Model Pages and Views

You can have any number of

models open at a time, and

switch between them (and the

Start Page) by clicking the

appropriate page tab.

You can switch between Text

and Diagram view, using the

buttons on the Model ribbon or

the Status bar.

NOTE:

All standard models support both Text and

Diagram view, but some libraries may

offer models that only support Text view.

Back to Index


Sidebars and Notes

The Model Explorer contains a

collapsible Table of Contents,

and an alphabetic Index, of all

the components of the model.

It also holds a list of

Stakeholders and the model’s

Change History.

The Properties Inspector allows

further detail to be entered

against each component. Each

type of component has its own

set of property trays.

The Notes area has separate

pages for property Guidance

Notes, component Comments,

and any Verification Issues with

the current model.

NOTE:

You can show or hide the Notes area using the Show/Hide Notes button on

the Status bar, and the sidebars using the Sidebars ribbon buttons.

You can resize the sidebars by dragging their edges. You can also drag

them to new positions (such as a separate monitor) by dragging their title bar.

Back to Index


The Ribbon

The Home ribbon provides the

standard Windows Clipboard, File and

Editing commands.

Model offers a set of Insert tools

(which vary from one type of model to

another) for adding new components

to a model, along with the View and

Sidebars commands.

Output is where you’ll find the Outputs

and Styles commands used for

generating documentation from your

models.

Review provides Proofing, Comments

and Compare commands typically

used in model review and approval

cycles.

Back to Index


Editing in Text View

You add components to a

model in Text view by clicking

on the relevant Insert tool on

the Model ribbon.

You can edit the properties of

the component as required.

The most important properties

are shown in the main text

area.

Further detail may be added

using the Properties Inspector.

You can delete a component

by right-clicking on its entry in

the Table of Contents, and

selecting Delete.

Back to Index


Editing in Diagram View

To add a component in Diagram view, click first on the

tool and then on the diagram, where you want the

component to be added.

To place a Link, click

1. on the component you want to link FROM

2. on the link tool

3. on the component you want to link TO

You can move components by selecting them and

dragging them, or using the cursor keys (use the Ctrl

key to move a pixel at a time).

You can also

• resize them by dragging their edges (if resizable)

• edit their labels by double-clicking on them

• adjust them using the right-click menu

NOTE:

The Align and Distribute commands use the

FIRST item you selected as their base.

Back to Index


Property Types

Most Author properties are standard text, check

boxes or drop-downs, but Author also uses the

following special types:

• Lookups let you select an existing component

from a drop-down list, or type the name of a

new component

• Lookup lists allow multiple lookups, using a

lookup dialog (click the + symbol to open the

dialog)

• Links allow one or (depending on the property)

more hyperlinks to be entered (click the link

symbol to open the dialog)

• Rich text editors allow text formatting, as well as

the inclusion of images and tables

Back to Index

NOTE:

Not all lookup lists

allow new names to be added.

NOTE:

When working online,

you can select

documents, images and

models from a library.


License Activation

Corporate user licenses are controlled from

the relevant corporate library.

Individual user licenses are controlled from

the standard Business Optix library.

Trial users (anyone without a library

account) cannot connect to a library, and so

are restricted to 28 days use.

After 28 days without connecting to a

library, you will no longer be able to create

or open models (though you will still be able

to Work Online to re-activate your license).

Back to Index


Working Online

When you Work Online,

Author downloads any

new configuration files and

then shows the contents of

your selected Library.

The Business Optix library

shows only your private

My Work area, which

allows you to store files

online. Right-click on any

entry to see the available

options, or just double-

click on a file to open it.

Corporate libraries offer

additional features.

NOTE:

If you open a file from a library, you can continue

working on it even if you go offline.

The next time you go online, any changes you have

made will be uploaded to the library automatically.

Back to Index


Corporate Libraries

Corporate Libraries contain

additional (to My Work) areas.

The Public area (if available)

provides anonymous access to

library content

The Reports area contains

HTML reports

The Shared area lets multiple

authors work together. Every

time you save a model here, a

new version is created.

The Stakeholders area is used

to hold generated outputs for

public use.

The Workflow area (if available)

provides access to in-flight

workflows.

NOTE:

If you are a corporate user, your system administrator

should have given you a Settings.xbp file.

Opening this from within Author will add the corporate

library to your Library dropdown.

Back to Index

Business Optix:

Surrey

3 St Georges Yard | Farnham | Surrey | GU9 7LW

London (FusionExperience)

International House | 1 St Katherines Way, London, E1W 1UN

Dublin

Regus House | Harcourt Centre | Harcourt Road | Dublin 2

USA (FusionExperience)

9833 Fosbak Drive | Suite 1000 | Vienna | VA 22812

e/ [email protected]

t/ + 44 (0) 845 600 0115

w/ businessoptix.com

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Author 5.0 Quick Start Guide - businessoptixhosted.com 5.0 Quick Start...Business Optix: Surrey 3 St Georges Yard | Farnham | Surrey | GU9 7LW London (FusionExperience) International