Getting started with GroupCamp - Set up your account

Go to the Admin panel. 

Click on the Regional options icon.

In the General tab,

Default values when users or groups are created:

• The Account default language, which is also be displayed to users visiting your GroupCamp account login page
• The Time zone, date format, time format and Duration format
• The first day of the week, which is used for calendar display,
• etc.

Users can modify default settings in their Preferences.

Displayed username 

Select the displayed username format that you wish to use.

In the Time units tab,

Choose the time unit for users to fill out timesheets. (hours or days)

Choose which time unit will be used for managing project budgets, Scheduling and Cost management. Please note that you can't have duration entries in days and budgets managed in hours.

The value of the Duration of a workday field applies to all users. This value is used to convert hour durations to days and day durations to hours. When users enter a duration, the value is recorded in both hours and days using this value.

The Duration of a workday value is used in the following cases:

• When the Time unit for time spent is set to days (d), and if the user enters a time spent of an hour and half (Entry is 1:30), then the input is displayed in days using this value.
• When your duration entries are set to hours and your budgets are managed in days.
• If you change the Time unit for time spent value. In this case, all durations already recorded are displayed using new time unit.
• Please note that the value of the Duration of a workday is used at the time the entry is made. If you change this value, only new records will use the new one.

In the Accounting tab,

Set these values according to your organization or company.

From the Admin panel,

Click on the Security - Authentication - Sessions icon

Authentication tab

GroupCamp ID: Password

Determine the level of security you wish to set for the passwords of your users.

Note: If you change the settings, only new created user will have to respect these criteria. Users that have already set their passwords will not be impacted by the change.

Google ID

If you use the feature Login with a Google Account, users can log in with their Google ID (gmail address or Google Apps email account) and their Google password.

Note: If you decide to disable this feature, GroupCamp users who log with their Google IDs will no longer be able to connect to the GroupCamp platform. On your account login page, these users will have to use the link A problem signing into your account? to create a password and sign in using a GroupCamp ID.

GroupCamp account linked to a Google Apps account

 This feature cannot be disabled.

Sessions tab

Click on the Sessions tab

When determining duration of login sessions, the level of security level and users comfort should be taken into consideration, as well as  the devices used by your users.

Authentication after being logged out for more than 1 hour

This is the highest level of security. Users will have to sign in very often.

When the user checks the box "Remember me", the connection is valid

The user chooses to be remembered. Administrators decide the session duration before the next sign in request: 10 days, 2 months, 12 months, Always. The shorter the session, the higher the level of security will be.

Automatic sign in (without Authentification), the connection is valid

This option is equivalent to the one mentioned above. The check box "Remember me" is automatically checked and will not appear on your login page.

Note: Colleagues with a User Admin role can remove existing user sessions. This feature is particularly helpful if a computer or smartphone is lost or stolen (use the @ Me > Preferences application).

Guest users are people external to your organization or company (customers, partners, etc.).

Guests access the same GroupCamp interface as your colleagues but with limited features and privileges.

To manage this feature, go to the Admin panel

 Click on the Users icon, then click on the Guests tab.

To find out more, read this acticle: Share projects with your clients and partners.

 In the Admin panel, click on the Notifications icon.

Note: These settings are used when you add users. Changing these settings will impact all users that have not yet customized their preferences.

In GroupCamp, all users have the Inbox application with which they can receive messages pertaining to them: new posts, items they follow, new tasks, etc.

Here are some tips for choosing the right settings for your users:

Email notifications

Uncheck for no email notifications.

Adequate for users constantly working online in GroupCamp and used iOS or Android GroupCamp Apps

GroupCamp app notifications

App notifications are managed by users on their devices. 

Immediate notification

Adequate for users working regularly in GroupCamp (between 10 to 30 emails per day).

A notification is sent each time a new item is followed or when a followed item is updated or commented.

Recurring notification

• Select Once every half hour,  Once hourly, Once every 2 hours.

Adequate for users that have more than 30 emails per day.

Select frequency to receive the last 10 added or updated items from Inbox app.

• Select Twice daily, Once daily or Once weekly.

Notifications containt a digest with message counters of their inbox apps.

Adequate for users working in GroupCamp occasionally OR for users who receive a lot of emails

Please note that Administrators can manage per user notification settings in the User window.

Click on the Groups icon located in the Admin panel. 

The applications can be set up in each group type folder or icon. 

With the GroupCamp Resource management feature, you will be able to:

• Decide which users of your account are resources for your projects by assigning a role to each resource (Project manager, Designer, etc).
• Define the work capacity for each resource (Cap the workday duration for time spent, Authorize time spent entry for non-working days, etc).
• Use apps from the Scheduling group to plan the work of your resources in your projects. Manage resource availability, work overloads and time off. 
• Manage Cost per role and Cost per resource on a monthly basis.
• Use Budget per role in your projects. Calculate and display project costs.

Please verify in the Plans & Quotas icon of your Admin panel that the Resource management feature is included in your current GroupCamp plan.

GroupCamp Resource and Role cost management infographic:

To read more about, please consult this article: Resource and Cost management.

 In the Admin panel, click on the Timesheet icon.

In the general tab, enter :

• default working days for your organization,
• Cap the amout of time spent entered by users,
• etc.

To find out more, please read this article: Timesheet settings.

You can start using the Timesheet application located on the left side of the screen. By default, all colleagues you add are automatically added as group members, and they can start using the application Timesheet.

To manage time categories for time spent records,

. Click on the Admin panel, then click on the Categories icon.

For more information, please read this page: Manage categories

When creating your account, a first project entitled My first project will be automatically created.

You can start using Project groups. By configuration, you can decide to have Guests users in each project group.

 To customize your Project groups, in the Admin panel, click on the Project folder.

To find out more, please read this FAQ: How to set up projects

Extranet groups allow you to share files and create discussions with your guests. 

 To customize your Extranet groups, in the Admin panel, click on the Extranet folder.

Please note that Guests are users that do not belong to your organization.

Intranet groups allow you to create discussions and share content with colleagues in your organization. You cannot have Guests as members of your Intranet groups.

 To customize your Intranet groups, in the Admin panel, click on the Intranet folder.

To add and invite colleagues into your account, use the + button of the top navigation bar.

Click on Colleagues. The following window will allow you to enter information pertaining to new colleagues:

For each colleague you wish to add, enter their email address, first name and last name. If the Organizations feature is enabled in your account, select an organization for the new colleague.

You can add colleagues into existing groups, and send them an email invitation to join GroupCamp.

Excel Import

To import users using an Excel file, use the import tab of this window. For more information, please refer to How to import colleagues and organizations using Excel.

Online services

To add colleagues by browsing your Google Contacts, please refer to Adding a Google Contact as a Colleague or Guest

Note: If your GroupCamp account is linked to a Google Apps account, please read this FAQ: How to manage G Suite users and their Google Apps

The person who creates a GroupCamp account automaticcaly has the roles of an owner and administrator. Only administrators can access the Admin panel to set up the account.

By default, administrators have access to the admin features of the following applications: Users, groups, Files:

• All users

List, create, modify, delete, restore, delete permanently

To find out more, please read this page: Users Administration

• All groups

List, manage, archive, export, manage members, delete, restore, delete permanently

To find out more, please read this page: Groups Administration

• All files in the account

Manage group files and deleted users, conduct exhaustive searches and access all groups and users files, change file ownership, permanently delete a file.

To find out more, please read this page: Files Administration - Transfer files ownership

For each admin feature, you can grant privileges to a dedicated team of colleagues, to find out more, please read this page: How to set up projects

To assign the administrator role to colleagues, go to the Admin panel,

 Click on the Administrators icon.

Select the administrators among all the colleagues listed in your GroupCamp account.

Note: It is strongly advised to limit the number of administrators and assign this role to colleagues that are fully aware of their access and privileges.

Click on the following Admin panel icons to access more settings.

 Setting up user support functions for your GroupCamp account.

Define which users can access the GroupCamp support team directly.

Administrators define how questions are answered from Colleague and Guest users. This can be configured in the icon Help center of the Admin Panel. For more information, please read this page: How to set up your internal user support.

 To customize the look & feel of your GroupCamp interface

Please read this page : Change the colors of my GroupCamp account.

 To set up the fields of a user profile

Please read this page : How to manage user profile fields .

 To define third party software integration you wish to enable or disable

Please read this page : Enable integrations: Box, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft.