How to Make a Mini-Intranet (Shared Resources) for Dummies

• 

  airzone on 17/02/2015 - 17:05

  +5

  If IT has it "locked down", then this suggests the presence of an IT team. I'd suggest running it by them.

  • 

    Forfiet on 17/02/2015 - 17:08

    +1

    lol this sounds like step 0 or 1 before anything we suggest :)

    • 

      airzone on 17/02/2015 - 17:12

      +1

      Yeah, sometimes the IT policies can be very unforgiving for going around official process.

      It raises an interesting question… You have 5 PC's, and you're using one of them to share presumable business critical data.
      - How is it being backed up?
      - Did you guys set it up, or the IT guys?

      • 

        Noblejoker on 17/02/2015 - 17:23

        There is a central back up for all PC's overnight back to head Office - set up by IT
        Our 'server' PC has a larger file allowance
        The 4 PC's actually have Windows Offline Files set up so the shared resources are copied across for indexing - so there is a copy on each PC
        And I also have a usb drive plugged into the 'server' for a local file sync back up just in case
        So Braces, belt and nappy approach for back-up I think :)

      • 

        airzone on 17/02/2015 - 17:26

        +1

        @Noblejoker: It would be wise to test it one day in a controlled manner, prior to experiencing a hard disk crash. Alternatively, maybe a local NAS with some RAID capabilities will offer a bit of extra lee-way in the event of a hard disk crash. I would run that past the lads though.

  • 

    Noblejoker on 17/02/2015 - 17:18

    Good call
    Our IT admin is largely outsourced and language (and a dodgy VOIP connection) are often a factor
    I had an initial convo with them and they offered to network the drive - which is already done
    They didn't offer any other high or low tech solutions and couldnt really grasp my concept - hence I started on my own

    By locked down I mean that the we
    1. Don't have admin rights on the PC
    We can run stuff already installed and can request installation of necessary software be approved
    2. have internet filtering so sites like Dropbox, etc don't work.
    Plus I don't want to put this confidential stuff on the internet without permission - which I am not likely to get anyway

    I have tried a local wiki 'installed' in the network drive which worked - but not well
    it is basically the compiling and updating of a local directory of files and information that I want
    One that is functional, looks good and is easy to use and keep up to date

    • 

      airzone on 17/02/2015 - 17:30

      +1

      I feel sorry for you then lol!.

      I would suggest looking for a word document or excel file with an indexing macro built in. Use the standard tools with standard permissions.

      e.g.: http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel-questions/529442-automati…

• 

  Forfiet on 17/02/2015 - 17:07

  +1

  um doesn't Apache sorta do this for servers like a directory tree: Folders and files in a basic text/links available format like what you where trying to create in word except running on php/mysql?….. someone who has made websites more recently may have a better solution….(I was 13 when I did this stuff now 25)

  • 

    Noblejoker on 17/02/2015 - 17:20

    Don't have a server - unless I can run from a local directory without admin rights?

    I can dump the hyperlinks into documents myself and tart them up in word
    What I would love is a 'system' that does this automatically on update and generates useable pages etc

• 

  ShortyX on 17/02/2015 - 21:51

  +1

  Do you have access to OneNote? You could try a shared notebook.

  • 

    Noblejoker on 18/02/2015 - 09:50

    Our latest PC's do have Onenote 2010
    I will do a Google on using it but from my very limited experience I don't see how it would 'automate' the process of creating the intra-net page

    • 

      ShortyX on 18/02/2015 - 14:07

      Hmm, OneNote is good for sharing information but you will need to manually create the sections and content. What do you mean by automate?

      Another option would be Wordpress on a cheap hosting provider.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 18/02/2015 - 07:15

  +1

  My suggestion is also to use a NAS if it's more shared file access. Check out synology

  Synology or similar may also do some collaboration tools which may be useful

  Regarding the content sharing you could try another webbased app like evernote but I'm not sure on the security

  Otherwise a permission based Google doc is great for multi authoring and you can make it private

  If you want proper network authentication then SharePoint on the server or Syncplicity is a corporate Dropbox equivalent

  Hope this helps

  • 

    Noblejoker on 18/02/2015 - 09:48

    Thanks for the suggestions
    It is not accessing the files or indexing them for search - have that mastered
    The issue is creating an 'intra-net homepage type thing with links to all the docs and shared resources etc
    Can make this with a word doc etc but trying to avoid making it and then updating it 'long hand'

    • 

      MasterScythe on 18/02/2015 - 15:03

      +1

      Then do it in old HTML 4, with frames.
      You'll simply have to make the side frame 1, with a link to each folder (with a pretty title), pointing at frame 2.

      Since web browsers show you an (arguably) pretty file list (sizes, types, etc) You'd just click into each one from there.

      If you're not sure how to do this, i'd ask a son, or a friend. This was my grade 5 lessons back in 1998. :)

• 

  Noblejoker on 19/02/2015 - 11:00

  All comments and suggestions appreciated
  I have a rough draft setup in word/pdf but will require all manual updates and edits
  Also investigating a shared OneNote notebook as a 'prettier' alternative
  it's possible to embed an excel spreadsheet in Onenote and I am working on a vba macro to dump a file list into an excel spreadsheet which can sort of automate the process

  ANy more ideas or suggestions gratefully received