Often with document creation, especially briefs of any kind, there is a need to specify a structure that you and your co-collaborators can stick to. I know that since we have been using ideapi in our day-to-day lives, creating proposals for client web projects has become significantly easier as we can define the sections that we need to fill in. Couple that with the ability to discuss the various sections with others in the office, often remotely, and we are happy.

So what is ideapi?

ideapi is a document collaboration tool that allows you to define templates for your documents/briefs/proposals and subsequently collaborate on those documents.

There is a second stage to ideapi also, which is ideas - those collaborating on a document can submit ideas in response to that document. For example, ideas in response to a client brief.

How do I set up a brief template?

When you first log into ideapi, you are presented with the Dashboard. The Dashboard shows you all of the documents that you are collaborating on. From the tabs, select Templates and then ‘create a template’. From there you can define your section titles.

How do I create a brief document from my template?

Now that you have your template, you go back to the Dashboard and click ‘create brief’. There you give your brief a title and select a brief template for your document. Now, fill in your brief document and publish (or save as draft if necessary).

How do I get others to collaborate on my brief document?

Once you have published your brief, invite others to collaborate from the Collaborators widget on the right of the brief. Giving Author privileges allows them to update the text, see ideas and invite other collaborators. Giving Approver privileges allows them to approve ideas that are submitted in response to the document/brief.

Some features coming down the line soon

We are committed to keep making ideapi better - here are some useful features coming down the line that will make your document collaboration even easier!

  • In-line editing - allowing you to create a document from scratch without the need for a template. You will also be able to reorder your brief sections from the brief view page. We are very excited by this one!

  • Email control - allowing you full control of what emails ideapi sends to you and your users.

  • Dashboard changes - which will make the dashboard more helpful in terms of helping you and your users navigate in the most efficient way.

    • Get in touch

    If there is anything that you are not sure about, or any questions that you want to ask, please visit our new Get Satisfaction community. You could also check out our FAQs.

    We look forward to helping you with your document collaboration.