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The desktop

Every space is laid out as a desktop — a shared arrangement of tiles that all members see the same way. Admins decide what's on it, what it's called, and where it sits. Chat, posts, a calendar, a shop, and files come with every space from the day it's made; there's nothing to install.

Clicking a tile opens it in a window over the desktop, and everything is linkable — you can share a URL straight to a post, a chat room, or a folder with other members.

What you can put on a desktop​

The + button is where admins add things:

  • A post — the composer opens on the space's Blog; the post lands there, not on the desktop.
  • A file — drop an image, video, audio file, or document onto the desktop and it becomes a tile members can open and comment on.
  • A shop product — something the space is selling, with its price and buy button on the tile.
  • A folder — plain organization; folders can nest.
  • A group — a members-only area inside the space, with its own interior desktop. See Groups.
  • A shortcut — a tile that features something that already exists, covered below.

Admins can also import an audience or a back catalog of posts from the same menu.

The space's member list is a shortcut too — admins put one wherever it's useful, and a space can have more than one. The admin side of running a space isn't on the desktop at all: the treasury, the shop's products and sales, and the audience live in Studio.

Shortcuts​

A shortcut is a tile that points at something rather than holding it, which is how a desktop gets its shape: the things a space wants people to find first, sitting on the front page. A shortcut can feature:

  • A whole app — the space's Blog, Chat, Shop, Calendar, Drive, or member list.
  • A single chat room — the Chat app, opened on that room.
  • A post, in this space or another one you're in.
  • A link to anywhere on the web.
  • A space — one you're in, or a public one you're not, which turns the tile into a way in.
  • A folder or group, including one that lives in another space.

Shortcuts to the Blog or Chat can be narrowed, so a tile doesn't have to mean "everything." Four choices, and a tile has exactly one of them:

  • The whole thing — every topic or every room.
  • Opening on one — still the whole app, but it lands on the topic or room you picked.
  • A handful you choose — the tile shows only those topics or rooms. Re-choosing later re-points every link ever shared from that tile.
  • A group's — the tile shows whatever that group has, so a room added to the group later is included with nothing to update.

Shortcuts carry their own name and icon, so a tile can read "Weekly sync" rather than "Chat." And if someone can't reach what a shortcut points at, they see a safe placeholder rather than the private thing behind it.

Blog, Chat, Calendar, Shop, and Drive​

Alongside the desktop is a standing row of five — Blog, Chat, Calendar, Shop, and Drive — each gathering one kind of thing from across the whole space: every post, every chat room, every event, everything for sale, every file. One opens as a full window over the desktop, which stays the home surface underneath.

Every space has all five from the start. Admins can turn one off in Studio, which closes it for everyone in the space — nothing is deleted, and turning it back on restores exactly what was there. Turning off Blog does one thing more: posts the space had made public stop being publicly readable until Blog is back on, and the admin is told how many before confirming. Each one can also carry its own name and icon, so a space's Blog can be called "Dispatches." For members, an app with nothing in it yet simply doesn't appear.

Desktop widgets​

A space can lead its desktop with a page of widgets — a short strip of up to three cards that sits ahead of the tiles. New spaces start with it; a space that's been running a while gets asked once, and can turn it on or off from Studio either way.

A card can be:

  • An introduction prompt, nudging members to introduce themselves. Once an admin has done theirs, the card turns into the newest member's introduction, with a way to reply — so arrivals get greeted while it still matters.
  • The latest post, which opens the post itself.
  • The next event, or the newest thing in the shop.
  • Something pinned — a specific post, product, group, or file.
  • A note — a short bit of text in the color of your choice, written straight onto the card.

A brand-new space also gets a setup checklist, shown to its admins only, which retires itself after the first week. And a card pointing at something a member can't see simply isn't shown to them.

Who can add files​

Putting files on a desktop is an admin job by default. A folder can be opened up: in its settings, Who can upload files switches from admins only to all members — or, for a folder that lives inside a group, to that group's members. Whoever uploads a file can rename or remove it afterwards, and admins can do that to anything.

The setting covers that one folder, not the folders inside it, and the desktop itself always stays admins-only — so opening a folder up is a deliberate, local invitation rather than a general one.

Deleting​

Admins can delete tiles — including a whole folder and everything inside it — and you can always remove a file you uploaded yourself. Deleting shows a preview of exactly what's going before you confirm, so nothing disappears by surprise — and it can't be undone, so the preview is worth the look.