Understanding the Top Bar
The top bar on Yatter really stands out but can be a little bit confusing when you first see it. There are three distinct sections with two buttons in each. The middle section is broken up by the logo (which is also a button).
The Yatter Top Bar Navigation
Canvas Menu
The first button on the left is the Canvas Menu. It controls the middle part of the screen and the display bricks that appear on it. Selecting an option on this menu will generally change the main central part of your view.
Help
You can always return to our help screen and our video guides by clicking the question mark button.
Dual Bar
The two identical menu buttons open bars on either side of your desktop view. On mobile this becomes only a single button. Each bar allows for viewing and editing of content and details. It is also used extensively in navigation, searching and the picking of items. These are the bars you need to author content and really use the features of Yatter.
Logo
Clicking the Logo button will return you to the Dashboard screen. This will show you an overview of your content schedule.
Chat
The Chat button opens your recent chat bar. It also flashes when someone talks to you. The recent chat bar details everything that is said to you across all open conversations that you have.
Settings
The Settings Menu is where you can setup profiles and users as well as changing the details of your Organisation. You can also invite other organisations to join Yatter from this menu.
Dual Bar Input
By far the strangest aspect of Yatter is our Dual Bar user interface. While it can create a certain degree of confusion on first inspection once the initial concept has sunk in the vast majority of our users find it very easy to use.
Clicking one of the two menu buttons in the central part of the top bar will open a bar like this one on the side of the logo you have chosen. Each bar is entirely independent and will function as an input space on it’s own.
Yes, you can work on two things at once but in reality that is quite rare. Often one bar will use the other bar for selection and this can cause confusion. What the dual bar input allows is easier searching and referencing while creating content.
The menu itself is fairly straightforward. The version displayed here has all options open. It’s a menu so I am just going to run through what it all does.
- Start a new Post – opens an input bar for a Facebook Post on that side
- Continue – continues a post that is being currently worked on. Also available in Draft
- Make a new Tweet – opens an input bar for a Twitter Tweet on that side
- Continue – continues a tweet that is being currently worked on
- Show my drafts – open a bar that shows current drafts. You can also see other users within your organisations draft content
- Content – opens the Content Filter Bar which allows for detailed searching of content
- Galleries – opens the Gallery Filter Bar which displays both you and your partners media Galleries
- Partners – opens the Partner Filter Bar which shows a list of all your current Partners. Clicking a Partner shows their content
- Profiles – opens the Profile Filter Bar which shows a list of all your Social Profiles. Clicking a Profile shows the current schedule for that profile
- Links – opens the Link Management Bar which stores and allows the integration of external web links
- Tags – opens the Twitter Tag Bar to facilitate the remembering and future easy usage of Twitter handles
- Interests – opens the Interests Bar where you can set what you are interested in. Click an interest to see Public content for that sector
- Listings – opens the Listings Filter Bar that acts as a quick way to manage and reference your Listings
- Authorise work – opens the Draft Bar in Authorisation mode to allow you to auth your queue quickly. Only appears if you turn on a profile for authorisation
- Chat with other users – opens the Chat Filter Bar that shows all your active Conversations
- Find new partners – opens the Find Partner Bar that allows you to search for new Partners
- Upload new media – opens the Upload Bar that is the primary way to get imaging and media into Yatter
- Create new gallery – kind of obvious this one. Opens an empty Gallery Input Bar that allows the creation of a gallery
- Add a new listing – opens an empty Listing Input Bar which facilitates the creation of a new listing
- Browse listings – opens an Listing Filter Bar that displays your and other Partner and Public listings
Clicking the top bar button a second time will close the chosen bar. The top right of all bars has a close button. When you click a menu item the menu bar will be replaced with the bar of your choice.
Dual Bar Menu
Canvas Menu
As well as the Dual Input Bar system there is also a master menu for controlling the central part of the screen that we affectionately call the Canvas. The Canvas is technically the area under the Top Bar and between any open Dual Bar’s. If you are using Yatter you spend most of your time looking at it.
The button on the far left of the Top Bar is the Canvas Menu and it controls this space.
The Canvas Menu
It looks like this. Please note that all the options have been made available.
It’s another big menu so I am just going to run through what it all does.
- Dashboard – displays the Dashboard in the central Canvas area. The button next to the Canvas menu on the Top Bar also does this
- Conversations – displays a series of bricks that represent each open conversation that your organisation has. On Yatter all your team members have access to global inter-company level conversations
- Partner Offers – shows any offers that you have received in the Canvas area, if you have any
- My Content – builds a wall that displays your current content schedule in full. This is a common option
- Partner Content – builds a wall that displays all your partners available content
- Interesting Content – builds a wall that displays any content matching your favourite interests. Appears only after you have selected a favorite from the Dual Bar Interests
- Public Content – builds a wall that displays all current Public content. Actually quite useful if you are looking for a specific time slot -> just filter by time
- My Profiles – builds a wall with a detailed view of your Social Profiles. Essential for when you are tweaking the settings on your profiles
- My Galleries – builds a wall showing all your galleries
- Recent Files – builds an image grid displaying all your recent media. If imaging never ended up in a gallery this is where you will find it
- Upload Media files – ok, ok, so not technically a Canvas item but we liked the 3 by 3 on the menu and it’s a really important Bar. Upload your files here
- My Partners – builds a wall that displays all your partner details. Great for looking at their content, having a chat or just having a cheeky peek at who they are partnered with
- Find Partners – builds a wall of potential partners from our best attempt at an algorithm. It will have a good try at it but bear with us while we refine and extend this
- Manage Relationships – displays a grid showing all your relationships with partners in more detail. You can introduce two of your partners to each other and you can do that from this Canvas screen
- My Listings – shows your listings in detail and allows you to drill through their content
- Local Listings – shows listings active in your country as set by your organisation details. This will evolve into city
- Listings of Interest – filters your listings view based on your favourite interests. Must have at least one favourite interest to see this item
The Canvas menu, together with the Dual Bar’s and the Dashboard are the most commonly used buttons in Yatter.
The menu is a dominant menu and will lock out the screen when active. Click anywhere on the canvas to make it disappear. There is an annoying “feature” where the menu will not close when you click the Top Bar (technically it is the parent of the menu) but will anywhere else. You get used to it after you have done it 3 or 4 times.
More menus, no, not more menus, I have had enough of menus
Sorry but there is one left to go. It’s only a small menu and once you have setup Yatter you don’t have to go in there very often. Let me show you something that is important and will take your mind off menu’s for a bit.
Everything works the same way
As you can see from the two screen shots of the Gallery and Partner filter bar the navigation is the same across all the Bar’s. Once you have mastered how to search for a gallery you can search for partners, or profiles, or listings. There is some variation as you can search for different things but essentially everything works the same way.
The Galleries Navigation Bar
The Bars and Canvas are linked
The stuff that appears in the Bar’s can also be the same as what is in the Canvas, and vice versa. You can make everything that appears in the Bar appear in the Canvas view by clicking the middle button of the three buttons at the top right of both these images. You can also switch between search and new using the buttons to the left of the Canvas and Close icon buttons. On each Canvas, the Search button at the top right of the Canvas will open the appropriate filter Bar with whatever is on the Canvas.
The Profiles Navigation Menu
Settings Menu
The Settings menu is the final menu in the trinity of Yatter navigation. It controls your Settings but also your defaults as well as some system related functions and some logging.
What this menu contains is everything that did not easily fit into the Canvas or Dual Bar menu’s.
Setting defaults on your organisation and your social profiles is an important first step in getting properly setup on Yatter so pay attention. You may also have more than one user and it is important to understand that Yatter can have multiple users in your organisation, each with separate access rights to different social profiles.
Last menu, here is what it does.
- My Details – allows you to edit the name, settings and defaults for your user account. None of this information is ever shown publicly unless you talk in a chat whereby others can see your profile and name
- Organisation Details – allows you to edit the name, settings and defaults for your organisation. This is important as much of what is advertised to partners is contained in here. This is where you set your public facing information
- Upgrade – somewhere you definitely want to click, go on see what is in there…..
- Invite Supporter – if your organisation is allowed to invite other organisations to join Yatter then this is where you do it. All you need is an email address. You can even introduce existing partners to your new invite to help the process
- Add Twitter Profile – shortcuts directly into Twitter authorisation (see Managing Profiles)
- Manage Profiles – builds a wall with a detailed view of your Social Profiles. Essential for when you are tweaking the settings on your profiles. Same as Canvas menu, yes it’s that important
- Browse Platforms – offers a choice screen before going out to the platform to authorise
- Outgoing Queue – lists all the items of content or interaction that are sitting in your queue. The final say on what is going out on your profiles
- Failed Items – lists all the items of content that have failed to load successfully onto the target platform
- Loaded History – lists all the items of content that have been successfully loaded
- Users – builds a wall with a detailed view of your user accounts. Essential for an organisation that has a team or more than one collaborator. If more than one of you want to use the same social profile you need a new user
- Change Password – facilitates a change of password on the currently logged in user account
- Logout – logs you out of Yatter completely. Happens immediately
You will want to set your Organisation Details as soon as possible after joining Yatter. If you have rights to invite and wish to build your own community then you will need to use Invite Supporter. Setting up Users can often be missed if you have a team but it is not something you do often once it is done so it in this menu.
Summary
If you want detail to browse, go use the Canvas. If you want quick and specific searching then use a Bar. All new input is started from a Dual Bar. Top left for Canvas and Dashboard, middle for Dual Bar and top right for Chat and Settings.
We are still refining our user interface and service offering and hope that our unique interface will evolve into something very powerful. The Dual Bar works if you get the hang of it but we do appreciate it may not be to everyone’s taste and there is a learning curve. Yatter does still work perfectly well on mobile but obviously there is not enough screen space so we disable Dual Bar. We may offer a single bar version setting in the future if people want it, lets see how much it freaks everyone out first!
