How to work with online projects

The following section shows what you need to do if you want to work with online projects. Steps 6 and 7 are only necessary if you want to grant external users (who do not belong to the Allplan workgroup) access to online projects.

Allplan Workgroup Online requires an FTP server. You can use any FTP server, provided it can be accessed via a static IP address. In order to set up and manage the FTP server, you can use the free FileZilla program.

An FTP server is an application program providing access for FTP clients. Using an FTP server, you can share a part of the file system on the computer running this program so that other computers can access this part over the Internet.

The data for the FTP server can also be stored on an existing Allplan workgroup server.

Recommended setup: Use an additional computer for the workgroup server; set up the FTP server on this computer; move the projects for online use to this server; prepare the projects for online use.

The FTP server requires access to the data storage folder of the second data server. You must set up separate FTP users for the FTP server. These FTP users require access to the data storage folder. The FTP server must use the standard port 21/TCP or 990/TCP for FTPS.

2. Setting up FTP users and user rights on the FTP server (Allplan administrator or system administrator)

After having set up the FTP server, you must set up the users and user permissions on the server. Users require full control of the project folder. Spend some time thinking about data security. Access via Anonymous FTP is not possible.

Recommended setup: Create a separate account for each user; give each user a separate password.

3. Informing users of login details for the FTP server (Allplan administrator or system administrator)

Inform the users of the login details for the FTP server. Users need these login details to add an online server. Users belonging to the Allplan workgroup require only the login details for the FTP server; external users require these login details plus the email address and password you assigned for Administer Allplan users (see step 6).

So that Allplan users can work with online projects, they have to inform Allplan of the login details for the FTP server where the projects reside. These details, which can be obtained from the system administrator who is in charge of the FTP server, are saved in a user-specific manner.

To add an online server

In the Services application, open the Workgroup Manager menu and click Manage computers and projects.
Click Add online server.
Specify the properties of the online server.

5. Turning projects into online projects (Allplan administrator or project owner)

You can prepare a project for online use when you create it or later. You do not need to do this for projects you create directly on an online server. The same applies to projects you move or copy to an online server. These projects are automatically prepared for online use. However, this does not apply to projects that are on a workgroup server that also acts as the FTP server. In this case, you must prepare the projects for online use.

To prepare a project for online access

Click New Project, Open Project... (How).
Activate New Project, Open Project in one of the following ways
- Menu bar: File
- Keyboard: Ctrl+Shift+O
- Title bar: Quick Access Toolbar
Right-click the project and select Prepare project for online access.
Note: The local and sysadm users are not selected for the owner or for authorized users.
Click Yes to confirm the prompt.

Steps 6 and 7 are only necessary if you want to grant external users (who do not belong to the Allplan workgroup) access to online projects.

In the Allplan user administration, the Allplan administrator must enter the email address and password for each external user who is to access online projects. To open an online project, an external user must enter this email address and password. Users belonging to the Allplan workgroup can open online projects without having to enter their email address and password.

To create an Allplan user

In the Services application, open the Workgroup Manager menu and click Manage users.
Click in the empty white space with the right mouse button and select Create user... on the shortcut menu.
Enter the properties of the new user in the Allplan User Administration dialog box and click Apply.

7. Defining the authorized users of an online project (Allplan administrator or project owner)

If external users want to access online projects, you must give these users permission to do so. To do this, open the New Project, Open Project dialog box, open the shortcut menu of the project and click Properties.

You can now open the projects in Allplan. To do this, select the File menu and click New Project, Open Project. You can immediately see which project is an online project: The

icon identifies an online project. Users belonging to the workgroup can open these projects without having to log in. External users who do not belong to the workgroup must log in using the email address assigned to them.