What's a hierarchical page structure?

Curriculum (book) pages that are organized hierarchically in "parent-child" relationships might have a structure such as the sample shown by the page titles in the screenshot below.

As you can see:

• each child page can have only one parent
  

• a parent page can have multiple child pages

• a child page can also be the parent of other pages
  

This hierarchical authoring structure automatically gives viewers of your curriculum a menu from which to navigate, as shown on the left.

The hierarchical book structure is modifiable, allowing users to rearrange existing content, reassigning parent-child relationship as the work evolves.

Adding a child page is as easy as visiting the parent page and clicking "add child page" at the bottom of the screen. (see next image)

Also notice the other menu choices and options at the page bottom.

• additional navigation links within the page hierarchy
• link to printer-friendly version
• link to add new comment

Once you've clicked "add child page" you will be inside an editing window (image below) that includes a selector for assigning the parent page. This selector will automatically be set to the parent page from which you just navigated, however it can be used to place the page elsewhere in the hierarchy, should it be necessary.

How is Open Planner flexibly collaborative?

The power of Open Planner is its ability to allow teams of educators the ability to create and edit a set of online documents and resources. Because individuals and groups have diverse needs, we offer different levels of "openness" to the planning environment.

While creating a new team, the "submit group" page allows the team manager to select amongst four options for handling user subscriptions.

Keep in mind, a "subscriber" to a curriculum team has the ability to:

• author and edit the group's curriculum pages (old revisions are always saved)
  
• mass email all team members
• post forum topics in the group forum
• receive an email every time a new post is made to the group

Also keep in mind that as a group initiator you are the default "administrator" and the only group member with the ability to:

• remove subscribers to a closed group
• change the subscription settings
• edit the main group page

What level of openness is right for me?

This depends on your needs and your own 'hunch' about how open-source knowledge sharing best produces quality outcomes. A recent Economist magazine survey (read more) concluded that most successful open-source projects have a very limited, hierarchically organized, and motivated group of core developers who maintain the base-level code, with a larger circle of users and enthusiasts who offer feedback, report problems, and create add-ons and enhancements. These conclusions may lead us to develop sub-roles within group membership that allow varying levels of authoring privilege within a curriculum. For now, the "moderated" level is probably the best way to keep your discerning eye and enculturate your team to shared work norms.

What networking and communication tools are available in Open Planner?

Open Planner enables community of practicing educators to easily connect around shared planning interests. The site enables members to:

• start or join planning teams
• invite other members to a team
  
• easily stay in touch with teammates
• participate in team forum discussions
• recieve email notifications of new posts to team pages
  
• search and contact other Open Planner members
• invite new users to Open Planner

Curriculum Team As Communications Hub

Curriculum team managers can manage their team's subscriber list, which also links through to member profiles. Member profiles enable users to contact each other via email while protecting the privacy of a users email address.

As a team manager or member, you can view a list of all subscribers by clicking "# subscribers" on the group navigation menu (see below).

Open Planner as Networking Tool

Members may invite new users and also search user profile information and email other users who have their contact option turned on.