NVivo Collaboration Cloud

Collaboration Cloud is an NVivo add-on module allowing teams to collaborate on NVivo projects. It stores projects securely in the cloud, providing a space to pass work between team members—project managers upload master projects that collaborators download and work on, then the collaborators upload their versions for the project managers to download and merge back into the master.

Collaboration Cloud is a yearly subscription service, purchased from the myNVivo portal. The basic pack allows five people to collaborate, and you can buy further seats singly (contact QSR Sales). Enterprise organizations should contact QSR Sales.

Collaboration Cloud is accessed from NVivo Windows and NVivo Mac (Release 1). Only project files created in Release 1 are compatible, and it is not possible to work cross-platform (with both Windows and Mac) on single projects. All users require internet connections.

Workflow overview

Initial subscription setup

1. The purchaser of Collaboration Cloud (or the administrator of an enterprise license) is the first Collaboration Cloud administrator—the account administrator. This person adds users to the subscription in the myNVivo portal. Assignment of a user seat in the portal is a prerequisite for role assignment within Collaboration Cloud. Add users to account (account administrator only)
2. In Collaboration Cloud (opened from NVivo), the account administrator assigns workspace owner and (optionally) additional administrator roles. Assign account roles

Initial workspace setup

1. A workspace owner uploads an NVivo project to Collaboration Cloud, creating a workspace (of the same name) for the project. The uploaded file is version 1 (V1) of the master file. Create a workspace
The workspace owner is automatically made a workspace manager for the workspace.
2. The workspace owner/manager opens the workspace and adds other users to it. They must be assigned workspace roles: workspace manager, collaborator, or both. Add users and assign roles (and share master file)

By default, V1 of the master file is 'shared' with collaborators, meaning it is made available for them to download.

Collaborators work on the project

1. Collaborators open the workspace in Collaboration Cloud and download the V1 master file. Download the project master version
2. They each work on their copies of the master file in NVivo on their local machines, and when ready, upload these (file name unchanged). Upload your work and mark as ready to merge
Their uploaded files appear as 'V2' on their personal Versions pages.
3. Collaborators tick a checkbox to inform the workspace manager that their versions are ready to merge into the master. Upload your work and mark as ready to merge

Workspace manager collects and merges

1. The workspace manager sees that collaborators have marked their copies as ready to merge, and downloads the copies. Download collaborators' work
2. The workspace manager merges the copies with the V1 master file in NVivo. Merge collaborators' work

If required, the workspace manager uploads the updated master file (V2 master file) and the process is repeated. Upload a new project master version

Roles

Users have access to Collaboration Cloud under one or more of 4 different roles.

There are two account roles, for general account administration and the creation of project workspaces, and two workspace roles, allowing actions within individual workspaces.

NOTE Collaboration Cloud roles are mutually exclusive—they do not include permissions granted to the other roles. Therefore, users must be assigned all the roles necessary for the different actions they will need to perform. For example, workspace managers can manage master files but not upload their own coding on a project file. To do this they must be made collaborators as well as workspace managers.

Account roles

1. Administrator: Administrators can assign workspace owner and administrator roles within Collaboration Cloud accounts. Assign account roles If necessary (e.g. the current workspace owner is absent) they can make themselves a workspace owner and manager of a workspace created by another user. While any user who has been assigned a Collaboration Cloud seat can be made an administrator within the Collaboration Cloud account, only the original purchaser or the administrator of an enterprise license is the account administrator and can access the account in the myNVivo portal, where user seats are assigned and unassigned. Add users to account (account administrator only)

2. Workspace owner:Workspace owners can create workspaces (by uploading new projects), Create a workspace set workspace status to active or complete, and delete workspaces they created Workspace status and deletion. They are automatically made workspace managers in the workspaces they create (see below).

Workspace roles

1. Workspace manager: Workspace managers manage users and project file versions in the workspaces they are managers of. They can add and remove users, and assign workspace manager and/or collaborator roles to them. Add users and assign roles (and share master file) They upload master versions, share them with collaborators, and collect collaborators' work to merge into the master versions. Upload a new project master version Share a new project master version Download collaborators' work Merge collaborators' work
2. Collaborator: Collaborators in a workspace only have access to copies of the project master file that have been shared with them by a workspace manager. They download these to work on them, then upload the edited copies as new personal versions, for the workspace manager to merge into the master. Download the project master version Upload your work and mark as ready to merge