What to do at this stage?

Graphically customise your platform
Structure information with tags and tabs

Customise your interface

An attractive platform that aligns with your objectives will have a significantly better chance of success. On Elium, you can modify the thumbnails of your spaces, the space banners, as well as the colour and logo of your platform (only enterprise plan).

A few tips, though:

Be sure to choose a style that matches the vision of your project. For example, if the objective is for Elium to be the official knowledge base of your company, an informal, fun, colourful style may not be the best choice.
Each space administrator can change the colours of their space, so ensure that the overall style of the platform is consistent to keep the home page looking attractive and welcoming.
Remember to check the style of your platform on the mobile application to ensure that your images and choices look just as good on mobile as they do on your computer.

Define your tags

When Elium replaces file-sharing systems, one of the most challenging changes for the project manager is transitioning from a hierarchical classification scheme to a dynamic categorisation system using tags.

The contribution of tag categorisation

Tag classification allows for the assignment of metadata to the content, which, when selected individually or in combination, creates a custom classification heading on the fly (i.e., retrospectively) and presents the corresponding content. What is defined is not the structure (the plan) but the criteria (tag categories) based on which the user is likely to search for information.

Tag categorisation is flexible and scalable. Specifically, Elium allows you to define the mandatory or optional nature of categories, the types of content and/or the spaces in which they are relevant, and whether they are open for collective enrichment or restricted to a standardised list of tags. At the tag level, Elium provides administrators with a simple interface to manage the proliferation of vocabulary.

How to understand the tagging system?

In everyday life, everyone already uses this system without realising it. For instance, on the Booking.com site, the filtering categories used to select a hotel are essentially composed of tags. The same applies to Sephora, Amazon, and other online shopping platforms.

Our mental process leads us to start with the category that contains the most critical search criteria for us. For example, if I'm looking for a hotel in the centre of Barcelona, I first select the location criterion (category). Then, I check additional criteria that refine my choice (price, types of services, facilities, etc.). This is exactly the approach you need to implement in Elium to create dynamic pathways to information.

How to define your tagging system in Elium?

In Elium, the tagging system consists of tags grouped into families known as categories. It is essential to begin with the main criteria for classifying the information you want, specifically the categories. Here are a few steps to follow to define your categories:

There is likely already a taxonomy in your company. The division of folders/sub-folders on your shared drive can are a preliminary draft, or your intranet or website may have been structured according to your services, business lines, and key themes, providing a good foundation for inspiration. Review these lists of terms to create a starting point for your initial categories.
Secondly, rather than proposing an official taxonomy, it is beneficial to test this initial list in the field. Conduct interviews with key users to identify their most important criteria for searching for information. How do they currently search? What do they prioritise finding? This can also be done through an online survey for convenience. Group the main topics obtained to define your initial categories. For example: Country, Language, Services, Themes, Type of documents, Products, Strategic topics, Projects, etc.
Once your initial list of categories has been established, conduct a validation round: will the end users understand these categories/tags (the chosen terminology)? Will this assist them in filtering effectively, or would it be too specific to a particular space/theme? Once these broad categories are formed, they will need to be populated with tags.

A few tips.

Since Elium's structure is generally more flexible and shallower, the first level of folders in your tree structure will typically correspond to groups of spaces (only available in the company plan). The second level could then define the spaces. This provides an initial outline of the possible information structure. The last levels of folders are often omitted in more dynamic trees; it is advisable to consolidate and cluster information rather than create overly deep classifications.
On average, our customers choose about 10 to 15 categories maximum with approximately 20-40 tags per category for a platform of around 500 users.
There is no concept of "sub-tags"; it is better to use combinations of tags to offer all possibilities.

Define your tabs

The tabs are the third navigation layer available in Elium. They are configured at the level of the spaces on the platform.