Workspaces, a bit like project management, is a term which can mean different things to different people. It is not a feature like blog or discussion forum which is clearly defined and easy to code.

What a workspace should do really depends on the use case. So workspaces will be defined by profiles where depending how features are configured, they will generate a Tiki for one of the following scenarios (and new ones yet to be thought of!). These underlying features need to be flexible!

All the scenarios below should be covered by Workspace Roadmap and
Tiki WikiFarm / Native multi-site / multi-domain handling

Use cases

Each use case of workspaces should have a pre-defined profile for that "Workspace type"

1.1. Software project spaces à la *Forge

Software project has hundreds of third party extensions (not Tiki model!). Each extension has file gallery, discussion forum, but trackers and some wiki pages. Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forge_(software)
TikiForge

1.2. Enterprise or community Social Networking (emerging groups)

International association of X. Have central site but want to make it easier to have special interest groups and for people to regroup by interest, language, geography, etc.

Add a way for people to make "transactions" and/or rate other people to have a trust network and you can have a Job board / Dating site / Hospitality_Exchange / Car Pooling / etc. Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely or only by invitation (using passcode or similar).

Social_Networking

1.3. Project Management / business unit workspaces

50 000 person company. A dozen divisions, and hundreds of departments.
This extends to also having spaces where non-employees can participate to (external consultants, partners, customers, etc.). Users should be able to join/leave that workspace mainly by invitation (using passcode or similar), and eventually with validation by the ws admin.
Project_Management (let's build an airplane type of project management.)

1.4. Product support

• A company sells hundreds of products. They want easy access to support information for each (download manuals, support tickets, etc.) while also having general common space for customers (discussion forums, new product suggestions, etc.)
  • Search engine should offer to only search in workspace
• Book publisher has a website for each book, with distinct domain and micro-communities for each, yet all managed in one Tiki. Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely within a certain group of users (customers, registered users, ...).

1.5. E-learning / Learning Management System (LMS) / classroom / course management system (CMS)

One school has thousands of students, dozens of teachers, hundreds of classes. Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely or by invitation (using passcode or similar), and eventually with validation by the ws admin (teacher or course/site staff).
Learning_Center

1.6. Multi-site deployment / micro-sites

• Election campaign. 100 candidates. Each candidate has individual website, with own domain name, and with local management. Yet, National level party can publish news on all or selected candidate sites.
• Music label has 40 artists. Each artist has own site, with fan club, community features, PayPalSubscription to access more content, etc
• Classic corporate website but with some micro-sites which are in fact workspaces, with alternate URLs
• Chain_Store & Franchising where Head office manages general site and permits individual stores to maintain store information (opening hours, location, etc.)

Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely or by invitation (using passcode or similar), and eventually with validation by the ws admin.

1.7. Event Management System

An organisation wants micro-sites per event (registration form, wiki pages for sessions, etc.). Once an event is over, it's nice to keep info available, but it's not so nice to maintain a Tiki instance for many years just for archives.
Event_Management_System

Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely or by invitation (using passcode or similar), and eventually with validation by the ws admin.

1.8. WikiFarms / SaaS

Using Tiki as Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and easy way to create new spaces. myprojectA.wikifarm.com, myprojectB.wikifarm.com, etc.
http://tiki.org/SWOT#Working_groups_Special_interest_groups_local_user_groups_p2p_leadership_D_

Users should be able to join/leave that workspace freely or by invitation (using passcode or similar), and eventually with validation by the ws admin.

1.9. Marketplace

Tiki doesn't yet offer ecommerce. But if it did, marketplace is where anyone can setup a shop and sell (so emerging workspace), vs a single-source seller classic shopping cart.

Users should be able to join/leave that workspace mainly freely, and eventually with validation by the ws admin.

1.10. Customer/Contact/Constituent relationship management (CRM)

You have a database of customers managed by head office. But salespeople are only allowed to manage their customers

Users should be able to join/leave that workspace mainly by invitation (using passcode or similar) and eventually with validation by the ws admin, or managed entirely just by the ws admin.

Workspace features

To illustrate, here are features which are needed in various workspace types. (and thus why there is no one answer fits all and profiles are needed)

• Can workspace admins manage user accounts (change password, change email) vs just add or remove from group
• Can workspaces emerge and die on their own, or they need admin
• Is theme the same for all workspaces?
• Preferences can be manageable per workspace dynamic preferences
• etc.

Please see: http://dev.tiki.org/Workspace#Key_features



Related links:
http://tiki.org/SWOT#Working_groups_Special_interest_groups_local_user_groups_p2p_leadership_D_
Workspace