If you have been invited to a workspace, you at least have a concrete example of what collaboration in BSCW looks like. Otherwise, your personal workspace ("Workspaces") is empty, and you may wonder how to get started with BSCW.
The easiest way to start is to create your own workspace that you share with other users:
•Click on
and select
in the header bar of the folder's content view. In the 'General' tab, enter the
name and optionally a description of the new workspace. Names are subject to restrictions on the
use of special characters, which may be pointed out to you.
•In the 'General' tab you may further select a template for the subfolder structure of the new workspace. Such templates may be available for your BSCW server. For the moment you may leave it with the selection 'no template'.
•In the tab 'Attributes' you can add tags. Tags are freely assigned keywords under which you or other users would like to find the workspace again.
•In the 'Shared Objects' tab, you can also have certain shared objects automatically created for your new workspace: a contact list, a folder for uploading by e-mail, a template folder and a shared recycle bin. Make your selection by ticking the relevant checkboxes.
Note: The shared recycle bin of the workspace holds all objects removed from the workspace by its members. Only the workspace manager and the creator can put back objects from the recycle bin or delete them permanently. The recycle bin itself cannot be removed; the setup is irrevocable. If you delete objects in a workspace without a shared recycle bin, they will end up in your personal recycle bin.
•Now go to the 'Members' tab of the action form and select the future members of the workspace:
o Enter the e-mail addresses of
users who are already registered on your BSCW server (you probably do not know
their exact usernames) or of users you want to invite to register on your BSCW
server (if you are authorized to invite new users or the server allows
self-registration). Now select the users you want from the proposed users and
click the add button 
o On the right side, select the desired role, e.g. 'Member', for the members of your workspace.
o Click the Next button 
in the footer of the dialog if
you want to write a personal invitation text. This invitation text will be added
to invitation- emails sent to these members.
•The 'Document release' and 'Automatic versioning' tabs are about defining a release process and automatic versioning for the documents of the new workspace. You can leave these tabs of the action form unnoticed for the time being.
•Click [OK] to create the new workspace.
Open the new workspace, upload documents you want to share with the other members, create a new chat within the workspace or convene a meeting in the workspace calendar.
For a more detailed introduction to shared workspaces, see 5.1 Create and manage workspaces.
Note: Do not confuse workspaces and communities. When you start with BSCW, you will most likely want to create workspaces and not communities. Communities are meant for very large user groups with common interests and have their limitations regarding the design of access rights.