A few days ago I published an introduction post about NextCloud and a kick-off series of articles. Today I would like to show you the first functionality of Tool, which plugin is responsible for that, and how I am using it. 

Checking and installing the plugin

ok, as we are writing the first article about functionality review. Before we will continue I will create an extra test user for testing purposes:

Username: publish0x

Display name: Publish0x User

The password you need to write yourself. :)

Next step we need to install the "Deck" plugin. It is the plugin responsible for creating our boards. 

1. Click on your avatar and go to "Apps", (You need to be an admin instance)

2. "Deck" you can find for example in the "Organization" part,

3. you need to Enable the app as on the screen: "Deck".

We are ready to use the new app and start working with Decks. (Default view for the new user in thumbnail Image)

The most important use cases for me

As I promise in the introduction post. We will base on what I am using these Apps. Below are my use cases:

• Personal Deck

It is mainly the default Deck as created. Just add a new column(list) if needed (for example PARKING SPACE for something, which is waiting for something else)

• Personal Deck (long-term goals)

It is similar to the first one, but here I am describing long-term goals and tracking my progress. I have three levels. (just  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, done) and for each goal, I am making a definition for the goal and each level. You can create and plan something similar where Level 1 is the first step, level 2 is in the middle, and the last step is the final effect. Below example, not so much long-term, but you can less/more understand:

of course, it is an example goal. If the goal is in column 2, that means this level is in progress. I am not the author for such goal tracking, but I am adopting it for Trello/Deck purposes. (Then I have everything in one place) We have even a course, on how to deal with goals in such a way, but only in Polish. I am not aware of English materials. 

• Idea Deck/Funnel

It is simple. It is just an additional Deck where I am describing all ideas, which come to my mind. It is divided into Idea, Validation, Send for Feedback, Results/Feedback, Rejected, and Parking Space.

• Knowledge Base Deck

In the past, I used it to gather knowledge in one place, where the column/list is an area of interest and below everything connected with this topic. I am not fully sure if this is the best solution, but I still have my old Trello Boards with my collected knowledge. (One example I already shared with the publish0x community in this article.)

I am looking for other solutions to collect links to materials. I already have some ideas in my "Idea Deck/Funnel", but I am waiting for validation. :)

Another example is use case(s)

The last example use case are.... processes. If you are not a big company and would like to design a process for doing a repetitive job. You can create it just in "Deck". 

List are steps. Look at an example:

I would like to describe PublishingProcess for a new article in Publish0x. Then I need to create a list for every single step I am doing to create a new Article, for example:

• IdeaForArt - Before new Art, I need to have an Idea for it :) It is our starting point,
• research - I need to check, what was already published. What is missing and might be interesting,
• artConcept - I need to design concepts for new art,
• collectingMaterials (eg. Screens) - Collecting materials needed,
• writing new Article,
• publish,
• promotion - Promotion of new article on social media,
• Done.

New Card in Deck is a new article in the process.

After designing and creating a deck for the process, you can delegate the whole process to someone else or just align, that some particular task (list) will be covered by someone. 

Each Deck Board can be shared with other NextCloud Users or groups, then you can work on the same process.

How to look for ideas on how to use

As you already know. I used it in the past Trello before I moved to Next Cloud Deck and I still have some legacy content there. If you need to use "Boards"/"Deck" and looking for example, how to use or learn best practices.  You can use Trello Blog as well as another source of knowledge. 

Summary

Thank you for reaching this part of the article. I hope  I shared some inspiration with you and even if you will not use Deck, maybe you can use some knowledge as inspiration in your favorite Tool. If you would like to read more about this platform and/or the use case for inspiration, feel free to follow me, then you will receive a notification about new Articles from Publish0x.

I am not part of the NextCloud Team or I am not working for them directly or indirectly. I am/will be describing here my experience, my feeling, and opinions, which will be completely independent of the NC Team/Developers.

Thumbnail Image: Screen from my TEST Instance.