BSCW lets you set a number of parameters called user preferences that govern the appearance and functionality of your BSCW user interface. The setting of these parameters is your personal choice: a shared workspace does not necessarily look the same for all members.
Attention: Preferences are set for a specific server. If you want to work with several servers in the same way, you have to set identical preferences on all servers.
In order to check or update your user preferences,
•click in the top menu bar.
The ‘Edit Preferences’ form has a number of sections grouping the information making up your user preferences:
o General
o Portal
Subsection ‘Basic Preferences’:
Language: Select your user interface language from the drop-down menu offered.
Level of proficiency: Choose a user level for yourself which corresponds to your proficiency in using BSCW (also see previous section).
E-Mail: Specify the format of e-mail messages you receive from BSCW (most prominently the periodic e-mail reports on workspace activity) and whether you want to receive a copy of all e-mail messages you send via BSCW (“blind carbon copy”).
Subsection ‘File Handling’:
External editors: Select those document types from
the list for which you want to activate direct editing with local (for BSCW
external) editors. You may then edit documents of these types directly on the
BSCW server, i.e. without the usual download-edit-upload cycle. By choosing the
action 
the local editor corresponding to the document type (e.g. MS Word) is started
directly from within the Web browser.
Note that direct
editing needs the prior installation of a helper application. Details on the
installation and direct editing in general are given in 8.1.4 Editing documents using
external editors.
Synchronization via briefcase: These options concern the synchronization of BSCW documents with their counterparts on your local computer via the briefcase, a personal object (like the trash or clipboard); see 13.7 Briefcase.
In ‘Local briefcase folder’, enter the (changed) location of the local briefcase as a path in the local file system.
Note: When you change the location of the local briefcase folder, the old briefcase folder will not be taken into account when the next synchronization takes place, and documents changed in the old briefcase will not be transferred to the BSCW server. To prevent any loss of data you should change the path to the local briefcase folder only after a successful synchronization. You may want to delete the old briefcase folder from your local computer. During the next synchronization, the new local briefcase folder will be created.
Check the option ‘Transfer document versions into local
briefcase’ to also have the versions of versioned BSCW documents transferred to
your local briefcase folder. If this option is not activated, only the current
version of a versioned BSCW document is transferred to the local briefcase
folder during synchronization.
Check the option ‘Expand local document names by default extension’ to have
document names expanded by standard file extensions when transferred to the
local briefcase folder. A BSCW document docname of file type ‘Adobe PDF’,
e.g., will be transferred to the local briefcase as docname.pdf.
Presence: Uncheck the option offered when your presence in BSCW and the date of your last login is not to be shown to other users.
Subsection ‘Basic Preferences’:
Display theme: Select ‘Black & White’ for a less colourful BSCW interface or ‘BSCW (Orange)’ to switch back to the standard.
Maximal number of visible entries in folder listings: Use this option to limit the number of entries shown in a folder listing. If the number of entries in a folder listing exceeds the maximum you specify here, the listing is split up into several pages and you have to leaf through the listing instead of scrolling. Buttons leading to the next or previous page are provided at the top and bottom of the entry list.
Set font size by browser: Check this option if you want to control the font size in the BSCW user interface via your browser settings. If this option is not checked, browser settings concerning the font size are ignored and BSCW controls the font size of its interface.
Remember each folder’s view options: Check this option if you want to individually store the viewing options of each folder. If this option is not checked, viewing options set for one folder are valid for each and every other folder. For details see 3.8.4 Views on folders, especially the subsection on the scope of viewing option.
Open documents in preview: Activating this option
changes BSCW’s way to open documents. Text, HTML and PDF documents are displayed
in a BSCW page with buttons for downloading, printing and editing, if at all
possible. Other types of documents (e.g. Powerpoint presentations) may also be
presented this way, if the respective PDF converters are installed on your BSCW
server.
When this option is not active, text,
HTML and PDF documents are opened directly in the browser, other documents are
opened in the respective local applications or are offered for download.
Use internal PDF viewer for preview: If you have opted for opening text, HTML and PDF documents in BSCW preview (see preceding option), activating this option avoids preview problems that could arise from your browser settings, which could e.g. require that such documents are to be offered for download.
Use pop-up dialogs: Check this option when you prefer to have action forms presented as pop-up windows in a tabbed format. If this option is not checked, action forms will be presented standard forms with sections that may be folded and unfolded for better overview.
Optimize date input for pointer device (mouse): Check this option if you prefer to enter dates using selection lists and your mouse instead of typing them directly using your keyboard.
Subsection ‘Icons in instant access bar’: Check the icons you want to have presented in the instant access bar.
Subsection ‘Icons in action shortcut bar’: Check the icons you want to have presented in the action shortcut bar.
Show portal at login: Check this option when you want BSCW to come up with your personal portal when you start a BSCW session.
Number of entries in widgets: Specify the default maximum number of entries to be shown at a time in widgets that are organized as a list of entries, like workspaces, events, news etc. Widgets are the rectangular windows that make up your personal portal.
My network: Define the range of addressees for posting microblog messages inside a private area, e.g. inside your home folder. This can be either your social network, i.e. all users with whom you share a workspace or community, either directly or indirectly, or the members of a shared workspace.
Since your social network may become very large, you should consider restricting top-level microblogging to the more manageable member group of a workspace.
Note: Your BSCW administrator may have disabled the possibility of posting microblog messages to your entire social network; in this case you have to choose a member group as your microblogging network.
Time scale, Week start, Workdays: Specify on what time scale appointments are to be presented in day and week view, the first day of the week and what counts as workdays for you. The latter settings govern the arrangement of your calendar views.
Generally add all tasks that you create to your task list: Your task list (accessible via ) contains all tasks that you are to carry out. If you want to monitor also tasks that you create, i.e. request of other people, via your task list, check this option.
For appointments, you may specify whether
•appointments that you create in a group calendar are automatically copied into your personal calendar (also if you do not participate!),
•appointments from whose participant list you are removed are automatically deleted from your personal calendar,
•your participation in appointments that you delete from your personal calendar is automatically declined, and whether
•appointments are to be shown in a new browser window.
BSCW provides several event services that notify about new events and new microblog messages in BSCW. The different event services use different ways of delivery for the notifications. For the event services that you have activated, you may subscribe to the notification about different event types (read events, create events etc.) and different microblog message types. For details see 3.6.4.1 Setting the default notification options.
Subsection ‘Active Event Services’:
Here, you may select the event services most suitable for your needs by checking the respective options.
Subsection ‘Event Types Subscribed’:
Here, you may subscribe to being notified about the different event types for the active event services. By folding out the menus of the different services you are presented with the different event types. You may also check a complete event service that will then notify you about events of all types.
Subsection ‘Microblog Messages’:
Here, you may subscribe to being notified about the different microblog message types for the active event services. By folding out the menus of the different services you are presented with the different message types. You may also check a complete event service that will then notify you about events of all types. This subsection appears only if microblogging has been activated for your BSCW server.