Modeler for SharePoint by IntranetFactory
Product Summary
The Modeler is a free online service providing a new, unique approach for SharePoint implementations: rapid interactive prototyping. The Modeler allows to build and manage the structure of a SharePoint site ("the Model") independently of the real implementation. It allows you to design your pages by simply dragging & dropping components onto a page, with all SharePoint components (like web parts and list templates) predefined.
Build the site structure:
- The structure of a Model is similar to a site map: a hierarchical tree of sites and pages. The structure could quickly be rearranged by dragging & dropping of pages to a new position in the tree.
Construct the pages:
- New pages and custom page templates can easily be added by just dropping web parts to a page. All web parts provided by SharePoint are supported as well as our additional web parts. A generic placeholder allows to even include custom and third party web parts.
Instantly visualize ideas:
- Each Model could be visualized instantly as an interactive wireframe. Wireframes look like sketches of SharePoint pages – but they go far beyond anything a simple drawing could. Not only do they show the layout of the pages as well as its navigation, structure and content but they are also clickable. Thus, you can let people navigate the site as they would if the wireframes were real SharePoint pages, getting feedback from users at an early stage. While you can model a prototype using paper or other tools, the more realistic the model is, the better visualization and feedback you will get.
Deploy the site in minutes:
- The Modeler is more than just a design tool: your Model could even be implemented automatically. By eliminating the tedious manual set-up of SharePoint the Modeler provides the ultimate FastTrack to SharePoint. The optional Sharepoint Factory automatically installs and implements your custom site on your SharePoint server in minutes.
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User reviews
View all user reviewsAverage user rating from: 12 user(s)
Very useful tool - fantastic free service
This is a fantastic tool, especially since it's specifically geared toward SharePoint.
Product Reviews
Quick to learn
Easy to use
Did I mention free?
Fantastic Tool
First Impression: I found this webpage to be very useful upon first time using it. There is not a lot of detail involved, however, there is enough to let the user see what the concept will be...and that is just enough.
Navigation: The webpage was easy to follow. Everything was broken down in categories so it was easy to manoeuvre your way through the site. In addition, I did not have to utilize the help menu on the right hand side of the site. The user interface is very simple, and the user friendly GUI is very intuitive and easy to use.
Improvements: The only improvement I would like to see is; how will my intranet site look once it is finished and ready to implement within SharePoint 2010.
Additional Comments: I was stunned that the site would actually let you model your entire intranet site and save it when you came back to work on it. I have been working on this for approx a month now, and I am impressed with the website’s ability to make the tools available and easy to use, and FREEE.
Excellent Product, Highly Recommend
Your tool worked very well for me. I thought at first that the Modeler was a Flash object but I was surprised to see this is not the case. Very well-designed browser-based tool.
Product Reviews
Great product for rapid SharePoint design and impl
The IntranetFactory Modeler is an excellent tool for SharePoint prototypes. It is intuitive, easy to set up, and most importantly, it works.
If fast prototyping and implementation is a high priority for your company, then you should take a look at the other (non free) products provided by IntranetFactory. I went this route and am very happy with the results achieved as well as the level of support I received from their technical staff.
Recommendation
I’ve been evaluating your product (I’m actually running a SharePoint course this week). I really love the Modeler, and am impressed with the way it communicates with Factory with web services.
I think Modeler is a great tool actually, and have already started recommending it, and not just for SharePoint use.
Great tool for wireframing
I've looked at several wireframing tools and this one was simple, free and it worked well. I used it to design several pages which were emailed out to others for review.
I'll continue to use this tool.
Product Reviews
Free
Able to email a workign prototype to others for their review.
I got an email asking if I needed any help.
Helpful Tool
I used this recently to model a site. It was very useful in getting feed back and was very quick to show changes. Hard to beat for the price
Product Reviews
Easy to use
Quick to put a wireframe together to get feedback
Excellent SharePoint IA tool
Overall, remarkably powerful for a free tool
Product Reviews
Ability to switch between text-filled boxes or plain
Better showcase examples woudl help. Current models published ont he community are not very fleshed out
Wireframes a breeze in Modeler for SP
IntraNet Factory's Modeler for SharePoint was a breeze to both understand and use. No big learning curve here, after watching a couple of videos and poking around, I was up and running in under 20 minutes. Fortunately my SP needs ran fairly closely to the standard functionality of SP, and so the Modeler for the most part was able to wireframe what I wanted. If your needs run towards a more customized SP, Modeler may not offer what you need.
One drawback was the inability to add a page without it showing as a tab on the top. The work around was to hide it under an another page. I would have also liked to be able to have a workable "Quicklinks" section as well, since this is more of a functionality part, instead of typical content that should have placeholder text.
Overall though, a great tool. My audience was appreciative of the wireframe mockups and didn't get caught up in content, which is exactly the point.
Product Reviews
IntranetFactory - SharePoint Modeler/Modeler Conne
IntranetFactory "tools" are a great way to repidly get started on planning and designing (and then creating) the hiearchy of a SharePoint solution. The data architecting, creation of:
- content types, custom columns, and custom web parts, metadata requirements (business and operational need) ......... still need to be planed for and met prior to using the SharePoint Modeler - but that is how it should be!
Product Reviews
- graphically map out the hierarchy and user interface of a SharePoint solution without having to "build" the individual sites and pages.
- identify out-of-the-box web parts and 3rd party/custom web parts to be used on each site/page.
- understand how information/files/data will "move"through the SharePoint solution
The Modeler Connector allows me to:
- rapidly build the sites and pages of the SharePoint solution without having to create each myself and gain feedback from the team
- change the solution (using modeler) without having to manually delete sites and rebuild them
Collectively the IntranetFactory "tools" generate:
- Site Map (overview of report)
- Complete Model Documentation (including wireframe diagrams of the sites, pages and web parts)
reports that I then use as the basis to further "detail" the solution and document its features, functionality and training requirements
- an Implementation Guide
There is currently no way to introduce custom site/page templates into the modeler and those provided are basic and do not include header an footer zones.