3 - Creating a workspace

Any app or event creation project in Backstage is called a workspace. The workspace will contain all the content and functionalities that will be used in the event.

Workspaces are created by organization administrators via the workspace creation wizard. To note, when creating a workspace, the creator of the workspace is automatically added as a participant in the created workspace's user list.

This article will take you through all the basic steps needed to create a workspace in Backstage, using the workspace creation wizard.

Creating a workspace

In the Backstage home page, to the right of the screen, click on Create a workspace.

The workspace creation wizard will take you through the necessary steps for creating a workspace.

STEP 1 - Selecting a workspace template

In the first step of the wizard, you will select a workspace template.

Templates contain re-usable content, configurations, and default settings, so selecting one that meets your needs during the workspace creation process will save you time when building and configuring your event.

Here, using the buttons at the top, you can choose to display all the templates available to your organization, those that actually belong to your organization, or only the SpotMe templates.

For more advanced information on creating and managing templates for your organization, you can refer to the Workspace templates article.

Once you have selected your workspace template, click on Next.

Step 2 - Adding the workspace information

In step 2 of the wizard, you can start to add the details of your workspace:

Workspace name
Enter the name of the workspace or event that will be displayed in Backstage and in the app.
This name, which should be kept relatively short, can later be edited via the In-app display settings. More information

Starts and Ends at
Enter the dates and times when the event will start and end.
This is the period during which the workspace or app will be used by the app users. Please note that once the end date has passed you will no longer be able to modify these dates.

Event specifications
Select an Event format:
- Choose "virtual" if all of your attendees will be joining remotely (there are no in-person attendees).
- Choose "in-person" if all of your attendees will be physically joining the event venue (there are no remote attendees and there will be no live streaming).
- Choose "hybrid" if your attendees will be joining both in-person and remotely.

Select an Audience type:
- Choose "internal" if more than 60% of your attendees are from within the workspace's organization.
- Choose "external" if more than 60% of your attendees are from outside the workspace's organization.
- Choose "mixed" if the distribution between internal and external attendees is close to 50/50.

Select a Scope for the event:
- Global: If attendees will be joining from across the world or from multiple distinct continents.
- Regional: If attendees will be joining from a single continent (i.e. Europe) or a group of continents (i.e. EMEA).
- Local: If attendees will be joining from a single country or state/region within a country.

Expected attendees
Select the expected number of app users for the event.

Privacy policies
Select your organization's privacy policy document(s) that the app users will need to acknowledge in order to access the app.

Default app to host this workspace
Select the mobile app that will house the new workspace (or event) that you are creating. The workspace will only be visible in this selected container app, as well as the web-app by default.
For virtual events, If you are using SpotMe registration, the container app you choose will determine the link to access the registration page. If you are not using SpotMe registration, select your usual container app.

Once you have added the workspace details, click on Next.

STEP 3 - Adding the workspace event type

In the third step of the wizard, you can choose the type of event, using the available options:

If you select the "Other" option, you can use the open text field to enter your own event type.

Click on Next once you have selected the event type.

STEP 4 - Adding the workspace location and timezone

For the fourth step of the wizard, you will need to add the location and the timezone of the event.

Country
Choose the country where your event is taking place, or select multiple countries if your event is being hosted from multiple locations.

Location
This is open text. You can enter a location where the event takes place (such as a city) or add things like "Paris headquarters" or "All divisions" or "Fully virtual".

Timezone
Select the timezone of the workspace. This is typically the timezone of the event team creating the workspace, or that of the main venue. It will be used as a basis for scheduling the agenda sessions, notifications, and generating reports. The times used in the event will automatically adapt to the participants' timezone via the app.

Data location
Select the country or continent where the workspace data will be hosted.

You should take into consideration the below when choosing the data location/server, especially when your event spans across multiple regions:

1. Data privacy and law enforcement, as well as any internal organization policies or compliances that may exist. More information on data residency and privacy compliance.
2. We recommend that you choose a region that is both close to the majority of your audience and to the producer of the live stream (if the event is virtual/hybrid). If in doubt, please select the region that is located closest to the live stream producer.

Click on Next once you have provided the requested information.

STEP 5 - Summary of the workspace

At this stage, a summary of all the workspace information that you have provided throughout the wizard is displayed.

You can review the information here and make any necessary changes by selecting the corresponding Edit links.

If needed, you can also click on Back to return to any of the previously completed wizard steps.

Once you have verified all the information, please select Create workspace. 

Backstage will now create the workspace. While the workspace is being created, feel free to click on the See more links in the screen to find out more about using Backstage.

Once the workspace is created, Backstage will take you to the workspace's dashboard.

NEXT STEP
Continue to the Workspace dashboard article.