Green Grass Studios, a leading design communication firm based in Dallas, recently approached us about developing a customized client extranet for them. As Ryan Iltis of Green Grass explains it:

“Basically, Cozimo had everything we were looking for, but we really just wanted to provide a better experience for our clients by providing them with customized access through our website.”

Well, rather than develop a custom solution for Green Grass, we decided this would be a better opportunity to work with them to develop the features they were looking for as part of our standard services.

We’re now pleased to introduce the results of this collaboration with a number of new customization features. These include the ability to create an alternate branded login page (at a branded URL) and the ability to display a custom logo in place of the Cozimo logo when any collaboration folders created under that account are accessed. These features are now available as part of our standard services starting at the “Plus” level plan and higher.

Unless you’re a freelancer, the typical way to use this feature is to set up an account under the name of your company that can act as an “umbrella” account for all the project workgroups your company maintains (this is also, by the way, the most economical approach). The username of the account automatically becomes part of your custom URL. For example, Green Grass Studios created their account with the username “greengrass” and have created a custom client login page available through the “client login” link on their website homepage or at http://greengrass.cozimo.com. (Adding this logo is done by going to Account Settings > Update your personal profile.)

When using an umbrella account, one administrator can set up all the project workgroups that are required for the company and invite the relevant staff members to be part of the workgroups established. Each individual in the company should sign up for a free personal account with Cozimo in order to participate and personally identify themselves in the workgroups they are involved in. A great benefit to this approach is that your personal account can be used to participate in any Cozimo workgroup, whether it originates from your own company or from any other company you work with. With your one personal login and password you can access all your project content and messages from a single secure online location. That may not seem so important when you’re just starting out, but as your network and the number of workgroups you are involved with grow, you’ll find it becomes an invaluable time saver and organizational tool for you.