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Policies for the Connections Desktop Plug-ins for Windows

Set preferences and policies to control how users interact with the Connections Desktop plug-in for Windows.

The following table shows preference and policy settings that control the behavior of the Connections Desktop plug-in for Windows. These registry values are not created during installation. You must create the keys/values as needed. If a key/value does not exist, the appropriate default is assumed. Setting values to anything other than the values listed in the table produces unpredictable results.

Note: For 64-bit computers, the registry settings are stored in HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM instead of in HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM (used for 32-bit computers).

Desktop plug-in for Windows.

Enter registry keys with no line breaks. They are formatted for readability in the tables.

Key/SubKey:
(HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM) or
(HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM on 64-bit)

Name (Type = String) Values Description
Social Connectors/Settings Hide ShellExt 0 – Display Context Menu (Default)

1 – Do not display Context Menu

Control the default visibility preference of the Windows Explorer context menu extension.

Set this value overrides a user preference if the policy is also set to Disable (value = 1)

Social Connectors/Settings Hide ShellExt Policy 0 – Enable Preference (Default)

1 – Disable Preference

Controls whether users can modify the preferences value.

HKCU/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/
CurrentVersion/Explorer/
HideDesktopIcons/ClassicStartMenu

32-bit OS {A0D85EDF-50B5-4B12-9D74-0D69E6729A11}

64-bit OS {21034BDC-B57E-400b-A5D5-2B1E98502805} Type = DWORD

0 – Show (Default)

1 – Hide

Controls hiding of the Desktop Icon when using the classic Start Menu. This must be set per user (HKCU).

HKCU/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/
Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/
HideDesktopIcons/NewStartPanel

32-bit OS {A0D85EDF-50B5-4B12-9D74-0D69E6729A11} 64-bit OS {21034BDC-B57E-400b-A5D5-2B1E98502805} Type = DWORD 0 – Show (Default)

1 – Hide

Controls hiding of the Desktop Icon when using the default Start Menu. This must be set per user (HKCU).
Social Connectors/Settings Hide Desktop Icon Policy 0 – Enable Preference (Default)

1 – Disable Preference

Controls whether users can modify the value via the General tab of the Preferences dialog.
Social Connectors/Settings SendLink MailApp mailto – Use mailto: protocol <MAPI program> - Registered name of email program

Example: IBM Notes

Set the default email application in the General tab of the Preferences dialog.

If set to mailto the mailto: protocol is used instead of MAPI.

Social Connectors/Settings UnpublishedPrompt 0 – Do not display prompt

1 – Display prompt (Default)

Control the default setting of the unpublished draft warning.

Set this value will override the user's preference if the policy is also set to Disabled.

Social Connectors/Settings UnpublishedPrompt Policy 0 – Allow Hiding (Default)

1 – Disable Hiding

Controls whether end users can elect to hide the unpublished draft warning.
Social Connectors/Settings ShowInfoBubbles 0 – Do not show Alerts

1 – Show Alerts (Default)

Control the default setting for alerting that local drafts need to be saved.
Social Connectors/Settings ShowInfoBubbles Policy 0 – Enable Preference (Default)

1 – Disable Preference

Controls whether users can change the ShowInfoBubbles preference.
Social Connectors/Settings MonitorWarnOnClose 0 – Do not warn on close

1 – Warn on close (Default)

Controls display of warning message when drafts monitor is closed.
Social Connectors/Settings MonitorWarnOnClose Policy 0 – Enable Preference (Default)

1 – Disable Preference

Controls whether warning dialog can be suppressed by users.
Social Connectors/Settings EnableCacheCleanup 0 – Disable Cache Cleanup (Default)

1 – Enable Cache Cleanup

Default setting for enabling/disabling cache cleanup.
Social Connectors/Settings EnableCacheCleanup Policy 0 – Enable Preferences (Default)

1 – Disable Preferences

Controls whether users can change any of the Cache settings.
Social Connectors/Settings CacheAge <days> - number of days

Min – 1 (Default)

Max – 100

Files not accessed within the specified number of days will be deleted.
Social Connectors/Settings CacheFrequency <minutes> - number of minutes

Min – 5

Max – 1,440

Default –120

How often to check temporary files in minutes.
Social Connectors/Settings ScanIgnoreExtensions <Comma separated extensions> List of extensions to ignore changes on. This list will be merged with any user preferences unless the policy is set to Disable.

Example: gif, jpeg, mpg

Change this setting requires that you restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Social Connectors/Settings ScanIgnoreExtensions Policy 0 – Enable Preference (Default)

1 – Disable Preference

Set the policy to disable will prevent users from adding file extensions to the ignore list.
Social Connectors/Settings Password Save Policy 0 – Allow Saving (Default)

1 – Do not Allow Saving

Controls whether users can persist passwords locally. Passwords are stored in the Windows Credential Store.
Social Connectors/Settings Default Auth Type 0 – Basic Authentication (Default)

1 – Custom

Control the default authentication type in the Add Site dialog.
Social Connectors/Settings Default Auth Type Policy 0 – Enable Authentication dropdown (default)

1 – Disable Authentication dropdown

Set the policy to disable will prevent users from selecting and changing the authentication type in the Add Site dialog.
Social Connectors/Settings Default Auth Ext When 'Default Auth Type' is set to custom, this setting controls which custom extension is used designated by GUID

{864B3A20-AC5D-4109-A55F-A1BD2FA6BDE9} – IBM SmartCloud

{EA483EAD-9E64-4ECC-BDDD-BF8B1D72A1C6} – Siteminder

{4B9448AB-DF3D-4859-A3CA-365389096497} – SPNEGO

{B5BAD66C-CF6F-4FA5-9BC7-EF36C76D331A} – TAM

{FB5CF435-95ED-4FE6-BB7D-95F82DB65C5C} – TAM+SPNEGO

{CCD9158D-BCD9-4DCD-81B2-48E21D670F5C} – SiteMinder+SPNEGO

Controls which custom authentication module will display by default. For example, to use Tivoli Access Manger authentication, set this to {B5BAD66C-CF6F-4FA5-9BC7-EF36C76D331A} and then set Default Auth Type to Custom.

If this preference is not configured there is no default.

Social Connectors BasicAuthEncoding (Type is DWORD) 28591 - (ISO8895-1) (Default)

65001 - (UTF8)

Select encoding type for credentials when using basic authentication.
Social Connectors LFFilesRoot <path to existing directory>

%HOMEPATH%\ LFFiles (Default)

Default root directory for downloaded files. This must be set to a non-shared local directory on the client system. Once set, it only affects newly added servers, communities, or people.

Change this setting requires that you restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Social Connectors/Settings Enable Metrics String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Disable Metrics Support (Default)

1 – Enable Metrics Support

When support is enabled for metrics, usage data about certain operations is gathered from the client. Operations such as displaying a View, for example, the "My Files" view, provides metrics that display in the Connections server metrics reports.

Metrics are not available for SmartCloud.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Activities String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Activities (Default)

1 – Disable Activities

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Activities feature, such as Add to Activities.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins.

You might use this setting if you have no sites available that support Activities.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Blogs String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Blogs (Default)

1 – Disable Blogs

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Blogs feature, such as Add to Blogs.

Menu items and ribbon controls will be hidden.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins

You might use this setting if you have no Sites available that support Blogs.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Bookmarks String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Bookmarks (Default)

1 – Disable Bookmarks

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Bookmarks feature, such as Insert Bookmark.

Menu items and ribbon controls are hidden.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins

You might use this setting if you have no Sites available that support Bookmarks.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Profiles String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Profiles (Default)

1 – Disable Profiles

Set this value to 1 disables all of the user interface options related to the Profiles feature, such as Invite to my network.

Menu items and ribbon controls are visible but disabled.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins.

You might use this setting if you have no Sites available that support Profiles.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Wikis String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Wikis (Default)

1 – Disable Wikis

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Wikis feature, such as Add to Wikis.

Menu items and ribbon controls are hidden.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins.

You might use this setting if you have no Sites available that support Wikis.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Search String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 – Enable Search (Default)

1 – Disable Search

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Search feature.

Menu items and ribbon controls are hidden.

This setting affects the Explorer, Office, and Outlook plug-ins

You might use this setting if you have no Search service available.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Community Bookmarks String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = community bookmarks enabled, allows adding bookmarks to community bookmarks (Default)

1 = community bookmarks disabled, prohibits adding bookmarks to community bookmarks.

Set this value to 1 hides all of the user interface options related to the Community bookmarks feature.

Menu items and ribbon controls are hidden.

This setting affects the Office plug-ins.

You might use this setting if you have no Communities support or no Community Bookmarks support.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Groups String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = groups enabled, allows sharing with Groups where appropriate in sharing dialogs (Default)

1 = groups disabled, will disable sharing with groups where appropriate in sharing dialogs

This setting disables the ability for users to share with groups. This corresponds to the server policy.

There is no "Disable Groups Policy" setting.

Social Connectors/Settings Disable Public Sharing String

Default – null (not in registry)

Default behavior is enabled for public sharing

0 = public sharing enabled, will allow sharing with Everyone (Public) or Everyone in Organization (for SmartCloud) where appropriate in sharing dialogs (Default)

1 = public sharing disabled, disables sharing with Everyone (Public) or Everyone in Organization (for SmartCloud) where appropriate in sharing dialogs

This setting disables the ability for users to share with Everyone (Public) for Connections, or with Everyone in Organization for SmartCloud.

There is no "Disable Public Sharing Policy.”

Social Connectors/Settings Share Intent String Default – null (not in registry)

Default behavior is Sharing Intent enabled

0 = sharing intent setting is not checked

1 = sharing intent setting is checked (Default)

This setting sets the default value for the sharing intent setting on new file and new folder dialogs. This setting also applies when we create a My File Sync folder.
Social Connectors/Settings Share Intent Policy String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = user can change the sharing intent setting (Default)

1 = user cannot change the sharing intent setting

This setting controls whether the user can change the default value for the sharing intent setting on new file and new folder dialogs, including the dialog for creating a My File Sync folder. If the policy is set, the user cannot change the setting.
Social Connectors/Settings Share Propagation String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = sharing propagation setting is not checked

1 = sharing propagation setting is checked (Default)

This setting sets the default value for the sharing propagation setting on new file and new folder and sharing dialogs.
Social Connectors/Settings Share Propagation Policy String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = user can change the sharing propagation setting (Default)

1 = user cannot change the sharing propagation setting

This setting controls whether the user can change the default value for the sharing propagation setting on new file and new folder and sharing dialogs. If the policy is set, the user cannot change the setting.
Social Connectors/Settings Encrypt String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = Encrypt option is not checked (Default)

1 = Encrypt option is checked

This setting sets the default value for the Encryption setting on New File dialogs and the dialog for creating a Sync folder.
Social Connectors/Settings Encrypt Policy String

Default – null (not in registry)

0 = user can change the Encryption setting (Default)

1 = user cannot change the Encryption setting

This setting controls whether the user can change the default value for the Encryption setting on New File dialogs and the dialog for creating a Sync folder. If the policy is set, the user cannot change the setting.
Social Connectors/Settings DefaultConnectURL <server url> Enter the URL to use as the default site URL in the Connect to a Site dialog.
Social Connectors/Settings DefaultConnectName <server display name> This display name is the default server display name in the Connect to a Site dialog.
Social Connectors/Settings Help URL

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Using_the_IBM_Connections_Desktop_Plugins_for_Microsoft_Windows_lv45 (Default)

“http://” or “https://” is required as part of the url

The url for help for the entire product.
Social Connectors/Settings HelpConnectURL

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Using_the_IBM_Connections_Desktop_Plugins_for_Microsoft_Windows_lv45 (Default)

“http://” or “https://” is required as part of the url

The URL for help on the Connect to Site dialog. This setting overrides the setting for HelpURL
Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings DefaultConnectURL String

Default - null

The URL that shows by default in the Connect to Site dialog for a new server.
Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings DefaultConnectName String

Default - null

The name that will show by default in the Connect to Site dialog for a new server

The following table shows preference and policy settings that control the behavior of community libraries. These registry values are not created during installation. You must create the keys/values as needed. If a key/value does not exist, the appropriate default is assumed. Setting values to anything other than the values listed in the table produces unpredictable results.

Note: For 64-bit computers, the registry settings are stored in HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM instead of in HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM (used for 32-bit computers).

registry keys with no line breaks. They are formatted for readability in the tables.
Key/SubKey (HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM) or (HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM on 64-bit) Name (Type = String) Values Description
Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings\Libraries AddDocument Default – null (not in registry)

0 = Always check in documents

1 = Always add as private drafts

2 = Prompt me (Default)

This setting defines the default behavior of the plug-in when the user adds a document to a Library. The default behavior is to prompt the user to choose the action.

Overrides user preference if policy is also set.

Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings\Libraries AddDocument Policy Default – null (not in registry)

0 = user can change the AddDocument setting (Default)

1 = user cannot change the AddDocument setting

Controls whether users can modify the AddDocument setting.
Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings\Libraries DoubleClick Default – null (not in registry)

0 = Always check out

1 = Always open without check out

2 = Prompt me (Default)

This setting defines the default behavior of the plug-in when the user double-clicks a document in a library.

Overrides user preference if policy is also set.

Software\IBM\Social Connectors\Settings\Libraries DoubleClick Policy Default – null (not in registry)

0 = user can change the DoubleClick setting (Default)

1 = user cannot change the DoubleClick setting

Controls whether users can change the DoubleClick setting.

Key/SubKey (HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM) or (HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM on 64-bit) Name (Type = String) Values Description
Social Connectors/Office/OSC MaxFriends <friends> - number of friends

Min – 100

Max – 9999

Default - 500

Maximum number of friends that can be downloaded from the user's network to create outlook contacts. Values that are entered are rounded up to the next 100. For example, 111 would be treated as 200.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC MaxNews <items> - number of news items

Min – 100

Max – 9999

Default - 500

Maximum number of activities that are downloaded from the news feed and stored in the outlook cache via OSC framework. Values that are entered are rounded up to the next 100. For example, 111 would be treated as 200.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC DaysSince Min – 1

Max – 14599 (year 1970)

Default - 14

When you receive news activities, this setting specifies how many days to go back in time from the current day.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC HashedSearchParm hashEmail Name of the property in a users profile to compare with the HashEmail. Can be used to test hash email lookup is working when server cannot be configured
Social Connectors/Office/OSC HashFunction Default – SHA1

Other values are MD5 or CRC32MD5

The hash algorithm used to compare the email addresses. This value is passed to Outlook and it returns a hashed value of the email address using this type.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableDynamicActivities 0 – Disable DynActivities (Default)

1 – Enable DynActivities

Enable getting dynamic news items for users. This setting requires the server be configured to handle the Hashed SearchParam
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableDynamicContacts 0 – Disable DynContacts (Default)

1 – Enable DynContacts

Enable getting dynamic contacts. This setting requires the server be configured to handle the Hashed SearchParam
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableContacts 0 – Disable Contacts (Default)

1 – Enable Contacts

Get contacts for Profiles Network and create Outlook contacts

Key/SubKey (HKLM/SOFTWARE/IBM) or (HKLM/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/IBM on 64-bit) Name (Type = String) Values Description
Social Connectors/Office/OSC MaxFriends <friends> - number of friends

Min – 100

Max – 9999

Default - 500

Maximum number of friends that can be downloaded from the user's network to create outlook contacts. Values that are entered are rounded up to the next 100. For example, 111 would be treated as 200.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC MaxNews <items> - number of news items

Min – 100

Max – 9999

Default - 500

Maximum number of activities that are downloaded from the news feed. These are stored in the outlook cache via OSC framework. Values that are entered are rounded up to the next 100. For example, 111 would be treated as 200.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC DaysSince Min – 1

Max – 14599 (year 1970)

Default - 14

When you subscribe to news activities, this setting specifies how many days to go back in time from the current day.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC HashedSearchParm Default - hashEmail The name of the property in a users profile to compare with the HashEmail. Can be used to test hash email lookup is working when server cannot be configured.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC HashFunction Default – SHA1

Other values are MD5 or CRC32MD5

The hash algorithm used to compare the email addresses. This value is passed to Outlook and it returns a hashed value of the email address using this type.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableDynamicActivities 0 – Disable DynActivities (Default)

1 – Enable DynActivities

Enable getting dynamic news items for users. This setting requires the server be configured to handle the Hashed SearchParam.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableDynamicContacts 0 – Disable DynContacts (Default)

1 – Enable DynContacts

Enable getting dynamic contacts. This setting requires the server be configured to handle the Hashed SearchParam.
Social Connectors/Office/OSC EnableContacts 0 – Disable Contacts

1 – Enable Contacts (Default)

Get contacts for Profiles Network and create Outlook contacts.


Parent topic:
IBM Connections Desktop Plug-ins for Windows