There are two similar but different modes of collaborating within Sugar:

• Send an invitation to collaborate on an Activity.
• Share an Activity in the Neighborhood View.

The difference between the two modes is subtle but important.  When you send an invitation, you have specific control over who joins you. When you share with the neighborhood, you are opening your Activity up to anyone who is visible in the Neighborhood View. 

Sending an invitation

If you want a friend to join you in an Activity, send them an invitation. You can invite as many friends as you'd like by following the steps outlined below. The steps use the example of inviting someone to talk in the Chat Activity. 

Step 1: Start the Activity.

You must be running an Activity in order to send an invitation. For example, open Chat from the Home View.

Step 2: Go to the Neighborhood View or the Group View.

Step 3: Hover over the icon of the friend you'd like to invite, and click Invite to.

Your friend receives the invitation.

Step 4: Return to your Activity and start collaborating.

For example, switch back to the Chat Activity. 

Receiving and accepting an invitation

Step 1: Notice that you have an invitation. 

The notification of an invitation appears in the upper-left corner of the screen and on the Frame.

The invitation is an Activity icon.  The icon is the color of the person who sent the invitation.

Step 2: Click the icon to accept the invitation. 

You can accept the invitation from the Neighborhood View or the Frame.

In the Neighborhood View, click the other user's icon.

On the Frame, click the invitation icon, or click Join on the icon's hover menu.

Note: You do not have to accept an invitation. Just ignore it or click Decline on the invitation icon's hover menu.

Step 3: Start collaborating.

As soon as you accept an invitation, you switch to the Activity.

While you are collaborating, your collaborators' icons appear on the Frame.

When you leave the Activity, you end the collaboration.

Sharing an Activity

You can share an Activity if you want anyone from your Neighborhood View to join you.

Step 1: Start the Activity.

You must be running an Activity in order to share it. For example, open Record from the Home View.

Step 2: Once the Activity is running, select the Activity tab.

Step 3: On the Share with menu, click My Neighborhood.

An icon representing your shared Activity appears in the Neighborhood View.

Your XO icon appears above the Activity icon in the Neighborhood View.

Joining a shared Activity

You can join any Activity that appears in the Neighborhood View.

Step 1: From the Neighborhood View, click the icon representing the shared Activity you would like to join.

Step 2: Start collaborating.

The Activity opens as soon as you click the Activity's icon. 

The approach to collaboration varies from Activity to Activity. In the Record Activity, thumbnails of photographs are shared.  The photograph's frame is in the same colors as the XO icon of the person who took the photo.

On your Frame, you can see the icons of all of the people you are collaborating with.

You can exit a shared Activity at any time by clicking the Activity tab and clicking the Stop icon.