ActiveCollab 1.0 - First Impressions
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This is my first impression after 48 hours using AC 1.0 (corporate)
What i love:
- Installed on (mt), the site is running really FAST
This is crucial to me.
- Also, cross project search (a feature that was painfully missing on 0,71)
Combined with Firefox Custom Keyboard Search, i can now search and fetch all information from Firefox address bar instantly.
- The interface is stylish, clear, usable, easy to navigate.
Incidentally, the demo/try site is useless as there is no dummy data to show newcomers how AC1.0 works, and its features
- After Sale Support has been formidable. I guess the support team is tiny, but the competence is A-class. This was also on my top-priority list.
- Compared to the free open-sources around, Yes, lots of them are incredibly well featured, but a lot more complicated to install, slower, too difficult to use for non techy clients. Beside, After Sale support isn't around, unless you're prepared to pay a premium.
- The iCal sync and RSS feeds are priceless and fantastic to use.
- The Assignment page is also a brilliant feature, when things become overwhelmingly complicated , one can get directions again.
- I've just noticed that we receive the full body text content of Discussions/Milestones/Pages right in our mail box. So we don't need to go log in to ready communication. Great !
What's missing:
- No copy/move/paste for Projects, Milestones, Files, Checklists, Pages.
To me, the most important missing feature. (AC is working on a solution)
Right now, only Discussions and Tickets can be copied/moved across projects.
So, I'm hacking my way around by using mainly Discussions and Tickets, so that i can reuse the data across future project, and copy the permanent information to my general wikis.
- No general Wiki (cross-project Pages) . The AC Pages (sort of wiki) are assigned per project. But i need two "general" wikis where i copy/paste information gathered during projects, that can be used as permanent reference.
For now, I've set up a project named "Wiki - Back-Office" and one named "Wiki - Clients" (again, I read on the forum that AC is also dealing with this one) - Enabling copy/paste/move across projects would solve the "general wiki issue"
- Cannot Communicate directly from your favourite email client. i.e. I need to be able to receive an email from clients, reply to them, AND cc the message/file to the relevant project/milestone/task in AC, without having to log inside AC. Or i want to receive an alert task/ticket/discussion in my email, and just reply to it directly from my mail app. (very handy for thoses using smart-phones) I think this will be the killer feature.
I've been told that this feature is extremely complex to implement, so i'm not holding my breath on am upcoming feature release.
The only comfort is that AC itself renders fast. If AC can't get this feature working, could it produce an AC mobile version ?
- No localisation per user/client. I work with an international team, with English as our preferred language, but most clients are French. We do need each user/client/team-member to be able to choose their preferred language from their "profile" window. (Ilija had this feature planned and i'm told it will be shortly released)
- Hardly any documentation. Actually, There is a <a href="http://www.activecollab.com/support/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=1" title="User Guide">User Guide</a> slowly filling info
- Support tickets aren't shared on the forum. (we could save a lot of time, to us and the support team, if we had access to this)
- No Project report generator. I'd love to be able to print to rtf/html/pdf a complete report for each project, so it can be mailed on paper to clients, attached to deliverables or invoices.
- No automated recurring backup. Right now, i use my Web Hoster to backup the site and the db.
Conclusion:
- AC1.0 has nothing to do with 0.71, and no, it's not some cosmetic tarting up either.
- I hope Ilija keeps the feature wish-list as short as possible, others than what's above, and keep maintaining the app rendering fast, stable and robust.
- The main achievement is in the interface design, being able to present an extremely clear and easy to use interface for non-techy clients, whilst providing already a lot of complexity and features in the background.
Well worth the investment in money... and a little patience.
What i love:
- Installed on (mt), the site is running really FAST
This is crucial to me.
- Also, cross project search (a feature that was painfully missing on 0,71)
Combined with Firefox Custom Keyboard Search, i can now search and fetch all information from Firefox address bar instantly.
- The interface is stylish, clear, usable, easy to navigate.
Incidentally, the demo/try site is useless as there is no dummy data to show newcomers how AC1.0 works, and its features
- After Sale Support has been formidable. I guess the support team is tiny, but the competence is A-class. This was also on my top-priority list.
- Compared to the free open-sources around, Yes, lots of them are incredibly well featured, but a lot more complicated to install, slower, too difficult to use for non techy clients. Beside, After Sale support isn't around, unless you're prepared to pay a premium.
- The iCal sync and RSS feeds are priceless and fantastic to use.
- The Assignment page is also a brilliant feature, when things become overwhelmingly complicated , one can get directions again.
- I've just noticed that we receive the full body text content of Discussions/Milestones/Pages right in our mail box. So we don't need to go log in to ready communication. Great !
What's missing:
- No copy/move/paste for Projects, Milestones, Files, Checklists, Pages.
To me, the most important missing feature. (AC is working on a solution)
Right now, only Discussions and Tickets can be copied/moved across projects.
So, I'm hacking my way around by using mainly Discussions and Tickets, so that i can reuse the data across future project, and copy the permanent information to my general wikis.
- No general Wiki (cross-project Pages) . The AC Pages (sort of wiki) are assigned per project. But i need two "general" wikis where i copy/paste information gathered during projects, that can be used as permanent reference.
For now, I've set up a project named "Wiki - Back-Office" and one named "Wiki - Clients" (again, I read on the forum that AC is also dealing with this one) - Enabling copy/paste/move across projects would solve the "general wiki issue"
- Cannot Communicate directly from your favourite email client. i.e. I need to be able to receive an email from clients, reply to them, AND cc the message/file to the relevant project/milestone/task in AC, without having to log inside AC. Or i want to receive an alert task/ticket/discussion in my email, and just reply to it directly from my mail app. (very handy for thoses using smart-phones) I think this will be the killer feature.
I've been told that this feature is extremely complex to implement, so i'm not holding my breath on am upcoming feature release.
The only comfort is that AC itself renders fast. If AC can't get this feature working, could it produce an AC mobile version ?
- No localisation per user/client. I work with an international team, with English as our preferred language, but most clients are French. We do need each user/client/team-member to be able to choose their preferred language from their "profile" window. (Ilija had this feature planned and i'm told it will be shortly released)
- Hardly any documentation. Actually, There is a <a href="http://www.activecollab.com/support/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=1" title="User Guide">User Guide</a> slowly filling info
- Support tickets aren't shared on the forum. (we could save a lot of time, to us and the support team, if we had access to this)
- No Project report generator. I'd love to be able to print to rtf/html/pdf a complete report for each project, so it can be mailed on paper to clients, attached to deliverables or invoices.
- No automated recurring backup. Right now, i use my Web Hoster to backup the site and the db.
Conclusion:
- AC1.0 has nothing to do with 0.71, and no, it's not some cosmetic tarting up either.
- I hope Ilija keeps the feature wish-list as short as possible, others than what's above, and keep maintaining the app rendering fast, stable and robust.
- The main achievement is in the interface design, being able to present an extremely clear and easy to use interface for non-techy clients, whilst providing already a lot of complexity and features in the background.
Well worth the investment in money... and a little patience.
3mille.com | websemantique.com | virtuel-immobilier.com | flickr.com/photos/laurentsj/
Great feedback Laurent !
It really helps the decision making for a would be aC 1.0 buyer :)
About keeping the core light, couldn't agree more, the API is there just for that : facilitate integration with 3rd party apps and plugin developpement.
I think the API's documentation will play a key role in having developpers outside of a51 adding new resources. By the way while I am here, how will this be handled ? Will there be a plugin repository to centralize the resources or will it be scattered on each author's websites ?
It really helps the decision making for a would be aC 1.0 buyer :)
About keeping the core light, couldn't agree more, the API is there just for that : facilitate integration with 3rd party apps and plugin developpement.
I think the API's documentation will play a key role in having developpers outside of a51 adding new resources. By the way while I am here, how will this be handled ? Will there be a plugin repository to centralize the resources or will it be scattered on each author's websites ?
The best way to predict the future is to invent it
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Apache 2.2.8 - MySQL 5.0.45 - PHP 5.2.6 | Debian 4.0 (Etch)
