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Goal of this project

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This entry explains what the goal of activeCollab project is and how you can help

In order to make the development process more transparent and to let you know why I'm saying what I'm saying most of the time (“Not now” and “Its currently out of the scope” to some feature requests, “No” to some early integration proposals, “Yes” to more work on system level instead of feature lists etc) let me define goal of activeCollab project. Its rather simple:

High quality collaboration tool

When I say high quality I mean:

  • Active and open community that is not afraid to share and help
  • Consistent and easy to use interface
  • System that is easy to install and upgrade without data loss
  • Flexible platform that can be extended to fit specific user needs
  • Well designed, tested and flexible code that uses best programming practices
  • Solid API that will let other products and services be easily integrated with activeCollab
  • Up-to-date development and user documentation
  • Commercial services for companies and users who need warranty and reliability
  • Sustainable business model so we can guaranty our users that we'll be here in two or five years from now

Did I missed something?

That brings us to one really important thing that we need to make clear. If your contribution brings us closer to that goal then it will be welcomed, but if it does not serve that goal and distract us from reaching it then we don't need it.

How to get involved? You can contribute by making a code contribution, suggestion, bug report, feature request, you can help us with the design, provide us some resources or donate money. There is a lot of ways to help, but please lets not get distracted. Every move we take should brings us closer to high quality collaboration platform that is open, free, easy to set up and use and that make life of the users easier.

Please comment. I'd really like to know what the community thinks about this.

Posted on: 2006-08-22 1:53

Comments:

#1 avatar

Peter

2006-08-22 3:50

Ilja, if you manage to provide a robust API and have plugins supported, the rest will grow by itself.
#2 avatar

matthijs

2006-08-22 4:09

By having set such a clear mission statement and goals you are on the right track. Absolutely. Missing these or not giving them enough attention is – I think – one of the reasons why so many projects fail. Have been trying activecollab since last week and am already impressed. Looking forward to contribute, whether it’s with a small donation, a bug report or in some other way.
#3 avatar

Roland

2006-08-22 10:18

Hi,

I know it is boring but you forgot the documentation. This will start with a short description how to contribute to the project (e.g. to file a bug you have to post it into the forum).

A good documentation will also increase the attractiveness for corporate users (or the IT department ;-) – I especially like the screencasts, this is a good start.

Greetings from Frankfurt, Germany
Roland
#4 avatar

jive (Jonas Flint)

2006-08-22 10:25

Well said. I think first and foremost, the first thing that will contribute to this goal is simplicity. Something that has a small learning curve, is easy to use and have a clean UI. Users are hurried by nature and want what they want, when they want it without hassles. I would be willing to design comp layouts of such a UI and provide the psd if it would help contribute.

Like everyone else, I would like to see Active Collab rise well above the quality that is associated with basecamp (which in my oppinion, is only “ok”).

Please email if you are interested in this.
#5 avatar

Crake

2006-08-22 11:26

A clear plan and solid goals are the right way to go.
Community projects can become unstuck as everyone tries to have their ideas implemented so making it clear where this is going from the start is great.

I’ve just downloaded the software and will play around with it later and see if theres anything I can contribute.

#6 avatar

Ken Walker

2006-08-22 1:20

Roland, Ilja,

I’d love to contribute to the documentation. Should we be using the development wiki for that?

Thanks,
Ken
#7 avatar

Brett Payne

2006-08-22 11:14

Just doing the install now to coordinate interns that work for us. We should have a great work force that will communicate issues to us daily that we can pass along. Count us in for the future!
#8 avatar

Roland Woldt

2006-08-23 11:12

Ken,

this is a good idea for the development of the documentation.

There is already a TOC @ http://code.activecollab.com/trac/wiki/EndUserDocumentation which can be enhanced.

When there will be a “stable” version it should be in a more compact form – I always dislike to read many short pages online an prefer a single document with emebedded screenshots. This can be downloadable as PDF from the home page.

What do you think?

Best regards
Roland
#9 avatar

Blaze

2006-08-31 9:41

Ilja this all sounds good for a basis for the project. I’d like to help out with my expertise so when I get some spare time I may be able to help out :)
#10 avatar

Javier Giron

2006-09-26 10:43

This is a great Collaboration System, i have been using it in my company….its just great….would be even better if it was available in different languages…..spanish for example….if anyone knows where to modify this and change it manually thru the php, please let me know and afterwards i will psot the language file for everyone to have it and be able to use it.

Thanks
#11 avatar

geoffrey

2006-11-05 2:43

I am still searching for a wiki or other type of user guide. Has anyone else found a useful reference? We are launching the system to about 50 users tomorrow and I would love to send them to something. We have started a wiki but are not very experienced at it.

thanks.
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