Why Notes’ default templates should get an update 12 Jan, 2009
Notes 8.5 introduces an all-new standard discussion template using XPages and other elements of UI goodness. Great stuff. But as if we needed any more argument for why the out-of-the-box Notes templates should be given a make-over, Jeff Atwood clarifies (as ever) in a post about Windows:
Don’t bother improving your product unless it results in visible changes the user can see, find, and hopefully appreciate.
Amen to that. Jeff Atwood: If You Don’t Change the UI, Nobody Notices.
So I'm guessing they got some local chap, and so far we have little visible evidence of anything at all. Which is a bit of a shame, especially with the xPages push.
I'm of a mind to be far more brutal to customers from now on. You want this ? Upgrade to 8.5. ;-)
I'm sick of supporting every bleeding release right back to v4.5 (seriously). And I'm bleeding sick of them all looking exactly like they did back in v4.5 times - over 10 years ago.
---* BillBill#
It is now Dublin Software Lab (DSL) which is what you are referring to. They work on a number of products and features in there.
I doubt the overhaul though took a long time as in the Dublin workshop one of the developers created the discussion template basics in a matter of minutes as an example. Simon O'Doherty#
Surely there are enuff of us dev types that we could so a collaborative venture in smartening up the "out of the boxes"
I could give a couple of hours a week to tweaking a template and if 5 or 6 of us were to get our heads together we could prob do the blog template in a relatively short time.
Serve a couple of goals .. show folk how easy it is to do with the new tools without any IBM interference which is generally how most Notes apps get written and show that we as collaborative engineers can actually collaborate ;-)
Hey I might even have get real geeky blogs out of it!
If Chris is game he could get his low fat prototype crayons out after LS and give us something to shoot at.
Anyone up for it?Steve McDonagh#
Agree? Vote for it:
http://www.ideajam.net/IdeaJam/P/ij.nsf/0/74AEC51B7E458883862573A700781704?OpenDocumentCraig Wiseman#
But anyway - is there a need for an XPages blog template when it works just fine (and on every server version) and is the most up to date template at this point (client and web)? Not saying there will not be an XPages version - but are there not bigger/more important fish here?.
The other templates - well they are a different story and I probably bore people daily about them. But fear not and see what comes out of Lotusphere :)Steve Castledine#
What else… some kind of Team Room update for when Quickr is overkill. Maybe a wiki. A web CMS (although blog template works there too I guess). One or more basic workflow apps—expenses, holiday requests, that sort of thing. Helpdesk app. Time management app (project tracking / timesheets). Plenty of scope!Ben Poole#
Anyway, as others have suggested, I want to see more and it should offer some out of the box parity with SharePoint AND showcase what's possible. If thats a Doc Library or Knowledge data store then bloody brilliant!Colin Williams#
and i like the idea of the simplicity of the holiday request app as an example.Not to many trees to obscure the view for people to take to bits and put back together again.
Steve McDonagh#
Whoever fills this gap needs to do it properly and that takes an investment of time and money, both from that partner and from IBM. The nearest I think we get to this? (a) the composite apps components catalogue on OpenNTF (Composite Apps? Eh? OK, stop that sniggering in the back) and (b) the excellent Quickr template work from SNAPPS.
So there’s a precedent. Just need the will I suppose.Ben Poole#
Probably to long a post for most people to read but that's what I think.Anthony Miller#