As I have mentioned previously, our first step is to remove all the existing javascript. Yep, all of it. I’m a big fan of progressive enhancement and so we’ll be looking to have everything working without any javascript. Sure, it won’t be as fancy, but if you don’t have javascript enabled for any reason, you’ll at least be able to use it.

We’ll then add the fabulous jQuery library which should take care of pretty much any scripting we need. (With the exception of the editor toolbar of course.)

We’ll also get rid of all the layout tables and convert it over to a nice, tidy, CSS layout. There will still be plenty of tables, but we’ll get them all sorted with class names so it shouldn’t be too hard to write your own skins or themes.

So our first release will be very much the same (function-wise) as NetOffice 2.6 – but a ‘plainish’ version that we’ll make available, so any designers out there that feel the urge can start preparing skins.

1. What parts do you use the most?
2. What parts do you use the least?
3. What’s missing?

Specifically relating to the Client Site part of NetOffice. Thoughts anyone?

Well, we’re almost back to where we need to be and I’ve dusted off the folder ready to get back into it!

Will probably take a few weeks to get back up to speed. Will post again when we have something to show.

1. Went on holdays to Perisher! Fortunately, I did not break any bones!
2. Jamie (our programmer) packed his bags and moved to Brisbane. I knew that was coming – but was hoping it would be later rather than sooner.

So after being away for a bit over a week and then coming back to be a man down, things have been somewhat busy. And given the serious skills shortage we have here at the moment, it will probably stay that way for the short term at least.

So basically – my plans to work on NetOffice have to be shelved for the time being. Once things settle down I may be able to pick this up again, but I expect that will take some time.

Thanks to all who have commented and offered assistance, and especially to Kemie who emailed me a couple of designs. I hope to get back to this one day, but in the meantime it might be best if you check out the Dwins version which seems to be fairly active.

And you thought this was going to be a serious post…

It’s at http://forum.waterfallweb.net – empty at the moment but if you want to have any say on the direction of “NetOffice Light” then post away. Not totally sold on than name yet mind you, but Kemie has been good enough to start working on the new look, and that’s the name used thus far.

[Edit 8 July: Forum has been taken offline for the time being...]

Or maybe NetOffice Light?

Dunno. Anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks to all who commented on my previous post about what the future holds for this project. I’m starting to think about the ‘client site’. It’s not used by any of my clients in it’s current form, but I think it might be useful to have the following:

1. Somewhere to upload comps or design ideas, and have the client log in and comment (or even vote) on design alternatives
2. Somewhere to upload documentation that everyone needs to access, in a very similar way to Basecamp

I have received a few offers of help which is much appeciated. I’ll be contacting those people over the next week and we’ll see if we can get something under way.

Stay tuned!!!

1. I’d like to redo the header/footer and remove all presentational HTML so the look can be customised easier with CSS
2. Delete the ‘Client Site’ facility. None of my clients actually use it – it just gets in the way
3. Delete the ‘Support Requests’ for the same reason
4. Streamline the workflow – make it simpler to update a task and log time in the one step
5. Add project & task templates – make creating a new project simpler
6. Improve Milestone handling
7. Improve some of the reports
8. Add RSS feeds for project/task updates

Yep… that’s a bit of work. I know these posts are being read… Are there any other thoughts out there?

Anyway, have just finished integrating TinyMCE with task descriptions in NetOffice. So now you can add lists, include hyperlinks, stikeout previous instructions etc etc!

A couple of things have been changed:

1. Obviously, TinyMCE files need to be copied into your NetOffice installation.
2. We have added a file called tinymce.php to the /includes/ directory. It only contains Javascript, but we’ve used a PHP include so we can pass variables to it later if we like. That will mean we can enable or disable certain buttons dynamically depending on other page variables.
3. This file is called in the head of the page, so /themes/deepblue/header.php has been adjusted accordingly. If you’re using another theme, change your header.php to include /includes/tinymce.php.
4. Then obviously /tasks/edittask.php has been adjusted – basically just giving the textareas id attributes so TinyMCE can find them. There is also a little bit of code at the top of that file that calls a function to convert < and > to their HTML entities, which we don’t want any more! So that’s just been commented out for now.

That all might sound scary, but if you’re using the standard Deep Blue theme that comes with NetOffice 2.6, all you need to do is unzip the following file into your NetOffice directory. I’ve even included TinyMCE so it should be pretty straight forward.

• Download ZIP file – 1.53 Mb

This is only tested with NetOffice 2.6 – I have no idea what will happen on earlier versions.

Also… just in case, make sure you back up your NetOffice installation so you can roll back if needed…

Each project is displayed slightly narrower than the previous, and if you have a few by the time you get to the last one it can be virtually unreadable. I finally got around to tracking it down (just missing a couple of closing DIVs) and fixing it.

But wait – there’s more! (And it’s not a free set of steak knives!)

I also adjusted the report so that it shows open projects that don’t necessarily have phases defined in them, so you can still get an overall picture of everything on your plate.

Also also, I have added a closing line with each project that lists the Client (Organisation) name.

Download Zip file, 9191 bytes
Unzip into your Netoffice installation and it should be right to go. Two files are changed, so check the contents of the Zip file for their name and location and back them up before you overwrite them in case you want to go back.

Technorati tags: netoffice, phpcollab, project management