Roadmap

­This document shows the future and history of ]project-open[ product development.  Releases that are currently pending are subject to frequent change so staying up to date means checking this page for changes often.  

Version History

• V4.1 - Planning the next version of ]po[
  
• V4.0 - Current version, port to OpenACS 5.7 for AJAX support.
  
• V3.5 - Bug-fix release for V3.4, contains a REST Web-Service backend
  
• V3.4 - New "Web 1.5" GUI with skins, ITSM Helpdesk
  
• V3.3 - Reporting engine and "performance indicators"
  
• V3.2 - "Portlets" and "Menus" allow to configure the GUI
  
• V3.1 - "DynFields" now allow to extend objects with new fields, functional extensions.
  
• V3.0 - Port of V2.1 to the open-source PostgreSQL database. ]po[ is from now on PostgreSQL only.
  
• V2.1 - Mainly extensions to the financial and translation modules. Oracle only.
  
• V2.0 - Port of the "intranet" package to OpenACS 5.0. First production installation. Oracle only
  
• V1.0 - The very first ]project-open[ that actually wasn't ]po[ yet. Oracle only
  

­]project-open[ V4.0

• Released: April 30th, 2013
• Current Status:
• The final product has been released for Windows  and as Linux VMware Appliance .
• Several customers already use V4.0 in production.

]po[ V4.0 requires new versions of OpenACS, AOLserver and PostgreSQL, so customers with AOLserver 3.3.x or PostgreSQL 8.1 or below will have to update their entire installation. This is the reason for the change in the "major" release number to V4.0. These changes are justified by several main improvements: 

• XoWiki :
  You are probably looking at XoWiki right now - this page is part of our XoWiki.
  XoWiki comes with the Xinha  WYSIWYG HTML editor and integrates seamlessly
  with ]po[ objects, allowing to mix structured information (projects, tasks, users,
  customers, ...) with unstructured information.
  
• AJAX Support :
  The new OpenACS version (5.7) includes support for a number of AJAX libraries.
  AJAX support is going to become progressively more important in the next versions of ]po[.
  

• MS-Project Round-Trip Integration:
  V4.0 allows you to start your project in ]po[, import a project schedule from MS-Project,
  continue to edit information in ]po[, export the results to MS-Project for further editing,
  import the results and so on.
• Group/Skill based Project Planning:
  V4.0 allows project managers to use placeholders "Skill Profiles" when planning a project.
  Typical examples are "Project Manager", "Consultant", "Senior Developer" etc.
  These Skill Profiles are replaced by natural persons using a staffing process once the
  project changes from planning to execution. This functionality is working and will be
  part of V4.0. However, we plan to improve the GUI for the staffing process in V4.1.
  Please inquire at our SourceForge  Open Discussions
  forum for details.
  
• SCRUM and Agile Project Management:
  V4.0 now supports SCRUM and other agile methodologies. You can even mix classical with
  agile project management in a single project. The following SCRUM Tutorial explains
  you how to configure the ]po[ packages.
  
• LDAP and Active Directory Integration:
  V4.0 includes a configuration wizard that guides users through the process of setting up
  Active Directory integration. 
• Idea Management:
  Users can enter "ideas" or "project proposals" into a public list, while other users can vote
  for these ideas, creating a way to prioritize change requests etc. The standard helpdesk
  allows for an orderly execution of approved ideas.
  
• Project Baselines (Enteprise Edition):
  This package package stores "versions" of a project and allows users to compare the
  current project plan to previous plans. The package depends on the Audit commercial
  package and may become part of the ]po[ "enterprise" version.
  
• Financial Planning (Enterprise Edition):
  The package allows for financial/cashflow/budget planning per project phase,
  project member, cost type and date (month, quarter, year). Planned values are
  integrated into the project's financial summary.
  
• Project Portfolio Management:
  ]po[ now allows to define define portfolios of projects and includes a number of reports
  and indicators in order to track portfolios.
  
• Project Risk Management:
  This package allows to manage a risk plan per project. A graphical indicators shows
  summarized risks.
  
• Sharepoint Integration:
  An optional future package that links ]po[ projects to a Sharepoint server for storing
  documents.
• [Mail Tracking]:
  An optional CRM package capable of associating incoming and outgoing
  mails with users and projects.
• Funambol integration (Outlook and mobile devices):
  The Linux version of ]po[ V4.0 will include an experimental Funambol integration.
  Funambol  is a SyncMS server allowing to synchronize tasks and calendar items across
  mobile devices and PIM software including MS-Outlook. The installation of the Funambol
  integration currently requires manual interventions from an experienced Linux system
  administrator.
  
• SLA Management and improved Helpdesk (Enterprise Version):
  A ITSM package that provides "SLA Parameters" to capture contractual rules defined in
  SLAs and a component for SLA working hours. Indicators automatically track the value of
  SLA parameters, warning managers if defined SLA levels are close to be violated.
• CVS Integration:
  This optional ITSM package allows to import CVS commits into ]po[, automatically associating
  commits with projects. The package also allows to generate CVS+ACL configuration files,
  effectively allowing to maintain CVS permission configuration in ]po[.
• System Configurator:
  A new configurator allows to export a ]po[ configuration into CSV (Excel) format and to apply
  the configuration to a new server. This configurator allows us to define several "verticals" for
  ]po[ with very specific configuration, effectively reducing the effort necessary to adapt ]po[ to
  a user's needs.

• AJAX Date-Pickers for all important forms:
  All important forms in ]po[ now include an AJAX date picket widget in order to avoid editing
  dates in a Web 1.0 type of widget. Reports and similar pages still don't have a date picker,
  because most users seem to be fine with a YYYY-MM-DD input.
  
• Expense Management:
•  Allows adding notes in multi-expense forms
• We have added two additional reports
  
• Extended HTTPS Support:
  You can now wonfigure which pages can only be accessed through HTTPS
• Resource Management:
  We have added a new[New Resource Planning Report].
• Exchange rates:
  ]project-open[ can now be configured to get updated exchange rates automatically.
• Reporting:
  New permissions allow to suppress financial rates in the report "Timesheet Customer and Project".
  A new "Budget Check for Main Projects" reports provides detailed budget tracking information.
  
• Invoices
  
• OpenOffice "Writer" Export: Invoices can now be exported in "Writer" format.
  In the future we might also add a Writer to PDF converter in order to create PDF.
  
• Translation: Invoices can now have Discount/Surcharge Lines
• Grouped invoice items:
  Create an invoice for a main project that contains grouped & accumulated invoice elements
  of positions from sub-projects
• Invoice elements are now related to time sheet tasks  
• Translation:
• A  "Customer Portal" allows customers to request a quote and get access to their
  financial documents
• Bulk edit translation tasks (/intranet-translation/trans-tasks/task-list)
  
• A "TM Savings" report details the benefit that customers receive by applying a
  discount matrix vs. the raw word count.
  
• Other changes and additions:
  
• Admin -> User Profiles: Now allows to filter privileges by keyword
• Improved debugging / Support for Administrators:
  ]po[ now provides a protocol of all parameters & privileges considered for delivered page.
  Please activate "Toggle User switching" in Developer bar to see output.