]po[ Version 3.2

• Released: 4/2007

This version includes a number of GUI improvements and functional extensions from two major customers projects.

What's New?

• GUI Overhaul:
  We're going to implement an improved GUI with a "Web 1.5" style. This includes new icons, a new CSS and the option to more components around in the "ViewPages". However, we're not going to implement real Windows Live style drag-and-drop.
   
  
• GanttProject Integration:
  We have finally decided and managed to go ahead with a Gantt editor. We choose GanttProject over a proprietary Web GUI, because we believe that users need an interactive GUI for scheduling (lots of changes etc.). A Web GUI would have been very clumsy in comparison.
  Amongst the available interactive editors we have chosen GanttProject because it's the best open-source product in our opinion. We needed an FOSS tool in order to reach the broad base of users that we are aiming at, and GanttProject is the best FOSS scheduling tool in our opinion.
  We are working together with the GanttProject developers to adapt the system increasingly to ]project-open[.
   
  
• Resource Assignments and Resource Planning:
  This functionality is part of the GanttProject integration. Being supported by GP, we have decided to support the same functionality on the ]po[ side.
   
  
• Integration of "Petri-Net Workflow":
  We are going to integrate the OpenACS "Workflow 4.5" module with ]project-open[. This Workflow package comes with its own graphical workflow designer and allows users to customize workflows themselves (given a certain technical in-house knowledge).
  The main work consists in integrating the WF with the ]project-open[ application screens, because the module itself has been used extensively and in rather large organizations and application settings (it's the base of AIMS Grant Management solutions sold by www.Quest.ie).
   
  
• Expenses and Travel Costs:
  This module has finally been ported from V2.1/Oracle to V3.2/PostgreSQL. The modules allows for decentralized capturing of travel costs of traveling consultants.
  This module is going to be published under the CL license as closed-source.
   
  
• Integration API:
  The Integration of ]project-open[ with existing 3rd party systems is an issue that we are facing with an increasing size of our customers. We have decided to use the existing PostgreSQL PlPg/SQL database interface as the base for this API by encapsulating PlPg/SQL function calls in XML-RPC calls.
  The new interface will allow users to authenticate users against the ]project-open[ user management, to retrieve information about all major business objects (users, projects, companies, offices, tasks, ...) and to create and update such objects.
   
  
• Project Templates:
  Project templates (use one project as a template to generate other projects) allows you to standardize and accelerate the generation of repeating schedules.

Schedule

We are going to release the first beta version of V3.2 before or during the LinuxTag 2006 in Wiesbaden. However, V3.2 will remain in beta probably until September or even October 2006, due to the amount of changes implied.

Help Wanted

Please let us know if you're interested in beta testing and/or to discuss with us about the functional design of the software.