General Development Roadmap (24 Months)

• ITIL Configuration Management/Database: Integrate with OCS Inventory NG
• ITIL Helpdesk/ Service Desk: Get inspired by RT/OTRS.
• ITIL Release Management: Regulatory compliancy for Java and HOST environments
• ITIL Change Management: Authorization workflows around Projects to handle change requests.

• "CRM", Contacts and Mailing Campaigns:
  We are planning to integrate the OpenACS "contacts" module. Contacts provides CRM functionality comparable to SugarCRM.

• MS-Active Directory LDAP Wizard: Automatically import users from AD.
• More Generic SAP Integration: Create a more generic version of the existing "FI Import" (read SAP FI general ledger into ]po[) and "FI Export" (write XML to be imported by SAP FI) modules.

• Redesigned Web 2.0 GUI: We are working on a more attractive GUI that will include some AJAX elements.
• Graphical Key Performance Indicators ("KPIs"):
  Create a lot more of these KPIs widgets for "management by indicator" and "Balanced Scorecard" implementations. We'd start with financial indicators of service companies, and advance then based on customer requests.

]project-open[ V3.5 (Development/Instable)

• Expected Final Release: 04/2009, Beta 10/2008
• Current Status: under development

V3.5 contains as a main technical change an update of the underyling framework to OpenACS 5.4. This update allows us to incorporate a number of improvements and new OpenACS modules, such as XO-Wiki, Contacts etc. and suggests an upgrade to PostgrSQL 8.2.

Planned Changes

• GUI Improvements:
  We plan to improve the GUI and to incorporate "skins" per user and a refreshed design.
  
• CRM Module :
  We will integrate a "Contacts" module, which allows to manage contacts & companies in a more efficient way. Also, "Contacts" allow to create segments and distribution lists, which can be used to define email or print-mail campaigns.
   
• Integration of Dynamic Workflow:
  The "Petri-Net Dynamic WF" is already part of V3.2. However, the WF is not integrated into the main product by default (workflows per project, task or customer). V3.3 will bring a (several?) default workflows such as a Budget workflow for projects, travel & vacation workflow etc.
   
• Context Sensitive Online Help:
  Add a help-button to all major application sections such as pages, components and menus
   
• Update from "Wiki" to "XO-Wiki":
  XO-Wiki is an improved Wiki supporting multimedia objects, online presence indicators etc.

]project-open[ V3.4 (Feature Version)

• Expected Release: 12/2008 or later
• Availability: Alpha available on CVS branch "HEAD"
• Current Status: Under development

V3.4 is the last version before upgrading to OpenACS 5.3. In this version we are adding all major extension.

Other Planned Changes

• ITIL Configuration Management/Database:
  Integrate with OCS Inventory NG.
   
• ITIL Helpdesk/ Service Desk:
  Get inspired by RT/OTRS.
   
• ITIL Release Management:
  Regulatory compliancy for Java and HOST environments.
   
• RFQ/RFA Module:
  Generic Request for Quotation/ Request for Availability (fixed price)/ Reverse Auction.
  
  
• New KPIs:
  KPIs already exist as graphical widgets on top of the data-warehouse. We now are going to add a range of frequently used financial and timesheet indicators.
   
• Gantt Scheduling:
  Gantt scheduling is currently handled in GanttProject. We now want to offer a resource-based scheduling algorithm that takes into account vacation time and a holiday calendar.
  
  
• User Timesheet Tasks :
  see http://cognovis.de/xowiki/new_po_development.

]project-open[ V3.3 (Current Stable Version)

• Release: June 17th, 2008
• Availability: Beta available on CVS branch "v3-3-patches".
• Current Status: We are preparing a set of installers based on this version

Since V3.2 we have decided to separate a "stable" (slow changing version) and a "development" (quickly changing version). V3.3 is the current stable version now and V3.4 is the current development version.

What's New in V3.3?

Bug fixes:

• We have fixed more then 50 smaller issues and bugs.

New features:

• Reporting: Added user-definable reports
• Reporting: Added an "Indicators" module that allows to define and track process performance indicators over time.
• Invoices: "Canned Notes" implement pre-defined statements to include in invoices and other financial documents.
• Backup: The Backup screen now allows to download backup files over the Web, simplifying the backup procedure.
• Performance: A number of frequently used procedure are now cached to improve performance.
• Rating: Added "Simple Surveys" rating module
• CRM: Improved the "intranet-mail-integration" Email integration module so that it is now usable. The module allows to associate incoming email with ]po[ users, effectively maintaining an email track record per customer.
• Translation: Added a link for "editors" to rate their "translator" (translation-only)
• Translation: Added a "Tandem Translation Module". This module keeps track of the translator-editor tandem combination by counting how frequently an editor has worked with a translator.
• Translation: Added TinyTM Integration. We have integrated TinyTM (an open-source translation memory) with ]po[. TinyTM itself is still in "alpha" development/alpha status.
• System Integration: Improved the CVS Import: We have added an algorithm to guess the separator of CSV imports ("," vs. ";").
• System Integration: Added an UBS (Unified Business Language) for accounting applications such as SAP, Oracle or Navision.

Other:

• We have improved the upgrade procedure. ]po[ now checks for update scripts that need to be executed.

]project-open[ V3.2 (Previous Stable Version)

• Released: 4/2007
• Current Status: Obsolete, but still "out there" as part of the VMware installer.
• Check: Change Log

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.

]project-open[ V3.1

• Has been released in : 12/2005
• Current Status: This is the current "development version".
  The code is available from CVS already but is not supported.

V3.1 is supposed to include "DynField"s, a dynamic field extension package that allows you to add and remove fields from your ]project-open[ objects at runtime. This feature is extremely useful for the classification of users (CRM) and for customizing ]project-open[ for different companies and industries. DynFields will also be integrated into the standard ]project-open[ ListPages and into the full text search engine.

Further enhancements in V3.1 will include:

• A slightly improved GUI
• A full text search engine (based on PostgreSQL TSearch2)
• A full-fledged reporting module, similar to Jasper Reports (this is probably not going to be GPLed...)
• Project Milestones (implemented using configurable "surveys")
• A calendar view to project and tasks deadlines
• ... and many more

]project-open[ V3.0

• Has been released in: 5/2005
• Current Status: This is the current "stable version"

V3.0 is the result of porting porting ]po[ V2.1 from Oracle to PostgreSQL. V3.0 is available for both Linux and Windows.

V3.0 already includes a completely new implementation of a project controlling (cost accounting modules) and includes internationalization for German, Spanish and French.

V3.0 does not include PostgreSQL versions of the "Translation Quality" and "Translation Marketplace" functionality.

]project-open[ V2.1

• Last Release: V2.1.1 in 8/2004
• Current Status (9/2004):
  Part of the new functionality (intranet-hr, intranet-costs, intranet-cost-provider) has been implemented and has been deployed with individual customers.
• Payroll costs (intranet-hr-costs) and fixed costs (intranet-cost-fixed) have not been implemented yet. These modules have been depriorized, as the V3.0 PostgreSQL port has become more important. Their implementation will become part of V3.1 (see above).
• The Search and KM functionality has been depriorized in favor of V3.0.

Finance

• intranet-costs
  "Costs Base Module", including cost centers and base cost items.
• intranet-cost-fixed
  Front-end module to intranet-costs, allowing to distributed fixed costs (rent etc.) to projects according to different criteria.
• intranet-cost-provider
  Front-end module for intranet-costs, allowing provider to post their bills in the intranet.
• intranet-hr-costs
  Front-end module for intranet-costs, allowing to distribute employee costs to projects according to timesheet information

HR

• intranet-hr
  Basic HR module: Headcount, basic payroll information etc.

Search & KM

• search
  Finish intranet and file system search for Intermedia
• expert-finder (not finished)
  Search for experts in your organization based on document authorship information

]project-open[ 2.0

• Last Release: V2.1.1 in 3/2004

Completion of the ]project-open[ port from ACS 3.4 to OpenACS 5.0 including the packages:

• Core 2.0 (no templates yet)
• File storage 2.0 (with +/- open-close and permissions)
• Forums 2.0
• Freelance 2.0
• Cost-Timesheet 2.0 (including absences)
• Translation 2.0
• Translation-Invoicing 2.0
• Translation-Quality 2.0