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List:       vtigercrm-developers
Subject:    [Vtigercrm-developers] Invitation : Tabs & Modules Grouping
From:       grahama () add-ons ! co ! uk (Graham Anderson)
Date:       2006-01-23 11:09:37
Message-ID: E4751956E3B343479233B8C671F39533161590 () ts2 ! SoftwareAdd-ons ! local
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Well Hello every one...
 
[Brian (if you are listening).. I think we have the same sort of
response to some of your comments, so (apologies) I will shorthand some
replies if they have been already covered..]
 
The biggest, and in my opinion the best solution is going to be being
able to add Modules to whatever Tab we like. The easiest way to achieve
this of course, is to add all modules to all tabs and have an admin
console that allows for modules to be turned off within a specific
tab.... but that's for further debate.
 
One of the problems with any solution, is that different markets,
different types of companies and (even) different countries, mean that
our clients have a very mixed set of requirements and one of the
benefits of having all of the modules as Tabs, gives a level of
flexibility that can work for most people.... therefore any loss of this
flexibility is going to be a backwards step.
 
We have over 150 CRM installs of different systems, some of these vTiger
specific, most of these our legacy CRM solutions, and one thing that
stands out is that 80% of the solution is the same as the next guy, and
20% is 'configured/bespoke/customised'. The problem is the 20% can often
be different.
 
My example is simple : Some of our clients are not big enough to
understand the difference between Marketing and Sales, particularly if
there are only two sales people and they handle all of the lead
generation themselves (therefore they are Marketing and Sales). In this
scenario they would want to be able have a single tab - Sales - that has
Leads, Opportunities and their sales orders (plus the obvious other
modules).. rather than these modules appearing in different places..... 
 
What this means is that we need the ability to configure the tabs, to
show whatever modules are required... but if I was pushed, I would want
the option to be able to display (or NOT) any of the following, under
their tabs...
 
By the way ... The idea of making changes to the Activity screens, as
Brian suggested is a great idea and probably should not be overlooked,
as it will bring added functionality to the application. We feel that an
add on module similar to My Home is a must have and have developed a
desktop tool bar that offers this functionality which has been
commercially available for a while, although on our legacy systems. It
is called ViewPoint and we have been using this self authored .NET
application on all of our systems, to help productivity... so we agree
that something along the My Home idea may be very useful..
 
Anyway.. here goes...
 
One fundamental difference in what we have seen and what we would like
(utopia here we come) is the addition of a TAB for Admin or Tracking....
this is because we (and other clients) as a company, need an
administrative function to track our sales orders, Purchase orders,
quotes, Invoices, Global Activities, Vendor activity and others... so we
feel there should be some suitable named TAB that allows for this sort
of information to be tracked.
 
This is quite important for us, as our clients will have a sales cycle
that is inclusive of the sales personnel and then the tracking or
processing will be handled by someone in ADMIN, especially if sales
people are 'on the road' a lot. Just a thought.
 
Sales : Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Quotes, Activities,
Calendar, Sales Orders, Price Books, Dashboard, Notes, Products.
Support : Accounts, Contacts, Helpdesk, **contracts**, FAQ, Activities,
Calendar, Dashboard (support focus) and Notes.
Marketing : Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Quotes,
Activities, Calendar, Dashboard, Notes
Tracking : Sales Orders, Purchase orders, Quotes, Opportunities,
**documentation**, Activities, Vendors, Invoices.
 
Other tabs... agree in principle as they stand.
 
So in summary... what is different in this proposal....
 
1. Allow all modules to be available from all tabs and give a console to
turn on and off
2. Add new TAB that allows for the Non sales or Non Support personnel -
tracking from an admin person, who is responsible for just doing this
work.
3. Consider Contracts for support
4. Consider how we will handle documentation that may need tracking...
terms and conditions (bespoke document) that has a deadline or
dependency for other triggers and workflow in the system.
5. Agree with Brian's view that some form of Desktop menu/side bar/
toolbar is a good idea, especially if this is configurable..
 
Enough for now.. if you managed to digest and read this far.. I hope it
makes some sense... because this is so important to us all, thank you
for letting us comment.
 
It probably goes without saying, that if any of these diatribes produce
any work that we can assist with... please let me know... I am happy (as
always) to dedicate whatever resources we can to our common goal.
 
Regards
 
Graham
 
Graham Anderson
Managing Director
Software Add-ons 
 
t. +44 (0)8452 303083
e. grahama at add-ons.co.uk


________________________________

From: vtigercrm-developers-bounces@lists.vtigercrm.com
[mailto:vtigercrm-developers-bounces at lists.vtigercrm.com] On Behalf Of
saint
Sent: 21 January 2006 12:56
To: Developers List
Subject: [Vtigercrm-developers] Invitation : Tabs & Modules Grouping


Team,

We would like to understand better, the order of tabs/modules that you
would like to see in vtiger. We are planning to use the Card-Sorting
method to find out the groups/order of tabs that most users wishes to
have.  We request all in this list to spend a few minutes for this.

What you need to do?
Just spend a few minutes of your leisure time. Get a coffee or grab a
coke and do this sorting method.


What is this Card sorting method?
Refer this image, and read below.
 


According to this method, the names of the modules are written on paper
cards and shuffled, collectively the "Unsorted cards" in the image. Then
the users need to pick up the modules (cards) and group/sort them with
some relation. Say for ex. Leads, Contact, Quotes and Potentials can be
grouped under Sales. Helpdesk and FAQ can be grouped under Support.
Sometimes, you may feel a particular module needs to appear on other
groups too. No problem, just add a new card with the same module name in
that group. Once you are sure that you have grouped all modules, send us
the Group names and modules under each group.

What will you get in return?
The Names of those who give feedback, will be given credits in the
vtiger About page. :-)

What will we do with this data?
With this help, we will identify the most common pattern of module
grouping and implement in the GA release.

vtiger Modules


	Activities
	FAQ
	Contacts
	Potentials
	Quotes
	Calendar
	Email
	Purchase Order
	Leads
	Accounts
	Helpdesk
	Sales Order
	Pricebooks
	Notes
	Dashboard
	Products
	Reports
	Invoice
	Vendors
	

If i have left any module (!!) please add that to the list and sort. :-)

Have a great Weekend!

- Saint






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