Alfresco 3.0 Roadmap 2008 Discussion!

[rscheele]

This is the place for community member input for the Alfresco's upcoming 3.0 release - targeted at 31 july 2008. Get the discussion going here!

http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Category:3.0

3.0 Community: July 31, 2008

Our next major release, Alfresco 3.0, is slated for Community release at the end of July. This release launches a new web client development framework and out-of-the-box user experience targeted for knowledge workers. This release brings the following major enhancements:

    * All functionality / bug fixes available in our June 2008 2.9 Community update

    * New Freemarker-based web application framework for componentized, flexible construction of custom Alfresco web client experiences

    * Change management and source-code control of any customized or custom-built Alfresco web client (hosted in our WCM repository, for easy development, testing, staging, and deployment)

    * Separation of the Alfresco web repository from the new 3.0 Alfresco web client (now a separable web app independently deployable via WCM to a second server with all client-server communication over HTTP(s) via Web Scripts

    * Simple packaging, installation, and updates of Alfresco templated sites and site components (for easy migration of web client customizations across servers or sharing of web client customizations amongst the Community)

    * Out of the box web client templates for creating social networking sites leveraging enhanced Alfresco collaboration and document management services

    * Support for themes to more readily customize look-and-feel

    * Support for simple invitation to external users to an Alfresco templated social networking / collaboration site, with auto-registration and mixed authentication for internal users via LDAP/ADS and external users via Alfresco itself

    * Support for enabling a look-up of external users to invite to Alfresco via popular social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook

    * Support for multi-file actions and upload

    * Support for simplified download, edit, and check-in process (reduce number of clicks; eliminate end-users learning curve with Working Copies)

    * Support for delegated administration of social networking / collaboration sites

    * Support for integrated presence, IM, and teleconferencing (via Skype)

    * Support for rich subscription notifications via activity feeds

    * Support for simple sharing of any single asset or collection of assets via human-readable URLs or ZIP attachments

    * Support for bookmarkable web client pages and page views


A full list of features and timelines can be tracked via our JIRA. Please do review; we've a substantial number of enhancements targeted for this release. In addition to JIRA, you can also review emerging documentation for the release on our category page.

Please note that detailed wireframes for our pending 3.0 release will be posted upon completion of our first development milestone, Timebox 1.

Additionally, please note that while Alfresco is launched a new, simplified, easy-to-use and adopt knowledge worker UI, the current JSF client will still be available and unchanged. Based on Community adoption and self-migration to the new web client experience, Alfresco does intend to migrate over the next couple of years to the new UI. Once again, this migration will be paced by the Community and by the Community own self-migration to the new UI infrastructure and user experience.

[norgan]

Hm, a difficult quest.

I congratulate on the new targets, it will make Alfresco even more worthwhile. But even though I might sound like a spoilsport, I would like to add a note of caution :

For my taste, the discussion here focusses very much on social features and making Alfresco a one and all system. Thats the way, Microsoft tried to go with MOSS and bit by bit, people start to realize, how few things can really be done decently with MOSS - inspite of the great fanfares in 2007.

Following points would by my favorites :
* improved support for web client & customization developement (planned for, cool !)
* improved integration into systems like Liveray, SAP Portal, IBM Websphere (could be lots better, why make Alfresco a portal - support them instead)
* support for an outofthebox barrierfree accessible webclient (I am too far from developing currently - is this already in scope by your current plans and changes ? Public Sector would buy into alfresco without it here.
* Bookmarking pages with an included RSS feed to allow integration into other apps, which retrieve the bookmarks of the user and integrate them as well.
* WIKI Integration
* Move some of the interaction features (i.e. tag clouds) to forge projects for the community to deal with.

I admit, that is very selfish of me I want to push Alfresco with some customers as collaboration plattform on the business side, not as web 2.0 people network *pulling out his asbesto suit and making ready ;-)* I myself would love a good working couple "Liveray + Alfresco" or "SAP Portal + Alfresco" to counter the MOSS installations (no I dont have anything against MOSS, I just think there are better solutions out there.)

Norgan

[rscheele]

I saw some wires of the 3.0 web client, based on sites. How is space hierarchy imposed in the new client?

[rscheele]

Are nightly builds intentionally not updated? I'm very eager to see the results of the first 3.0 timebox.

[ajmillar]

Can I suggest some kind of fool proof GUI for doing all the little modifications that are currently handled in XML files? It would make it so much easier to configure and get up and running, rather than trying to figure out where everything should go and what documentation applies to which version etc.

[dozyarmadillo]

+1 for the GUI suggestion.

[dozyarmadillo]

I'm working on a project to deliver a portal using Liferay + Documentum. The technology part of it seems to be OK but we may be running into problems re the cost of licenses for the ECM side of things.

Consequently, I am very keen in finding out when the first Alfresco 3.0 preview will become available so that I can evaluate it.

Also, is there any news re an official Alfresco/Liferay bundle based on WebScripts/REST (Cignex appears to provide such a bundle with SSO but I don't know how this is licensed)?

Cheers

Mark

[fretief]

Any alternative to the sharepoint list function?