Implementing Alfresco+ Developing for Alfresco

[rvent]

hello,

I posted in the Development forums, but i think this is a more suitable location for the topic. Sorry..

My company is looking to implement an Intranet for content management and present several RIAs that we have in place. At the moment all we got is all the RIAs being served by URL (EX: datalog.DOMAIN.com all is for local use) and all of them were developed with CodeIgniter PHP framework and ExtJS JavaScript framework and it uses MySQL to store all the data.

It has gotten to the point that we have more than 10 CNAMEs and it is getting out of control, access to the application is wide open and all of them are decentralized.

I am looking at 2 possible answers:
1.- Alfresco
2.- SharePoint

It would be really nice to be able to use the PHP code or even the entire app within Alfresco (maybe some sort of embedding.?) in order to save tons of work and time. If not possible i was thinking on dumping the ExtJS UI and using Adobe Flex and then embedding Flex into an Alfresco Page since Flex can use PHP.

One thing you should know about my PHP apps is that they return data as JSON strings so if Alfresco can make AJAX calls i am sure i could use my code.

The other thing is that whichever ECM we choose, it will be a 1 man development team. I would be the one doing all the programing/testing/etc.

I am proficient on:
PHP
JavaScript
C++
C# .NET
Some Java

I've notice that C# and Java are pretty similar so it wouldnt be too much if i had to go 100% into Java.

Mainly what i am looking with this is to see if working with Alfresco could be done with 1 developer.

Thanks.

[mrogers]

Hopefully you won't need to write much code at all but if you do you will be fine with your skill set.

Start by using Alfresco out of the box and see what it can do before deciding how to extend it.

There is a PHP API for alfresco although its in need of a little TLC.

And the Alfrsco Share interface will be right up your street in regards to technology stack.

[norgan]

Do I understand you correctly, that you are looking for a portal solution, integrating the apps ? Or do you look for an "application supplier app" or do you want to reimplement the RIAs with a common framework ?

Without much hassle (especially with your skills) you can
* use Alfresco to develope (or rather adopt) frontend pages integrated into your Alfresco GUI
* use Flex, ExtJS, PHP clients, which access alfresco storage, security model, search framework, library services
* even use Alfresco Plattform to reimplement your applications (especially with documentcentric apps)
* use Alfresco Share to set up social collaboration sites a la MOSS sites

But neither Alfresco nor MOSS are a portal system. And yes, you can do the above with MOSS as well, but I think, not wich ExtJS & PHP skills, so not only from softwarestack, but also from skill stack, Alfresco seems more fitting.

Norgan

[rvent]

I first would like to integrate the RIAs that i already have. Then i would like to re implement the apps using Alfresco so that they would be come native apps, instead of external apps integrated into alfresco.

Basically i would like to use what i have and presented to the user via Alfresco.

[daniel_gradecak]

I invite you to have a look in the jibe frameworkhttp://jibeframework.org

that is a framework based on ExtJS and Alfresco. Could be a good solution for you intranet.

[zoao]

If you know javascript, look for the Alfresco Share, everything is done in javascript, on the client side with the YUI and ajax calls, and on the server (via the mozilla rhino). This way in the future you can easily replace your ExtJS and move the UI to be more native like Share UI and keep the part made in PHP.
If at first you need you can create one or more pages in Share for your application through an iframe.

I'm using Share for a Intranet and I'm quite happy with the results. The only thing that I find a bit strange is that everything in Alfresco is stored in your repository (blog, forum, users, etc. ..) instead of the database, I can see some advantages, but also I think there are some disadvantages .