Difference between revisions of "webBooks"

Revision as of 05:59, 13 March 2015

In the age of technology, all companies need to have software the help manage daily tasks. After reviewing what was currently available on the market, we decided to create our own version of this software. Introducing webBooks! This software can help with a wide range of tasks including, but not limited to, accounting, invoicing, leasing, work orders, and more! And just like the rest of our software, it can be extended with modules in our online Software Shoppe.

License

This project's codebase is licensed under the CPLv2 unless a valid CPLv1 license has been purchased. More information about both of these licenses can be found under the "Our Licenses" link of our homepage.

Installation

Just like the rest of our software, we have engineered our installation process to be as simple as possible. After downloading the desired version, you can either install from the command line or from a web browser. In both instances it is important to remember that you will need to move the downloaded file into a directory that can be accessed by your favorite webserver (e.g. Apache, lighttpd, etc) before performing any of the below steps:

Command Line

$ cd /path/to/uncompressed/package
$ tar xzf webbooks_x.x.x.x.soft
$ cd webbooks
$ php -f install.php

The wizard will then ask you a couple of questions and then proceed with the automated install.

Web Browser

$ cd /path/to/hosted/files
$ cp /path/to/downloaded/webbooks_x.x.x.x.soft ./
$ tar xzf webbooks_x.x.x.x.soft

Now you will need to open a web browser and direct it to the appropriate URI that points to the hosted, uncompressed webBooks directory referenced in the above steps while appending 'webbooks/default.php?p=webbooks.setup.html' at the end. This will start the graphical installation routine. For example, lets say the '/path/to/hosted/files' was '/var/www' and that you had a local web server (e.g. apache, nginx, shttp, etc) running on 127.0.0.1. If 'webBooks' was uncompressed to '/var/www/webbooks', you would open a web browser and point it to 'http://127.0.0.1/webbooks/default.php?p=webbooks.setup.html'.

It is important to note that a default administrators account will be created during the installation process. The default username and password for that account will be the word 'admin' (without quotes) for both values.

Modules

webBooks was built to be modular in design. As a result there are official and third-party extensions that can be used with the software and accessed through our Software Shoppe. By default, the software comes with three modules that are mandatory - System Configuration, Business Configuration, and Employees. This section will provide help links those three as well as all the other official modules:

Dashboard

Compatibility

Desktops & Laptops

Currently, the software is known to fully work with the latest versions of Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome, and Apple's Safari. Microsoft's Internet Explorer will also work, but is not officially supported due to the inconsistencies in adhering to web standards throughout their various versions as well as being the most exploited browser currently in use. And since there is highly sensitive information that is being worked within this software, we do not recommend using Internet Explorer.

Phones & Tablets

While we are continuing to expand compatibility for these devices, the only mobile devices supported are smart phones. Also the software only works with Google's Chrome in portrait display. Over the coming weeks and months we will expand this section to include a larger variety of devices and browsers.

The basics of form interaction

There are several notes to keep in mind while interacting with each module. First and foremost, the page is laid out so that there is a header, a footer, and a body. The header contains the ability to switch back and forth between webBooks and any web-based service for social interaction such as an email service using the icon the top left-hand corner. Next to that will be the current device time and the name of the employee logged into the system. Further to the right, you will notice two listboxes and an 'X' icon. The listboxes enable the employee to designate their clocked-in status and availability respectively. The 'X' icon closes any opened module. Centered on the next line is the name of the module currently being viewed, and below that will be any tabs and buttons associated with it too.

The footer contains the applications "taskbar" with a single fixed icon - the dashboard. As you open modules you will see their icons appear next to the dashboard icon. Switching between opened modules is as easy as clicking on their respective icon in the taskbar. Below it are a couple of icons and a copyright notice. The icons do perform various functions which are covered in the "Common Tasks" section below.

The body is the section that will dynamically change to provide the user with the interface of the opened, focused module. When you initially open some of the modules, you may notice that there are sections of the page or tabs that are completely grayed out. This indicates that those areas are not interactive until a record has been saved (created) or loaded. Once either of those actions has taken place, the entire module will allow you to work with it.

You may also see that there are some values that have a green or red border; they have a specific meaning. The green fields indicate that the value will be encrypted in the database, whereas, the ones that are red indicate that the field is searchable. This allows you to supply a value and press the <ENTER> key on your keyboard to have a record loaded or search results returned.

Finally, when going through all the form values, you may not quite know what the textbox or listbox is for. In that case, most of the time there are helpful tips that will be shown just by holding the mouse cursor over the box. If no tip appears or it still does not make sense, click the '?' tab in the header to show the expanded help for the module.

Common Tasks

The below sections cover several common tasks that a user may need to perform at some point in their interaction with the software. These will be expanded as time elapses.

Referring the Project to Others

As the 'basics of form interaction' detailed above, there are several icons in the footer of the page and one of them will accomplish this very goal. Clicking the icon that looks like a mail envelope will show a popup asking you several bits of information including the name, email address, and optional message that you would like to send in the automated message. It is important to note that none of this information is recorded for privacy and allows a convenient, easy way to let others know about this particular project!

Installing Modules

The current version of the software has a limited, temporary solution to achieving this task, but in the long term this will be updated to use the cliquesoft.org website so that third party developers can contribute their talents to extend the software. Right now, however, there are several icons in the bottom of the screen by the copyright notice that will allow you to install desired modules. Clicking on the one that looks like a green puzzle piece will display a popup providing you a list of available modules that can be installed. Simply check which modules you would like to install, scroll to the bottom of the popup, and click the '(un)install' button. As its name suggests, this is also the button you will use to uninstall any module(s) that you no longer need. To achieve this task, click the afore mentioned icon to show the addons popup and uncheck the desired modules you wish to uninstall then click the '(un)install' button. It is important to note that there is an additional option next to the button that is labeled "Keep DB info when uninstalling". By having this checked BEFORE clicking the '(un)install' button, the software will retain all the entered database information of the module(s) being uninstalled so that if they will be needed in the future, then all the data will continue to be present at that time.

Reporting Bugs

Once again, there is currently a temporary solution to this problem, but eventually this will all work through the cliquesoft.org website. In the footer icons, you will notice one of them looks like a green bug. When this icon is clicked, a popup will be shown asking for a title and a description of the bug. All submissions are very helpful and should contain as much information as possible so that the problem can be re-created by our staff.

Feature Requests

Just like the two other tasks mentioned above, this also has a temporary popup used to request a new feature from our users. Simply click the footer icon that looks like multicolored, stacked blocks and fill out the form. Providing as much information as possible will help our staff to better understand and implement features being requested.

Developers

Dave Henderson [dhenderson (at) cliquesoft (dot) org]