Agreed. Agreed that there is a huge list of things that can be made
easier in OFBiz for the end user. But I disagree that the one mentioned
is one among them, or is a top ranking at least. My point is that, if I
am not missing something, you're considering a very small subset of the
requirements that a user can have. I believe, a consistent workflow help
the end user to understand the system, and relate things around. Though
I don't have much experience of sitting in the end user's chair, so I
might be talking as someone form a distant planet :) Please carry on.
On 5/22/2012 6:23 PM, Ruth Hoffman wrote:
Hi Atul:
IMO you miss the point. The point is not that these features do or do
not exist. We all agree that you can accomplish this task in several
different ways using the OOTB Catalog Manager and Content Manager
applications.
The point IS that the end-user requirement(s) as stated by Heidi and
further articulated by Nick are not being met in way that facilitates
easy, efficient and secure product management.
Best Regards,
Ruth Hoffman
Adaptive Enterprise Solutions, LLC.
http://www.myofbiz.com
On 5/22/12 4:09 AM, Atul Vani wrote:
Ruth, Nick,
It might be a possible scenario that someone wants to display the
newly setup products in the catalog at any particular date-time, may
be at the beginning of a new season or some kinda festival. He would
rather process the product data for them in advance, test it and have
some trigger mechanism to publish them. This is why a date-time field
is required along with the "Publish" button. One may also want to
remove the products from the site, and may be want to do that at a
specific date-time. So an un-publish button is also required, and
that too along with a date-time field.
A publish button should be of great help, or alternatively this can
also be done by setting a future fromDate/thruDate field for the
ProductCategoryMember record, for the VIEW_ALLOW category. Though a
product not only needs to be controlled for catalog listing, it might
also require to be added/removed from the SEARCH, PURCHASE_ALLOW,
NEWLY_ARRIVED kinda categories, depending on the business
requirements and it's nature. A catalog manager also requires to deal
with such work flow when associating/dissociating products from
categories.
I believe the current workflow keeps things consistent. Moreover the
consistent workflows help in building better understanding about
processes and data model.
If I were the catalog manager, I would have setup and added the
products (which I wish to launch next month), in some category. And
then would have set the fromDate for the category's association, with
the VIEW_ALLOW category, to the scheduled time. Saves me the trouble
of hitting a publish button for every product (assuming the number of
products is large here).
Should consider this kinda requirements when you add the feature :)
Thanks& Regards
Atul Vani
Enterprise Software Developer
HotWax Media Pvt. Ltd.
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/
We are the Global Leaders in Apache OFBiz, Google 'ofbiz' and see for
yourself.
On 05/21/2012 06:55 PM, Nick Rosser wrote:
Ruth,
Yep, all possibilities. As always the simple original request that
was posted "so we need a PUBLISH button" now morphs into something
that gets considerably more complex!
You mentioned pricing, inventory, image available and approvals (all
good considerations). I would add to this the complexity of Virtual
/ Variant product definitions. And the introduced/discontinued date.
So now we very quickly get into something more complex. What if an
eCommerce client is not using OFBiz inventory (we have clients that
accept orders into their existing ERP solution and manage inventory
from there)? We have yet more clients that want variants with no or
low inventory to be listed -- in their case if that variant is
selected the customer knows it is "out of stock". What if pricing
expires on a certain date (so in a few days there will not be any
pricing available)? And approvals (workflow, who can approve? what
if they are on vacation? multiple levels of approval?) opens up a
complete other aspect of managing products (and any content for that
matter).
Again, all possible. But it just goes to show that any simple idea
has big implications in a solution as comprehensive as OFBiz. We
know from experience that unless requirements are fully documented,
discussed and reviewed all sorts of problems can occur. This is why
everything in BigFish is fully documented, discussed and developer
reviewed before any actual development takes place -- it would be
impossible to build a viable solution without this discipline.
BTW: glad to see that you're keeping an eye out for our BigFish
enhancements! Ideas always welcome for improvements!
Best Regards,
Nick Rosser
nros...@salmonllc.com
O: 516.742.7888 x221
C: 516.901.1720
On 5/21/2012 8:50 AM, Ruth Hoffman wrote:
Hi Nick:
I agree with you 100%. IMHO it is noteworthy that BigFish does
implement an entirely new UI to expose these functions.
In my ideal world, I would add to BigFish and build a new
application. This application would, under certain circumstances
(these are the business rules that I mentioned earlier) allow the
publish function (the "button" that sets the active/inactive date)
to only "work" when, for example:
A valid price exists
There is enough inventory to cover fulfillment
There is at least one image of the correct resolution
The product description or other content has been approved
Each one of these requirements is driven by a business rule. Right
now, the only way that these business rules are enforced are by the
order of the data entry screens and/or the BigFish product loader.
(BTW, I've had an opportunity to use BigFish recently, so I'm
pretty up-to-date on its features/functions. Nice job!)
Best Regards,
Ruth Hoffman
Adaptive Enterprise Solutions, LLC.
http://www.myofbiz.com
http://www.aesolves.com
On 5/21/12 8:29 AM, Nick Rosser wrote:
There is also something similar in our BigFish implementation.
Checkout resources at http://bigfish.salmonllc.com -- in
particular the Admin Module for one of the demo instances at
https://bigfish.salmonllc.com:8442/osafe-admin/control/main. The
Catalog/Product area allows entry of a new product.
We have exposed all aspects of a Product definition for an eComm
application. Having a "Publish" function would be very easy to
implement -- it would essentially manage the start/end date.
As is often the case, all the "pieces" are available in OFBiz,
just a matter of exposing the functionality in a different way.
Best Regards,
Nick Rosser
nros...@salmonllc.com
O: 516.742.7888 x221
C: 516.901.1720
On 5/21/2012 8:21 AM, Ruth Hoffman wrote:
Hi Heidi:
I started working on something like this a long time ago but got
distracted with other projects. I was using the workflow part of
the data model to managing the process of creating and publishing
a product. My solution was a new "Product Management"
application. It didn't require data model changes but rather a
completely new UI. (An OFBiz webapp etc. with webpages, events...)
Best Regards,
Ruth Hoffman
On 5/21/12 8:04 AM, Info Olagos wrote:
Hi Ruth,
Yes, i think it is smoother to push one button, than to have to
think to
set every date available in the catalog manager on the right
date and
change it afterwards.
But i think in that case database model should change a little bit.
Regards,
Eric& Heidi
2012/5/21 Ruth Hoffman<rhoff...@aesolves.com>
Hi Heidi:
IMHO, these responses are missing the point and show a total
lack of
understanding surrounding the many and varied business rules
behind
publishing a product catalog.
I think this is a really cool idea and would certainly set
OFBiz apart
from any competition.
Best Regards,
Ruth Hoffman
Owner, Adaptive Enterprise Solutions, LLC
http://www.myofbiz.com
On 5/21/12 3:21 AM, Atul Vani wrote:
The solution would be to not add the product to the VIEW_ALLOW
category
until you are done setting it up.
Thanks& Regards
Atul Vani
Enterprise Software Developer
HotWax Media Pvt. Ltd.
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/
We are the Global Leaders in Apache OFBiz, Google 'ofbiz' and
see for
yourself.
On 05/21/2012 12:47 PM, Venkat Mangudi wrote:
Hi,
Why don't you use the start date/end date on the product to
control
visibility in the catalog?
--Venkat
On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 12:03 AM, Info
Olagos<info.ola...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Hello,
What should be a very nice feature in Ofbiz which doesn't
exist at the
moment, is the following:
It should be nice if you could insert all the data for a
certain new
product in different days. Let's say day one, you do the
product
properties, day two you continue with the content part, day
three you
continue with the price, etc.
You only publish the new product when you have completed all
data. So
the
product doesn't appear not complete on the webpage.
So one need a PUBLISH button.
I don't think that is possible at the moment in Ofbiz.
Regards,
Heidi& Eric
--
Olagos bvba
http://www.olagos.eu<http://**www.olagos.eu/<http://www.olagos.eu/>>
http://www.olagos.com
http://www.olagos.be
http://www.olagos.nl
Olagos team
Heesterbos 5
2570 Duffel
Belgium
