DeskPRO

The next public release of DeskPRO 3.1 is very very close (it will be RC1, by the way). But before you get your grubby little hands on it, I want to talk about yet another new feature we managed to implement.

DeskPRO 3.0 had the ability to fetch user login details from a source other then DeskPRO. You could use a vBulletin or phpBB forum, LDAP etcetera. This was a very popular feature because it allowed administrators to set up a helpdesk that complimented the systems they already had in place. But this wasn’t enough in some situations.

The most requested enhancement to this feature has been the ability to have multiple sources. For example, get login details from two vBulletin forums, or a vBulletin forum and an LDAP directory or any other combination of sources. But mostly people just wanted to enable the DeskPRO system (so they can take advantage of auto-registrations and such) as well as accept logins to systems that were already operational. Since changing an authentication source meant disabling DeskPRO’s, it wasn’t exactly a holy grail.

There is basically one giant problem with accepting credentials from multiple sources: “collisions”. That is when a user exists in two sources. For example, John Doe has signed up on your forums as well as in your website.

So we put our brilliant minds to the problem, and came up with a solution.

In DeskPRO 3.1 a user can have any number of accounts linked to it. We have one “local” user record, which contains details like a user ID, their preferences and so on. Each local user record is linked with any number of “remote” user records. A remote user record would be one from vBulletin, phpBB, your website or whatever other source you have set up. Once an account is linked this way, the user can log in using any credentials from any source to access the single helpdesk account.

From the user end, it’s as easy as its always been. The first time they enter their username and password, DeskPRO talks to each source you have configured to see if there is a match. If there is, the helpdesk record is created in the background and the user can use the system as normal. If they log in using a different set of credentials but the emails match, they are asked to verify they want to link the accounts.

A ton of changes were needed for this feature (mostly technical stuff, how users were handled by DeskPRO), but we did it! We listened to your demands and have provided.

Here are the user sources shipping with DeskPRO 3.1:

• Custom – Allows you to insert details about a custom database
• Custom (MsSQL) – Same as above, but works with a MsSQL database instead of MySQL
• DeskPRO – Of course, you can have DeskPRO manage all the users.
• eZ Publish
• LDAP
• osCommerce
• phpBB
• SugarCRM
• vBulletin

And as time passes, we’ll add even more.

That’s all I really wanted to say today. We’ve been working very hard on 3.1, I have no doubt you’ll be amazed at some of the changes!

Until next time,

– Christopher Nadeau

Now that 3.1 beta is out in the open, our work on the infamous instant chat plugin has started once again. We thought we’d venture out of the norm a bit. We’re being all web-2.0 about it (sorry, but you just know I had to use the term sometime).

The tech side of things is being created as a client-side app using Adobe AIR. This basically allows us to create a desktop application using the stuff we know best (HTML and Javascript). AIR has some added benefits over a normal browser. We can write preference files, use local SQLite databases, work with the clipboard… All sorts of neat things. And the added benefit of only having to debug under a single environment will save me from banging my head against the IE icon.

Since the user-side of things is much simpler, it will work in any modern browser without the need to download additional software. Everything is AJAX-driven, no olden-days of continuous refreshes. Our prototype looks very similar to a normal chat window you might find in AIM or MSN, minus nudges, video emotions and other annoying “features”.

By using generic web technologies like HTML and Javascript (perhaps Flash in the future) with the power of AJAX to get and send data, you don’t need to have any special server software like chat daemons; and your techs and users don’t need to load up special chat Java applets or anything like that. Everything can just work.

I’m not going to say what features we are actually planning since they will undoubtedly change. But the spec we have now is pretty cool. When we get further along I’ll try and post more about it.

– Christopher Nadeau

Hey everyone,

After months of hard work, we’re ready for some beta testers to break DeskPRO 3.1. You can download this beta version from the members area. For all of the curious amongst us, I’ve added a new section to the site about the new features in this version. Also read that page for links to the bug tracker where we’d like you to report any bugs.

Download. Enjoy. Break stuff!

– Christopher Nadeau

Hiya folks,

The other Chris got the crazy idea in his head to start up a company blog. “It’s so crazy, it might work!”, we said. And here we are!

If you’re interested in the goings-on of DeskPRO then you should stay tuned. We’ll give you the inside scoop, reveal new features, and give you the pleasure of hearing our rants about why such-and-such should be thrown out the window.

I hope the others can pop in when they have a chance but it looks as though I’ll be the main blogger here. Being the crazy developer I am, most of my posts will be talking about new features we plan to unveil in DeskPRO. At the time of this writing, version 3.1 is just around the corner. Too bad we didn’t start the blog a couple months ago, I could have leaked so many cool screenshots for you.

So here’s to months and months of happy blogging action!

– Christopher Nadeau