New Cacti Support System

[shull]

I want to make a recommendation.

I personally feel that with the release of the new Cacti 8.7 and more and more plugins and templates being created, things are starting to get a little unruly as far as organization goes (on the forums). It is already hard to search and find stuff on the forums (I have created my own Google search url that I have posted to the forums). There is a LOT of great information that I see on a daily basis, and if you can't find that easily again when you need it, it becomes very frustrating.

It seems the forums have grown to the point where many topics are growing beyond simple topic headings. I just think more organization is in order. I also think that something more than just forums will help set Cacti apart from many other products and "raise the bar" for many Open Source projects to follow in Cacti's footsteps.


Here is my suggestion.

I would like for the Cacti team to consider an application called ClearspaceX. This is from Jive Software (http://www.jivesoftware.com). They typically charge for the software, but they also have a program that provides a free license for Open Source projects. ClearspaceX combines wikis, tags, forums, blogs, etc. into a Web 2.0 type mashup. I haven't used the product, but it looks very very good and has gotten some real good press. I have run through it's demo on the site and it looks very cool. It just seems like the logical progression from just plain old forums.


Here's what I will do. I will contact them and start the discussions about this software. I will do it only with the blessings of the Cacti team, as they will be the one who will have to eventually interact with jivesoftware. I will perform tests of the software and allow a select number of users to interact and test out the system. I will set up a website for this purpose.

My questions are:

1. Are you interested?
2. If there is interest, who would I need to coordinate with?
3. Are there other plans for software/upgrades/modifications to the current system of support?

I will perform much of the dirty work to test the application and verify its usefulness.


I personally think many questions are answered many times in the forums and even I have asked some of the same questions that have been answered before. For me, the problem is locating relevent information easily. Another problem is piecing it all together. The docs provide great How-To's. I would like somewhere where anyone can add more info that could be helpful to others.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.


-Stephen

[Chaosratt]

I cannot believe this post did not get any more consideration. As a user with only minimal programming skills, often find it an absolute nightmare hunting through a forum thread that spans 4 years looking for help on a script/template/plugin. Something as simple as a wiki that the users could manager would be much easier (IMHO) to work with than a forum for scripts and templates, especially when you consider how all the different applications involve will be patched/updated in the lifetime of a forum thread.

[shull]

I actually have the software up and running on another site now.

http://www.getconfigs.com

If anyone is interested to see how the software I am recommending works.

On another note, the company, jivesoftware, has increased their prices since I posted this. Now the software would cost, for a site like Cacti.net, probably around $70,000/year, for the software only. They have a program that allows an Open Source project to get the software for free. I have already contacted JiveSoftware and they have given me the OK for a free unlimited license.

Just FYI.


-Stephen

[TheWitness]

Most people, in fact, use Google. It works pretty well. But I agree, we need to perform some house keeping. A new technique introduced is to use the word "SOLVED" in post's that have solutions.

We'll get there some day. Need $$$ in contributions.

TheWitness

[shull]

Yes. $$$ always helps. Free is good too. That's what this software would cost. Jive Software is willing to give a free license to make this happen.

Not trying to be a pest about it and I know there are other things to consider. I just want this product to succeed and I think the support aspect is critical. I am sure developers and some of the experts of Cacti get tired of answering the same questions over and over. It is a waste of time. I just wanted to throw out an alternative to how things are done today. I think that any type of collaborative technologies for support and knowledge transfer, such as Web 2.0, would give Cacti an advantage over other similar OS products. One of my initial misgivings about Cacti when I was investigating Cacti was the steep learning curve needed to really understand how it works and how to configure it. If software like this could help new and existing users overcome that hurdle, this community will grow to be huge.

I think at this point, the support systems, knowledgebase, and the community's knowledge of the product should be one of the focus' for enhancement. As I said before in the orginal post, I am willing to put forth the effort to test and install the app so that the features can be explored and functionality can be tested.

I have already coordinated the FREE license from Jive. I can move on this pretty quickly, if the Cacti Team is interested. I won't move forward without their blessings.

Thanks for listening,

Stephen

[rony]

Please put me in contact with the proper persons at Jive Software.

If the license and terms check out, we will have a internal discussion about using it.

Take no offense from this, but all systems (website, svn, forums, etc) are maintained and are under the control of the Cacti Group. We currently have a policy of not out sources these items.

[shull]

None taken.

The software is not hosted. You install it on your server and you maintain it. You have full control over the content. It lives on your server.

-Stephen

[eternal]

I use Jive's Openfire, been using it from the beginning of wildfire. The support system they have is top notch. Its clean and fast to find problems. Openfire might be nice to If you would want im/chat services.

The front with the forum type ties into the backend for developers. It would hide alot of chatter and clean things up quite abit.