[Paul]

got to create a big intranet for my work, which i haven't done before database to log and track most of the calls and jobs, also it will generated invoices, and have more stuff (still not discussed it fully ).

anyway, anyone got any pointers on what to use or how to go about tackling a job like this? advice on organisation with a big job like this would be appriciated as would any tutorials or articals discussing it.

bit of a jump in size compared to my normal stuff

ta people

[proc355]

ouch, i hope you aren't alone, and your employer understands how much work is involved.

it's either customise an existing solution or it's learn a framework time, which one depends on where you feel most comfortable, i.e. php/java/asp/ruby/python/lisp(!)

php: cakephp/symfony - php used to be the cool kid, still viable, it's def on my shit list now though cos of the syntax

java: tapestry/spring/lots of others - oww oww oww oww oww! save yourself now!

asp: ? no doubt proprietary - microslop, 'nuff said

python: django - slick 'auto-admin area' stuff/zope - been around a long time, several 'complete' CRM applications available

ruby: rails/nitro - i'm a rails whore, guess where this is going...slight bump at the beginning but the learning curve isn't bad, it's very fast to develop in, forgiving of change, lots of good ruby shit is easily integrated so you can easily have background processes to do your invoicing stuff etc. it's not that rails is ultra cool, it's rubythat rocks; it's something else.

smalltalk: seaside - actually looks pretty tasty, i know jack shit about it though :P

if you've got _some_ coding experience you could easily have a working* demo in a few days with rails, and hook in all the other goodness as and when required - it lends itself very well to evolving specs

if it's existing solution time then search freshmeat.net for CRM - lists OSS & proprietary - seriously though, customising it may be more hassle than building a bespoke solution

kinda vague but i hope it helps

[Paul]

Originally Posted by proc355

ouch, i hope you aren't alone, and your employer understands how much work is involved.

it's either customise an existing solution or it's learn a framework time, which one depends on where you feel most comfortable, i.e. php/java/asp/ruby/python/lisp(!)

php: cakephp/symfony - php used to be the cool kid, still viable, it's def on my shit list now though cos of the syntax

java: tapestry/spring/lots of others - oww oww oww oww oww! save yourself now!

asp: ? no doubt proprietary - microslop, 'nuff said

python: django - slick 'auto-admin area' stuff/zope - been around a long time, several 'complete' CRM applications available

ruby: rails/nitro - i'm a rails whore, guess where this is going...slight bump at the beginning but the learning curve isn't bad, it's very fast to develop in, forgiving of change, lots of good ruby shit is easily integrated so you can easily have background processes to do your invoicing stuff etc. it's not that rails is ultra cool, it's rubythat rocks; it's something else.

smalltalk: seaside - actually looks pretty tasty, i know jack shit about it though :P

if you've got _some_ coding experience you could easily have a working* demo in a few days with rails, and hook in all the other goodness as and when required - it lends itself very well to evolving specs

if it's existing solution time then search freshmeat.net for CRM - lists OSS & proprietary - seriously though, customising it may be more hassle than building a bespoke solution

kinda vague but i hope it helps

aye, i'm all on my tod

will probably go down the php route as that is where most of my skills are

cheers

[stickmus]

Have a look at ExpressionEngine - Publish Your Universe! with the Solspace: Freeform 2.5.1 module. EE has a bit of a steep learning curve, but if it's for internal, I reckon you'll get away with the free version.

If you want to start from scratch, don't reinvent the wheel, use a framework. CodeIgniter - Open source PHP web application framework might get you up and running fairly quickly.

[Paul]

ta stickmus