• First impression

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 #29737  by apb1963
 
OK, so I've had time to download and install it. After a rough start (the docs do not match reality) on my ubuntu 12.04 system, I'm left disappointed. While adding a user with + might seem intuitive (and it is, AFTER you've located it in the docs), it feels like it's hidden from view. You have to know where it is in order to find the tiny little + sign wayyyyyyyyy over on the far right side. But, I got past that, created myself and logged in as a plain user.

From there, my disappointment began. My expectations were that it would scan my hard drive looking for documents, email, (and ideally, bookmark/favorites files). With great excitement I waited for it to begin scanning... Then I went searching for the button to kick off the process. (The "scanner" button didn't do it. Ooops, I wasn't thinking about that kind of scanner, my bad.) Alas unless I missed something (and I really really hope I did), it appears to expect me to feed it documents one by one. I have hundreds, perhaps thousands of documents. I was under the impression this is a document management system - and that computers were supposed to automate dull, boring and repetitive tasks. So, please tell me I missed something. If not, then consider this a new feature request. Surely it couldn't be that hard to kick off a "find" and index the result.

I also noticed something else... thunderbird allows me to create multiple email accounts (as does my ISP). So I have 10 email accounts, all accessed from a single pane. It doesn't look like openKM will handle that. Consider that another feature request.

And so, without these features it looks like I'll probably be waiting quite a while for the functionality I need.

Feature suggestion - have a system that starts out with "beginner mode" and progressively reverts to your original design. For example, make that + sign overly large. Gigantic. And, after maybe 10 uses, slowly start shrinking it to normal size. So on use 11, it's one font size smaller for example. On use 12 - or perhaps 20, it shrinks another font size, etc. This lets the user grow accustomed to where the important features are located. I've noticed that in most software, BIG ICONS typically seem more "friendly" and easier to use. Tiny icons are like tiny legal print - the make your head hurt and nobody reads it. The icons on the (user) dashboard are right sized. The icons on the (user) desktop are way too tiny. And toss in some tip pop-ups. If I manage to make it to the users screen on the admin login and there are no other users... a pop-up that says "Click on the PLUS SIGN to create a new user" would be a handy little feature to have. Help guide my experience in learning to use the software.

But hey, really nice GUI otherwise.

And so ends a new user's thoughts & impressions. I hope you find them useful and in the spirit in which they're intended - constructive criticism.
 #29758  by pavila
 
OpenKM is not a filesystem indexer, like Spotlight. It's a Document Management System where document are stored in it's own repository with its own users and permissions. Maybe you expected another kind of software. If you want to import all your locally stored document, you can use the Administration > Repository import feature.

While we always want to make OpenKM as more easy to use as possible, you need to learn how it works. Documentation is not as good as it should be, but sadly we don't receive any contribution in this area.

We are working in a set of videos which may help new user to understand OpenKM, and make basic and simple operations. Meanwhile you also have a Youtube channel where you can learn ow to work with some features.
 #29761  by jllort
 
The idea of DMS is not indexing your personal computer ( is not the main goal althought pavila explained the way for getting it ). The main goal is consolidate several sources into a single repository and apply some rules into ( security, metadata etc... ) all accessible on a single point. Do not think of software installed on your computer, thing on software installed on single server for several users services. In this scenario get documents from your computer to be indexed ( what could be something like personal ) is made by thirdparty application ( desktop sync ) what synch files between your computer and repository. Is good idea sync all computer, for my point of view you should separate what is important information and what is garbage ( Here there's some philosophical and technical dicuss. Philosophical: get any sort of information into repository is good idea, Technical: a lot of computers sync to DMS with huge amount of files can decrease dramatically the performance. ). For my point of view DMS should not be used as a end user backup utility, should be used to store company relevant information

Desktop Syncs http://wiki.openkm.com/index.php/Desktop_sync ( we're doing some changes to get it running also in latest version OpenKM 6.4 and 6.3, now only can test in 6.2 version )

About Us

OpenKM is part of the management software. A management software is a program that facilitates the accomplishment of administrative tasks. OpenKM is a document management system that allows you to manage business content and workflow in a more efficient way. Document managers guarantee data protection by establishing information security for business content.