On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 3:28:29 PM UTC-4, Stefan Lodders wrote: > > Hi Roberto, > > as you know via Nate from appsembler.net I would really like to see Mayan > chosen from my hospital. > We don't have any IT gurus at hand, so I as an experienced user, have to > handle it. And if I as the most experienced user in IT become desperate, my > collegues will become desperate even more and earlier. > > From the admin's point of view I did not even manage to upload a newer > version of a document. Although I RTFM I could not find that out so far. > I guess all the functions I need for almost everything are "in there" > somewhere, but they don't seem to be connected to each in a way easy to use. > > The main layout for every view is: main menu on top, secondary toolbar and actions for the currently selected object in the top of the sidebar at the right side and alternative actions at the bottom of the sidebar. To upload a new version of a document, select a previously uploaded document, go to the versions tab and on the bottom of the right sidebar there should be an "upload new document version" menu entry. Yes the documentation on that feature is a little vague. Since it takes time away from doing support and writing code, what I usually do is take a few days prior to the release of a new version to work on the documentation, if something didn't make the cut it is usually added in the next release.
> E.g. a workflow for a new document and an new version should be like that: > 1. Upload the document (give Metadatas etc.) in an editable version (e.g. > .docx). Mayan should create a pdf version of it and present it to anyone > who does not check it out for editing. Alternatively present an option to > upload the pdf version manually. > To see if I understood correctly: Provide a PDF version of the uploaded .docx document if the user doesn't has editing permissions? 2. You should be able to specify who may edit the document except from you. > This can be done using the ACL (access control list) feature, where you can restrict what actions any user can do to any specific document. You can even set the default ACL to assign upon document creation (which permissions to assign to the creator of the document, or any other specific user, group of users, or role) > 3. A "new" tag should be "rewarded" for some time automatically so other > users can find it easily. > This would require a rule base system that automatically assigns tags to document based on programmatic criteria set by de admin (kind of like the smart link or the indexes). Something similar to this is in the TO DO list for the next mayor version, but is not even designed yet. > 4. If you set a "for review" tag, the document is hidden to all users but > to those users or role members you specify for the review. If a reviewer > removes the review tag it will become visible. > This sort of functionality is better handled by a workflow engine like the one being developed for Mayan, that changes the document properties and access control list based on the used defined states of a document (uploaded, approved, rejected). This functionality passed the design phase and there is some model code but it is slated for the next mayor release. > 5. If you check out a document you become able to download the editable > version of the document. > This is already implemented using the checkout system where a user can checkout a document for editing and lock it so that no one else can uploading a new version. > 6. After editing the document you can check it in again and may specify > the version jump. Micro steps don't get a "new" tag, all other's do. If the > uploader is not a reviewer for the document (see above) the document gets a > "for review" tag, too, for all but micro steps. > There is support for specifying the mayor, minor and micro version of the new version of a document along with a comment of the changes. No support for setting the tags on the event of uploading a new version. > 7. When locked in a user gets under "home" an overview over new comments > on documents he may edit or he commented on, documents with a "new" tag etc. > This sounds like a dashboard. Removal of the current static home page showing the pyramid logo to replace it with a dashboard is already under way ( https://github.com/rosarior/mayan/blob/development/docs/releases/0.13.rst), but for inclusion on the next mayor version. > > Additional features like reading confirmation for new documents are > absolutely necessary in an institution with 200+ members. > > Reading confirmations like email reading confirmations? > I have no idea how to explain a somehow smilar workflow to my bosses with > the current Mayan version... > > As you know for sure several norms exist ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_management_system). You'll have to > match most of these norms to get a chance to earn a relevant amount of > money with your great project because most company are working on becoming > certified (e.g. with EN ISO 9001) and there a norm compliant dms is a > conditio sine quo non. > > Stefan > > Getting certified is not a big priority for the project at this time (at least for me personally) because of well, personal reasons. Having tried to get previous software certified taught me that some (if not all) certification processes are either scams to get money and provide a false sense of elitism for the company whose software get certified selectively or are poorly defined that the required implementation for compliance are very open to individual interpretation (for example check HIPAA in regards to record privacy) or cannot be effectively implemented. Either way they all lead down the same path: a disproportional amount of money and time spent trying to get certified and an a selective situation where only a specific group of software gets certified and allowed in certain industries, even if these lack in terms of technical quality. As far as I can tell Mayan can do a few of the things you require, and I can add some of the ones it lacks but there are others which may not be implemented at all. This is because Mayan is meant to as a general document management platform with customization capabilities for several sectors, but there is a limit to how much a software can be customized before a specialized solution is needed. It seems to me that you would best benefit from a dedicated solution meant for your work environment, like an EHR with basic document management features. Thanks a lot for giving Mayan EDMS a serious look though, and for your input, very much appreciated, --Roberto --
