Hey Adam,
I agree with Dan that the process should be a single page with checkboxes or something instead of a separate page for
each option. Actually, I would like to see an 'expert mode' implementd in 1.1 that would eliminate the wizard and just
install the framework to a directory. After you have done this once or twice and know how things work, the wizard just
gets in the way. I would rather just set the datasource and mappings ahead of time and generate the code.
I also think you need to make some money to keep the high quality apps going. Some ideas, like PlumForums and
PlumCatalog/PlumCart could be packaged and sold as standalone apps by themselves, with an installer,etc., without the
Plum IDE/Generator being part of the deal. For just those folks who want a forums package, but don't want to develop
with Plum. I think you should charge for that. ($20 or $30 or something).
Then you could sell versions of Plum that had these apps built in so that you could include/develop them with the
projects and have a license to deploy, etc. So you could buy, as an example the Plum generator with Forums for $99
instead of $79, or Plum with PlumCatalog/PlumCart for $99, or Plum 'Enterprise' that includes all of them for $129 or
something like that. I know it is chump change, but it will help a little.
I think something like the File manager/image uploader Dirk is talking about or a simple mail client, are really more
examples of a utility and won't have much functionality outside of a Plum app. It supports an app, but really isn't an
app, unlike PlumForums. You aren't going to want to install the whole Plum Framework to implement a file upload
manager. These types of things you should include as part of the Plum Generator (by the way, can you call it the Plum
CodeGen or Pluminator or something else a little more catchy ;)? Plum Generator just sounds 'heavy' and non-techie.
'Hey Martha, I'm on Google right now, and did you know somebody invented a machine that generates plums?'
Lastly, and this is a shameless request, because I do more intranet/extranet sites than the public-facing stuff, but I
think the killer app in this is an integrated report writer, especially with CFMX 7 out, and the ability to generate
pdf/flashpaper/excel output. I hope you guys decide to go forward on that (otherwise I will have too ;). What would be
even cooler is to make it ad hoc by using XSLT and the .plum project file (you have all the table, columns, relation
stuff in there, right?) There is only one product on the market for this (HotQuery) and it is really expensive and
outdated.
Whew. My 2 cents.
Jeff
_______________________________
Jeff Fleitz
Tekquest, Ltd
Integrated Digital Solutions
http://www.tekquest.com
_______________________________
Adam Churvis wrote:
So I'm sitting here thinking about V1.1, and I'm wondering about adding
optional functionality to Plum right out of the box, so I wanted everyone's
opinion on this idea:
1) When creating a new Plum project, one of the New Plum Project Wizard
panels asks if you want to install PlumForums (just a pair of Yes/No radio
buttons).
2) A second panel asks if you want to install PlumCatalog and PlumCart.
3) Additional panels ask if you want to install additional modules.
First question: does this sound like a good idea?
Second question: what should one or more of those "additional modules" be?
I'm seriously thinking about including PlumForums, PlumCatalog/PlumCart, and
these additional modules for free along with Plum, so that Plum could
literally have just about everything you'd need (except custom business
processes and graphics, of course) two minutes after launching the Plum IDE.
What do you all think?
Also, I'm going to take Sean Corfield's advice and rename Plum IDE "Plum
Generator" in V1.1.
Thanks in advance for your feedback. :)
Respectfully,
Adam Phillip Churvis
Member of Team Macromedia
http://www.ProductivityEnhancement.com
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