I agree with Clifford- MS project server might be something worth looking at if "MSP on Rails" is what you're after, and +1 for Raphaelle
I was an avid MS Project person until a few years ago, and I think for some reason MSP has become some kind of "default" for how you might manage a project. I used MSP for pretty much everything, but with the benefit of hindsight (IMO) it is pretty inflexible. It provided a false expectation of how long a project might take and how it's going. As a piece of software, it hasn't really changed much in 10 years (OK the buttons are shiny and icons are new). We now rely much more on stories and use Jira and Greenhopper for managing and scheduling tasks. Tasks in the real world don't neatly line up and change from "todo" to "done" - they need to get worked on, QA'ed by someone, perhaps a bit more work, and then closed. They have constraints and blockers. My point is that MSP or Omniplan might not be the best thing to model your app on. Other tools and ways of approaching the problem might better suit your actual needs. For example we looked at what information was meaningful for our team on a daily and weekly basis- turns out no one actually understood the Gantt charts I was making. Now everyone gets an email each morning with their tasks/whats on for today & this week, plus some other similar tasks if they run out of stuff to do. We've also made some stuff to pull information out of Harvest and Jira and show this on a wallboard http://redant.com.au/blog/the-story-behind-our-wallboard/ Its always fun to build something new from scratch. But in this case you might get further along by finding an existing tool (there are thousands out there) and then building something that works with that if you need to. Or to Ben Schwarz and Jason's points, at least take a step back and see if MSP is what your users actually need. regards Ben On Jan 31, 6:54 pm, Clifford Heath <[email protected]> wrote: > It's not cheap, but surely if you're already using MS Project, a > distributed MS Project > Server would be cheaper than building it yourself? > <http://www.microsoft.com/project > > > Or doesn't it handle cross-project resoursing like you need? > > The possibility for scope creep is huge in a system like you propose > (public holidays, > vacation schedules, integration with personal calendar systems, etc). > Been there, > done that (built a GANTT chart widget in the 90s for Telstra to use in > some scheduling > system - luckily I only had to build the widget, not the whole app!) > > If you want to build it anyway, the graphical elements of the UI would > work best if > built using Raphael. Raphael is awesome, and doesn't require mad JS > skillz to > make it sing, though I've found they help :). All the drag&drop > capability you need > is either already there, or you can add it > athttp://github.com/cjheath/Raphaelle/ > > Not willing to hazard a firm guess at what price you'd get those > skills though. Anything > from $60-$120 an hour, and the rate won't necessarily correlate with > the productivity :). > I wouldn't try to push it down to $40, or you'll probably get a nuff- > nuff. > > Clifford Heath, Data Constellation,http://dataconstellation.com > > On 31/01/2011, at 5:55 PM, Tim McEwan wrote: > > > > > > > > > Thanks Julio. > > > To clarify - this system will be custom-built so it won't work in > > exactly the same way as the others. From what I've seen of them, > > they're all about planning one project. The interface I describe > > will plan only one project, but our system manages 100+ active > > projects at any one time, so the interface needs to give feedback as > > to whether you're allocating someone who's already allocated > > elsewhere. It's also the way my colleagues have been used to > > planning projects, so we can't change the interface too radically > > (to the calendar style, for instance). We have something similar to > > it already, but it's just a series of input boxes for weeks going > > forwards (and is consequently terrible to use). We only just > > managed to ween them off Excel, but they're seriously pining for > > draggability. ;-) > > > And also to clarify, when I said "how much" I meant $/hr. > > > Thanks again! > > > -- > > Tim McEwan > > Sent with Sparrow > > On Monday, 31 January 2011 at 17:37, Julio Cesar Ody wrote: > > >> Maybe you don't need to replicate MS Project or Omniplan's interface > >> for it to be usable. Why not a Google Calendar-like one? Personal > >> preference aside, for the task you just describe, it's suitable. > > >>> - would you stick with Rails/JS or go with Flash/Air/whatever-that- > >>> microsoft-one-is? > > >> Rails/JS. Though I'm no expert in Flash/Air to judge how easier/ > >> harder > >> it would be. I tend to think you'd be painting yourself against a > >> corner by going down that route. > > >>> - how much is a Rails/jQuery guru of the required calibre? > > >> If the requirements are really just the ones you've mentioned, > >> back-end wise it's dead easy to built. As for the interface, not so > >> much. But perhaps you don't have to start from scratch → > >>http://www.queness.com/post/656/10-beautiful-jquery-and-mootool-calen... > > >>> - do you think the time estimate is feasible? > > >> Yes. Should the requirements stay as such. > > >> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 5:13 PM, Tim McEwan <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> Hi All, > >>> I want to build a MS Project/Omniplan-style project planning > >>> interface in a > >>> web browser. I'm really keen for jQuery & HTML5 and stuff, but if > >>> it's > >>> going to be a ludicrous undertaking, I'd settle for something like > >>> Flash. > >>> We basically need to allocate team members to tasks and then time > >>> to the > >>> team members, but ease of use for non-techies is key, so we need > >>> things to > >>> be draggable. > >>> I'm thinking me (Rails moderate, no jQuery) + one Rails/jQuery > >>> guru for two > >>> months @ 35 hours/week oughtta do it. Am I dreaming? > >>> If you'd be so kind, please send me your thoughts on: > >>> - would you stick with Rails/JS or go with > >>> Flash/Air/whatever-that-microsoft-one-is? > >>> - do you think the time estimate is feasible? > >>> - how much is a Rails/jQuery guru of the required calibre? > >>> - would you like to be that guru? * > >>> - no really, am I dreaming? > >>> * It'd have to be onsite at UTS, if you're interested. > >>> Cheers, > >>> -- > >>> Tim McEwan > >>> Sent with Sparrow > > >>> -- > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >>> Groups > >>> "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >>> [email protected]. > >>> For more options, visit this group at > >>>http://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en. > > >> -- > >>http://awesomebydesign.com > > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >> Groups "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected] > >> . > >> For more options, visit this group > >> athttp://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en > >> . > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected] > > . > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en > > . -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. 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