Since I spent a couple of hours evaluating Epesi I thought I would also take the time to write down my experiences. Maybe it will help someone else or maybe some developer will find something useful in it. Either way, moderators, feel free to delete.
First I would like to say "Thank you!" to the dev-team for making this program available, I am always amazed at all the great software available, especially when its for the price of a (voluntary) donation.
Conclusion:
First, instead of last, since noone will get through the wall of rambling inchorent text that follows. Also bear in mind this is comments from first time use not from extensive use.
Using Epesi BIM was a very nice experience, the application was simple, the interface was clean. Roundcube integration pleasant surprise (I was however unable to get any mails to show up in the crm-modules but that might be user error). The possible downside of this simplicity was the lack some features / customization options.
What I however found troublesome was configuration and administration section. Documentation regarding this was just too scarce. While most settings can be guessed, especially if you have experience with these types of applications I would prefer to know. Modules administration was one of those places where more information would have been very helpful, it would also have been nice to know which modules had dependencies on which (not just that they had dependencies).
So will I start using Epesi?: I have also looked at a couple of other applications and so far Epesi is the best fit. However the administration part makes me feel uncomfortable so I will probably wait and see if I stumble across a better fit or spend some more time and get comfortable with Epesi.
First impression (demo):
Nice clean interface, was enough to make me want to install it so I could test it a bit better.
Installation:
Pretty standard. With the exception of the unconventional naming of the .htaccess file, the extra ".txt" extension gave some weird error message but after renaming that and changing permission on the data-directory everything went fine.
Tested on: ubuntu (lucid), apache2, mysql5.1, php5.3 running in virtualbox on xp.
User experience:
Mostly the application was easy to use, rather self explanatory. Took some time to get used to the action bar at the top, kept looking for some form of save/confirm at the bottom of the forms.
Below are some minor issues that I found irritating.
[list:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]Launchpad, while its nice to bypass the menu I think its very annoying with the dark/light shift. It would probably be easier on the eyes if the background was less opaque (more transparent) when launchpad is active.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]ESC-key sometimes works as cancel/back but not always, for instance in Launchpad (and Module information in module admin) it would have been very nice.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]AccessKeys in general, sometimes its a bit difficult to know if they are active and not, i.e. instead of creating a new contact I opened a new window. Same access key helped me create a new company just before.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]Forms where you include / remove multiple, i.e. companies->groups its not instantly clear if left or right is included / removed.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq][/list:u:2ppr4fvq]
Administration / Documentation:
Here is where the application falls a bit short, at least for me as a new user. It starts fine with a nice friendly launchboard with buttons to press. But there is virtually no information in the different sections. So from that nice inviting launchboard you basically feel like you walk into a dark tunnel.
While I can guess most functions it doesn't feel right / safe / comfortable. This is the kind of application you put a lot of work inputing valueable information into so you want to be sure you know what happens to it and can access it in the best way.
Example: Change theme
Take one of the simplest sections "Change theme" ("Themes administration"). Without information or description I am presented with a select box to choose template (for something), don't know what to do with that but "default" feels like the safe bet. Followed by two checkboxes with no real explanation of what happens or why. Then I am offered to upload a file again without explanation what the file will be used for, is it a theme-template (for something) an image etc.?
Later I discovered another button, manage templates, in the action bar (still haven't gotten used to that one). Not sure what that is for, seems that I could install extra templates from somewhere.
Many of the other administration modules follows the same pattern, no information of what happens or how things are connected. And they are generally more important than what theme is used.
For instance ModulesAdministration, no information on what the different modules do. Take MailClient, description "Apps/MailClient and other CRM functions connector" doesn't really explain anything.
Documentation:
I tried searching for some form och documentation but couldn't find much. There was a manual linked from the website, which was very nice, but only covered the user side issues which I found mostly selfexplanatory. The administration part just covered adding new users. There are of course some nuggets of information hidden in the forum.
I looked at the devel site (.org) but couldn't find much info there either, altough I was happy to find a Developers tutorial about writing modules and extending the application.
Missing / not found (by me) features:
Some things I coldn't find out how to do,
[list:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]selecting multiple companies / contacts (for use in task, campaign, changing group, delete etc.)[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]edit /change / add types of contact[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]add custom fields on companies / contacts; found this: administration->record set->manage fields (would have been nice to have more control of where custom fields are displayed)[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]changing what columns are shown in lists[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]edit / add groupnames[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]roundcube: somewhere to set default for all users and not let users edit settings themselves.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq][/list:u:2ppr4fvq]
Some minor issues:
[list:2ppr4fvq][*:2ppr4fvq]Info for modules: sometimes description is shown at top and sometimes at bottom.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]Sometimes the action bar has a back button sometimes not, not really a problem since you can use browser back but it is a bit annoying for instance admin->(common data, countries, default, etc.) no button while admin->theme has a button.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]annoying that you can't add activity to company only to contacts.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]AccessKeys, where can you which are defined (if you delete the note thats on the front page after install)?[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]Thought the question mark at the top was some sort of help for current page, but it turned out to be always the same (action bar / menu).[/*:m:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]Lists, sort-order and selection of columns is a bit weird and annoying. For instance in Contacts I can sort on all columns except CompanyName by clicking on the heading and in Companies all but Group.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq][/list:u:2ppr4fvq]
Bugs
[list:2ppr4fvq]
[*:2ppr4fvq]There is some sort of depency issue with crm/meeting module. If you disable this, error messages apppear but there is no warning of dependency when disabling it.[/*:m:2ppr4fvq][/list:u:2ppr4fvq]
