Re: [vps2] Re: [cpx] not intuitive, at all. (cpx)

["Stormer's Cgi-Archive" <stormer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark,

First things first...

>>>I'm releasing a new iManagerPro today.  And yes, it does have the
ability for domain admin to administer multiple domains!

YOU are the MAN!!

Now, on to the rest of the show...

> Mark wrote:
> The complaint here is two fold.
>
> The first problem, is that our 'basic' domain admin type of person is
> familiar with terms like "mail forwards" and "POP3 accounts".  In
> iManagerPro, the domain admin would see a link to 'maintain email
> account'.  From there, they see two different areas.  One for
> maintaining POP3 users and one for maintaining Forwards.  So, this part
> is mostly a learning curve with CPX.  With CPX, domain admins have to
> understand that in order to create a POP account, they need to add a
> user.  In order to create a mail forward, they need to work in the
> "Email Addresses" section.  Not that big of a change, IMO.

Regarding intuitive...and Jonathan's post.  This should cover both...

Put it this way...currently with cpx:

A lay customer logs in... (one I have given domain administration to)  "what do they do?".    They
might see... "oh, add email addresses, ok".   So they click on it.  From that screen it's going to
only let them setup "forwards", or to send it to the "main user account".  Ok, please press the link
to "Im lost and confused".

Why is "Add End User" so "far" away from "Add email Address" ?   Cmon... dumb it down.   The
customer is going to click on "add email address".  They are not going to understand "Add End User"
?   How about changing that link, throw it in the "Mail Management Section" and call it.. Add POP3
Email?  And instead of calling the link "add email addresses", call it.. "Add email forwarding"?
In fact, all the entire "User Management Section" shouldn't even be a section.  It should be over in
the "Mail Management Section".  I'm speaking strickly for the domain admin.   Not the server admin.

This is a classic example of "not intuitive".   I totally understand it.  But I'm looking at how
many "questions" I am going to get when introduced as is.

As it is right now... when a user logs into imanpro...  they see:

"Maintain Mail Accounts - domain.com".

Well, that sounds pretty intuitive right there.    When they click on that, it shows them "from one
screen" how many forwards they have, how many pop3 email accounts they have and options to
add/edit/delete from either.

It's pretty simple actually.

That is what I mean by "intuitive".   You can make it as complicated as all get out for "me" the
main server admin, no sweat, I'll figure it out.  But for the domain admin, it's got to be "self
understanding".  Don't get me wrong, 99% of the time, the "Domain Admin"  IS the end user (yes the
little o'l lady who wants to become a millionair selling her quilts) because he/she is the only one
using it and he/she needs to be able to login and add new email accounts.  (easily without wondering
how the heck to do it)


James

Stormer's Cgi-Archive
http://www.stormer.org


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark A. Sharkey" <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <cpx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <vps2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 3:21 PM
Subject: [vps2] Re: [cpx] not intuitive, at all. (cpx)


> Hello,
>
> Scott Wiersdorf wrote:
> > Mark, if you are reading this, I'd appreciate some help understanding
> > where CPX is lacking for James's sake (or helping James understand how
> > CPX works). I didn't hope for CPX to be all things to all people, but
> > we thought we'd done a pretty good job for most people's needs.
> >
>
> I'll do my best to act as intrepreter.  James/Scott, correct me wherever
> I assume something that one of you did not intend. ;-)  First, a little
> background:
>
> I've been involved with CPX since the early design phase (offering
> opinions and helping test).  It was my hope that the first release of
> cpx would have *at a minimum* the same functionality of imanager and
> imanagerpro.  Because, until it catches up with iManagerPro, it is quite
> frankly a downgrade for *my* type of clients.
>
> When it became obvious that it would not meet that goal of being
> imanagerpro-ish, I was still supportive of launching it as a 'phase
> one'.  My reasoning was that Verio needs to hear the suggestions from
> all of us resellers as a whole.  It will be better for the developers to
> hear this now, in the early stages, then to have put out a product they
> felt was finished, and in reality it was severely lacking in
> functionality.
>
> CPX is a work in progress, and this is merely the first release.  My
> hope is that CPX updates and enhancements come fast and furiously from
> this point, based on the suggestions and needs of the resellers.
>
>
>
> >>1. assigned usernames.  (like imanpro)
> >
> >
> > What does this mean? Is it like adding a prefix to the username (e.g.,
> > jgc_useranme)? We've had a request for this functionality as an
> > enhancement already. Am I guessing right?
> >
>
> Yes, a user prefix (or even an incremental suffix).  It is a big
> timesaver for resellers that are doing virtual sub hosting, to not have
> to explain why the user 'webmaster' is already taken to each domain
> admin that wants it.  With iManagerPro, I give the server admin the
> ability to set a login prefix for each domain admin.  When the domain
> admin goes to create a user, the login prefix is prepended to whatever
> they use (giving you jgc_username type users).
>
> I also allow the server admin to assign a userid that increments by one
> for each new user a domain admin creates - and not allow the domain
> admin to pick a userid.  So, if I use 'jgc' as the login prefix for a
> domain admin, then each new user that the domain admin creates will
> automatically have the userid assigned for them as jgc1, jgc2, jgc3.
>
> Finally, we also have the option just like CPX, where the domain admin
> can create any userid they like, so long as it is not already being used.
>
>
> >
> >>2. one step email administration.  (like imanpro)
> >
> >
> > Not sure about this either; you know that when you add a user, a
> > default email address is setup that you can edit right there in the
> > user setup screen? You can then add additional email addresses in the
> > mail management section.
> >
>
> The complaint here is two fold.
>
> The first problem, is that our 'basic' domain admin type of person is
> familiar with terms like "mail forwards" and "POP3 accounts".  In
> iManagerPro, the domain admin would see a link to 'maintain email
> account'.  From there, they see two different areas.  One for
> maintaining POP3 users and one for maintaining Forwards.  So, this part
> is mostly a learning curve with CPX.  With CPX, domain admins have to
> understand that in order to create a POP account, they need to add a
> user.  In order to create a mail forward, they need to work in the
> "Email Addresses" section.  Not that big of a change, IMO.
>
> The second problem that James is talking about, is that it is currently
> a 3 step process to create a user in CPX; whereas with iManagerPro it is
> two (fill out the fields, submit, confirm).  You could easily do the
> same in CPX.
>
> >
> >>3. abitlity to "limit" the email accounts to be "lower" than main ftp
> >>quota. Umm.. if I give someone 200 megs of ftp space and they add a bunch
> >>of email accounts, well, duh, each of their email accounts "can be" 200
> >>megs. That's, umm.. for lack of a better word, "stupid".
> >
> >
> > Sorry I'm not "getting it" (I'm not an imanpro pro). In VPS v2, each
> > user has a quota assigned to them. If they use their disk space for
> > files (via ftp, etc) or email, we don't care. There isn't any way to
> > divorce the two (unlike on VPS 1) unless you setup a separate user
> > (i.e., one user for mail only and another for ftp). What am I missing
> > here?
> >
> > A domain admin may not over-allocate past their own quota: if I'm a
> > DA with 200MB quota, I can create 10 users with 20MB quotas each
> > (leaving nothing for myself--my quota is shrunk with each user I add
> > under me). Is this what you mean?
> >
>
> James, you'll have to give this one another stab.  I'm with Scott.  I'm
> not quite following you here.  I really like how CPX does not allow a
> domain admin to over allocate past their resources.  This is a big
> enhancement from iManagerPro IMO.
>
> >
> >>4. password protection.  (like imanpro)
> >
> >
> > I'm assuming you mean something like Apache's Basic Authentication to
> > password protect a web directory. Right? This is also a scheduled
> > enhancement.
> >
>
> Yes, I put a htaccess authentication manager into iManagerPro.  Any
> client that has FTP permissions, is able to password protect their
> directories using Apache Basic Authentication.  They use the file
> manager to traverse to the directory of choice, and then they are
> presented with the htaccess screen (add/modify/delete users).
>
> >
> >>Ultimately, I just need a way for users to maintain their own email
> >>accounts.
> >
> >
> > This functionality is (for the CPX paradigm) the responsibility of the
> > domain administrator (the person who owns the domain and creates
> > users under a particular domain, etc.)
> >
> > The end users *can* control their primary mailbox and what happens to
> > it (e.g., mail is forwarded to another place, or an autoresponder is
> > setup, etc.). End users cannot create more mail aliases for themselves
> > (only the DA can do that) for now. What else do you mean by "maintain
> > their own email accounts"?
> >
>
> I think that CPX is structured correctly here.
>
> >
> >>All that other flashy stuff is really just flash.  I need users
> >>to be able to 'easily' add/remove/edit their 'own' email accounts.
> >
> >
> > I'm guessing you mean email addresses (we use the term 'account' to
> > mean a username/login pair--having a user delete himself would be bad,
> > imo). Do other people want this functionality also?
> >
>
> I think that CPX is structured correctly here.
>
> > We've extended the ability to add/remove/edit email addresses from the
> > server administrator to the domain administrator--are you requesting
> > that it go one step further to the end user also?
> >
> >
> >>Ideally, just a simple username/password, puts them right into the screen
> >>to manage their mail accounts. That's it.
> >
> >
> > We also have an enhancement request to change the default landing page
> > (the page you see after logging in) so that users can go right to
> > webmail after logging in.
> >
>
> That will be helpful, Scott.
>
> >
> >>And Mark, I know your reading this.. if only imanpro would allow for
> >>administering multiple domains, it would be a slam dunk!  Please don't
> >>throw imanpro away!  Too many of us are using it without problems.
> >
>
> I'm releasing a new iManagerPro today.  And yes, it does have the
> ability for domain admin to administer multiple domains!
>
> Mark
>
> -- 
> vps1 -> vps2 migrations for only $229.00!
>
> Mark A. Sharkey
> PrecisionPros.com Network
> 6543 East Omega Street
> Mesa, Arizona 85215
> 800 844 4434 toll free
> 480 461 9765 local
> 480 461 9312 fax
>

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