Remaking the eBox sidebar (discussion help needed)

[Saturn2888]

Hey all. I said I'd help remake the eBox sidebar, but there's no way to do that without scapping the sidebar and making something new.

Here's what the sidebar looks like now in full: http://www.kevinghadyani.info/files/ebox/eBox%20Platform.html. I've been trying to think up ways to just completely scrap it, but I do that best when I have some sort of discussion going for some reason so I'm here making this thread specifically for that very reason.

Can people please give up some ideas? I am having trouble unless I can do some kind of one-on-one or group chat about this. Whenever I get a job in the business world, it's always to figure out what's wrong with things and fix them in new and innovative ways. Problem is, I usually have people I can discuss things with which is why I'm calling on eBox users to help out.

Thanks!

[SamK]

Rather than make specific suggestions at this stage might it be worthwhile considering strategically?  Establishing clear Terms of Reference will act as a guide when conducting the work.

Do the devs support the efforts to redesign the sidebar?  It may be a lot of work for nothing.

Identify and document the problems with the current sidebar.  A simple two column chart may be sufficient such as:

PROBLEM/ISSUE           WHICH MEANS THAT
1                       a)
                        b)
                        c) and so on...

2                       a)
                        b)

3 and so on...

Itemize and document each objective of the redesigned sidebar.  These should be specific, measurable and briefly stated.  These will thereby indicate when each objective has been achieved.

OBJECTIVE               INDICATOR OF SUCCESS
1                       a)

2                       a)

3 and so on...

This is a simple means of helping to avoid the worst parts of "mission drift" in a project.

I hope this helps.

[Saturn2888]

SamK, I knew you'd be the first to post!

The devs thought it was neat I wanted to change things so they're for the idea. We'll see if we can present something they'll want to merge in.

Is there even a way to create some sort of "cloud" or horizontal navigation bar that suits this purpose? The sidebar seems very cramped right now. Now, what did you mean in your examples? Could you give an example using some of the current sidebar properties?

Another change I wanted to make is to have it so same-named areas like DNS and DNS are changed to DNS Server and DNS Settings for instance.

[SamK]

Whenever I get a job in the business world, it's always to figure out what's wrong with things and fix them in new and innovative ways.

The suggestions offered are simply a means of formalizing this process. 

The relationship with a client often arises because the client has a need/want.  The client does not normally know what needs to be done to fulfill the need/want. Frequently it is expressed by referring to a problem currently being experienced and effects it has on the business.  This is similar to them suffering a pain. They are able to describe the effect of the pain but not the cause.  They just want the pain to stop.

The next stage is to identify with the client all instances of where the pain is being experienced and the effects these are having.  This enables the scope of the issues to be agreed.

The next stage is where you demonstrate your creativity and technical skill.  Each part of the overall solution you propose addresses the cause of the pain and its unwanted effects as recorded in the previous stage (stopping the pain).  The Indicators of Success are usually obtained from the users of the system and itemizes the specifics of what your solution must do (over and above stopping the current pain).  Once your solution is delivered you are able to tick the boxes with the client and the work is complete.

The suggestions are really a distillation of widely used practices - feel free to adopt or discard them as you wish.  They do not tell you which solution to provide, but are a means of building agreement with a client to deliver one which address the client's needs.  It helps you focus on what is required by clarifying the goals and avoids 'mission creep'.

The devs thought it was neat I wanted to change things so they're for the idea.

This is encouraging.  If the devs support the redesign it indicates they see the current sidebar as needing improvement (something is causing pain). 

Following the model, the next step is to establish and record what the devs and the community view as the general and specific aspects that require improving (describing the pain and its effects).

Perhaps this is a topic on which to invite feedback from both the devs and the community.

[Saturn2888]

Well I didn't say dev's can't post . I'm waiting for pj and some others to join in on the fun, haha.

[javi]

One of the proposals that  I liked the most was not having menu entries that belong to a unique group. Instead of that, it'd be cool to use tags. That means you could tag "mail filter" with "UTM", "Office". We could add links/icons of the different tags on the top bar, and, checking/unchecking "UTM", "Office", "Gateway"... would show/hide the menu entries that are tagged.

[Saturn2888]

That's it Javi! Just like Google's Gmail almost. Using lables (tags) to accociate items with the categories they belong to. I made a kind of general mockup of what that entails a few weeks ago shown here: http://www.kevinghadyani.info/files/ebox/eBox%20Profiles.html

I think that's one way then. Checking and unchecking them would be a per-user/admin instance then as in which admins have access to which parts of eBox right? And then I'm sure that also means turning on and off modules just as easily.

[SamK]

I made a kind of general mockup of what that entails a few weeks ago shown here: http://www.kevinghadyani.info/files/ebox/eBox%20Profiles.html

In the example graphic the end nodes (shown in green) are a mixture of package name and descriptipons. A couple of examples:
OFFICE->Samba is a package name
OFFICE->Networked Shares is a description of the primary function

COMMUNICATION->Jabber is a name
COMMUNICATION->Instant Messenger is a description of the primary function

If this model is adopted, I would prefer that each end node express the primary function rather than the name as it is more consistent and easier to understand, particularly by new eBox users.

[JAK]

Hi!

Is it intentional that VPN is under Security and Infrastructure? Shouldn't it be just under Security?

BR
Jüri Kirch

[sixstone]

Is it intentional that VPN is under Security and Infrastructure? Shouldn't it be just under Security?

Hello JAK,

I think that VPN is a kind of infrastructure technology to provide within your company or something.

Best regards,

[JAK]

Referring to the UTM concept (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_threat_management) the "Security" label should consist of:
- Firewall
- Intrusion Detection
- antivirus
- VPN (no need to put it under Infrastructure)
- content filtering (HTTP proxy and L7)
- load balancing (traffic shaping?)
- Mail filter (anti-spam)

I'm puzzled with the question does the menu need "Gateway" label at all?

BR
Jüri Kirch

[Saturn2888]

Gateway mode = SOHO router mode more or less. It's just a basic firewall and DHCP server and maybe a DNS server too.

[SamK]

The Network end nodes will be more appropriately located under the CORE branch. 

eBox is, by definition, designed to operate in a networked environment and Network is therefore common to every eBox. 

The items listed under the GATEWAY and INFRASTRUCTURE branches are optional components and not essential to every eBox machine. 

[Saturn2888]

Core was something I made up myself. It's the one that contains what's in ALL other eBox configurations.

[SamK]

Core was something I made up myself. It's the one that contains what's in ALL other eBox configurations.

In which case we may have problems with community members thinking the graphic provided represents the finished structure.  Might it be a good idea to design the structure at this stage and obtain agreement on it?