Robert Heath Development

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For a few years now we’ve been using Bugzilla as a project management tool in addition to tracking issues. We’ve been able to get by with this however we’ve always known that Bugzilla is not intended to be a project management tool and so we started looking for a more suited alternative.

Enter Redmine. Redmine is a flexible project management web application. Written using Ruby on Rails framework, it is cross-platform and cross-database, and open-source. In addition to issue tracking, it also has project management features, project based wikis and document management. Redmine also integrates tightly with most common versioning systems including Subversion and CVS.

As attractive as Redmine was, we still had thousands of clients, bugs, comments, and files in Bugzilla. We could not afford to lose this information and we certainly didn’t want to notify our clients that they would have to use two different systems for tracking bugs and feature requests. To solve this problem I wrote a migration script that transfers virtually all of the information in Bugzilla including attachments, permissions, bugs, comments, projects, etc. into Redmine.

The bulk of my experience is with PHP and Java. Being new to the Ruby world, and since Bugzilla is written in PHP, I decided to write this migration script in PHP instead of Ruby…

Download bz2redmine.tar (40,690 bytes)

If you are unable to unpack this file download WinRar here.

The following is a list of software written by Google or by third-party developers to integrate with software and services provided by Google.

Third Party Applications

Document Management

DocSyncer (Beta) – Synchronizes your Microsoft Office Documents with your Google Docs account.

OffiSync (Beta) – GoogleDocs plugin for Microsoft Office

Email Notification

Gmail Notifier – The Gmail Notifier is an application that alerts you when you have new Gmail messages. It displays an icon in your system tray to let you know if you have unread Gmail messages, and shows you their subjects, senders and snippets, all without your having to open a web browser.

If you have the Google Talk client installed, you will automatically receive new mail notifications from Google Talk and you do not need to install the Notifier.

Google Browser Sync (Firefox Only) – Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions.

Email Backup/Archiving

MailStore Home –   MailStore Home keeps all your valuable e-mail messages in one persistent and safe place. Lightning-fast search, one-click backup, powerful export – all information from your e-mail is at your fingertips anytime. Never lose important e-mail again!

Firefox Extensions

Coming Soon!

Recommended Google Applications

Google Talk – Instant messenging client

Picasa – Photo management and editing tool

Google Toolbar – Toolbar for you web browser that provides easy access to Google services

Google Earth -  Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. It also has a built in flight simulator.

SketchUp -  Developed for the conceptual stages of design, Google SketchUp is a powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software tool that combines a simple, yet robust tool-set with an intelligent drawing system that streamlines and simplifies 3D design. From simple to complex, conceptual to realistic, Google SketchUp enables you to build and modify 3D models quickly and easily. If you use Google Earth, Google SketchUp allows you to place your models using real-world coordinates and share them with the world using the Google 3D Warehouse.

Google Desktop –   Search your computer as easily as you search the web with Google. Find and launch applications and files with just a few keystrokes. Add Google Gadgets to customize your desktop and iGoogle New!Get news, weather and more anywhere on your desktop.

Migration Tools

OggSync – Synchronize Outlook calendar with Google Calendar

Note: Mail can be migrated to Google by connecting to Gmail via IMAP and simply dragging and dropping mail into the Gmail folders

For several months now I’ve been evaluating Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 as a solution for my office. Initially I setup the software on a development server and started migrating our current business processes and data into CRM. The initial setup went pretty smooth. I created “custom entities”, one of the core concepts of CRM 3.0, to accommodate the custom data types that exist in our current system.

The next step was to migrate the data itself from the old system. This was a little more time consuming and required some additional software. To speed up the data migration, and simplify my life, we purchased c360’s Import Manager which allows you to import custom data types into CRM from any ODBC compliant data source. Microsoft does offer a data migration kit to help migration from legacy systems however I found it to be difficult to use.

With the data types migrated and the data imported, the next step is to recreate your business processes or WorkFlows. Microsoft CRM’s WorkFlow Manager allows you to create rules that spawn activities such as emails or tasks to automate the process of managing customer relationships. In our case, our business processes had not been reviewed in several years. We knew we would soon be reevaluating our existing business processes but that we needed to make a clean break from the legacy system as soon as the data was migrated. To hold us over until the new business processes had been decided, I recreated our existing workflow, which consisted mostly of automated emails, within CRM.

Though we are still planning WorkFlow rules and fine tuning CRM to meet our business requirements it has become apparent the Microsoft CRM is a great tool. Companies who need a customizable solution to manage their customers but don’t have the resources to develop a custom solution from the ground up should consider CRM 3.0.

When I was in college I did some photography work for a friend’s magazine. As a result of shooting hundreds of photos of drunken college kids on 6th Street I decided that I should find an outlet for all of the photos that never made it into Study Breaks Magazine. From this idea AustinScenes.com was born. At first the site was little more than photos of bikini shows and long nights of bar hopping. Shortly after creating the site I realized that, though some of the pictures were very interesting, the site lacked content and value.

About a year ago I realized that, though there are many already out there, Austin needed a city guide. Not just a city guide, but a community guide, even more so, a community builder. And so AustinScenes.com evolved into place for Austinites to find out what’s going on in their community and even more importantly how to take a more active role in their community.

Austin has long been revered for its music scene but not all Austin musicians reap the benefits of this reputation. I knew that one of the main goals for AustinScenes.com had to be to help aspiring musicians get the recognition they deserve. As part of a long overdue remodeling, I’ve begun to add several features and enhancements to AustinScenes.com, many of these centered on the music community.

Robert Heath Development sponsors a number of discussion groups that promote new current and technologies.

Here are a few:

Ajax (also known as AJAX), shorthand for “Asynchronous JavaScript and XML”, is a development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.

AJAX Development Discussion Group

In software engineering (or computer science), a design pattern is a general repeatable solution to a commonly occurring problem in software design. A design pattern is not a finished design that can be transformed directly into code. It is a description or template for how to solve a problem that can be used in many different situations. Object-oriented design patterns typically show relationships and interactions between classes or objects, without specifying the final application classes or objects that are involved. Algorithms are not thought of as design patterns, since they solve computational problems rather than design problems.

AJAX Patterns Discussion Group

Java Design Patterns Discussion Group

If you’ve ever used a web statistics programming to analyze and track traffic to your website, you know how frustrating it can be to try to figure out how to improve your site. Google has addressed most user’s frustrations with their Google Analytics product. With a slick interface and powerful data analyzation tools it is among the top solutions and best of all, it’s free. To find out more visit analytics.google.com

This contribution is a replacement for the administration home page. The home page has been simplified and includes the standard admin navigation as well as a brief summary of sales and other statistics.

This contribution is available through the osCommerce Community portal. Click here to download it now.

Support: http://www.robertheath.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

I’ve created a project on No Kahuna for reporting bugs and requests features: http://nokahuna.com/projects/6170/tasks

If you have used this contribution and found it helpful, please make a donation. Donations help fund the development and support of osCommerce contributions and othr open source software.

This contribution adds the ability to export and save customer data in CSV (Comma Separated Value) format. CSV is a standard format that can be imported into most applications that allow data import. CSV format is also compatible with most spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel.

This contribution is available through the osCommerce Community portal. Click here to download it now.

Support: http://www.robertheath.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

I’ve created a project on No Kahuna for reporting bugs and requests features: http://nokahuna.com/projects/6171/tasks

If you have used this contribution and found it helpful, please make a donation. Donations help fund the development and support of osCommerce contributions and othr open source software.