I agree that the Alfresco documentation isn't easy to find- but if you sign up here http://www.alfresco.com/products/docs/ then you should get access to the straightforward user guide which is fairly easy to follow. If you want alternatives, then knowledgetree is probably worth a look. It's php-based, which is a good thing in my mind! Again it offers enterprise-level support. Documentation is here http://www.knowledgetree.com/documentation.
Regarding uploading shapefiles and other such things- even if you are just using it for collaboration and not long-term storage, you still need to be able to checkout files for use (to ensure that other people are not trying to use them at the same time). So with a shapefile, if the software isn't clever enough to understand that multiple files go together, then you'll have to check out each part of the file separately, download them to your hard drive, use the shapefile, and then check all the parts back in separately too. Geodatabases might get round that issue, assuming your setup will allow mdbs at all, but since they are totally proprietary and horribly version-dependent they are best avoided in my opinion!
Jo
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Joanne Cook
Senior IT Support and Development
Oxford Archaeology (North)
01524 880212
http://thehumanjourney.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Edmund Lee" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 13 August 2008 10:33:46 o'clock (GMT) Europe/London
Subject: Re: [FISH-TECHNICAL] MS Sharepoint collaborative software
Thanks Jo - comments interspersed with your message...
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:24:32 +0100, Joanne Cook
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Again at the risk of hijacking this debate slightly, I have to take issue with
the implication that only Microsoft products have the support, training and
documentation that you would need. Products such as Alfresco and other
enterprise opensource packages come with a top-notch paid for support
contract, offer worldwide training, and have plenty of documentation.
Furthermore, if Microsoft ever change the terms of their license with you,
which they are legally entitled to do, then you will lose the right to use the
software. There are clear implications for the long-term storage and use of EH
data, if it's stored in a proprietary system.
>
Thanks Jo, and no problem with the risk of hijacking. This is exactly the sort of
comment I wanted from colleagues on this list. In response to this and other
comments I'll take off the blinkers :-) and pitch this as an 'Implement
collaborative software infrastructure' project with an evaluation of the
options, to include Sharepoint and Alfresco. Any others? I'd be grateful, Jo
and others, for any pointers to current users, online documentation aimed at
users (I've only found technical developer focussed stuff on the Alfresco site
so far - mainly way over my head!).
------
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