The latest version of Help Center (v2.0) is now available for FREE as a download. It contains many new features over the previous version.

My decision to make this software (which had previously been sold for approx. $500/server) free is based largely on my lack of time to make sure I can be available for real-time support, like I could when I launched the first few versions in the last couple of years. While version 2 has been in use at some locations for many months, there might be a few bugs in it that I will work to fix over time. — I just wouldn’t feel right charging people for this version knowing that I haven’t been able to do the exhaustive testing that the previous version had.

That’s why its “free.” — I also feel like its my turn to give back to the software development community. I’ve downloaded hundreds of applications, templates, blogs, etc. that people have built and posted for free over the years. I think that whenever you take advantage of that type of thing, you need to contribute something in return, or donate to some of the causes.

So here’s my contribution. Please do visit the Help Center link for more information, screenshots and the download.

All I ask is that you take a moment to register with the site prior to downloading. It’ll help me get an idea of how many people have downloaded it and give me an idea of who’s using it. — Don’t worry, I sell your information or pass it on to a business partner and cause you tons of sales calls. That would defeat the whole “giving something back” concept.

I’ve been finishing off a few last minute items and updating portions of the website to support the launch of the download and I’m almost finished. While I hate getting my assignment turned in at midnight … that’s about what its going to be. Technically, I have until 11:59pm on March 31, 2007 to launch it. Sadly, that might be the exact time it happens.

The good news is that I recently discovered why I was having problems finishing off the download area AND why I get so many comments about postings via email instead of as postings on the site: apparently, the registration feature on my WordPress install was deactivated (most likely during a recent restore caused by a bad mod I installed).

So… that’s working now. Woohoo!

Until the download for Help Center goes live, feel free to check out the product tour & screenshots.

I’ve been playing around with a few options that integrate into WordPress to try to make it easier for everyone (for ease of use, login, etc.). The first attempt was from Yellow Swordfish that looked promising. It adds a forum feature into WordPress. The problem (shown below) is that I don’t have time to update the theme of my site to make it more easily accessible through my site’s design.

So instead, I’m working on a true forum install and connecting it to WordPress. More on that later.

… In the mean time, I’ve been testing the new design quite a bit and working out some bugs that would have been really anoying if I launched it on the first of March. I’ll get this thing out by the end of the month one way or another!

• Auto-Close agent. Gives you the ability to automatically close out issues that the ticket creator hasn’t confirmed are closed. (Easy to enable/disable. Based on # of days since it was closed by the Tech).
• New UI Elements. The whole thing has a similar look, but is much more “Web 2.0″ looking.
• Navigation icons (and titles) take you to the default view. I really should have put it in the last version … since the “portal” screen had that functionality.
• New “Tech Stats” Views. A few new handy views that let you see performance of the Techs.
• Better view descriptions. You may have noticed that the last version had an optional page hidden in it to choose a different style of navigation. Clearly, navigation style and view titles are something I struggled with. The next version still supports the “hidden” style of navigation, but also has more clear (easier to understand) view titles.
• CC People on Issues. You can now enter the names of other people you want to be notified about communications (questions, updates, etc.) with the issue so they get CC’d on any messages.
• Expand/Collapse Buttons on Views A funny thing happens in Notes when you use frames … unless you click IN the view, the smarticons for expand/collapse don’t show. This seems to confuse many users. To compensate, I’ve added buttons in the view’s button bar to do this. Redundant, yes, but I’ve seen people pleased that they can suddenly expand/collapse.
• Web Redirect Page. Allows you to point the database to a page that redirects users to another site or URL if they open the database. (A web enabled version is coming!)
• Hidden Web Features. Yes, a web-enabled version is on the “to do” list, but its won’t be ready by the end of the month. I am, however, going to include some of the web elements in the database that may help you expose at least some of the database to your own intranet.

… and I’m still on-track for posting it in March, 2007.

I intend to post a downloadable (free) version of the next iteration of the software later this month on my site. I have updated the interface to take advantage of new UI elements in the Notes 7 codestream, but haven’t had time to work through the exhaustive QA process that’s needed to sell it as a next release product. In addition, I now have it deployed in a live production mode “close to home” and find myself adding features all the time. This new development pattern (and lack of exhaustive QA time) means that it’ll lend itself much better as an open-source type product where you can access the latest stable version along with new beta versions and minor releases.

Stop by later this month for the download.