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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>I can see your dilemma.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>Having been there myself, I suggest that you stick with the immediate
needs of the UoN and the key stakeholder for the project. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>By roadmap / themes and priorities I mean that you put what you intend to
do first. These in essence become your top priorities, the other elements such
as the non-LDAP become secondary and are pushed out to the community to
develop - hopefully with your support and guidance.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>As for database abstraction - put it as a 'we will look at if we have
time' - its not as easy as you think, each database has its own SQL nuances that
need to then be catered for. Stick with what you have and know, but assist some
one who wants to go down a different path/database.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>Just out of curiosity can you list the next 5-10 developments that you
want to make? Also as you have a database for the online tool kits, you need to
think how you will support any mods made to it, for those already with an
install. I personally went down the line of having scripts - one that is the
full database to be used during the install and another that is an update to
bring the database in line.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>I hope this helps and gives you some more information as to a direction
to take. Its so easy to become bogged down into delivering everything for
everyone.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=580043413-19052009><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>Nic</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Patrick
Lockley<BR><B>Sent:</B> 19 May 2009 14:15<BR><B>To:</B> Xerte discussion
list<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'">I
think (ideally) this needs a little reciprocation.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'">I (for
my side of things with PHP/MySQL) am stuck between adding new things that need
say database changes, and trying to keep the code stable for the people with
installs. Then there is what we develop.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'">For
example<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'">At
Nottingham we have no need for non-LDAP authentication, so we’ve not written it.
But I could think of a lot of places which would like this.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'">We are
happy with MySQL, but a lot of places use SQL server so there is a case for an
abstraction layer for the database maybe?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><B><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Nicola
Wilkinson<BR><B>Sent:</B> 19 May 2009 13:55<BR><B>To:</B> Xerte discussion
list<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Xerte] The future of
Xerte<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue">Hi,</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue">I think it would be nice to see a roadmap
of developments intended for the next 6-12 months. That would give people an
idea of what you as the developers at Nottingham are expecting to achieve. Some
other open source project use a themes and priorities style document to convey
this information to the community surrounding their
projects.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue">I hope it is something you consider putting
together as I think it will help potential users 'sell' the Xerte tool to
institutions and senior managers.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue">Nic</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN lang=EN-US>
<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0cm; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm"><B><SPAN
lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Julian
Tenney<BR><B>Sent:</B> 19 May 2009 13:45<BR><B>To:</B> Xerte discussion
list<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte</SPAN><SPAN
lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Hi,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">The
University of Nottingham have sunk a lot of money into this so far and it is a
key part of our elearning strategy. The Xpert Project is to develop a repository
that will sit alongside Xerte Online Toolkits – it is that project that will
complete in September. Beyond that we anticipate at least another year of
refinements, and will be doing more to promote the tools to the outside world,
and to develop the communiuty of users to the point where the software would be
sustainable, even if the UoN went for a ball of chalk. Right now the software is
gaining the UoN much i) kudos and ii) funding, so it’s unlikely to go anywhere
in the near future.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">The
long term future of the software will lie with the open-source community around
it. I imagine key developers from the Xerte project team would remain members of
that community and continue to play an active role. There are already a number
of key stakeholders from other institutions and organisations. It is hoped that
people like yourself, that have a stake in the project’s sutainability,
that use and like using the software, will play a part in helping to sustain it
into the future.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">J<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><B><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Johnathan
Kemp<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, May 19, 2009 1:19 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
xerte@lists.nottingham.ac.uk<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Xerte] The future of
Xerte<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hello Xerte
Team,</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I am in the process
of trying to convince the company I work for to use Xerte On-line Toolkits as
their preferred solution for developing e-learning modules for posting on a
Moodle site.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I have been looking
at the Xerte site for details of the project, particularly with respect to the
future plans for Xerte - its ongoing development and maintenance. I note that
Xerte is a product of the Xpert project which has on its page a headline "Xpert
Project, April 1st - September 30th 2009". </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Are there any details
available regarding the future plans for Xerte? Any roadmap for its future
development? Any indications of what level of resource, if any, will be
available to support the longer term viability of
Xerte?</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Xerte is a very
interesting product but I will need to be able to demonstrate to my colleagues
that they do not have to worry about Xerte's viability in the longer
term.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Kind
regards</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Johnathan</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Johnathan Kemp<BR>IT
Dev. Manager<BR>Connexions Staffordshire<BR></SPAN><A
href="http://www.cxstaffs.co.uk/"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">www.cxstaffs.co.uk</SPAN></A><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">01785
355714</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 72pt"> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt">
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center>
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</DIV></DIV>
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