Mar 11,
2010
The importance of packaging modules…
by Richard Morley
You may have noticed that the Localization Team in Spain have started a new series of blogs on "Building a Localization Pack".
I want to take a moment to stress the benefits of actually doing this (creating a pack) , both to users of Openbravo ERP and to the developers of modules that could be packaged.
For end users the benefit of downloading a pack is that they have confidence that they are getting a complete solution within that pack. The end user doesn't necessarily know whether there are 2 or 20 modules that make up a particular solution (like a localization pack for a particular country), so the concept of a "pack" is very reassuring to them. They know if they select the pack they are getting a complete solution.
Clearly if there are actually 20 modules that make up the solution then the pack is also a great time saver; the user has the benefit of not having to hunt around and select the 20 different modules they think they might need...the pack is a quick and easy "one stop shop" for them to select.
As a developer you also benefit from knowing that your users are installing everything they might need, but there is also the increased recognition that offering packs brings. Our intention is to promote packs more visibly. As an example you will notice that the Spanish Professional Localization Pack features first on the list under the "Localizations" tab on the Exchange. The name of the seller is also prominently displayed to the right of the pack name. So, quite simply, creating packs is one way to increase your own visibility within the Openbravo community.
There is also guidance on combining localization modules into packs on the Localization pages of the Openbravo Wiki.
Good Luck and Good Packaging!
I want to take a moment to stress the benefits of actually doing this (creating a pack) , both to users of Openbravo ERP and to the developers of modules that could be packaged.
For end users the benefit of downloading a pack is that they have confidence that they are getting a complete solution within that pack. The end user doesn't necessarily know whether there are 2 or 20 modules that make up a particular solution (like a localization pack for a particular country), so the concept of a "pack" is very reassuring to them. They know if they select the pack they are getting a complete solution.
Clearly if there are actually 20 modules that make up the solution then the pack is also a great time saver; the user has the benefit of not having to hunt around and select the 20 different modules they think they might need...the pack is a quick and easy "one stop shop" for them to select.
As a developer you also benefit from knowing that your users are installing everything they might need, but there is also the increased recognition that offering packs brings. Our intention is to promote packs more visibly. As an example you will notice that the Spanish Professional Localization Pack features first on the list under the "Localizations" tab on the Exchange. The name of the seller is also prominently displayed to the right of the pack name. So, quite simply, creating packs is one way to increase your own visibility within the Openbravo community.
There is also guidance on combining localization modules into packs on the Localization pages of the Openbravo Wiki.
Good Luck and Good Packaging!