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In this series I've examined two very competent content management systems: Drupal and PHP-Nuke. Digger Intranet Open Source (IOS) has two significant differences. For one, it is written using ASP, meaning it requires a server running Windows (or Chilisoft ASP on Linux). More significantly, it's designed to be used as a complete intranet solution, rather than a general-purpose CMS. It attempts to be a Jack-of-all-trades, including a time management system, a communications forum, a client database manager and a lot more. But can one, free, open-source CMS hope to do everything? This month I'll be finding out.

Installation | Usability | Features | Customization | Conclusions

Installation

Installation was an absolute breeze, with hardly any configuration required. The default Access database is already set up, although other systems such as SQL Server, PostgreSQL and MySQL are all supported. The only essential configuration is in stating the intranet's root folder and URL, which can be achieved using any text editor.

Usability

At first glance, the front page appears very crowded:

The Intranet Open Source (IOS) front page. Each element can be collapsed when it's not needed.

However, the problem of a crowded interface has been solved rather ingeniously. Each element of the page can be collapsed when not required, like minimizing a piece of software while not in use. However, these will all be reset to normal once the browser is closed. While it would be useful if employees could select what appears on their front page to suit their own interests, in its current form the interface is concise and packs all of the necessary information onto one screen.

There is good cross-platform support, with dynamic features working just as well on a Linux desktop computer running the Mozilla browser as a Windows machine running Internet Explorer.

Features

Digger intranet has more than enough features of to go round, and while separately they are not as developed as those of more pricey Intranet solutions, they give all the functionality that most mid-sized businesses would require. The base IOS package comes free of charge, with Digger making their money from selling add-ons, modifications, and even a trendy line of merchandise — ranging from branded mugs to T-shirts and even thongs. The free IOS package is missing several parts of the administration system, without which some information has to be manually entered in the database. At the time of publishing, the "Admin Pak" with all these missing features costs a reasonable $99.99. It seems that Digger have reached a good comprise between being commercial and offering open-source software.

So let's take a dive into some of the features of Intranet Open Source.

Projects
Much of the time management system revolves around projects. In defining a project, you can select which staff members will make up the team, and also at what rate they are to be paid. Disappointingly, creating a test project generates the following not-so-friendly message:

Error Occured:

Error # -2147217900 Syntax error in INSERT INTO statement.
SQL = INSERT INTO tbl_projects_budget (project_id, employeetype_id, employee_id, rate, hours)
VALUES (11, 2, 0, 115, )

Oh dear, something has clearly gone pear-shaped. The syntax error above will be obvious to anyone with SQL experience, and was caused by accidentally leaving part of a form blank (a problem which basic form validation would have solved). These kinds of errors can be ironed out by reporting them on the developer's message board. While virtually all pieces of software contain some 'bugs', you'd hope a business-critical system wouldn't suffer from these easily-solved glitches — emphasizing the importance of keeping up-to-date with new patches from the developer.

Once you've created your project (which works perfectly, providing you fill in the form correctly), there are several functions to make use of:

• Tasks: You can split your project into tasks, and delegate those tasks to members of the team. Those tasks will then automatically be added to your calendar, accessible via the front page.

• Timecards: Timecards allow an employee to record what work has been completed, and will also allow you to view a log of all of the work done for a particular client or project.