OTRS 3.0.4.... Can I use the Calendar function?

[jonheese]

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I'm brand spanking new here, having just heard of OTRS earlier today.

I've got OTRS 3.0.4 installed on a test server, and one of the features we're very interested in is the Calendar add-on. You can imagine my disappointment when I didn't see Calendar listed in the Package Manager as being available for install. So I went to the FTP server, manually downloaded the .opm with the highest version number (Calendar-1.9.4), and attempted to install it locally, through my web browser...

That failed with the following:
"Message: Sorry, can't install/upgrade package, because the framework version required by the package (2.4.x;) does not match your Framework (3.0.4)!"

Hm. So that would lead me to believe that I have to downgrade to OTRS 2.4.x in order to get the Calendar feature installed. But then I find this thread: http://forums.otrs.org/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=6990, which seems to indicate that there exists a version of the Calendar add-on that will function at least up to OTRS 3.0.3....

So which is it? What is the highest version of OTRS that I'd need to install in order to install the Calendar package?

And, as a side note, if I do have to go to an earlier version of OTRS,I'd like to not have to set up my users from scratch again, if possible. Is there a way to do a graceful downgrade and leave my current db info intact? (It's installed on a Windows 2003 server and using the packaged mySQL to handle the database.)

Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Jon Heese

[jojo]

Hi,

the calendar is not ported to 3.0 and there is no schedule for this yet.

A downgrade is not possible.

[jonheese]

Understood. Thanks for the quick reply.

Can you explain the thread linked above where it appears that there are installations of 3.0.x where the Calendar package is in use?

Is it possible that those installations were originally 2.x installs that upgraded to 3.0.x, while keeping the Calendar package intact?

Incidentally, as a quick hack, I tried modifying the .opm file to reflect the target framework as 3.0.x, and it did install, but it didn't appear to be totally functional (duh!).

Regards,
Jon Heese

[jojo]

the linked thread is talking about the date picker in customer frontend, not on the calendar module.

As 2.4 and 3.0 have totally different frontends it is not possible to run old modules in the 3.0

[jonheese]

Aha! Good catch!

Okay, I think we'll try the older version (2.4.x) and see if the Calendar feature does what we want.

Can you confirm that the Calendar feature is being pursued for the 3.0.x version (i.e. it's not being abandoned, is it?)?

Thanks again for your quick responses.

Regards,
Jon Heese

[jojo]

at the moment there are no plans to port the calendar feature to 3.0 as the module is technically very outdated.

Which is your inteded use or secenario for the calendar module?

[jonheese]

Well, we had hoped to use it as both a forward-looking scheduling tool (for instance, when is a technician scheduled to address the issue in a given ticket) and for backward-looking follow-up (for instance, what did a technician last address the issue in a given ticket).

I'm not sure if this was even feasible with the way the Calendar feature was implemented in the 2.x branch, but this is what attracted us to the OTRS software: the existence of a "calendar" feature. What we are looking for seems to be a rare thing in the open-source ticket system world.

Regards,
Jon Heese

[neos1]

So with all this thread - I was also lookingn to solve this issue - why is this calendar function still mentioned in the manual of version 3 then!?
Where to point to get it kicked out - or better - mentioned, that it does not exist anymore!?

There are a lot of people running around looking for the solution, because they beliefe what they read. And all they do is wasting their time!

Cheers Oli

[ksbuchanan]

So with all this thread - I was also lookingn to solve this issue - why is this calendar function still mentioned in the manual of version 3 then!?
Where to point to get it kicked out - or better - mentioned, that it does not exist anymore!?

There are a lot of people running around looking for the solution, because they beliefe what they read. And all they do is wasting their time!

Cheers Oli

I concur...the modules that aren't ported for use in 3.0.x should be removed from the manual. To be specific: "Chapter 20. Additional Applications" should be removed, except for section "20.4 FAQ".

We have used OTRS for ~4 weeks and really like it, but, you can believe everything you read!!

[ScottWood]

at the moment there are no plans to port the calendar feature to 3.0 as the module is technically very outdated.

Which is your inteded use or secenario for the calendar module?

I'm sorry to hear this. We were running the calendar module with 2.4.x and made the decision to upgrade to 3.0.x even though we knew it wasn't available for it. At the time I didn't realize how much that functionality would be missed. If I would have known then what I know now, I might not have upgraded.

I am hopeful that a new calendar module will be released.

[jojo]

Most likely there would no Calendar for OTRS > 2.4. What is your intended use and needed functionality?

[ScottWood]

Most likely there would no Calendar for OTRS > 2.4. What is your intended use and needed functionality?

We were using it much like the calendar in Outlook. We track all of our customer interaction in OTRS which includes scheduled conference calls and meetings. We were putting those calls and meetings in the OTRS calendar and associating it with the appropriate agents.

It obviously isn't the "end of the world" that we lost that functionality, but it is missed.

[apatel0]

All, We are really disappointed that OTRS 3.0.4 doesn't have a calendar package. Is it confirmed that they will not release a calendar module for this release?

[jojo]

What is your intended use and needed functionality for a Calender Module within OTRS?

[icm3012]

Hi All

I agree the lack of interest to port the calendar function is a major omission. For one my proposal to my company to consider moving to OTRS has stalled due to this in v3. We need a calendar module and ideally in the form of a visual planner to see agent/engineers status and work plans - deployments/maintenance/support rota. At least the original calendar in 2.4.x allowed us to create meetings, calls and show shift plans per user.


Please could someone at OTRS reconsider this decision.


Finally, could anyone suggest an alternative solution to a group calendar/visual scheduler which will integrate with OTRS?

thanks

Ian

[apatel0]

My intended use is the same as icm3012. I'm also curious to find out if there's something similar to the Calendar module created by a 3rd party that can be used? Thanks.

[jojo]

at the moment there no integrations with other calenders available.

The OTRS calendar module needs a complete redesign, recoding and new interface. So porting would need a lot of time (it will be much cheaper to create an integration with an OSS Calendaring Software)

[stevenberkholz]

We just finished our upgrade and then I discoverred this.

The Calendar will be missed.

We used to for preventative maintenance scheduling. (changing projector filters and printer rollers, etc.)

We ran a cron script that would take tomorrow's and create tickets for them.

What external calendar app do you guys recommend.

[crythias]

I like Google Calendar.

Also, you might want to take a look at having a ticket that creates tickets
http://forums.otrs.org/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=7237

[peter2cfu]

Just a quick observation, it seems a rather major element has been excluded from the recent version of OTRS, the calendar module, I’ve seen though the forums this mentioned several times, but seems there is active resistance from OTRS to acknowledge its inherent usefulness, what is the issue? Seems this was alreeady present in OTRS 2.4 this cannot be a hard concept you already had it?

I implore you even if it's a paid module get it back in, it’s got to the point for us even with all our customizations of OTRS that we are now looking at alternatives such as AutoTask because in the end the system has no ability for general oversight, meaning where someone can just look at the calendar see the workload and plan accordingly, in our case an overall administrator of our workload.

If you want me to be specific in what would be nice to have in the calendar function then below is my 2 cents worth.

1) Preview in visual format of workload on a daily weekly and monthly bases. (a must have)
2) Ability to put in scheduled/planed ticket ahead of time for any given agent. (this is normaly part of our SLA's, or a client require assitance on a particular data)
3) Ability to zoom in on ticket for any given agent.
4) Ability to reassign ticket from any given agent to any given agent

If you wish I can make a mockup for you to look at if that will help.