Where is DA heading?

[netmotiv8]

Hi,

I know there is a Top 5 features thread on the go but what features are planned for DA in the next 6 months? Is there really a version 2.0 on the way? Are the DA guys taking any notice of that thread?

I have not seen anything new for the user that has caught the eye for as long as I can remember as it seems are lot of changes are 'under the hood' things. I would love an email only, dns only, true domain parking functionality that etc, perhaps an integrated webmail client, custom branding etc etc, sounds like my top 5 ;-)

Customers can be stuck in their ways and considering the vast cpanel user base out there customers are probably thinking twice about using hosts using DA, which can make it harder to market.

Obviously we try to sell our services based on excellent customer support and service reliability rather than a promoting an endless list of features which most users won't ever use.

I personally think DA is more straightforward to use than cpanel/plesk etc from a user perspective but with a tired default/enhanced skin DA is not doing itself justice. We will shortly be using the Marina skin with a colour change to make things resemble cpanel to hopefully entice more customers that like the look and feel of the default cpanel skin to come on board.


So.... what are the real exciting plans that DA have in store for us?


Don't encourage me to use Cpanel (blasphemy!).... please.


Cheers :D

[tlchost]

Hi,

We will shortly be using the Marina skin with a colour change to make things resemble cpanel to hopefully entice more customers that like the look and feel of the default cpanel skin to come on board.



Seems a bit counter-intuitive....entice customers based on look and feel. Does DA offer them as many "features and functions" as Cpanel?

If the features aren't there I can imagine a number of customers will complain about the missing features and functions.

[netmotiv8]

I think DA / Cpanel are not too different for features and both/any will provide a core feature set which most people will only ever use anyway.

However the thing is to make customers feel comfortable enough to switch, often that could come down to looks and familiarity.

We DA admins will always say DA is better and Cpanel admins will say the same of CPanel but there are more cpanels out there who are shouting he odds. Almost like the Mac/PC thing (although DA does not have the Apple style).

When 'newbies' to hosting read up on the 'Top 10 things to consider when choosing a hosting provider' there is often a comment about the control panel with the phrase 'a very popular panel is cpanel' etc etc. So people think 'very popular' is a good place to start as all those people can't be wrong to choose a provider with cpanel.

I guess I don't feel that there is enough done aesthetically or innovatively to make DA become the preferred panel for people and steal a march on the other panel providers.

DA does have a great price though.

Maybe I am expecting too much... and all good things come to those who wait :-)


Be really interested to know other people's view on this (a lot of people hopefully) to either put me in my place or say.. hey he has a point. Either is fine hee hee!

Ultimately though, should there not be a vision of where DA is going that can be shared with us licensees?


Cheers :)

[tlchost]

I think DA / Cpanel are not too different for features and both/any will provide a core feature set which most people will only ever use anyway.

However the thing is to make customers feel comfortable enough to switch, often that could come down to looks and familiarity.


I understand your point....my only experience with Cpanel was unpleasent...and so I looked for a control panel that seemed to better fit my needs...and ended up with DA.

I'm more concerned with the feature set and ease of use than the look and feel....but then again, I am an old man and grew up listening to old folks wisdom like "marry and ugly woman and she'll work hard to please you".

Just out of curiosity...between DA and Cpanel which one do you feel has more features and is easier to use than the other one for the users? Is the winner in that class the winner in the comparison for resellers/administrators?

[rldev]

I have to agree here as well. There has been all this talk of Roundcube, Awstats, etc integration yet I still do not see it. At this point every control panel has Awstats integration(even Alabanza will have it shortly). A new skin once every 2 years would be a plus as well as some language support by DA. I hope I am wrong but the DA staff still seems to be overwhelmed. The last major improvement to DA was Dovecot.

[pucky]

You dont want to hear my view on this. As it stands Jeff the forum deleter is on the loose. He likes to delete forum posts when it doesnt suit his needs or he doesnt like what he hears, so im not going to waste my typing here. Yet another point, the purpose of the forum is to communicate. But Jeff the forum deleter will decide what you want to see. Unreal!

[nobaloney]

I haven't deleted anything but spam in quite a while. So what posts are you referring to?

Or are you referring to some threads of a month or more ago which got out of control?

I often bring posts to DirectAdmin staff's attention when I feel there's something they may have overlooked, but they certainly do log in and read these forums themselves; they don't rely on my to do it for them.

If you'd post something specific instead of just a personal attack (such as the one on me, directly above) you might get to see your posts. And no, I'm not referrring to anything specific; I don't carry grudges and I have no idea what post(s) you're referring to. I treat every post on it's own merit. Really.

Jeff

[MyNet-Tony]

I stopped using CPanel because of the interface. I love the current DA interface. Cpanel may have alot of features but the presentation is terrible. I'm more interested in features like AwStats integration.

[layer0]

DA needs:

Awstats
jailshell (no, I'm talking about something a bit more like virtfs/cpanel, not the jailshell beta)

[smtalk]

There are much threads about AWstats :) We can continue the discuss on them:
http://directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2337
http://directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17629

[smtalk]

There has been all this talk of Roundcube.

RoundCube is included into the installation of DirectAdmin by default from now (it's included into exim.sh script in /usr/local/directadmin/scripts directory).

[MyNet-Tony]

We can talk about adding AwStats until we are blue in the face. Obviously it is something everyone wants. The DA plugins are ok but they don't pass the mustard in any situation but the one the developer has. So instead of us saying again and again, add it, can we just get included in DA. I think we have established its something everyone wants, so lets go.

Because if this isn't going to be looked at anytime soon, I'm going to end up switching to Plesk because my stats are my lifeblood and Webalizer is not anywhere near good enough.

I'm not trying to come off like a jerk, I love DirectAdmin. But I don't think we need any more discussion on including AwStats.

[layer0]

We can talk about adding AwStats until we are blue in the face. Obviously it is something everyone wants. The DA plugins are ok but they don't pass the mustard in any situation but the one the developer has. So instead of us saying again and again, add it, can we just get included in DA. I think we have established its something everyone wants, so lets go.

Because if this isn't going to be looked at anytime soon, I'm going to end up switching to Plesk because my stats are my lifeblood and Webalizer is not anywhere near good enough.

I'm not trying to come off like a jerk, I love DirectAdmin. But I don't think we need any more discussion on including AwStats.

have you tried analytics?

[MyNet-Tony]

Google? Yeah but last I looked they had a five site limit.

I use SiteMeter, but I just don't have the same faith in it that I have with AwStats, plus there is the added JS I have to add to my pages.

[rldev]

RoundCube is included into the installation of DirectAdmin by default from now (it's included into exim.sh script in /usr/local/directadmin/scripts directory).

Where is the link in the control panel that says "Roundcube"?

[rldev]

There are much threads about AWstats :) We can continue the discuss on them:
http://directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2337
http://directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17629

It has been discussed until blue in the face. Sometimes the company has to take the "bull by the horns". They should be able to execute certain things without a committee. DA is the "ONLY" control panel I am aware of that does not offer AWSTATS or something comparable.

[MyNet-Tony]

I think its time to either drop a duece or get off the pot - so to speak. Say yes to AwStats integration or say no. I really don't think there is anything that needs to be discussed about including or not including AwStats as part of DA.

[smtalk]

Where is the link in the control panel that says "Roundcube"?

This is not done yet, but you can reach it via /roundcube.

[tlchost]

This is not done yet, but you can reach it via /roundcube.

Is it there only for new installs, or also there when one updates DA?

I just upgraded to 1.30.1 and I don't see it.

Did I miss some announcement?

Is there a howto ?

[tlchost]

I think its time to either drop a duece or get off the pot - so to speak. Say yes to AwStats integration or say no. I really don't think there is anything that needs to be discussed about including or not including AwStats as part of DA.

It's kinda of interestng that we can have at least 2 webmails(no one has said if RoundCube replaces one or is an addition) and the stats are so limited.

Perhaps there is a howto for AWSTATS on DA? I haven't looked, since so many of the howtos turn into long threads, rather than documents that tell one how to do something.

[smtalk]

RoundCube is only available for the new installs, if you want it (with an old (updated) install), run:


cd /usr/local/directadmin/scripts
./exim.sh

[smtalk]

Where is the link in the control panel that says "Roundcube"?

It's available now: http://directadmin.com/features.php?id=808

Maybe Atmail link will be added soon too (or you can add it manually).

[smtalk]

AWstats is available now (from DirectAdmin version 1.322): http://www.directadmin.com/features.php?id=894