2012 Seminars: Workshop actions Part 1

I've finally been through all of the feedback from the workshop session at the seminars last week and as promised, I want to let you know how your input is going to be added to the product roadmap.

For anyone that couldn't make it to the seminars, the slides from the presentations can be downloaded from here.

The workshop session consisted of two parts, the first was to prioritise the 5 most common feature requests that we receive. The results of this, in descending priority order were:

1.  Add an Identify Tool to the Flex Viewer template

2.  Routing in the Web Publisher template

3.  Mobile device support for the Survey template

4.  Configurable Zoom scale limit on maps in the Survey template

5.  Metadata viewing

Before I go into how we will be taking these things forward, I just want to say that these priorities are based on the average scores and won't necessarily represent all authorities. I know for example that the ability to view metadata was considered critical by some authorities. Just because it's at the bottom of this list doesn't mean that it will never be implemented, but it does mean some work is needed to really understand what functionality is needed.

So, starting from the top...

1. Identify Tool in the Flex Viewer template

I was originally planning this into Q1 next year, but based on the feedback, an updated Flex template with Id tool will be available in mid-December. This update will be based on the latest version of the Esri Flex application so as well as the new Id tool it will also contain other updates such as enhanced editing.

2. Routing in Web Publisher

During the seminar I mentioned that part of the plans for LocalView Fusion in 2013 will be to integrate it with ArcGIS Online (AGOL) capabilities. Charles also demonstrated the AGOL routing service which is due to be released soon. As soon as it's available, we will begin working on incorporating it into the templates. And to reiterate one of the seminar messages; online capabilities such as routing will be integrated into the LocalView Fusion platform, so they'll be available regardless of whether your LocalView Fusion is in the cloud or on-premise.

3. Mobile Support for Survey

We'll be releasing a new Survey template very soon. The first version won't support mobile platforms, but we will incorporate this in Q1 next year.

4. Configurable Zoom Scale on Survey maps

At present it's not possible for an administrator to set a minimum zoom scale at which a location can be marked on the map. A member of the public could, for example set the location of an abandoned vehicle by clicking a point on the map zoomed to a scale 1:50000.

We'll be adding the capability for administrators to enforce a minimum scale as part of the new Survey template which we are planning to release very soon.

5. Metadata Viewing

This one divided opinion, but the message I got was fairly clear. The requirement from authorities that really need this capability is not for a fully fledged INSPIRE compliant tool within LocalView Fusion, but a basic ability for users of all templates (in particular Web Publisher and Navigator applications) to access a simple description of each map layer.

I will be getting in contact with the authorities that flagged this as a high priority in the New Year to fully scope this requirement and then work it out from there.

 

That was the result of the top 5 requirements and our implementation plans. As this post is getting a little long, I'm going to leave it there for now. Next week I'll blog the results of part 2 of the workshop, which wereyour other priority suggestions for product enhancements and new template ideas.

If you have any feedback on this post please post a Comment by clicking on the link below. Once posted, all other readers, including me, will be able to see it and reply.

Seminars Update

A big thank you to everyone who attended the LocalView Fusion seminar sessions in Birmingham and Edinburgh last week. You gave us lots of valuable feedback during the workshops that will have an immediate impact on the product roadmap and we also received some excellent ideas for brand new templates.

As soon as I've collated the information I'll write a post in this blog with a full digest of the sessions and how/when you will start to see your feedback implemented in the software. I'll also be uploading slides from the various speakers on the day, so watch this space over the next day or two.

2012 User Seminars

Dates and venues have been confirmed for the 2012 LocalView Fusion seminars.

The events are taking place on November 21st and 23rd and are a great opportunity to influence the LocalView Fusion roadmap, network with other LocalView Fusion customers and find out about how the latest innovations in the core Esri technologies can be used to drive efficiencies within your authority. 

The events are for customers only so you'll need to register. Full details about the event locations, agenda and online registration are on the main Esri UK web page.

We've prepared a range of great sessions to showcase what we've been doing, our plans for 2013 and interactive workshops, so please register today.

LocalView Fusion 4.1

 

Our October release of LocalView Fusion is now running on the online platform and is also available to download.

Version 4.1 contains some new security component plus a few minor updates and bug fixes.

Strong(er) passwords

The big new thing at 4.1 is the ability to create much stronger password policies for external (i.e. non Active Directory) users. You can now, for example, force all external users to have a strong password (upper case, lower case, numbers, letters, etc) which will expire in a timeframe that you set.

The security tools add extra control for administrators who subscribe to the online version of LocalView Fusion where Active Directory is not yet an option. The tools should also be a valuable addition for on-premise customers who publish secure sites to external partners and contractors.

More Parameters

As an example of one of the minor enhancements, we've added a new URL parameter to Web Publisher that allows it to be launched already zoomed to a particular feature. This should open up some interesting new integration options with other software systems.

Version 4.1 is the first of many smaller more frequent updates to LocalView Fusion and the next one on the horizon is an update to the new MyLocation template due out in mid-November.

 

We're off!

Welcome to the LocalView Fusion blog!

Over the coming weeks and months this blog will contain posts to keep you informed about all things related to LocalView Fusion. We'll cover subjects like upcoming release details, tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your software, the occasional post from users (volunteers please!), technical stuff and other things that crop up along the way. There will be a new article posted every couple of weeks.

This blog page will also contain the latest version of the product release notes, plus posts will be ordered by categories and tags to make it easy to find information on specific subjects.

It's possible to comment on all posts in the blog so I'm hoping that it will be the source of some interesting debate and discussion in future too.

One final thing; there is also a sister blog to this one called Online Service Updates which contains service information about all of Esri UK's SaaS and DaaS services.