Notes on Productivity Home Page

Eric, After I read the recent blog posts about individuals not being able to get support for Lotus Notes I said there has to be a way to help these people get the support they need. One idea I came up with was a Wiki site devoted to just those people - End users who are first time users of Lotus Notes. They can read postings or pose questions about Lotus Notes to get the support they are looking for. I am sure there are other Lotus professionals like myself that would volunteer their time to answer questions and provide content.

My other idea was to start a support service that is geared towards the single user/small organization when the Wiki is not enough for their support needs.

Setting up ANY email client is a non-fun task for the non-techie what with all those smtp, pop3, servers, user names, etc stuff that has to be juuuuust right.

When I get stuck, my first stop is Mr. Google. A search 'how to configure lotus notes for pop3' brought up a ton of step by step instructions.

That said, it seems like it wouldn't take too much (*) for IBM to put together a 'welcome to Notes mail' directions for the new stand alone user. If I was king of the world, the software would come with 30 days free phone/web/chat tech support...but then again, I'm not king of the world.

(*) I know this statement is not totally true. I've done some marketing and understand the total anguish associated with getting the font right...nothing is easy for business.

Eric,

What you're saying (writing) is exactly correct, there is little focus on end users, even in corporate deployments. I cannot count the number of times I've been into a site to conduct an "Advanced Notes end user course for our experienced users" and end up going through the basics. I even had one participant in a recent "Power user" session (who worked in the IT department) ask before we broke for lunch "have we finished with the remedial stuff yet?"

Even the forums on notes.net (or IBM Lotus developer domain - you choose) are dedicated to administration and developer feed-back, rather than end-user queries, and although end-users often drop by to ask questions, the frequent advice is to "read the help".

My experience with end-users normally comes down to a simple issue. Outlook is an email client and all of the menu's and options are focussed on manipulating/configuring that email environment (albeit with other options for calendar/tasks/contacts/etc). Lotus Notes is a database application, so the menu's and options are focussed on managing databases generically. It's not until you point this out to users and then explain the function of the "Action Bar" within an individual Notes database - where the individual database options are located - that they begin to understand that email within Lotus Notes is just another database, and the options for managing mail aren't necessarily located under the "Tools -> Options" menu choice. Once you open a database other than mail (eg: even a simple discussion or web-site application is normally enough) people begin to "get" the power of Notes.

I recently started working on a project in my spare time to rebut the "issues" posted on www.ihatelotusnotes.com - but I can see that this project could easily become more than that (your wiki idea?)

Drop me a line if you'd like to discuss further.

Cheers, Mat

Mat,

In response to your very good comments, I wanted to share a Ppt presentation we have used that points out some of those nuances in the Notes client experience.

{ Link }

Excellent points Mat, thanks for posting your presentation, John. I look forward to reviewing. Happy to set up a Skype call to discuss.

Eric, TLCC offers Notes based courses for Notes users on how to use the Notes and iNotes clients. We even have the list of lessons appear in the Notes 8 sidebar so users can quickly navigate to a topic they need at the moment.

{ Link }

Howard

Eric,

I’m the one of the ones you’ve quoted (@RapunzelMAP) from twitter and as you’ve probably gathered from the tweets, completely enamoured with your software eProductivity. I thought it might be useful to post a more detailed overview of my experiences so far on this topic.

This article is on the ball on this issue. There are huge opportunities there & as this is possibly at the beginning stage of what could snowball, it’s essential that big companies such as IBM are informed about this now.

I’m an end user and after watching the demo video of eProductivity I was sold. This was what I hoped would one day be designed. I’ve seen lots of GTD style software but they’ve never seemed to be as seamless and encompass GTD totally.(+ none were approved by David Allen, probably. For this reason)

I’ve been used the GTD approach to getting things done since I discovered the method a few years ago and so bought the book,( & bought the book for others..)

I tried different ways of using the method but anyone aware of the fact that some GTD folk will tweak their system endlessly to find the holy grail of bring everything in their world together. In the end I settled for using list management software on a Palm TX called ‘lifebalance’ and while it def. has its merits it didn’t complete the GTD method for me and eventually ‘fell off the GTD wagon’.

A lot of people can relate to that, & it doesn’t mean the method doesn’t work, but is testimony to the fact that once you ‘get’ GTD you are then only as good as the tools you use to keep it all together. I’ve only ever used web based email. I’ve been stuck with a hotmail account that I’ve used for 10 years and don’t want to change my address at present. I’ve never ported hotmail into outlook.

As a self employed singer songwriter who runs my own websites etc I have to wear lots of different hats & while I have a programmer friend who helps me with some computer issues & has recently designed my fan database,(hope it can synch with lotus notes lol) it’s usually me and Google who solve my problems.

My first problem with Lotus Notes (8.5) was getting my hotmail into it! I did read a ridiculous amount of web pages on this and followed the instructions meticulously. I read that other folk also had had the same problem. After reading a blog, I wrote to a Norwegian self confessed geek for help, he tried but couldn’t solve the issue. Then a lotus notes professional on twitter saw my predicament, sent me a detailed email, even setting himself up a hotmail account to help replicate my problem. I still could not get it to work. I ended up going back to an older version of Lotus Notes, 7. It worked. No idea what was wrong with 8.5 but that didn’t matter, I only wanted Lotus Notes to use eProductivity,so far so good, I could see my mail in Lotus notes.

That done, my next job was to work through the interactive demo of eProductivity. This was plain sailing..you work through sample emails and tasks to teach you how to GTD in eProductivity.

Which brings me on to the present, I’m on the last but one instruction email in the interactive demo of eProductivity, it requires me to transfer a sample of my email into eProductivity so I can test out the GTDing with my own mail. I followed the instructions but no mail transferred.. I KNOW this is not an eProductivity software problem but something to do with Lotus Notes, (I looked in the help file & from what I’m aware of, it’s possibly to do with my email account in Lotus Notes not being the ‘default’ one. The instructions are to locate the domino designer.. this is where I go.. uh oh what’s that? Where’s that? Or if I can’t find a particular ‘button’. I personally feel awkward asking eProductivity people for help on this, I know they’ve not banked on being software support for the back end/Lotus Notes folks but I’ve put in almost a week of effort on getting this all going (That’s testimony in its self to me seeing the value in eProductivity – there must me millions out there like me who would benefit from this software)& I’m determined to get over these teething problems and just hope that folk can help me familiarise and get over some initial problems.

On the subject of what else Notes can do, I’m looking forward to finding out. I’ve already reviewed the eProductivity database that is a free thank you that is given to you once you download the trial, and already I’ve seen how Lotusnotes will become my central information management system. I am however wondering how I will learn it all. So even though I’m tempted to say ‘imagine if it was a standalone system for non techies like me’, I also see the possibilities of getting to know Lotusnotes properly.

On a side issue, I rang my talented programmer friend as my first port of call on help with Lotus Notes. He’d used it at work a long time ago but said “it’s out dated software” & couldn’t help me. Being an avid reader of all the latest blogs on these issues, I realised that actually it was his view that was possibly outdated’ & quoted what someone had said on one of your other blogs, that you don’t see Lotusnotes in the marketplace and possibly that it’s really only as good as the templates that companies are using with it. I’ve urged him to watch the vid. (He bought the GTD book & a palm PDA when I introduced him to them, so perhaps he’ll convert to this too  )

The last thing I want to point out is that the one person company is a growing trend

& with social networking becoming such an integral part of everyone’s life, the gap between big and small companies is getting smaller in many different ways.

I’m a typical right brained non linear thinker.. I generate more ideas than I have the time to bring to fruition. I’m an information addict.. with a terabyte drive already filled to the brim of word documents and media on countless subjects. I have created chaos at times with just collecting too much ‘stuff’, pulling in different direction and it’s overwhelmed me to the point that my creativity then takes a backstep. Hence GTD.

It is not just the big companies that need information management and good systems, we all do. eProductivity will help everyone from the one person company, busy mums to huge corporations. We all handle more information today then possibly our grandparents handled in an entire lifetime. And it’s all happened so quickly. GTD has caught on because its uses can apply to everyone for everything. My feeling is that a good piece of software like eProductivity will spread like wildfire in the GTD community and beyond and before long there could be tons of folk like me sending out endless help ‘tweets’ feeling so close yet so far to the ‘mind like water’ state a lot of us dream of. I do feel close, hope I’m not too far.. I want to clear up the admin and get on with writing & performing some songs :o) It’s about time. (Feel free to edit this very long message!)

"On the subject of what else Notes can do, I’m looking forward to finding out."

Rapunzelmap,

This is yet another fascinating thing about Lotus Notes (at least with versions up through 7) -- with Notes Designer (comes with the install), easily created and easily modified data-driven apps can be developed by YOU the END USER for no extra charge, just your time.

These apps are able to locally store data, media, files, whatever, and have all the "modern" user interface elements, the compute, calculate, discombobulate just like any other computer application. They can be copied to any other Notes client and run locally there. Your friend considers this

outdated. I consider it useful.

This is one of the things that made Notes popular in corporate workgroups before the "IT Admins" took over. Granted, there may have been lots of horrible Notes apps out there in corporations as a result, but Notes gave the grass roots endusers the capability to do this. Still lovin' it 15 years later.

Eric,

Thanks for having a look at the PPT slides. Most folks just want to be able to "do their job" without unnecessary obstacles. Your business is a testimony that for many workers, it's about productivity, just "give me the tools". We have to find a way not only to do that but to surprise them with things they didn't know they could do. Let's get creative and figure out how to get that done!

John Rowland

Doug,

While I don't confess to be a complete expert, I'm much more technically savvy than most. My main email issues have stemmed from really odd certificate issues with Gmail (Gmail does NOT support Notes, btw)and a lack of information on how to set up multiple email accounts. I think I have resolved the multiple email issue for my two domain based accounts, but the bulk of my accounts are Gmail.

I've googled to no end and can't find the specific information I'm looking for - it all seems to come back to see your SysAdm. Um, I AM the SysAdm. Plus, everything seems geared towards Enterprise users / Domino. I'm on a Mac and I have no interest in Domino at this point in time, so where do I go from there?

My thoughts, at this point, are if you're not going to support the Mac don't offer the freaking software. If you can't support single users, don't make it possible for us to get the freaking software. I know this is not a perfect world and I understand that the Lotus Notes team can't address every issue, but... Maybe this whole increase in interest comes from the GTD geeks like me and took them off guard, but it's something they need to address. Sooner rather than later or we're going to drive poor Eric and Ed nuts with our requests for support.

I have very simple needs at work and Notes / eProductivity on the PC is more than perfect for me, but my home life is much more complex and I need the system to run as perfectly at home as it does at work. I'm not getting that right now and it's leaving me frustrated.

Could I install the PC version of Notes on my Wintel Mac? Sure. Will that solve my problems? Probably not. In the meantime, I've completely let GTD go at home because I just can't create a trusted system that works for me and I REALLY don't like that.

Is there a way to address my concerns? I don't know. Will one be discovered soon? Doubtful. In the meantime, I have no plans to give up, even though Notes continues to frustrate me beyond belief.

Tamara, I did some research and, according to IBM and Ed Brill's team, you can use the contact information on this page to obtain help.

http://www.eproductivity.com/ICA/eproductivity.nsf/dx/first-time-notes-user

I hope this helps

Awesome.

Thanks, Eric! (And IBM & Ed!)

Configuring notes for POP3,IMAP,SMTP and LDAP can be daunting without any simple step by step procedures. Many ISP's have step by step layouts for outlook. While the ppt file above is a great intro to notes, new users are trying to get it to work. Connecting to their mail server, getting the mail to download and sending mail.

For a quick summary, I'd propose the following:

In order to set up notes for internet mail, you'll create 2 account documents in the personal address book (incoming & outgoing), update your location document and optionally setup a connection to your LDAP directory server.,

Start the notes client and open your contacts

click on advanced

click on accounts

click on create new account

The name of the account must be "Incoming Internet Mail" or "Outgoing Internet Mail" for all your mail accounts.

If you have multiple mail accounts, you can create an account document for each mail provider. By default, if you have more than one incoming mail account, it will be delivered to a single mail file.

Each location document is configured to deliver mail to a single mail file. ie default destination is Notes\Data\Mail\yourname.nsf.

Finally, in internet explorer under options-programs, verify that Lotus Notes is the default program. This will enable the mail links on websites.

Advanced multi-account setups.

If you want to segregate your mail, use separate location documents. Its easy to switch locations in notes by clicking in the lower right hand corner. It allows you to use different outgoing email addresses, and deliver the incoming mail to separate mail databases.

You can create separate mail files and have a hotmail location document point to notes\data\mail\myhotmail.nsf. Each location document stores your email address so you can use separate location documents for each email address. When you create the account setups above, you could link the account to a specific location. ie Hotmail account login is only active when the hotmail location is active.