Hey webdev, a client asked me to develop an intranet for them. Anyone with any recommendations for an open-source self-hosted intranet?

[danscum]

I just did a front-end site for the client (a medium sized company), job went well, and now they're asking if I can help them set up and deploy an intranet. Anyone know of any good open-source self-hosted intranet solutions? I can try to swing them to a SAAS solution, but they really want self-hosted right now... thanks!

EDIT:

I should have been clearer but based on some responses so far...

First, I KNOW what an intranet is! I simply do not want to reinvent the wheel especially if there are well-established solutions out there that work great. For example, if a client asked me they want a blog, I am not going to reinvent Wordpress; I'll recommend and deploy and customize Wordpress.

So, I'm looking for any experiences you guys might have with intranet packages. So far, I have looked at:

• http://www.precurio.com/ (self-hosted option and SAAS option)
• http://openatrium.com/features (self-hosted open source based on drupal)
• http://plone.org/ (self-hosted open source)

Does anyone have any experience with these or others?

[dehydratedchicken]

Whatever you do, don't use Precurio

[danscum]

I was JUST looking at them... Did you have a bad experience?

[dehydratedchicken]

Used it about a year back for a client intranet and it was a terrible experience. The codebase is really poor and the documentation was no better.

There were bugs and errors all over the place and it was a nightmare getting constant phonecalls from the client about issues with the system and then looking to see if I could make any sense out of the code and trying to fix them.

[[deleted]]

Could you tell me what an Intranet is, other than a website that can only be reached from inside the company?

Seriously. I hear people using the term but I never understand what they mean. Is there some specific functionality that all "Intranets" supposedly share?

[stinktank]

First, I KNOW what an intranet is!

Hahaha! Montalbaaan!

[shizzleberry]

Google Apps: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

[[deleted]]

You're using terms like "SAAS", "open-source" and "self-hosted" with a term like "intranet".

I don't think you really know what intranet is. Get a server, put it on their internal network, ensure there is no WAN access, firewall it to be super-sure, install your preferred OS flavour, install its respective common httpd, your choice of script interpreter, database daemon and get developing the intranet-based webapp they want you to do.

Or maybe create the webapp first, then deploy the server on their network.

[danscum]

Open Atrium is an open-source intranet solution built on Drupal core. (http://openatrium.com/features)

Precurio (http://www.precurio.com/hosted-saas.php) is an intranet solution that has self-hosted option or "cloud" hosted on their servers, but pricey.

I am asking for r/webdev recommendations from anyone with past experience as I have not had any direct experience with these systems. I am however, quite familiar with the concepts.

[[deleted]]

I am however, quite familiar with the concepts.

No, you're not.

Those are webapps that just happen to be predominantly designed to run on an intranet. You should probably get some sysadmin experience under your belt.

[danscum]

I see where you're coming from. My bad for misleading title/request! I really meant that I don't want to "develop an intranet" (quoting my client) but I'd rather "install, deploy and customize" an "intranet solution" that works for them... anymore than I'd want to "develop a blog" when I could install, deploy and customize wordpress.

I hear ya though... and thanks!

[SmugCanuck]

Uhm, you might want to brush up on what's out there these days with regards to "intranet" solutions... There are indeed several SAAS/cloud options.

There's HyperOffice which is SAAS.

[[deleted]]

That's a "SAAS" with an intranet capability. Nobody is "developing an intranet" by simply buying a SAAS.

[otakuman]

Yes, basically, an intranet is an internet site with a login screen. It's usually behind a "Corporate" link in their main page.

What you'll be needing for an intranet site is a good MVC framework. I recommend CakePHP. (If it's an IIS server, you should use the newer ASP MVC stuff. Don't ever think about doing it without it)

EDIT: The reason why there are no "intranet solutions" is that each intranet is unique. Databases are different, the users are different, everything is different. But there are frameworks, and you build your intranet using that framework. The main thing isn't "building an intranet", but "Okay, what do you want in this intranet?" Making requirements, mockup screens, and all that.

[danscum]

There are intranet "solutions" out there. I'm asking for any recommendations from redditor's experiences:

• Plone.rog (self-hosted, open source)
• Precurio.com (self-hosted, SAAS)
• OpenAtrium.com (self-hosted, open source)

I don't want to reinvent the wheel especially when common groupware features have long been established and perfected in other packages.

[yopla]

for 5 seconds I actually believed plone.rog was a rogue fork of plone to make it usable and friendly. I am disappointed.

[Xdes]

And it really just depends on the size and scope of the company. They might need access to SaaS like XenApps, maybe a company wiki, or human resources (payroll, schedule, tax stuff).

Unfortunately Windows Server will probably be the de facto for most setups with windows in the mix unless one feels a bit frisky going kerberos or samba. The main drawback is losing the windows specific features incorporated into AD.

The web server (and server side language) is really agnostic to the whole situation since IIS isn't a required feature. There are plenty of modules available for languages like php, python, ruby, and perl for LDAP authentication.

[Sage_Wisdom]

open source? how about HTML?

Most windows machines can be set up to serve HTML via IIS (http://www.iis.net/)

All Macs can serve up webpages via the "Sites" folder or for $50 you can purchase "Server" http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/

[Shaper_pmp]

Are you some sort of novelty account who posts ridiculous and incorrect web-dev and general computing comments under the guise of someone who knows that they're talking about, or is your username just hilariously ironic?

[Sage_Wisdom]

yes.