ERPNext already has a LMS module but it’s tailored for an educational environment with student/teacher relationships. I’m not sure how extensive it is, but it would be nice to have it available for employee training.
https://docs.erpnext.com/docs/user/manual/en/education/setting-up-lms
How about integrate with some BPM like Activiti? It’s great to create more sophisticated workflow.
Give some attention to the shop, as online sales got more attention in the pandemic. E.g. show in which stage of the order and payment process the user is. Allow several payment options in the shop, not just one. Allow to have multi-lingual item description on the web page.
I will keep my suggestions simple…
Finally add real “Waste Management” to the manufacturing module. Been requested for years now!
Add back a “live” mode of operation to the POS module, the current method of updating inventory and ledgers at the end of shift has forced many of us to look at other POS solutions (and in some cases other ERP solutions).
Find a shopping cart solution that does not limit the system to a single warehouse for keeping the shop provisioned.
Adding a WYSIWYG report builder into the system would be beneficial. I know this is not an easy task but it the single most requested option by clients I visit. Maybe there is an open source one that would agree to let us add it into the system. Regardless, there is a cry in the user base for a custom report builder that someone only familiar with ‘MS Word’ could intuitively figure out.
Those are my suggestions (in priority order).
~BKM
@bkm, as report builder there reportbro ReportBro
1 - It’s open source
2 - It’s javascript + python
3 - It’s well done
I definitely agree with @Tai_Tran1. Better Workflow Management or even a proper Business Process Management capability. See BPM topic on this forum.
WhatsApp integration to enable sharing of documents easily via WhatsApp
Implement real document versioning that keeps references.
Right now an amended document is just created as a completely new document.
Would be good to just have revisions of a document, not a chain of new documents.
This would e.g. help with not breaking cross references.
I agree with you on this part
I’d like to see an integration with Nextcloud. Also versioning as Paul_Frydlewicz defines. Thanks to everyone for there efforts.
I’ll start my wish list, quoting the brazilian writer “Luciano Ramalho”, who wrote “Fluent Python”
The limits of do-ocracy: FLOSS often follows the model of power for those who do. To earn power, one must contribute code. It works, but there's a limit: how to represent the needs of users of the software who aren't able to contribute code? #citationneeded
— 😷 Luciano Ramalho ☔ 🐍 ⚗ ▶️ (@ramalhoorg) May 11, 2021
I would like to see an ECA (ERPNext Comunity Association), like odoo has OCA (Odoo Community Association), where people from the community can work together to contribute, improve and make mature contributions to ERPNext, but not only this, where people that doesn’t know how to code, also can be listened, because they also have they own needs, and a community need to include, not to exclude people!
I wished that the now defunct ERPNext Foundation, will take that leadership, to make ERPNext community more stronger, but since it was under Frappé umbrella, it followed Frappé needs, becomming FOSS United, and focusing in Indian needs (what’s makes perfect sense!).
Many of the points on that thread, are great features, but I believe, that Us, as community, is who should take that role, to work around our needs!
Have been a while, that I perceive, that community is beeing neglected, and I fell that, I’m also neglecting the community!
ERPNext is an mature product, but the Idea that “one size fits for all”, doesn’t apply to this community, like, here in Brazil, we have so many freaking tax rules, that doesn’t make sense let people in Gana, Ireland or India burn they mind to understand, our tax way.
If someone need a feature, there should be a group of people, that can mentor and guide members of the community, to make they contributions mature and stronger, and as consequence, making ERPNext great for everyone else!
In the other hand, there should have a group of people, that can listen, the community needs, and organize the “Coders” here, to bring better things to the community.
An ECA, should be an “Community Iniciative”, and should be managed by this “Community” too, because initiatives like the Foundation and FOSS United are always under the umbrella of Frappe.
That’s my wish, but, that’s my responsability also!
Proper Standard Costing workflow to track variances from budget
@max_morais_dmm, does ReportBro support raw SQL queries as a data source?
The tool looks very interesting.! But if you must know Python to use it, that would likely prevent me from installing on my customers’ sites (they rarely have any IT staff, least of all programmers)
Also, +1 for a community-owned ERPNext Community Association (User Group).
Interesting to note, that everyone openly expressed their ideas on this thread, but the thread was started by a regular user like the rest of us. This makes me believe that the developers and teams that steer the project will either not bother reading the input or simply consider it forum chatter and not give it any weight.
Unfortunately that is the “regular” path of such exercises. We have no such thing as @max_morais_dmm community owned ERPNext community association.
Fun to see everyone’s ideas though. Gives us some things to look for when we evaluate other ERP projects we might consider as a replacement.
BKM
That’s the sad part, after make years of investment in knowledgement (like I did, I’s about 12 years now, in that community), just throw away that and seek for an replacement ERP, doesn’t look as a good path, that’s why I suggested, that we should look into a way to support ourselfs, and find ways to get these ideas into the product, even they don’t come from the developers.
I know it doesn’t look like the best thing to do , but as you already noted here:
It appears the ERPNext project has become more of a product for the India businesses and not so much the rest of us. You are right that it makes perfect sense for them. They are only doing what is best for their local business population because the laws there are changing quickly and it is hard to keep up.
This has always been a tightly held project of the frappe group. It has also always been a blessing to have access to it here in the USA. However, I must work at meeting the needs of my local businesses just like the frappe group must meet theirs. So, if the project no longer seems to support us, then we have only 2 choices:
1- Find an alternative to ERPNext that will fit our needs, or
2 - Fork everything and start with a new developer challenge to take what was ERPNext in the direction we need it to go for the USA and other world markets.
I am not a developer, so I cannot take option #2 for myself. I would gladly support a dev community that does take that option, but I am not able to manage a software project myself (not being a developer).
I continue to use ERPNext for now. And I continue to add to the knowledge base where I can with tutorials, app ideas, and developed code when I have clients that can afford the changes.
BKM
There’s the third option, that is work together with ERPNext, to dont break the community in chunks that will make everyone more fragile in the longer term! Break the community forking the product is not good for everyone else, except who take the fork initiative!
My suggestion with an ERPNext Community Association is exactly for we join forces and ideas, finding the middle path, like, it’s okay if ERPNext team, doesn’t want BPMN as part of the core product, but, what us as community can do to lead, support and raise this development?
Instead of forking, we can construct an APP for BPMN, and, create new hooks on ERPNext itself to make that integration better. If after get mature, what started as an plugin become, useful enought, to join the core, it always, will be there for ERPNext take the effort for they join.
Let’s look for Wordpress, for example, what make wordpress, is not Automattic.com, but the community around Wordpress that is always releasing new plugins and themes, to make Wordpress better!
As community, we always should be representatives, so, will be welcome, if we work together understanding what need to change into ERPNext, to support USA, Brazil, Italy, Gana etc, in terms of taxes, but we need to work on this, making one small change per time, but an smart change that allow everyone else tap they own local freaking rules into ERPNext.
But I think this is a subject for another thread!
The last two major releases have been amazing strides forward for Frappe. The platform is more open and more flexible than ever. Anyone watching the github repos can see the amount of maintainer energy that has gone into making this happen, so this idea that the core team has abandoned all but their own parochial interests just doesn’t jibe with reality.
To echo @max_morais_dmm, I would love to see another attempt at a community organization, formal or informal. As the Frappe architecture matures, it becomes more possible for the community to deliver major new features, first as apps and then potentially for inclusion in the core. We’ve been working on a few different things at my organization, and it would be tremendous to have a space to share that work.
That’s my hope for v14: an energetic, effective, and organized community exploring new ways for Frappe to grow!
@max_morais_dmm and @bkm
I believe I might not be getting the full picture of what @max_morais_dmm is talking about, if so please educate me more after my write up below.
As it stands I am of the opinion that discuss.frappe.io serves the exact purpose that @max_morais_dmm is talking about. Let me use my own personal challenges as an example.
As most people know I am heavily committed to the retail platform. I tried very much to work with the inbuilt POS but at a point I just gave up.
I partnered with @youssef (A very strong programmer and contributor on the platform ) when he came up with the idea for PoS Awesome. This app was developed and open sourced and is even now one of the recognised apps for ERPNext. Since adoption my mind is at rest as far as retail is concerned.
No one stopped Yousef from developing PoS Awesome, and it is now been used by quite a number of pos users alongside the official PoS Module.
I have witnessed quite a number of very animated conversations amongst community members about some very interesting features, unfortunatly majority of these conversations die midway. Almost none is ever completed.
From my experience in developing PoS Aweeome, it took months of sleepless nights pushing the development and testing envelope until it was ready. I understand that not many community members will be able to devote this time to seeing a mid size project to completion. That is a reality and is not an indictment of any one or group of people. Life must go on.
So what is my point ? If the very extensive community that is already existing here is not able to see many of the wonderful ideas introduced to completion , what will be different if another body is introduced? Will it not be the same busy people that will be part of the new body?
Food for thought. I stand to be corrected if I am wrong.