I have been facing a lot of resistance on implementing ERPNext because of its plain UI there is need for putting some background colors or icons
add a custom app that does the theming.
there are examples on forum that did, flat ui, alternate ui, etc.
where can can l find the links for that
This is something that I would like to discuss in the “The Dark Side of the ERPNext” series.
This is not related to ERPNext. Because we’ve worked with the garbage collectors and with the engineers. ERPNext is probably using in around 50 countries. So Frappeverse have a wide range of use cases and users. And usually UI is not a thing.
But UX has a significant effects. The key point is how we, as a consultant or product advocate, present the ERPNext.
I found app for v12 Flat UI Theme for ERPNext v12 - #20 by hashir
You can do basic override of css with custom app and hooks, check hook for app_include_css Hooks
Easy to disable or fix on upgrade if it breaks as it is only css. It is enough for any brand colors to show in ui, From Website Settings you can change the logos and splash now.
If you wish to do any magic beyond that you will need to ditch the desk and build your own SPA GitHub - NagariaHussain/doppio: A Frappe app (CLI) to magically setup single page applications on your custom Frappe apps.
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If you are doing a presentation where there are other products like odoo , sage pastel and many more other competitors and there is no customizations in the code to be done which majority of the cases , ERPNext will just be bitten because of the UI . For presentation these days l present Odoo then implementation l will just bring ERPNext and l usually tell my clients that l have changed the UI for the system to be fast and 90% of the cases the client buys that and thinks he or she is using odoo
Is that real ? Funny.
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isn’t this proof then that most times, users/customers ask for background color, but don’t really need it as such.
I generally answer these kind of queries/requests, by saying a lot of time and thought went into the ERPNext ui they are seeing, and most likely it will prove to be more user friendly on daily usage than it appears now. Then eventually when they start to use the system on a daily basis, the customer rarely, if ever comes back about the ui.
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I have to say, for me, simply enabling the “Dark Mode” them already in ERPNext , is hyper-cool.
Very light on the eyes, day and night and the colors of the status-tags against the dark
background looks cool.
yeah when the client start using the system he or she will not even talk or even think about UI but before you get that job you have to impress with the UI .
funny but its real l have only had few clients who would say this this is not what you presented and when l fail to present them the ERPNext thats when l will go to odoo but l dont like odoo it comes with a lot of hidden things
We are building custom GUI through Vue or React web Apps and Mobile Apps as per clients’ demands. We are now exploring writing scripts to automate the building of essential components or js or Vue files that need to be created as a boilerplate with CRUD operations as Frappe does. Then these ready-to-use components can be quickly tuned to match the exact UI requirements for the best user experience.
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ok thats great but there when will the UI be available
where do these forum characters come from?
Please cease with the snark and sarcastic replies. If you don’t have anything valuable to add to the conversation, there is no need to reply.
The OP said they’re facing resistance, and would like to see improvements. Cool. I can see understand that. Even empathize with it.
There is an expression: “First impressions are lasting impressions.”
When it comes to convincing companies to implement an ERP, very often the decision-makers are not developers. They are business owners, CEOs/CFO’s, Managers. They don’t care what could be done with a custom App. They probably don’t even know what that means. They just see the UI and may not be impressed.
While -some- of you on this forum are actually skilled enough to completely build your own UI for ERPNext, and make it look great…you are a minority. Most ERPNext users, even developers, are not capable of such feats. If you’re one of the few, I can understand you are proud. But do not pretend that most humans on Planet Earth have your Time + Experience + Tech Skills.
If we cannot be empathic and professional to our fellow forum members, then at least let’s keep silent, and get back to our own business.
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What OP mentioned is a very genuine challenge. Have faced this many times in very beginning of being ERPNext consultant. I would get swayed by customer take on UI. However, over time I have learned to gently move the customers away from UI and into ease of using the software. For that I had to learn all features and how each can benefit the user.
Every feature has to have a nice story behind it. As a consultant you need to engage with customer to understand pain points. For each pain point have more than 1 way of using the software.
Today, I hardly get any UI related feedback. Customers realise that having a feature rich software is more beneficial than a software that only looks good. Once you 20 plus customers using the software for at least 1 whole fiscal year they become your best ambassador. After 6 years of implementation we are getting fresh sales mainly as reference from existing customers.
BTW you can always counter with argument that heavy UI would put more strain on hardware leading to slow and sluggish software. The UI has intentionally been kept minimal to make sure productivity is not affected and tasks are completed in shorter time.
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Having users arguing about UI is a kind of standard in any system swapping!
On my implementations we try to focus on speed and facility!
During presentations we take notes of all arguments regarding UI, but we keep with the system presentation! The user resistance can be a challenge and can bring down any implementer, I know it by experience!
After the presentation, I go through the demands of the users regarding UI changes, and I often ask for they show me the thing they are talking about into they currently system!
Most of the time, those systems are old and slow, need various steps and have a confuse UI!
When they present me the idea that they have in mind, with the actual software, we run an poll, asking if the users would like to have the same set of features they had on the previous system, mimicking the UI and speed.
I also try to let clear to the users that kind of change will slowdown they ERPNext, or that we will reimplementing the features in ERPNEXT with exactly same amount of steps they have on they old software! I try to put the argument that it’s an technology issue, that going to old legacy designs will force me to use old and legacy pieces of code that will bring the exactly same results they have before.
Usually they aren’t able to agree with my counter arguments, cuz they wanna the speed of ERPNEXT, without learning ERPNEXT.
On 90% of the cases, the users reduce the friction, and the implementation moves without concerns regarding UI, after 2-3 weeks users start to realize that ERPNEXT make they work life easier, what lead to gratitude!
The other 10%, we find some nice additions to they ERPNEXT, and we try to reimplement ensuring that they will get the best of both worlds!
ERP implementation is more than technology, is a change of culture in many organizations!
So, sometimes tell the history (better or worst) is needed to slow down frictions!
Keep in mind that you are facing people, and they may are afraid that they don’t will get the new system, or that the system change will slow down they work, or even worst, they will get fired because that new technology going deeper than never!
Treat your users like you kids, cuz they will behave like that many times, and lead they to understand what’s right and mostly important why it’s right not only for they work, but also for the whole organization!
Good look with your journey!
I wish you all the best for you and your users in the journey of the new!
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