Also, it’s not clear to me where the defaultness of an email account must be set. The error message doesn’t give the specifics, nor a documentation link.
Why would I need to enter a default email account for starting a project?
Why do I need to enter emails as “IDs” anyway (I used name@example.com dummy emails so far)?
Can’t a human (= one Identity) have several emails, anyway?
Conflating Human Identity with email seems like an erroneous concept to me.
Our usecase might be non-standard, but we use collective emails: several persons have access to one of these. This makes for redundancy, no need to inform clients during absences/holidays, less costs for certain software products, etc. We don’t use personal emails internally at all (one exception only).
Internal communication could also happen in another way than by emails.
E.g. some kind of chat or non-email-message queue/system.
It also makes testing more difficult.
Is there a workaround or an alternative to this “tightness” of the email integration in the framework or ERPNext, respectively?
For the error in saving the project, I think it’s because it attempts to send an email to project users.
So either you setup the Email Account (this is the account that sends out emails from ERPNext), or remove any rows in the User section of the project. I think this is used for sending reminders to project users or for restricting access.
For the sharing of a common email, you can create 1 user record with 1 email, then allow multiple persons to access ERPNext using that 1 user. It will be challenging when you want to trace certain activities though. But then there are free emails such as gmail (if cost is the only factor) that you can use so you don’t need share a common email with multiple users.
Probably. I didn’t activate “Welcome email sent” (it seems to be a status box, not one that really means “Send welcome email”), and didn’t find any “Don’t send emails” behind the Edit button of the rows.
Using external email providers (free or otherwise) makes the internally used system dependend on internet connection and sends internal data back and forth to external organizations. If you don’t want these, another solution is needed.
Of course, an internal email system could be installed and used, but that’s quite another installation effort. The framework already uses messages and command queues for different tasks, so it could include a messaging system replacing (or additionally, as per configuration choices) email.
It’s not of the welcome email, it’s because when you add any users to the project, by default the system sends the mail to all the users. So it needs the email account for sending.
Other than that, the defaultness of an email account can be set like described here: Email Account (erpnext.com)
Still, depending on email for internal communication seems like an unnecessary strain on installation complexity.
I’d rather like to see a “communication box” for any user account, which OPTIONALLY might be linked to any number of external mailbox(es), naturally pending some kind of “Messaging manager approval” watching over the security of the installation / data leaks (via intentional or unintentional misconfiguration).
In a way, the system draws (modern term: nudges) users into using emails, which might not be the safest communication means, depending on the requirements / needs / wishes of the installation and use context.
Well, once you have been in pentesting, you look very carefully where your data is going and if or how it could be misused.
It’s a mindset for securing web, installations and enterprises, also privacy, maybe also fulfulling relevant contract clauses. Depending on the context you’re in.