August 15, 2008 at 18:00Personal Knowledge Base and data organization when working on a project
The original publication is available at
http://www.cmsbitrix.ru/notes/note.php?ID=517
Introduction.
When working on a project, for example, when developing a website on Bitrix, various information is accumulated: contacts of project participants; electronic correspondence; accounts, etc.
The main problem is to keep records and materials on the project in a readable, organized form and format convenient for data exchange.
In this publication I will tell you how I have organized the technology for collecting, processing and storing information on the project.
Tools for working with the information array
Before starting, I will first list the tools used:
TheBat Pro - an email client for working with mail and communicating with project participants.
www.ritlabs.com
QIP - ICQ-client, used for operational negotiations with project participants.
www.qip.ru
Microsoft Outlook - for storing contacts, tasks, calendar entries and notes.
office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/FX100487751049.aspx SaveCHM
plug-in for Internet Explorer - for saving pages in a browser in CHM format.
www.yarix.by.ru
Sony Ericsson K550i mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth, MicroSD-slot and a 2 MP camera.
www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/k550i?cc=en&lc=en
MyPhoneExplorer - for data exchange with a SonyEricsson K550i mobile phone.
www.fjsoft.at/en
Winchesters Seagate: Momentus 2.5 to 320 GB for storing portable data and Barracuda 3.5 to 320 GB for backup of the first.
www.seagate.com
PDA Asus 696.
ru.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=8&l2=0&l3=0&l4=0&model=1559&modelmenu=1
Microsoft ActiveSync - software for synchronizing data on a computer and PDA.
www.microsoft.com/eng/windowsmobile/activesync/default.mspx
Main parts of the project information array
Contact information and accounts
Typically, these are contacts of customers, their representatives, specialists and employees involved in the project.
Accounts in most cases: information for accessing the site via FTP, SSH; MySQL settings for scripts, access to the MySQL interface; settings of electronic mailboxes for the site; codes of statistics services and affiliate programs, etc ...
Thematic and non-thematic materials related to the work on the project.
When developing a site, you always have to solve various technical problems associated with the implementation of the site. Either they are resolved immediately, or together with Bitrix technical support, or you have to look for information to solve them on the Internet. Sometimes it happens that during the search for a solution there are materials that are not related to the project, but may be useful in the future.
Materials for the site. Electronic correspondence.
The terms of reference, the design of the site’s pages (usually in the format of graphic editors), ready-made HTML layout, documents describing the sections of the site, information materials for filling the site, etc. ...
Contact information and accounts
To store contact information and accounts, it is used Microsoft Outlook 2007.
Cards in the "Contacts" section are divided into 2 groups: "Project name (contacts)" and "Project name (information)."
The first group is designed to store information on people participating in the project. For example, customer, customer representative, designer, programmer, etc. The second is for storing project information. These are accounts for access via FTP, SSH, MySQL, statistics codes, codes of affiliate programs, etc.
The names of the groups are indicated in the field of the "Company" card. The grouping of cards itself and their withdrawal is carried out in the same field. Thus, the grouping of the output of all records in one project is carried out. But if the number of cards is less than 7-10, then they can not be divided into two groups, but can be reduced to one group “Project name”.
In addition to the standard fields of the contact card, the Notes field is also used to store fragments of correspondence, photocopies of materials, application files. In this field, I stored about 0.5-1MB of text, up to 5 application files with a total volume of up to 5MB, up to 5-7 photos up to 1024x768 pixels with a total capacity of up to 2-3MB.
In Microsoft Outlook 2007 compared to Outlook 2003, a copy of an html page fragment is transferred from the clipboard more correctly, preserving styles, images and layout, the ability to insert pictures, application files is improved, the amount of stored information for the Notes field is increased, and etc.
For access accounts via FTP, SSH, Mysql and MySQL settings for scripts, one card is created with a name of the form FTP: SSH: MyQL: Name of the project. At the beginning of the Notes field, the most commonly used access data is indicated. The accompanying correspondence with the provider and other persons with usernames and passwords is added at the end of this data with the date, address and subject of the letter. For passwords, the date when it was activated is indicated. When specifying a new password, the old password is saved.
An example of an access card for FTP, SSH and MySQL
is
FTP
Address: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
FAR string: project : password @ XXX .XXX.XXX.XXX /
MySQL
URL: www.project.ru/phpMyAdmin
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
SSH
URL: www.project.ru
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
For MySQL scripts
$ DBType = "mysql";
$ DBHost = "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX";
$ DBLogin = "login";
$ DBPassword = "*******";
$ DBName = "name";
-
2008-05-25
hosting@provider.ru
Provider Info for www.project.ru
Hello!
We inform you that the parameters for the login login have been changed.
New password: password1
-
Provider Web Department.
hosting@provider.ru
-
Separate cards are created for the remaining entries. Words in the title are separated by a colon so that you can perform a quick search on the word.
The accumulated information in Outlook is synchronized with the PDA. This makes it possible to quickly view information on accounts when working remotely or from other people's computers.
Thematic and non-thematic materials related to the project.
When working on a project, problems periodically arise, for the solution of which you have to contact Technical Support (hereinafter TP). As a rule, the problem is safely resolved, everyone is happy - both the developer and the TP.
Six months pass, the developer scratches the back of his head - I already did something like that, I would only remember where it was. Result - too much time was spent to find a solution. But this could have been avoided if, after successfully solving the problem, it would have been spent about 5-10 minutes to summarize the work on the problem. All in all, add a card in “Contacts”, describe the essence of the problem in the name of the card, link it to the project in the “Companies” field, and insert the appeal text into the TP from the browser in the “Notes” field. Be sure to insert a link to the appeal itself at the very beginning, so that, if necessary, see the original, so new information can be added there.
Similarly, if there was any correspondence or discussion in other places on the problem: at a forum, private discussion, etc., then fragments of correspondence are added to the card indicating the source link and the date the information was added.
In addition, additional materials are created at workshops on materials available in electronic or printed form. Usually these are freehand sketches, handwritten text, etc. ... Translated into electronic format by a scanner or reprinted with redrawing - all this is time consuming and time consuming, so it’s easier to retake such materials with a mobile phone’s camera.
Personally, I use the SonyEricsson K550i with a 2 megapixel camera. A photograph of an A4 sheet of paper with text corresponding to Arial, size 10, is readable both on the monitor screen and in print. Recorded documents are imported via the Bluetooth adapter from the mobile to the computer and laid out in folders, inserted into tasks and contacts.
I also use the plug-in for Internet Explorer SaveCHM, which saves the page in the browser in the CHM format. The resulting file is easy to read on any computer running Windows and on a PDA with Windows Mobile. Accumulated CHM files are sorted and copied to the project folder. If, during the course of the work, interesting information is found that is not related to the project, then it is also saved as a CHM file. In her free time, it is worked out, commented and the information is entered either in the “Tasks” with a reminder or in the “Contacts”.
After completion of the project, some of the records are transferred to the Bitrix. Resolved Issues. ” Thus, my personal Knowledge Base is being formed, which then allows me to apply the obtained solutions when working on other projects with minimal time. In addition, when working together with other specialists, it is enough to simply save the card in rtf format and forward it in any way. In the received file, not only text information will be saved, but also graphics and attached files.
Note: If you insert files as applications in Outlook (Tasks, Contacts, Calendar), the built-in security system can block access to them, which sometimes leads to their loss. Often this happens with CHM files. Therefore, all files that are inserted into cards as applications are also saved in the My Documents folder.
Materials for the site. Work with electronic correspondence.
In most cases, these are screenshots of design pages, design sources in .psd, .cdr, .ai and other formats. They are characterized by large volumes, from 2 to 500 MB. For their storage, a mobile screw 2.5 is used. Today it is a 320GB Seagate Momentus SATA-II. For him, I had to specifically buy a mobile box with declared support for SATA-II, because due to the increased power consumption and incomplete compatibility with SATA-II to SATA-I, SATA mobile boxes with SATA-II screws sometimes do not work - when connected to a computer, they periodically disappear from the list of screws.
Organization of the file structure of materials:
My Documents
Project name 1
Backup
2008-08-11 - Backup copy of the database
2008-08-10 - Backup copy of the site
Materials
2008-08-04 - Documents on the site structure
2008-08-06 - New design of the main page
.......
Project name N
Backup
...........
Materials
.......
Outlook
Folder tasks are quite clear from the names. When adding new materials, the name of the new folder first indicates the date of addition and its contents are briefly described.
The Outlook folder contains the Outlook utility files - contacts, tasks, archive, etc. Outlook itself was configured so that data files were stored in the My Documents folder.
The working computer contains the My Documents folder with the above structure. At the end of the working day, the entire folder is copied to the mobile screw (every day). At home, it is copied to a computer in the same My Documents folder (2-3 times a week or more often, as necessary). Then the entire 2.5 mobile screw is completely copied to the 3.5 screw on the desktop computer (once a week).
During work on the project, electronic correspondence is accumulated by mail and ICQ. The dialogue on ICQ is processed immediately after the end, the email is also immediately or closer to the end of the day. If these are comments and remarks on the project, then everything goes to Tasks. A new task is created or added to the task "Fluid: Project 1". If this is a private conversation, with useful information, then it is added to the "Notes" field of the contact card of the person with whom the conversation was. If it is impossible to tie a conversation to a person’s card, then usually a project card is created with the name “General Situation” or “Notes” and everything is added there.
To receive and store e-mail, the IMAP protocol is used. As a result, mail is stored at the provider on the server, and on various computers (work and home) through TheBat, synchronization with the mail database stored at the provider is carried out. It is also important that the provider has a web interface for mail in order to be able to view mail from almost any computer. It is also very good if there is access via the https protocol - this increases the level of mail security. Thus, having sorted and sorted the letters into folders at work, I get the same thing at home, unlike mail for storage which uses the POP protocol. To restrict third-party access to TheBat email clients on the computers used for the mail database, encryption and password access are enabled.
Upon completion of the project, a backup copy of the mail containing the correspondence on the project is copied to the appropriate folder in My Documents. Since TheBat does not allow you to backup individual mailbox folders, you must first make a backup copy of the entire mailbox, then delete all letters that are not related to the project, then create a backup copy of the mailbox for storage in the archive and only after that the mail is restored from the first backup . After that, the folder with correspondence on the project is deleted. You have to resort to such tricks, as sometimes you have to transfer mail to other employees and it is undesirable to give access to mail other than the project. The materials also copy the entire history of QIP correspondence.
Results
With this organization of business, I have:
All current project materials are always available.
I am ready to provide all or individual project participants with the necessary project information with minimal time.
There is quick access to all project accounts both from a computer and from a PDA.
Ability to work on almost any computer.
Reliability of information storage - the maximum that I can lose - these are materials in 1-2 business days.
Recommended literature
This organization of the receipt, processing and storage of the information array was organized and developed not from scratch. In this, the books of Gleb of Arkhangelsk:
Formula of Time rendered considerable help to me . Time Management on Outlook 2007
Time Drive: How to Manage Live and Work
Organization of time.
In my opinion, practical work can begin with the book “Formula of time. Time management on Outlook 2007 ”, then to summarize the accumulated experience during its development with the help of“ Time Drive: How to manage to live and work ”. And only then, for general development and application in work, get acquainted with the book “Organization of Time”.
If you want to increase the efficiency of organizing time and your work, then it’s better to read them not “diagonally”, but to work seriously, with a pen and marker for notes. You are not reading Daria Dontsova’s novels, after all. ;-)
Of course, rebuilding all your work in a new way is not easy, therefore it is better to start with small steps. For example, translate contacts into a digestible form, then learn how to organize data storage in a convenient form, etc. etc. As the Chinese say, "The path of 1000 l begins with the first step."
http://www.cmsbitrix.ru/notes/note.php?ID=517
Introduction.
When working on a project, for example, when developing a website on Bitrix, various information is accumulated: contacts of project participants; electronic correspondence; accounts, etc.
The main problem is to keep records and materials on the project in a readable, organized form and format convenient for data exchange.
In this publication I will tell you how I have organized the technology for collecting, processing and storing information on the project.
Tools for working with the information array
Before starting, I will first list the tools used:
TheBat Pro - an email client for working with mail and communicating with project participants.
www.ritlabs.com
QIP - ICQ-client, used for operational negotiations with project participants.
www.qip.ru
Microsoft Outlook - for storing contacts, tasks, calendar entries and notes.
office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/FX100487751049.aspx SaveCHM
plug-in for Internet Explorer - for saving pages in a browser in CHM format.
www.yarix.by.ru
Sony Ericsson K550i mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth, MicroSD-slot and a 2 MP camera.
www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/k550i?cc=en&lc=en
MyPhoneExplorer - for data exchange with a SonyEricsson K550i mobile phone.
www.fjsoft.at/en
Winchesters Seagate: Momentus 2.5 to 320 GB for storing portable data and Barracuda 3.5 to 320 GB for backup of the first.
www.seagate.com
PDA Asus 696.
ru.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=8&l2=0&l3=0&l4=0&model=1559&modelmenu=1
Microsoft ActiveSync - software for synchronizing data on a computer and PDA.
www.microsoft.com/eng/windowsmobile/activesync/default.mspx
Main parts of the project information array
Contact information and accounts
Typically, these are contacts of customers, their representatives, specialists and employees involved in the project.
Accounts in most cases: information for accessing the site via FTP, SSH; MySQL settings for scripts, access to the MySQL interface; settings of electronic mailboxes for the site; codes of statistics services and affiliate programs, etc ...
Thematic and non-thematic materials related to the work on the project.
When developing a site, you always have to solve various technical problems associated with the implementation of the site. Either they are resolved immediately, or together with Bitrix technical support, or you have to look for information to solve them on the Internet. Sometimes it happens that during the search for a solution there are materials that are not related to the project, but may be useful in the future.
Materials for the site. Electronic correspondence.
The terms of reference, the design of the site’s pages (usually in the format of graphic editors), ready-made HTML layout, documents describing the sections of the site, information materials for filling the site, etc. ...
Contact information and accounts
To store contact information and accounts, it is used Microsoft Outlook 2007.
Cards in the "Contacts" section are divided into 2 groups: "Project name (contacts)" and "Project name (information)."
The first group is designed to store information on people participating in the project. For example, customer, customer representative, designer, programmer, etc. The second is for storing project information. These are accounts for access via FTP, SSH, MySQL, statistics codes, codes of affiliate programs, etc.
The names of the groups are indicated in the field of the "Company" card. The grouping of cards itself and their withdrawal is carried out in the same field. Thus, the grouping of the output of all records in one project is carried out. But if the number of cards is less than 7-10, then they can not be divided into two groups, but can be reduced to one group “Project name”.
In addition to the standard fields of the contact card, the Notes field is also used to store fragments of correspondence, photocopies of materials, application files. In this field, I stored about 0.5-1MB of text, up to 5 application files with a total volume of up to 5MB, up to 5-7 photos up to 1024x768 pixels with a total capacity of up to 2-3MB.
In Microsoft Outlook 2007 compared to Outlook 2003, a copy of an html page fragment is transferred from the clipboard more correctly, preserving styles, images and layout, the ability to insert pictures, application files is improved, the amount of stored information for the Notes field is increased, and etc.
For access accounts via FTP, SSH, Mysql and MySQL settings for scripts, one card is created with a name of the form FTP: SSH: MyQL: Name of the project. At the beginning of the Notes field, the most commonly used access data is indicated. The accompanying correspondence with the provider and other persons with usernames and passwords is added at the end of this data with the date, address and subject of the letter. For passwords, the date when it was activated is indicated. When specifying a new password, the old password is saved.
An example of an access card for FTP, SSH and MySQL
is
FTP
Address: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
FAR string: project : password @ XXX .XXX.XXX.XXX /
MySQL
URL: www.project.ru/phpMyAdmin
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
SSH
URL: www.project.ru
Login: login
Current password: password1 2008-05-25
Old password: password2 2008-05-12
For MySQL scripts
$ DBType = "mysql";
$ DBHost = "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX";
$ DBLogin = "login";
$ DBPassword = "*******";
$ DBName = "name";
-
2008-05-25
hosting@provider.ru
Provider Info for www.project.ru
Hello!
We inform you that the parameters for the login login have been changed.
New password: password1
-
Provider Web Department.
hosting@provider.ru
-
Separate cards are created for the remaining entries. Words in the title are separated by a colon so that you can perform a quick search on the word.
The accumulated information in Outlook is synchronized with the PDA. This makes it possible to quickly view information on accounts when working remotely or from other people's computers.
Thematic and non-thematic materials related to the project.
When working on a project, problems periodically arise, for the solution of which you have to contact Technical Support (hereinafter TP). As a rule, the problem is safely resolved, everyone is happy - both the developer and the TP.
Six months pass, the developer scratches the back of his head - I already did something like that, I would only remember where it was. Result - too much time was spent to find a solution. But this could have been avoided if, after successfully solving the problem, it would have been spent about 5-10 minutes to summarize the work on the problem. All in all, add a card in “Contacts”, describe the essence of the problem in the name of the card, link it to the project in the “Companies” field, and insert the appeal text into the TP from the browser in the “Notes” field. Be sure to insert a link to the appeal itself at the very beginning, so that, if necessary, see the original, so new information can be added there.
Similarly, if there was any correspondence or discussion in other places on the problem: at a forum, private discussion, etc., then fragments of correspondence are added to the card indicating the source link and the date the information was added.
In addition, additional materials are created at workshops on materials available in electronic or printed form. Usually these are freehand sketches, handwritten text, etc. ... Translated into electronic format by a scanner or reprinted with redrawing - all this is time consuming and time consuming, so it’s easier to retake such materials with a mobile phone’s camera.
Personally, I use the SonyEricsson K550i with a 2 megapixel camera. A photograph of an A4 sheet of paper with text corresponding to Arial, size 10, is readable both on the monitor screen and in print. Recorded documents are imported via the Bluetooth adapter from the mobile to the computer and laid out in folders, inserted into tasks and contacts.
I also use the plug-in for Internet Explorer SaveCHM, which saves the page in the browser in the CHM format. The resulting file is easy to read on any computer running Windows and on a PDA with Windows Mobile. Accumulated CHM files are sorted and copied to the project folder. If, during the course of the work, interesting information is found that is not related to the project, then it is also saved as a CHM file. In her free time, it is worked out, commented and the information is entered either in the “Tasks” with a reminder or in the “Contacts”.
After completion of the project, some of the records are transferred to the Bitrix. Resolved Issues. ” Thus, my personal Knowledge Base is being formed, which then allows me to apply the obtained solutions when working on other projects with minimal time. In addition, when working together with other specialists, it is enough to simply save the card in rtf format and forward it in any way. In the received file, not only text information will be saved, but also graphics and attached files.
Note: If you insert files as applications in Outlook (Tasks, Contacts, Calendar), the built-in security system can block access to them, which sometimes leads to their loss. Often this happens with CHM files. Therefore, all files that are inserted into cards as applications are also saved in the My Documents folder.
Materials for the site. Work with electronic correspondence.
In most cases, these are screenshots of design pages, design sources in .psd, .cdr, .ai and other formats. They are characterized by large volumes, from 2 to 500 MB. For their storage, a mobile screw 2.5 is used. Today it is a 320GB Seagate Momentus SATA-II. For him, I had to specifically buy a mobile box with declared support for SATA-II, because due to the increased power consumption and incomplete compatibility with SATA-II to SATA-I, SATA mobile boxes with SATA-II screws sometimes do not work - when connected to a computer, they periodically disappear from the list of screws.
Organization of the file structure of materials:
My Documents
Project name 1
Backup
2008-08-11 - Backup copy of the database
2008-08-10 - Backup copy of the site
Materials
2008-08-04 - Documents on the site structure
2008-08-06 - New design of the main page
.......
Project name N
Backup
...........
Materials
.......
Outlook
Folder tasks are quite clear from the names. When adding new materials, the name of the new folder first indicates the date of addition and its contents are briefly described.
The Outlook folder contains the Outlook utility files - contacts, tasks, archive, etc. Outlook itself was configured so that data files were stored in the My Documents folder.
The working computer contains the My Documents folder with the above structure. At the end of the working day, the entire folder is copied to the mobile screw (every day). At home, it is copied to a computer in the same My Documents folder (2-3 times a week or more often, as necessary). Then the entire 2.5 mobile screw is completely copied to the 3.5 screw on the desktop computer (once a week).
During work on the project, electronic correspondence is accumulated by mail and ICQ. The dialogue on ICQ is processed immediately after the end, the email is also immediately or closer to the end of the day. If these are comments and remarks on the project, then everything goes to Tasks. A new task is created or added to the task "Fluid: Project 1". If this is a private conversation, with useful information, then it is added to the "Notes" field of the contact card of the person with whom the conversation was. If it is impossible to tie a conversation to a person’s card, then usually a project card is created with the name “General Situation” or “Notes” and everything is added there.
To receive and store e-mail, the IMAP protocol is used. As a result, mail is stored at the provider on the server, and on various computers (work and home) through TheBat, synchronization with the mail database stored at the provider is carried out. It is also important that the provider has a web interface for mail in order to be able to view mail from almost any computer. It is also very good if there is access via the https protocol - this increases the level of mail security. Thus, having sorted and sorted the letters into folders at work, I get the same thing at home, unlike mail for storage which uses the POP protocol. To restrict third-party access to TheBat email clients on the computers used for the mail database, encryption and password access are enabled.
Upon completion of the project, a backup copy of the mail containing the correspondence on the project is copied to the appropriate folder in My Documents. Since TheBat does not allow you to backup individual mailbox folders, you must first make a backup copy of the entire mailbox, then delete all letters that are not related to the project, then create a backup copy of the mailbox for storage in the archive and only after that the mail is restored from the first backup . After that, the folder with correspondence on the project is deleted. You have to resort to such tricks, as sometimes you have to transfer mail to other employees and it is undesirable to give access to mail other than the project. The materials also copy the entire history of QIP correspondence.
Results
With this organization of business, I have:
All current project materials are always available.
I am ready to provide all or individual project participants with the necessary project information with minimal time.
There is quick access to all project accounts both from a computer and from a PDA.
Ability to work on almost any computer.
Reliability of information storage - the maximum that I can lose - these are materials in 1-2 business days.
Recommended literature
This organization of the receipt, processing and storage of the information array was organized and developed not from scratch. In this, the books of Gleb of Arkhangelsk:
Formula of Time rendered considerable help to me . Time Management on Outlook 2007
Time Drive: How to Manage Live and Work
Organization of time.
In my opinion, practical work can begin with the book “Formula of time. Time management on Outlook 2007 ”, then to summarize the accumulated experience during its development with the help of“ Time Drive: How to manage to live and work ”. And only then, for general development and application in work, get acquainted with the book “Organization of Time”.
If you want to increase the efficiency of organizing time and your work, then it’s better to read them not “diagonally”, but to work seriously, with a pen and marker for notes. You are not reading Daria Dontsova’s novels, after all. ;-)
Of course, rebuilding all your work in a new way is not easy, therefore it is better to start with small steps. For example, translate contacts into a digestible form, then learn how to organize data storage in a convenient form, etc. etc. As the Chinese say, "The path of 1000 l begins with the first step."