What are your view on this new product?

Envato Authors Code Authors
1

Hi there good folks in the CodeCanyon forum -

I am about to upload a new product to CodeCanyon called KwikDesk and I would be interested in your comments/feedback on the summary below. What you like, what you don’t like and what you think generally.

Also, whilst I know the price (obviously :grinning:) ) what you think it is/would be worth. Thanks in advance

KwikDesk

KwikDesk is a self hosted; complete team communication platform comprising real-time:

  • Email
  • Chat
  • Private Messaging
  • File share
  • Team timeline feed
  • and Activity Management.

Who is KwikDesk for?

KwikDesk is for teams of people who work together. These could fall into one of three categories:

  1. Employees of a business
  2. Freelancers who work with or subcontract to other businesses
  3. Freelancers who work with/are working with other Freelancers on a project by project basis.

What does KwikDesk include

KwikDesk is divided into the following (optional) interlinked sections:

  1. Home - a real-time team timeline feed for sharing updates, interesting articles, team news and any other item that needs to be shared by the whole team.
  2. Activities – A diary based system for logging and recording activities, tasks and events. Events are automatically fed into the Team timeline feed.
  3. Chat – A peer to peer and/or peer to many live text based chat platform. Users can also upload and share images and files on peer to peer and/or peer to many basis. Chat is only available between users who are online
  4. Messages – A peer to peer private messaging system. Again, users can also upload and share images or files but peer to peer. Private messaging is always available
  5. Email – a users Gmail account can be directly integrated into KwikDesk (user permission required) allowing for reading, sending and receiving emails from the linked Gmail account.
  6. File management – Similar to Email; a users’ Google Drive can be directly integrated into KwikDesk (user permission required) for reviewing, creating, editing and accessing Google Drive files.
  7. Invoices – Users can create, review and issue invoices directly from KwikDesk.
  8. File share – Users can securely upload and share files via specified email addresses to non KwikDesk users.
  9. Contacts – for recording contact information and making direct contact via email with non-team members. Contacts have no direct access to the users KwikDesk.
  10. Contact notes– users use contact notes to record a filterable timeline journal of contact e.g. notes on telephone conversations, visits, emails and general notes. With permission a users contact list can be directly integrated into KwikDesk.
  11. Directory – The ‘team’ represent users who share information within a single KwikDesk.
  12. Location map – Users can review contact, Team Member and physical locations in real-time. Using go-location online Team Members location is updated every 10 minutes.

Relevant sections are searchable via #hash and @tags for key words and mentions.

Installation

Whilst KwikDesk is a self hosted it is offered with 2 database options.

  1. A KwikDesk database hosted and managed option.
  2. A self managed database option.

The reason and difference for two database options:

KiwkDesk is built using FireBases’ realtime database, storage and authentication. Authentication can be email/password, via Google, Facebook and/or Twitter. Option 1 - A KwikDesk database hosted and managed is already set up for this. However, OAuth authentication requires ‘set’ callback page URL’s so the self managed database option would require the user to either pre-register their URL (in my mind not suitable) or create a new firebase project together with the necessary Facebook, Twitterm & Google Apps. Based on comments read in these forums it is possible that a purchaser may not have the necessary ability/knowledge in these areas - no offence meant.

KwikDesk Optional extras.

Facebook, Twitter and gPlus
Users can integrate their Facebook, Twitter and gPlus feeds directly into their Home feed. These feeds are specific to each individual user and are not shared across the KwikDesk. Integration also allows a user to publish to the integrated Facebook, Twitter or gPlus page.

Video Conferencing

Note: Requires access to STURN & TURN servers - there may be an additional cost here

Each user can create a dedicated ‘always live’ video conferencing page allowing for receiving and making peer to peer video and audio calls. A users’ video conferencing page is a dedicated URL that can be accessible by Contacts and Team Members without direct access to the users KwikDesk.

SMS Messaging

Note: Dependent upon SMS carrier, There may be an additional cost here

In addition to email, chat and private messaging KwikDesk owners can opt to allow for SMS messaging to Contacts and Team Members

That’s about it anyhow, as I said, thanks in advance for any comments/thoughts.

2

This sounds (great but potentially) advanced for CodeCanyon.

The challenges you may have are:

1) Your support levels could be massive and you you will need to be very strict on what is/is not covered.

With respect most serious companies or setups who need tools like this will go to one of the mainstream platforms or software rather than seek it out on somewhere like CodeCanyon. This means those who find it on stock marketplaces are likely to be people who have to handle the setup and ongoing management themselves and may well not have the technical expertise to do all they want.

This is before you get into the required hosting and support systems I imagine something like this would require?


2) Your pricing is going to be interesting.

The item must work out of the box once purchased from CodeCanyon. i.e. the self managed version you refer to.

Being able to offer a managed versions, extra services etc is great but you will need to be very careful how you offer this as you can’t use envato spaces, files, or items to promote selling elsewhere and I doubt you would be allowed to upsell the managed option via the item on envato.


3) Optional extras and costs

There are several massive themes on envato which use premium extras to acheive everything you see in the demos. There are endless complaints from buyers who don’t read descriptions and don’t realize this when purchasing. Again it’s great to have these features but you will need to be crystal clear the extra cost, no support for, and technical requirements to handle integrating this.


All in all the platform itself sounds great but there does seem to be a huge number of variables, considerations and potential issues with buyer with alternative experience, skills and setups, making this a tough one for a stock marketplace.
1 Like
3

Charlie4282, many thanks for your insight - interesting and TBH what I ‘expected’ hence the post however, to clarify a few point in your concern/s

‘With respect most serious companies or setups who need tools like this will go to one of the mainstream platforms’ -
most serious companies or setups - That’s exactly the point - ‘most serious/startups’ - given that ALL companies or startups are serious (or should be) not all are in a position to really leverage power of the mainstream platforms which incidentley also tend to charge ‘X’ per user per month this is a single one time ‘low cost’ purchase - with 6 months support and ongoing updates as per CC - platform aimed at ‘everybody’.

Hosting … that is the beauty of Firebase it ‘just works’ there are NO special hosting requirements - 'shared hosting via ‘XYZ’ is perfectly acceptable no need for specific hosting/VPS allowing websockets/socketIO.node etc. if the server can server HTML pages then ‘bingo’.

The item must work out of the box once purchased from CodeCanyon.

Naturally, a given,:slight_smile: if it didn’t work then why sell it you’d just get complaints etc and a bad rep :slight_smile:

Being able to offer a managed versions …

Ahhh may be a slight ‘misunderstanding’ there is not/would not be a managed version of the 'purchased system - that would fall under support/custom development, but rather I know that not all CC purchasers are 100% IT savvy, hence the thought that setting up the relevant apps for true social integration may be ‘hard/hardish’ for some therefore we already have the database platform and applications set up. So it would be a simple ‘purchase’ the script/s from CC, upload to your host and ‘bingo’ you have a KwikDesk. If a purchaser wants their own apps and firebase then OK we can and will help but that is not really the intention just that I know that some (a few) will

4

That does make more sense.

It does sound good - as long as you are sure you know what you are getting yourself into (selling here is far far far different from even dealing with start ups and small businesses in the real world) and prep to protect yourself then you may well be on to something.

5

Charlie4282 -

“It does sound good - as long as you are sure you know what you are getting yourself into …” - “prep to protect yourself”

Been using / writing to and with Firebase since it started before MrG even heard of them and ‘gobbled them up’ its’ actually a really simple system to use/update and administer, like wise the products has been fully tested - not just inhouse - by both experience and non-experienced users - only comments (well typical) can it do this? answer - nope but yes it can/will and now does

As for protection … all I’ll say is :slight_smile: