by peteboyd in Coding
on August 21st, 2009 . 4 Comments »
We were recently asked to do some research into an intranet. We have created custom intranets in the past for our clients, assisted in buying out of the box intranets, and recommended hosted models. We thought it would be a good time to update our research files.
As it stands now, we are recommending that we create Wordpress intranets. We fell in love with Wordpress awhile ago and it still is a very cost effective way to creating a content platform, whether it is a blog, a web site, an e-commerce store, or even an intranet.
You can install WP in 15 minutes and install about 5 to 10 plugins in another hour. From there, it just needs to be styled to match the firm identity. You can have a working intranet running, yours to keep, in less than a day; pretty easy and cost-efficient for most businesses.
If you don’t want to go the Wordpress route, then there are good resources too. Other vendors include Sharepoint, ThoughtFarmer, Backpack, Vialect, Google Apps, and Intranet Dashboard.
For instance, if you don’t have time to setup Wordpress, then there are a variety of hosted models ready to go. For hosted models, checkout Backpack. For a one-time model that does offer ongoing support additional, then checkout ThoughtFarmer.com (nice design of a site).
I am biased against ongoing support though for software, so you will see that listed as a general con in the article. I am also biased against services that cost above $1,500 for an intranet, as we can probably get an entire WP installed, customized, and trained for that cost.
The info below is our quick notes, pricing and other info.
Intranet Software
- Wordpress – http://www.wordpress.org
- Costs – Wordpress is free, open source software. Your cost is the time to hire a team to install, modify, theme and train.
- Pros – Open Source, Free, Flexible, Tons of features.
- Cons – None, other than WP has to be upgraded from time to time.
- Backpack – http://backpackit.com
- Costs – $50 per month for 15 Users / $99 per month for 40 users
- Pros - Easy to setup, easy to use.
- Cons – Ongoing subscription based service.
- Sharepoint (Leased) – http://www.getsharepoint.com
- Costs – 1 to 10 users is $240 / 11 to 50 users is $390
- Pros – Sharepoint leased service. Setup for you and has tons of features.
- Cons – Ongoing subscription based service.
- ThoughtFarmer.com – http://www.thoughtfarmer.com
- Costs – $109 per user
- Pros – Many features. Web 2.0. Style. Support in year 2 is separate, but not required.
- Cons – Non
- Vialect- http://www.vialect.com/
- Costs – $4 per user, per month (hosted models available too)
- Pros – Many features.
- Cons – Ongoing subscription based service.
- Sharepoint (Purchased) - http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Pages/Default.aspx
- Costs – $4,000 to $5,000 for 5 CALs
- Pros – An overall integrated platform.
- Cons – Cost. Customization.
- Internet Dashboard – http://www.intranetdashboard.com
- Costs – $1,200 to $1,600 (getting official number from company email)
- Pros – Single install with lots of tools.
- Cons – None, other than costs, which are not confirmed yet.
- Google – http://www.google.com/apps/
- Costs – Free
- Pros – Free, lots of features and applications
- Cons – Different applications, no central area to manage all information. Requires ability to use / install all features.
Typical Requirements from our Clienst
- Announcements
- News
- Search
- File Upload, Documents and Organization.
- Frequently asked questions.
- Links to Resources
- How-to manuals, software help articles and/or end user training information
- Staff directory with pictures, cell phone and other contact information
- Employee manual and policies and procedure manual
- Ability to access this from any location
- Staff profiles/bios
- Firm wide calendar with marketing events, birthdays, etc.
- Firm newsletter
- Press Releases
- Local lunch and catering menus
- Birthdays
- Secure Directory
Final Notes
If you know of a good Intranet, feel free to leave a comment. We are always on the look-out for good solutions to offer to our clients.
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
New Client File Sharing Tool. Light weight and integrated into your web site. Nifty. http://tinyurl.com/mdqdhg
[...] Total Files By Paperstreet – Client File Sharing System For Law [...]
Thank you so much for this post. It is unbelievebale how hard it was to find out how to do this. I was googling for quite a bit before I came across your post. I had assumed it may havebeen something in about:config since there was no option in the standard setting but had no idea what the value would be to change.
i hv installed wp on server which is a win xp pc. instalallation s done as per ur instruction and i can open wp on the server machine..my idea is to develope a intranet blog in the office which can be updated and viewed by other computers connected on intranet( local LAN connecting 5 to 6 PCs..but now the problem is i’m unable to open the wp blog login page from other computers and i’m new to this field.. so please give some step by step procedure on how to connect other computers on LAn to server..
awaiting reply..