After two months of testing in monitored production environments, we're happy to finally release the 'gold' version of SimpleDesk 2.0, codenamed Anatidae.
SimpleDesk 2.0 is fully compatible with SMF 2.0 final, and that is the only officially supported platform for its use. You can grab either .zip or .tar.gz, your preference, from
http://www.simpledesk.net/download/As ever, any questions should be directed to
http://www.simpledesk.net/community/simpledesk_support/
There's nothing hugely new since the release candidate earlier in the summer, it's almost entirely bug fixes, as well as some under-the-hood stuff. I would strongly encourage anyone running the release candidate to upgrade, you won't lose your helpdesk or tickets or anything, and it will fix some bugs that crept in.
As ever, before installing any mod, we would encourage you to back things up before installing - just in case. While we're pretty confident it'll work out of the box, it never hurts to be protected!
If you're using 1.0 and wondering whether it's worth upgrading, the answer is almost unequivocally yes. I mean, take a look through
http://www.simpledesk.net/community/index.php?topic=978.0 to see what's been added in 2.0. Custom Fields, Email Notifications and Departments, are probably enough to encourage anyone to upgrade, and there is plenty more besides to entice upgraders!
Important: There are also 4 plugins you can download for SimpleDesk, which you will find from the Package Manager > Download Packages > SimpleDesk Plugins option.
They're installed as normal mods, but managed through SimpleDesk, and do not require any edits to anything in order to successfully work.
Those links again:
Download it from here! and
Ask questions about it here!
I did want this to be something of an 'encore' moment for SimpleDesk, as there is some bad news in with the good. For multiple reasons that you can find if you go looking, I'm not going to be hanging around after this release. In multiple ways, it's time for me to move on from SimpleDesk. Last year, when I moved on, I'd just run out of steam to work on things, followed by earlier this year, when I found myself in a position to contribute a lot to the project, and so it happened. Trouble is, some other stuff happened, things I'm really uncomfortable with, and because of that, it is time I take my leave of SimpleDesk - instead of leaving it mid development, leaving it hanging as happened last year, it feels so much more right to close it on a high: SimpleDesk 2.0 is undoubtedly a high note, and it's something I'm mostly proud of having achieved.
I do want to note something: this wasn't a solo effort; I may have written the bulk of the code, but it's certainly far from a solo effort. I want to thank tfs and spoogs for putting up with my raging temper, and helping me shape SimpleDesk into something quite wonderful, and SleePy for helping me in myriad ways over the months with some of the things that I encountered during its development - and of course, each and every person who has contributed in their own way to the project. There have been a lot of names that have cropped up in the last 18 months in terms of contributions, many of whom I have sadly forgotten in the midst of everything else, but each and every contribution made a difference, and that's what counts.
I just have a few things to tidy up here on the site in the wake of the release, but once that's done, I will bid you farewell, and spread this collection of bytes back to the wilderness that is the Internet.
See you around the Internet
-- Arantor
