Site license - Requested Installer Changes

[mythrenegade]

First off, I love the fact that Accordance now downloads items. It makes things a lot simpler than keeping track of CD's. I also love the iOS support and other new features you guys have been building. We have been doing quite a bit of work to get our site licensed copies up and running, and have run into some major roadblocks due to how Accordance manages things. Here's where we hit snags:

 

(1) The Accordance preferences are saved as user preferences, not in /Library/Preferences. This makes installing for "all users" effectively pointless, but creates larger issues as well. When building network installs, we need to be able to place files in the /Library folders, not in the individual user folders. This way we can manage the machine administratively without worrying about which user wants to use accordance if there are multiple users. Our request is that the Accordance installer install all items into the /Library/Application Support and /Library/Preferences folders, and then upon first launch copy that information to the ~/Library/Preferences folder. This would allow us to tailor the install to how we want it to look for most users, and then allow the individuals to make changes from there.

 

(2) Anytime there is an upgrade and new preference keys are needed, check the /Library/Preference for that information and copy it over as necessary. This way when new modules or upgrades are installed automatically, the users do not have to be involved.

 

(3) The widget should be installed in /Library/Widgets not on the users desktop. This makes it available to all users as opposed the user who happened to run the installer.

 

(4) There is a weird bug, if you select a translation as your default, and then remove that translation from the texts folder, accordance becomes unusable and must be completely reinstalled.

 

I realize there probably aren't a lot of churches our size who run all macs and use software deployment tools, so this may not affect a lot of people, but these changes are good in general for improving the "Install for all users" functionality for everyone.

 

Joel

[Mike Garrity]

(1) The Accordance preferences are saved as user preferences, not in /Library/Preferences. This makes installing for "all users" effectively pointless, but creates larger issues as well. When building network installs, we need to be able to place files in the /Library folders, not in the individual user folders. This way we can manage the machine administratively without worrying about which user wants to use accordance if there are multiple users. Our request is that the Accordance installer install all items into the /Library/Application Support and /Library/Preferences folders, and then upon first launch copy that information to the ~/Library/Preferences folder. This would allow us to tailor the install to how we want it to look for most users, and then allow the individuals to make changes from there.

 

The "Install for all users" Accordance 9 Installer option should already be doing what you describe above. Check out the help in Version 9 for a desciption a multi user installation (Version 9: Installation, Updates, and Startup > Installation for Multiple Users).

 

I am sure there are things we could do to make Network Installs easier and we welcome feedback!

 

 

(2) Anytime there is an upgrade and new preference keys are needed, check the /Library/Preference for that information and copy it over as necessary. This way when new modules or upgrades are installed automatically, the users do not have to be involved.

 

If the Accordance administrator updates a module on a machine (runs Check for Updates) then these modules will be up-to-date for all other users (since there is only one copy of modules on a machine).

 

If the Accordance administrator adds a new module then this module is available to all other users BUT each user on the machine has to "add" (Getting Started with Accordance > Using the Library > Add Items to the Library). This is not ideal for a Site license administrator and I agree that we need to make this better.

 

 

(3) The widget should be installed in /Library/Widgets not on the users desktop. This makes it available to all users as opposed the user who happened to run the installer.

 

I agree.

 

(4) There is a weird bug, if you select a translation as your default, and then remove that translation from the texts folder, accordance becomes unusable and must be completely reinstalled.

 

I can look into this.

 

 

Mike