IdoNotes (and sleep)

IBM seems to have chosen Spreadfast (also merged in Mass Relevance) from Austin, TX as their social content aggregator and conversations for the IBM Mail Next launch event.
Spredfast offers a few services and products around social media management, curation, listening, analytics and more.

Our platform processes 650 million pieces of social content per day across every major social platform out there. Capture conversations across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+ and never worry about missing a moment.

Monitor and engage your community at scale. Listen to the conversations that matter to your brand, involve the right internal teams, and respond from anywhere with a full-featured mobile app.

You will be able to see the content right here starting tomorrow for the IBM Mail Next launch event that is happening in person and via webcast

for this posting



On Monday, November 17th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM is hosting a Mail Next Road Show all through December as regional events. You will see they are all afternoon events held at museums or upscale locales.  Below is the list of cities, dates and custom registration links.

Agenda:
3:00 PM – Welcome/Networking
3:30 PM – Codename: IBM Mail Next: Take Back Control of Your Workday -- presentation/demo, blended with
              spirit tasting & hors d'oeuvres
6:00 PM – Close

Cities / Dates / Venues: Date City / Reg link Venue / info Final Decision Date to Have Event- Based on Registration #s 2-Dec DC The Loft at 600 F 2-Nov 2-Dec Charlotte Magellan Center for Ideas 25-Nov 2-Dec- Berkeley Claremont Hotel Club 18-Nov 3-Dec Cleveland Loft Sixty Five 19-Nov 3-Dec Minneapolis Crave 26-Nov 3-Dec Chicago Offsite Chicago 19-Nov 4-Dec Dallas D2 Studios 27-Nov 4-Dec Boston Iris Fine Art Gallery 27-Nov 4-Dec Atlanta Kai Lin Art Gallery 27-Nov

So how many of you will be attending?  I am sure we will see international dates soon for the IBM Mail Next Road Show.

Update: There is also a streaming web event taking place Tuesday Nov 18th. You can get details and register here

for this posting



On Thursday, November 13th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM is announcing Mail Next shortly and Microsoft launched De-Clutter for Office 365 today. Both promise to hide your email bring the important mail to the front for you to work better. The goal of each is to learn your email behavior and start working for you via analytics and consistent actions you perform in your email.

For example, if  in your organization tree your direct manager sends email, then the system would recognize you need to see that email from them constantly.  While emails you always delete or send to folders can be removed or filed away for viewing later.  Basically clearing your inbox view (or whatever it becomes) into something manageable. You can train both systems as you go along and they both keep learning. That really is not the core issue users face today.

The product goals are a band-aid and is where both fail. They do not solve the actual problem of receiving too much email.  We oversubscribe to content and teach ourselves to ignore instead of unsubscribing from the emails. This tool only hides content from you that you ignore even easier since it is automated.  Many of us have email rules that do that now.  We send emails to folders and then go delete everything in the folder.  Why not stop receiving them in the first place? Is there in inherent fear we will miss something? Yet we never view those messages.

You can see the announcement for De-Clutter right here and all my blog postings on IBM Mail Next right here on the IdoNotes blog.

I am curious of your feedback and conversation on both products as well as the idea we oversubscribe

for this posting



On Wednesday, November 12th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Have you ever had a users private meeting information from their calendar show in the RnR database in IBM Domino? This is normally something most users would not want.  Luckily there is an easy way to prevent it from happening.

  IBM has had a recommendation since 7.0.3 to place a server side notes.ini variable to place a new descriptor in the database so as to not show any potential private data from entries marked Private.The downside to this setting is that older entries already in the database are no affected. 

Check out my SocialBizUg article on this topic for the rest of the story and the variable information.  Also subscribe to the newsletter while you are there.

for this posting



On Thursday, October 30th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

The Domino web server is still powerful (never mind the current POODLE and SHA-2 talks and fixes) and offers the easily ability to control access via File Protections Documents. Groups and users can be listed allowing or blocking access to files and directories served by the Domino web server.

Since .nsf files already have their own access controls, these File Protections extend to files such as HTML, JPEG, and GIF that you can enforce file protection for that browser users can access. As an additional bonus, you can also set restrictions to web asset directories.

You can read my entire article on protecting directories on a web server over at SocialBizUg as part of my monthly Sys Admin Tips newsletter you should subscribe to.

for this posting



On Tuesday, October 28th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced and demonstrated the Domino Migration Utility back at IBM Connect 2013. This tool was designed to move Microsoft Exchange users into IBM Domino. Apparently it was rebranded and not made available free to the public. It is a paid service only.

Today someone asked about the Domino Migration Utility in a Skype chat looking for updated information on it or how to download/install it.  After some digging online I found that back in June 2013 IBM stated in the Notes and Domino Forum the following:

The development work is taking longer than planned.  We are beta testing in conjunction with paid consulting engagements, and iterating on some code, but it will be later in the year before we can consider a release.  Thanks for checking in.

Someone asks the same question again on the same thread in July 2014 to no response. I found a few other random threads with the same result.  That is where it things changed.

Apparently the Domino Migration Utility was rebranded to the IBM Domino Onboarding Manager and used to move users to the cloud service. It runs as a Java Application on Windows only (expected) and can move users/groups from Active Directory to Domino. It will grab email, calendars and contacts from Exchange and move those over as well.

This Domino Migration Utility was to replace the older tools that were built in when installing the client as optional components. It was to provide greater function and ease of migration including date ranges and multiple thread capability for moving more than a single user at once..

There are some limitations around mail rules, shared calendars, Tasks and Exchange Public Folders which I expect.  O tools really move everything from one mail system to another.  Fidelity is hard enough without adding in specific features.

Unfortunately, this does not help those companies trying to migrate internally. Here is where the tool sits right now for those looking for it. Does anyone need an want this utility for your organization? Maybe enough responses can get IBM to look at opening this tool up to everyone.

for this posting



On Monday, October 27th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM has addressed SHA-2 support and the Poodle vulnerability for IBM Domino in new technotes that were released. Here are the links and info.
Technote #1418982 titled Planned SHA-2 deliveries for IBM Domino 9.1

SHA-2 support for Domino 9.x is planned to be delivered over the next several weeks via an Interim Fix.

Technote #1687167 titled How is IBM Domino impacted by the Poodle attack?

IBM intends to release Domino server Interim Fixes over the next several weeks that implement TLS 1.0 with TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV for HTTP to mitigate against POODLE. Implementing TLS 1.0 will allow browsers to still connect to Domino after they have been changed to address the POODLE attack, and Domino will protect against browsers that have been compromised by POODLE. 
IBM will provide Interim Fixes

As you can see IBM will be making interim fixes that will need to be applied to your infrastructure. This includes HTTP traffic for XPages, Traveler, IBM Connections and everything else.  Many bloggers have info on what the impacts are unpatched.

for this posting



On Tuesday, October 21st, 2014   by Chris Miller        

In another SocialBizUg article I had to question how we think about the Server Restricted ability in Domino. It does not always work how we think it should.

Since IBM offers it we definitely want to use server_restricted=x with the appropriate value.  There are four possible values (previous to 8.5.2 FP3 there was only 2):

The problem is that some of the options still have unintended results.  Mainly allowing users access to the server still based on database ACL rights. You can read the whole article on SocialBizUg right here.

for this posting



On Thursday, September 11th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Many were surprised to find out that IBM removed iNotes Lite as a menu option in IBM iNotes 9.  Tracking down what changed took a bit. here is what I found.

I found an IBM document explaining what features were reaching parity between Lite and Full and why they retired it. Once you upgrade all URLs redirect and even adding the Lite Mode to a URL will still go to Full Mode. It just is not there to use

Read the full article in my Sys Admin Tips newsletter right here.

NOTE: Per some people's request, I am asking why did they remove it when the parity is not totally complete. There was a technote recently issued on the topic

for this posting



On Thursday, August 21st, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM released the IBM Notes Extended Search Plugin for IBM Notes 9 which mimics what FewClix does (without the better ui) for searching archives and email.

The plugin has a basic and advanced search mode. Including the ability to add multiple conditions for further improve your search results.  The plugin uses the standard IBM Notes Search engine, where FewClix built it's own index locally. Here are the key features per the website
Continue Reading here" IBM Notes Extended Search Plugin for IBM Notes 9" »

for this posting



On Monday, August 18th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

I received an email asking about contact delegation in Lotus Notes for user to user controls. Unfortunately this is not easily done, even with the integrated contacts in the mailfile.

What you are trying to do is use the mail delegation abilities to manage contacts that are stored in the mail file itself.  While this option does not exist, I might have a suggestion that would work perfectly for you.

You can read the full question and my answer on my Sys Admin Tips monthy newsletter and articles on SocialBuzUg.

for this posting



On Tuesday, August 12th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

While most companies now use a SMTP appliance to scan for viruses and spam, you may still want to throttle connections from individual  internal servers or the appliances to your IBM Domino server.

This leads to questioning how Domino can throttle SMTP traffic from specific hosts. After some quick verification of what I was almost sure was not fully possible, there is a partial solution I know of.

By default, the Domino SMTP service supports an unlimited number of inbound sessions; that is, as many connections as the server's resources physically permit.

So what can you do? Basically in IBM Domino only restrict total SMTP inbound connections.  Read more right here.

for this posting



On Monday, August 11th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM added a Repair Calendar feature to help repair your Lotus Notes client by automatically detecting duplicate repeating calendar entries. However, most users do not know this has existed since version 8.5.
Repairing the entries actually save them into a view.  Read more at my article on SocialBizUG

for this posting



On Tuesday, July 29th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM has announced entitlements for IBM Connections 5.0 with IBM Notes and Domino 9.0.1. Customers will get access to the Files and Profiles features freely with Domino licenses.

With this update, IBM Notes and Domino customers continue to receive access to the Files and Profiles features of IBM Connections 5.0 with the entitlements listed below. The entitlement lets IBM Notes and Domino customers deploy and access the Files and Profiles features of IBM Connections through all clients, browsers, and mobile devices, at no additional charge.

IBM Domino Enterprise Client access license
IBM Domino Messaging Client access license
IBM Domino Collaboration Express® License
IBM Domino Messaging Express license

Apparently the actual press release is hard to find. Thanks to Luis Guirgay for finding the link

for this posting



On Friday, July 25th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

There was another IBM Mail Next session presented at Social Connections IV recently. I went ahead and embedded that video as well.

The IBM Social Mail Roadmap, Kramer Reeves & Hans Petter Dalen

IBM Mail Next updates as of July 2014 as presented by IBM for a SocialBizUG webcast.  Design Advisory Program updates, web updates and timelines. These are my notes as they happened. You can now watch the webcast embedded above and get the slides here

Key announcements

• Kramer talked IBM Mobile First and iOS-ready apps and the Apple announcement

Now on to the good stuff.....  a long list with tons of screen images





Continue Reading here" IBM Mail Next update for July 2014" »

for this posting



On Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

According to numerous press releases, Denny's Inc. has migrated away from Lotus Notes to Google Apps for Business due to being inefficient to manage and not mobile first.
The press releases all have statements quoted from the CIO names Alex Lewis. I wanted to summarize and talk about a few areas.    Continue Reading here" Denny's Inc leaves Lotus Notes citing inefficient and not mobile first" »

for this posting



On Thursday, July 17th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Has your company wanted to remove the IBM Sametime client from the sidebar? It is possible with the following steps for uninstalling the embedded Sametime client in Lotus Notes.

After some digging around for the best option for existing users, I came across steps to uninstall the Samteime embedded client  for all the client platforms. One thing to highlight (shown below) is that uninstalling the Sametime embedded client still leaves the necessary required components for some of the awareness features to still work.

You can read the entire article in my Sys Admin monthly newsletter right here on SocialBizUg.

for this posting



On Tuesday, July 15th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced the new IBM Mail Next Design Advisory Program back in May and opened nominations. It seems they were overwhelmed with applications to be part of the program. Kramer Reeves blog about the response received

Thanks to all who submitted nominations for the IBM Mail Next Design Advisory Program. We received an overwhelming response and on Monday notified successful nominees of their acceptance into the Program.

According to his blog they are keeping applications on file to review the number of participants they included. There was a requirements list on the form itself that read as follows (none of this is NDA and is public per the nomination form):

Program criteria:
- Signed non-disclosure agreement must be in place.  Instruction will be provided to companies selected for the program.
- Current IBM SmartCloud Notes/Engage customer or a Business Partner with a SmartCloud demo acct 
- One person from each company to participate
- Type of participant: A business end user who would be using IBM Mail Next and have an opinion about its function.
- No travel is required
- A willingness to be a reference for IBM Mail Next.

So if you did not make it in the first round , but maybe met some criteria do not give up yet.  IBM is also having a webcast on July 23rd with more updates on IBM Mail Next.

The article where I covered the announcement can be read here.

for this posting



On Friday, June 27th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

From a recent article I wrote for SocialBizUg is working with backup restores onto the same Domino server as the live databases. We use Directory Access Lists.

Q: Chris,
We want to be able to put restored databases on the Domino server to be able to have them to recover an accidentally deleted document or sometimes when we have a litigation question. However, we do not want these databases replicating or being accessed by anyone else, while leaving the ACLs exactly as they are for various security reasons. Is there a good way to do this?
Maciej
A: Maciej,
Actually, there is one way you can do this without modifying the ACL and also still placing it on the Domino server. You can look at Directory Access Lists. This allows you to make a directory that has its own security controls to gain access using all the names found in the Domino Directory.

Continue reading the entire article right here.

for this posting



On Monday, June 2nd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

A Domino server at a client was showing a SMTP Error 421: SMTP Service Not Available, closing the transmission channel. Here is our steps to troubleshoot and solution.

They also decided to have an intermediate spam filter and then some routing of port forwarding on their internal network. This offered many challenges with allowed hostname and addresses for connectivity.  After getting past that we were still left with the above errors. We found an IBM technote that described the issue and errors but was hard to follow since it contradicted itself.

Read more on the error, steps to troubleshoot and the confusing technote on my Sys Admin Tips newsletter article here.

for this posting



On Tuesday, May 27th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM released Fix Pack 1 Maintenance Release for IBM Lotus Notes 9.0.1 back in April but it seems to have gone unnoticed. It has quite a few fixes you may want to deploy.


Here is the release notice for of all the fixes found in this update and here is where you download Fix Pack 1 for IBM Lotus Notes 9.0.1

for this posting



On Friday, May 23rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM has yet another survey, this time asking questions based on product documentation, installation, wizards, integration and more. This is from their quality group I think.
Continue Reading here" IBM Collaboration Solutions Quality survey" »

for this posting



On Tuesday, May 20th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

A reader was having issues with Non-delivery reports (NDR's) being sent back as their address after a spammer used it. We look at stopping Domino NDR reports from being generates.

Continue Reading here" Disable Non-Delivery Reports" »

for this posting



On Monday, May 19th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM Support has issued a request to submit questions you have on Lotus Notes and IBM Domino to help analyze natural language processing assistance to them.
They have provided two links for you to submit questions.  One for IBM Domino and one for IBM Lotus Notes    Continue Reading here" IBM Support investigates natural language processing help" »

for this posting



On Wednesday, May 14th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

There was a webcast titled Energize Notes Domino Enterprises covering Notes 9, Project Hawthorn (IBM Mail for Outlook), SmartCloud Notes, Domino Double Check and more. Here is the slides and a link to the replay of this event (requires login)

Key points from the slides and webcast :

• Bridge to IBM SmartCloud renewal option - basically please don't renew your own on site infrastructure, move to us
• Use the browser plug-in (Notes Basic client) for your apps
• IBM Mail Next updates (here is a full blog post on what that means. IBM Mail Next explained so far

Link to the webcast replay inside of IBM SmartCloud.

for this posting



On Wednesday, April 30th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Do you have IBM Lotus Traveler users that do not want constant push of their email to their iOS devices? How do you set this to manual?
Continue Reading here" I Only Want Email on My iPhone from Traveler When I Say So" »

for this posting



On Monday, April 28th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

As you upgrade users to IBM Lotus Notes 9 Social Edition they will see the new default theme. For some users this seems to freak them out and they want the Lotus Notes 8.x theme back. Here is my article on how.



Continue Reading here" All I Want Is the Old Client Theme for My Users" »

for this posting



On Thursday, April 24th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM Mail Next was finally explained a bit better today. Here is what you need to know about IBM Mail Next function and architecture. Subject to change.

IBM Mail Next was formerly called Project Sequoia. Special Note: you apparently have to buy IBM SmartCloud Engage to get half of it to work. SocialBizUg also closed the side chat to submitting questions only. They could have provided both options of rolling chat and also submitting quesitons.

(I can say that much of this was already available in Domino through a business partner that made FewClix. See my posts on FewClix here.)
There will be a Design Advisory Program (I guess deprecating the Design Partner Program).
Now for the specs of IBM Mail Next:
Continue Reading here" IBM Mail Next explained - so far" »

for this posting



On Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

In a recent blog posting from Kramer Reeves,  Director/Product Management for Messaging and Collaboration, he announced the extension of End of Life (EOL) for 8.5.x support until September 2016. This is good news to give companies even more time to plan upgrades.
Speaking of companies he goes on to say...   Continue Reading here" Kramer Reeves says new EOL for 8.5.x extended. And everyone wants cloud?" »

for this posting



On Thursday, April 10th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Calendar issues and freetime are always a challenge to troubleshoot in Lotus Notes and Domino.  In this article on SocialBizUG I run through some steps we use each time.

The first thing we noticed in the calendar preferences dialog was that the user had no time range listed but everyday selected as available.  We thought that was strange and had the user put some times in the fields.  We then ran the commands I discuss below and saw that the user was only available each day starting at 7am but ending at 10am. Everything after 10am was blocked. 

I go on from there with the steps to help troubleshoot and solve most issues.  Continue reading Troubleshoot inaccurate freetime in IBM Domino on SocialBizUG.as part of my monthly Sys Admin Tips newsletter.

for this posting



On Thursday, April 3rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced IBM Mail Next at IBM Connect 2014 this past January. I have tons more to write but this flyer hit my desk today.
According to the image, IBM Mail Next will be delivered from the cloud? Their cloud? Your private cloud at your enterprise?

Look for more info I still need to write that was discussed pub;icly and also an upcoming webcast from IBM.

for this posting



On Monday, March 31st, 2014   by Chris Miller        

Ytria had a beta for ConsoleEZ that is ending this weekend and I had not spent enough time testing it  I am quite pleased with some of the features so far.
The above multiple server console window is just one view of what it is capable of. From there you can do even more
Continue Reading here" Beta testing ConsoleEZ from Ytria - review coming" »

for this posting



On Friday, March 28th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM is enhancing SmartCloud for Social Business in March 2014 to include Sametime with SAML support, IBM Docs enhancements, also web users and Notes user enhancements.
IBM Sametime chat with SAML support is coming

If your organization uses federated identity management handled by Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), you can now download and chat using a stand-alone Sametime Connect client and log in with your organization's authentication credentials

There there is SmartCloud Web user enhancements.        Continue Reading here" IBM SmartCloud for Social Business enhancements for March 2014" »

for this posting



On Wednesday, March 5th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

I wrote about installing IBM Domino language packs over on SocialBizUG and just got another email asking about it. So here is the excerpt and link to the longer answer for those dealing with language packs and Domino.

A Domino Language pack is the translated version of the standard English version of the Domino templates. It includes the translated versions of standard Domino system templates, such as the Discussion and Mail templates, as well as certain binary files required by the server.

While the operating system provides the local language functions for the keyboard, the Domino language pack translates the templates to the local language.

You can read the whole article right here in my monthly Sys Admin Tips newsletter.

for this posting



On Monday, March 3rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced the IBM Messaging Roadmap at IBM Connect 2014 and here is what was included. Also, here is the major piece I noticed missing.


If we study the IBM Messaging Roadmap image above, updated January 26 2014, we see updates to the IBM Notes 9.0.1 client. More than one fixpack and release schedule actually taking place now, July and November 2014. With a maintenance release, to include the IBM Mail Next coming in early 2015.

We also see enhancements to the browser plug-in and IBM SmartCloud Notes. But there is one thing missing from this chart.
Continue Reading here" IBM messaging roadmap from IBM Connect 2014 - what's missing" »

for this posting



On Monday, February 3rd, 2014   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced IBM Mail Next at IBM Connect 2014. This is a new proposed inbox interface  via the web for working with Domino based email that aims to helps prioritize and balance tasks.

This is a sample screenshot of IBM Mail Next shown around different sessions at IBM Connect. As you can see this is an entirely new interface to the look and feel of your email. A few key things to consider:

• Domino back end (not Websphere as some thought)
• HTML5
• Apache search engine
• New web interface (as suggested but not close to final)

Continue Reading here" IBM Mail Next announced at IBM Connect 2014 - what I know" »

for this posting



On Wednesday, January 29th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

I recap IBM Connect 2014 day one activities and the Opening General Session (OGS) in this Lotusphere Podcast video. We dig into the backpack, the badge attendees wear and how the opening party went. From there it is all about the OGS:

• IBM Mail
• Sametime getting renamed
• lack of demos
• tons of customer stories with no demos
• Snuch in announcements
• Alcatraz the product

You can also catch the replay of our OGS commentary on LotusphereLive, just select 2014 from the archives.

See the video for the whole story and make sure you subscribe to the IdoNotes podcasts and Spiked Studio channels on YouTube,

for this posting



On Monday, January 27th, 2014   by Chris Miller        

I received an email on someone asking about sending a meeting invite to the entire company via IBM Lotus Notes. If you are doing something like this I presume you wouldn't want responses back.
Broadcast announcements are the solution to this problem as long as you have the required groups you can send to defined in your directory.
Read more on this via my article on SocialBizUg (yo)

Go join my IdoNotes Network Facebook page, Instagram or YouTube channels, I am trying to grow those too :-)

for this posting



On Tuesday, December 17th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has made a security announcement that  the IBM Notes mail client versions 9.0-8.0 are able to receive HTML emails that may include Java applet tags and JavaScript tags that could load scripts from remote locations with no security prompts.

IBM has released fixes and patches, or remediation steps, to solve the issue.

The fix is included in Interim Fix 1 for Notes 8.5.3 Fix Pack 4* and Interim Fix 1 for Notes 9.0* for Windows with the Mac version coming soon.  For Linux, clients are encouraged to monitor fix availability in 8.5.3 Fix Pack 5 and 9.0.1
You can obtain these fixes from Fix Central 

Read more on SocialBizUG...

for this posting



On Thursday, December 12th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

I received the notice twice today that IBM is transitioning from Prometric to Pearson VUE for testing services effective January 2, 2014.

The IBM Professional Certification Program will transition certification and mastery exam delivery to Pearson VUE (PVUE) on January 2, 2014. There will be no disruption to your ability to take and report your exams. As always our goal is to make this transition as easy as possible for IBM testing candidates, and if you have taken an IBM exam in the past, you will be able to continue using your current Candidate Testing ID. Additionally, Pearson VUE will honor IBM promotion codes and most valid and unexpired IBM vouchers. Please note the certification requirements and testing prices will not change.

With the transition to Pearson VUE the test numbers are changing. Correlation Tables have been created that map the current test numbers to the new test numbers

Read more of the very long FAQ on the certification website announcement

Ok I wanted to highlight this one part of the FAQ

Starting January 13, 2014, most unused Prometric vouchers that have not been redeemed or expired will be valid in the Pearson VUE system.

for this posting



On Tuesday, December 10th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM announced that updatesite.ntf, the site update template provided with the Domino server, has been open sourced and sent to OpenNTF, I think this was a mistake for a key system template.

The updatesite.ntf template is used to deploy plug-ins, composite applications, and XPage extension libraries to the IBM Lotus Notes client. Well in theory it was supposed to, but I have written on that topic before. It was also supposed to be able to update the Notes client at some point, but that will not happen with the way the Standard IBM Lotus Notes client is written. Here is the announcement quote:

With the Apache licensed update site template OpenNTF developers can now put their own extension libraries in update site databases and package them in their project releases

So this is saying you can make the database available but that has always been possible. The database itself already has a native ability to import other updatesite.nsf databases since it inception.

The whole idea of the database was to allow developers of applications to send you their plug-ins in quite a few formats

• their own updatesite database that gets imported
• a zip file of their feature to get deployed
• a local update site

All of these allow developers to send you items to be placed in controlled update sites and also set the URL references inside them to point to their own update site database for added security and deployment controls.

I think any system type database should remain under IBM direct controls and not be open. I also know that this database has not really been updated with enhancements since creation which leads to another whole posting on support for the plug-in model.

What are your thoughts? Should this or all system databases go open source to allow you to tweak IBM Domino server installs?

for this posting



On Monday, December 9th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has announced that forums, wikis and apps on www-10.lotus.com, www-12.lotus.com and infolib.lotus.com will be down the afternoon of Friday November 22 2013 to morning of Monday November 25 2013.

all other wikis, forums and other applications hosted on www-10.lotus.com, www-12.lotus.com, and infolib.lotus.com are expected to be unavailable from 4:00 PM EST (9:00 PM GMT) Friday, November 22nd, 2013 to 9:00 AM EST (2:00 PM GMT) Monday, November 25th, 2013 due to maintenance work at our facility. This outage does not apply to IBM SmartCloud for Social Business itself.

Just an FYI for everyone that may be looking to read, catch up or post this wekeend.

Go join my IdoNotes Network Facebook page or YouTube channels, I am trying to grow those too :-)

for this posting



On Friday, November 22nd, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has announced, via a security bulletin, that the Domino Web Administrator (webadmin.nsf) is now deprecated due to a cross-site scripting vulnerability. IBM suggest you only utilize the Domino Administrator client for all your needs in Domino versions 8.5.x and 9.x


You can read more in my article on SocialBizUG (yo) right here. It has the technote link and some more information on the Security Bulletin.

For those that do not know.. (yes via Wikipedia)

Deprecation is a status applied to a computer software feature, characteristic, or practice indicating it should be avoided, typically because of it being superseded. The term is also sometimes used for a feature, design, or practice that is permitted but no longer recommended

Note (Nov 14 2013): Installing a fresh Domino 9.0.1 server still creates the webadmin database

and go join my IdoNotes Network Facebook page or YouTube channels, I am trying to grow those too :-)

for this posting



On Tuesday, November 12th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has released IBM Notes and Domino 9.0.1 Social Edition to add some features and fix some bugs.  Here is their top 20 list

Notes/Domino 9.0.1 contains fixes for approximately 300 known issues, of which the "top 20" are listed below. This list was compiled to identify the issues that most significantly impact customers. Issues were measured by the SPR severity level, the number of hotfixes given out, the number of customers reporting the issue, and the business impact to customers. For a complete list of SPRs fixed in Notes/Domino 9.0.1, see the By Release view of the Notes/Domino Fix List. All issues fixed in 9.0 Interim Fix 1,2,3,4 and 5 are included in 9.0.1.

Note: A plus symbol (+) before the SPR number indicates a fix for a regression bug. A regression bug is an issue that was introduced in a Maintenance Release that did not exist in previous releases of that code stream. For example, a bug that appears in Release 8.5.2 but did not exist in Release 8.5.1 is a regression.

Continue Reading here" IBM Domino 9.0.1 top 20 fix list" »

for this posting



On Tuesday, October 29th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

For fun I was attempting to get out of a meeting via IBM Lotus Notes by delegating it back to the chairperson.  The following error popped up which led to some questions I have.


While slightly accurate, it really does not simple say that the user you are attempting to delegate to is the chairperson.  You also get this notice for anyone that is on the invite list.

But what if I really wanted to delegate my attendance and information to someone already attending? This is not possible in any form. This leads me to think of how meetings and information needed for them maybe shared among team members wanting to send it with someone else already coming.

I would hope for an alert that says "This person you are attempting to delegate to is already attending, Are you sure?"  Then it would notify taht user of the delegation to send the information.

Does that make sense to anyone else?

for this posting



On Wednesday, August 28th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Project Hawthorn was a huge announcement from IBM about using Microsoft Outlook 2013 and IBM Domino servers. I took some additional notes at MWLUG 2013 and wanted to share them as I promised in the previous posting.


This is based on what I could quickly write down based on what Scott Souder, Program Director, Messaging and Collaboration Solutions, IBM,  was saying.  Then I had to read my own writing which made it worse while writing slides at the same time.  So here you go:

• This is not IMAP or POP3
• You will use Domino 9.x.x and Traveler 9.x.x or higher.  No Domino 8.x support for the server or Traveler
• It is 64-bit Domino and 64-Bit Traveler on Windows 64-bit.  No other OS announced yet for the server side
• The Microsoft add-in for Outlook leverages Domino REST services
• There will be tons of capabilities for message fidelity, calendaring, out of office and more
• Windows only (I presume Windows 7 on since it is Outlook 2013)
• It uses ost files and not pst files locally on the client machine

As you can see the list of features for Microsoft Outlook 2013 against IBM Domino is impressive. I think he mentioned encryption but that might have been a question to myself in my notes.

Make sure to read the previous posting Project Hawthorn - Microsoft Outlook 2013 support for IBM Domino

for this posting



On Tuesday, August 27th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

At the MWLUG keynote, Scott Souder announced the Project Hawthorn initiative which will be a deployable add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2013 to hook to the IBM Domino server via ActiveSync.

This add-in will utilize Microsoft deployment into Microsoft Outlook 2013 (only 2013 and on Windows only) connected via ActiveSync to hit Lotus Traveler.  This allows you to access IBM Domino via the Microsoft Outlook 2013 client.  The local .ost file in the Exchange based format will store the data. ActiveSync stores the synchronization against the back end nsf. This provides data fidelity and no MAPI interaction.

This will also bring better calendar capabilities together between Microsoft Outlook 2013 and the Domino server. This has been a huge pain in the ass for some time with integration.

This is not DAMO, keep that in mind.  This is using the native ActiveSync built into the Microsoft Outlook 2013 client providing better expectations right away.

I will have more information shortly. I have to run to go present, sorry!

for this posting



On Thursday, August 22nd, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has announced that LOT-409 and LOT-410 for IBM Notes and Domino 9.0 Social Edition Application Development certification are now available.

This certification is for IBM Notes and Domino application developers who will be using Domino Designer 9.0.  The individual seeking certification will need a deep understanding of Notes and Domino architectural concepts and the use of complex functions and features, including XPages, CSS, XML and JavaScript.

The update exam, LOT-408, for those already certified in Domino 8.5 has been our for longer.

What are your thoughts on certification in the IBM Lotus software stack?

You can get more information about the certification exams here.

for this posting



On Monday, August 12th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

The IBM Notes client and Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) have been battling each other lately with crashes for the notes2 process. The NLNVP.dll file seems to be the culprit. Symantec places the following line in the notes.ini file of your client:

EXTMGR_ADDINS=NLNVP.DLL

With this line SEP is enabled for the Lotus Notes Email Auto-Protect and seems to cause severe issues on some client machines. If the line is removed and the Lotus Notes client restarted everything is fine. However SEP keeps putting it back into the notes.ini

Forums report everything from changing the version of the installed SEP folder to removing the endpoint protection part entirely that looks at Notes in real time scanning. Both of those go around the conflict but seemed to work.
Continue Reading here" Notes client and Symantec issue and workaround" »

for this posting



On Monday, July 8th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

As we roll out IBM Domino 9 the question of is IBM Sametime 8.x supported comes up quite often.  In a way, yes it is.  Luckily IBM has prepared a bunch of answers.
The first thing that should be noted is that IBM Sametime cannot be installed on IBM Domino 9 servers. There is no support or supported plans.  You must install a Domino 8.5.x server to support IBM Sametime. Domino 9 will not be supporting the older versions. Instead look to the new Sametime 9 beta announcement that came out.

Next you should note that you can run a Domino 9 directory on the Sametime 8.5.x server without any issues.  That is supported by IBM. So making your mail, Lotus Traveler, XPages and application servers to IBM Domino 9 is a great idea.  This includes iNotes against a Sametime proxy server.

Good luck with the upgrades.  Any other questions?

for this posting



On Thursday, June 27th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

An IBM Notes and Domino 9 Social Edition versus Microsoft SharePoint 2013 competitive sales kit has been released by The Edison Group commissioned by IBM. It contains:

• an executive presentation slidedeck
• a sales guide document
• a battle card document
• a quick reference guide
• a link to a public YouTube video

I note the final bullet as public since the rest are isolated to IBM Business Partners only. Yes, you as the customer should go get a business partner or IBM rep to get you these as you fight this battle internally like many of you do.

IBM commissioned Edison Group, an external research firm, to conduct a study where they compared these two products in depth and interviewed Notes and Domino sellers on the front line to understand their point of view on competitive-related discussions with customers. Based on their research, Edison produced the set of materials in this sales kit.

Here is the link for those of you with access

for this posting



On Monday, June 17th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM Notes Social Edition is a very complex new user experience. Intec has released a cheat sheet for Social Edition and previous versions of the IBM Lotus Notes client.

These are free to download and distribute to your new and even some experienced user as you deploy IBM Notes Social Edition. Everyone may learn a tip or trick.

I will say that the cheat sheet for the Social Edition is a bit overwhelming with tons of arrows, bullets and balloons due to the complexity and options in the IBM Notes client. But that is a topic for an entirely different blog posting.

So make sure you head over to Intec to get the Social Edition cheat sheet for IBM Notes

for this posting



On Thursday, June 13th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Have you wanted to set your Sametime Connect client, embedded or stand-alone, auto-status change preferences via a policy? Well you can not. This is a shortcoming in Sametime policies.

For Sametime Connect clients you can use the Sametime policies to set and enforce a few preferences.  In the embedded Sametime client inside of IBM Notes you also rely heavily on the Notes client preferences dialog.



While I can manually go in and set these on my IBM Notes client, there is no Desktop policy setting nor Sametime policy that allows me to control this. IBM documentation covers the variables and attribute for auto-status change preferences but that is all behind the scenes. The location os such preferences are also notes in the IBM Sametime wiki, but again no easy way to manage and manipulate.

In talking with some awesome Sametime partners looking for something I missed, I learned just the opposite.  IBM has some preferences that allow users to set their own destiny, but no administrative control or option.

Do you have issues with people appearing online when they are away? Do you wish you could control setting and preferences in IBM Sametime like this?

for this posting



On Friday, June 7th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

I had the opportunity to review Instant IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.3 How-to from Packt publishing. I was hoping for a linear book with some great tips. This book could then be leveraged to show cool things to the doubters and on-board new users at a faster pace by showing quick tips.

One immediate concern I had was that this book was based on IBM Notes 8.5.3 and was published after IBM Notes 9 was released.  The public beta was out long enough for IBM Notes 9 to be included in this book. It would have been beneficial to showcase some of the new mail features just as a tease of what can be found in IBM Notes 9.

It is a quick 68 pages written by an IBMer and reviewed by IBMers. There were simple, intermediate and advanced type tips scattered throughout the topics. From the preface:

A mini Lotus Notes User Guide, this book covers best practice, hints, tips, and tricks of
Lotus Notes 8.5.3. As a user, you will find this book to be an invaluable reference for the
8.5.3 Lotus Notes client. This book covers the new features in detail so that you will be able
to take advantage of them.

Some of the tips, like adding a feed have been around for years and are not really deployed anywhere in the real world. It starts with customizing the Homepage of the client.  With the new IBM Notes 9 Discover page that would have been helpful.  I did appreciate they mentioned the Workspace.

There was a brief section on saving emails as .eml files.  I definitely would not have included this in the book as saving loose files of messages defeats the purpose of having a mailfile that is searchable, indexed and sorted.  Message recall was also mentioned (many of you know I hate it with a passion) but it failed to mention this feature may not work unless your administrator has configured and allowed it.

Creating replicas was helpful but having user manually edit notes.ini files was not. I would not recommend a user even knowing that file existed. There were some good tips around calendar cleanup, adding more calendars and color coding. I just wished some sections were better grouped together.

Some other reviews have been done, such as the one on Conxsys.  I think we agree there are some valid tips but the flow and content matter wasn't spot on.

Overall, the book had a good goal but missed the mark that would have me put it in the hands of users as a getting started quick guide. Using words like provisioned widgets meant nothing since the user doesn't understand what that is. Another thing because clear when I showed a normal user the guide.  Their statement was "Lotus sure has a lot of menus and preferences".  While this has nothing to do with the book writing, it definitely showed in the step by step portions.

You can get your own copy of Instant IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.3 How-to right at Amazon

Yes, I was sent a copy from Packt for free to perform the review.  No guarantees are ever given in the type of review.  I just type them out as I go.

for this posting



On Thursday, May 30th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

I saw a link for an IBM Social Business ad that is also found on YouTube. It raised some interesting thoughts and questions about how no exact software, service or platform was ever specified, just come visit the site to let us help you. The site itself then has trials, demos and solutions included with some benefits of being more social.

I did appreciate one comment at 37 seconds into the one minute ad:

By 2014 nearly four out of five businesses plan to invest in social technology

Doesn't almost 4 out of five really mean 3 out of 5? can we not say 3 out of 5?  Also, hasn't everyone already invested.  I cannot think of a business that does not have email.  No matter what is said, email is still social as it meets the very basic criteria of social business. It shares information.

Do not forget to visit the #ibmsocbiz aggregator site to keep up with all the IBM news.

for this posting



On Friday, May 24th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

It has always been hard to track the growing list of technotes, fixpacks, hotfixes and SPR's that IBM Lotus collaboration software has.  Over the years I have made my own tools:

• Lotus Support Mega Feed sidebar widget
• Lotus Tech Documents feed on Twitter using Yahoo Pipes
• Blogger and technical search widget right from inside your client
• SNAPPS and IdoNotes enhanced search plug-in for Lotus Notes

So as you see it has evolved over the years as the material to collect grows and the capabilities grow the list of fixes have too.  So I will be adding the Notes/Domino Fix List full RSS feed to some of the above to give you timely information when fixes and being addressed and in what version

Let me know what other tools you need or sources added and I will make sure I get them included to help you find the information quicker.  Ok everything but IBM PartnerWorld.  No one can help you there.

for this posting



On Thursday, May 23rd, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM has released a white paper titled Choosing between Notes 9.0 Social Edition and Microsoft Outlook 2013 from the IBM Software Group Competitive Project Office.

For the most part, both IBM Notes and Microsoft Outlook perform well when handling typical email, calendaring, and contact management tasks. But when we step beyond those standard Personal Information Management (PIM) tasks, IBM Notes really starts to shine. It all starts with Notes’ renowned security, customizability, and distributed architecture. Combine that with the Eclipse framework and the result is a flexible, extensible, multi-platform application that offers significant functionality beyond what Outlook provides.

In the 31 page whitepaper they look at  the supposed evolution of email into a social realm then dig into some example scenarios comparing Notes 9.0 Social Edition and Microsoft Outlook. There are quite a few footers with links to some good articles in there as well.

You can only seem to get your hands on this report if you can log into IBM Partnerworld as part of their sales kit package.  I think this would be more helpful to everyone in todays corporate environments.  Thoughts?

UPDATE: IBM replied to my inquiry saying that the document is still under review for public consumption and is to be used for face to face meetings and in preparation for customer meetings.  It is not to be left behind at this time with the customers until it is cleared for public.

for this posting



On Monday, May 13th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

I was on the April 2013 monthly IBM Collaboration Solutions community webcast this week and was overly impressed by the XPages application demo from two IamLUG attendees!

Our main speakers were community members Sam Bridegroom and Abby Butts, who explained the various ways that they have developed XPages applications for a non-profit healthcare system in Indiana to: 1) enhance patient care, 2) improve staff communication, and 3) integrate existing disparate systems. Especially impressive was how much money they were able to save the organization by using XPages!

I suggest everyone, even administrators, watch this replay to see how to easily save time, provide mobility and make users happy with an interface.

for this posting



On Thursday, April 25th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Watch the What's New in IBM Domino Designer 9.0 webcast replay with Paul Calhoun and Kathy Brown from Consultant In Your Pocket.  Brought to you by IamLUG.  Watch the replay and subscribe to the Consultant In Your Pocket playlist on YouTube or the entire IdoNotes channel.

You can stream any previous webcast at the Consultant In Your Pocket site and on YouTube.  Recent webcasts include:

• What's New in IBM Domino, Notes, Traveler and XWork Server 9.0
• What's New in Notes, Domino, Traveler 8.5.3
• What's New in Sametime 8.5.2

for this posting



On Wednesday, April 17th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Registration is still open for the webcast What's New in Domino Designer 9.0 on April 11 2013 at 10am CST.

Join Consultant In Your Pocket with panelists Paul Calhoun of NNSU and Kathy Brown of PSC Group.

Paul and Kathy will discuss What is New in Domino Designer 9.  There are lots of improvements in Designer including new elements, new resources, and new help.  New controls and classes have been added for XPages, including spell check for the CKEditor and ... server-side JavaScript debugging!

You can register for the webcast right here

*************************************
What's New in IBM Domino, Notes & Traveler 9.0 was recorded and is available for streaming.

for this posting



On Wednesday, April 10th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Join Consultant In Your Pocket for a webcast April 11 2013 for What's New in IBM Domino Designer 9.0 with panelists Paul Calhoun of NNSU and Kathy Brown of PSC Group.

Paul and Kathy will discuss What is New in Domino Designer 9.  There are lots of improvements in Designer including new elements, new resources, and new help.  New controls and classes have been added for XPages, including spell check for the CKEditor and ... server-side JavaScript debugging!

You can register for the webcast right here that is taking place April 11 2013 at 10am CST.

*************************************
What's New in IBM Domino, Notes & Traveler 9.0 was recorded and is available for streaming.

for this posting



On Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013   by Chris Miller        

The webcast with Gabriella Davis, Paul Mooney and myself on What's New in IBM Domino, Notes & Traveler 9.0 replay is now on YouTube and available at Consultant In Your Pocket.

Also announcing What's New in IBM Domino Designer 9.0 on April 11 2013 with Paul Calhoun and Kathy Brown.  Registration is open now.

for this posting



On Monday, April 1st, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Join Scott Souder and Louis Richardson of IBM as they keynote BLUG (Benelux Lotus User Group) 2013 in Leuven, Belgium.

Scott Souder covers IBM Notes and Domino Social Edition, Lotus Traveler and more.
Louis Richardson discusses creativity crisis

This is an outstanding keynote worth paying close attention to all the details

************
View the list of all the IamLUG 2013 sessions and then make sure you register now while there are still seats. You can also register for this TackItOn session from the IamLUG website
**************

note: sorry for the angle as the full  tripod did not make it in time.

for this posting



On Friday, March 29th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

 IBM Notes 9 with Designer and Admin took 18 minutes to unpack, select options and install fully.  As I return from AusLUG and BLUG, I realized I have a bunch of testing clients and machines to upgrade. For this test machine I chose the following options:

• Admin client with most every option
• Designer client with everything but help files (who needs those anyway)
• Notes client
• Social Edition components
• Sametime
• Connections components

Now one thing that the installer does not do for Social Edition is place the necessary lines in the notes.ini.  I will be covering that shortly in a longer post on OpenSocial component deployment.

*************************** Do not forget ******************

We are pleased to announce the What's New In IBM Notes & Domino Social Edition, Traveler and XWorks 9.0 webcast from Consultant In Your Pocket.  This webcast will feature a panel of IBM business partners giving their opinions on enhancements, features and more.  

Confirmed panelists are already Paul Mooney, Gabriella Davis and Mat Newman moderated by Chris Miller.

You can register for the event, for free, right here and join us live to ask questions and get our insight into the hottest capabilities coming.

for this posting



On Tuesday, March 26th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Seats are still available for What's New in Notes, Domino, Traveler & XWork Server 9.0 webcast on March 29th 2013 at 10am CST.

From the Consultant In Your Pocket blog posting.

We are pleased to announce the What's New In IBM Notes & Domino Social Edition, Traveler and XWorks 9.0 webcast from Consultant In Your Pocket.  This webcast will feature a panel of IBM business partners giving their opinions on enhancements, features and more.  

Confirmed panelists are already Paul Mooney, Gabriella Davis and Mat Newman moderated by Chris Miller.

You can register for the event, for free, right here and join us live to ask questions and get our insight into the hottest capabilities coming.

for this posting



On Monday, March 25th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

AusLUG 2013 is completed and Chris Crummey of IBM provided the keynote address.  Spiked Studio was asked to record it for everyone to see the kickoff of IBM Notes and Domino 9 gold code.

Make sure you subscribe to the entire keynote playlist as we record BLUG 2013 this week.

for this posting



On Monday, March 18th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Consultant In Your Pocket is having What's New in IBM Notes & Domino 9.0 Social Edition, Traveler and XWorks server on March 29th at 10am CST as announced in this CIYP blog posting.

We are pleased to announce the What's New In IBM Notes & Domino Social Edition, Traveler and XWorks 9.0 webcast from Consultant In Your Pocket.  This webcast will feature a panel of IBM business partners giving their opinions on enhancements, features and more.  

Confirmed panelists are already Paul Mooney, Gabriella Davis and Mat Newman moderated by Chris Miller.

You can register for the event, for free, right here and join us live to ask questions and get our insight into the hottest capabilities coming.

for this posting



On Thursday, March 14th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

IBM Domino 9 now introduces server group and pattern matching capability in program documents. As I dig more into what is coming in IBM Notes and Domino 9 there are always gems.

A pattern-matching character -- the question mark (?) -- allows you to include all servers where one or more subsequent characters in the server name vary

Sales??/Renovations includes Sales01/Renovations, Sales02/Renovations, and so on

This one will streamline and benefit administration and reduce the complexity and number of program documents to allow administrators to work with program documents like they do with server configuration documents.

Apparently you can also use asterisk symbols to cover a range of similarly named servers.  If you plan on using server group names they must be set to server only type group and not multi-purpose.

Be sure to read more of the IBM Notes and Domino 9 "what's new" postings

for this posting



On Monday, March 11th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Oh how we have longed for IBM Notes 9 after seeing a simple feature like blocking the delete key from use in the navigator.  With a new Desktop Setting that you can push out via policies, you can stop the unwanted accidental delete.

DisableDelKeyForNavigator=1

If a user thinks they are in their main view area with documents, but really they are in the navigator on the left, hitting delete will not remove the folder with this setting enabled.  The users would need to right click on a folder or use the action menus instead.

This should solve a few helpdesk calls right?

for this posting



On Tuesday, February 5th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Welcome to the BP102 presentation material for Lotusphere / IBM Connect 2013 in Orlando, FL.  This is the complete list (and always changing) of the tools presented.  Come back to visit often as I plan on updating it as we go along.
Continue Reading here" Lotusphere / IBM Connect 2013 - BP102 Build Your Free Admin Toolkit" »

for this posting



On Monday, January 28th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Working together with Yancy Lent, the founder of PlanetLotus, we compiled the Top 10 posts for 2012 on PlanetLotus. We owe huge thanks to Yancy for taking the time to dig through these statistics.

I had a chance to sit with Karl-Henry Martinsson and Ulrich Klause live and talk about their Top 10 PlanetLotus posts for 2012 and then we discuss IBM Domino 9 and IBM Connect 2013.

The order below is not exact as some of these shifted since the count was so close. This is quite a list and as you can see the majority are around the new launch of IBM Notes and Domino 9 Social Edition.

Use RegExp with JavaScript split() by Ulrich Krause
Lotus Notes Client not starting - Loading.. Please wait loop by Paul Farris
How to Create an Auto-Response Mail Message in Lotus Notes by Gavin Bollard
iOS6 oddness and Lotus Traveler by Andy Donaldson
IBM Notes and Domino 9 Social Edition by Karl-Henry Martinsson
IBM Kills Drops and Uses Other Words about Lotus in articles around the web  by Chris Miller
IBM Notes and Domino 9 Social Edition by Volker Weber
How to: Restore the Sametime Emoticon Palette by John James
Customer project: Dojo 1.8 based portal on top of Xpages and Domino 8.5.3 by Mindoo GmbH
Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore  by Gregg Eldred

Do not forget to keep up with all of the Lotusphere Podcasts

for this posting



On Thursday, January 17th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Another winner for not only programmers but users as IBM Notes 9 introduces new calendaring and scheduling (C&S) back end classes using iCalendar.

a framework and first set of methods will be available for a Java API exposing Domino
calendar and scheduling functionality. These provide the ability to create, read, update, and remove
calendar data in a personal mailfile using standardized iCalendar (RFC 5545) data format. They also
allow explicit calendar actions on calendar entries and notices (accept, decline, cancel, etc).

I have been wanting expanded ICalendar support to offer more integration choices with other calendaring systems.  This seems to be a great move.
Continue Reading here" IBM Notes 9 introduces new calendaring and scheduling (C&S) back end classes" »

for this posting



On Tuesday, January 8th, 2013   by Chris Miller        

With the name changes at Lotusphere blending into IBM Connect, I decided to move Lotusphere Podcasts into IdoNotes podcasts and to launch an IBM Notes client widget.  The website/iTunes and RSS will redirect by this weekend.

Lotusphere Podcasts launched in 2008 and was built to:

Lotusphere Podcasts has brought interviews with the exhibitors, speakers, attendees and more from Lotusphere. We will also have times we are live!

The focus is to bring more video content from Lotsphere to your desk. Not everyone can make the journey to Lotusphere. So we now bring as much as we can to you

You can now find Lotusphere Podcasts as a playlist on YouTube and you can subscribe to that right here.

I also built a widget for your Lotus Notes client (as shown in the image above) that allows you to keep up right in your Notes client!  You can download the widget or drag it right into your Lotus Notes client widget area below.

Pay attention to the Arrows on each side and thumbnails on the bottom that allows you to navigate through the videos.  This will update on the fly as we add them down at Lotusphere/IBM Connect.

for this posting



On Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013   by Chris Miller        

Digging more into the public beta for you IBM Notes 9 introduces some new mailbox features to share with you.

• Email message tabs are now automatically closed after you reply or forward an email (you can disable this)
• Most recent mail messages now appear first in your inbox (you can reset this preference)
• New meeting notices are automatically gray in appearance on your calendar until accepted (was called ghosting and can be disabled)

I am glad to see some many new features showing up all over the client and the ability to reset them. Many times we have received new features that are not enabled by default and never get turned on due to company politics or fear users will freak out.  Yet our users get new devices they know nothing about constantly and are not afraid of that.

What about you? Does your company hold back new features when you update on purpose?

for this posting



On Friday, December 21st, 2012   by Chris Miller        

I found a strange setting in IBM Notes 9 basic client preferences titled Enable alternate keyboard shortcuts but I couldn't find where they all were.  I finally found the current list and wanted to share it.

• Ctrl+1, 2, 3 - Open mail, calendar, contacts, respectively, from anywhere in Notes
• Ctrl+R - Reply to mail or calendar entry
• Ctrl+Shift+R - Reply to All on mail or calendar entry
• Ctrl+Alt+V  - paste special
• Ctrl+Shift+V - paste as plain text

I am digging to see if there is anymore, but that is the starter list of IBM Notes 9 new keyboard shortcuts for those counting at home and love the keyboard more than the mouse clicks.

See also IBM Notes 9 and Sametime Community icons

for this posting



On Wednesday, December 19th, 2012   by Chris Miller        

http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/IdoNotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotes-Episode-88-sametime-community-icons-free-download.htmAlmost exactly two years ago I published IdoNotes Episode 88 - Sametime Community icons and free download on how to modify and enhance your IBM Sametime Connect commuinty icons. With the introduction of IBM Notes 9 this will become important yet again.
Looking at the previous posting for Episode 88 you will what the Sametime default icons used to be. Looking at the image above you will see what the Sametime icons look like now. The new icons are different shapes but are so dim and only grey the green status indicator covers the entire dim graphic.

Here is the video explaining how to add the additional icons and change them for each community. I then show the result of the look in your inbox.


I have given you an entire set of icons for use inside of your Sametime Connect client. There are various colors and even fun shapes. All are properly sized.

Let me know of any problems you have in the comments below. Also what do you think of the new icons?

for this posting



On Tuesday, December 18th, 2012   by Chris Miller