The latest design and function of this site is - quite frankly - not doing it for me. For those of you who may not know, the current version of this site resulted from a ZOMG I replaced the template with the Lotus Notes Client Journal template and there's no backup?! self-inflicted mess of a situation.

See, I have a vision for dominoGuru.com. That it's purpose would go far beyond that of a simple blog, and become a resource for IBM Lotus product portfolio developers.

Don't worry, I'll still be blogging, and the blog will be a major feature of this site... but I don't want it to be the only feature.

Here are some of the thoughts I have on the redesign...

(Click thru for more...)

Junction Lite allows you to create NotesDocuments in a defined target NotesDatabase from data in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.

Each Job Document allows you to define a source Spreadsheet, a target NotesDatabase, and additional @Formula-driven NotesItems that are evaluated at import Runtime.

The idea is simple: Each Row in your Spreadsheet == 1 new NotesDocument in the defined target NotesDatabase!

Junction Lite allows you to import data sourced from Microsoft Access, SQL, or any other spreadsheet-generated data source.

Sales people tracking their leads and customer contacts in Excel? Bring that business-sensitive information into a Lotus Notes application within minutes with Junction Lite!

Licensing

As with all of my other $5 apps, this application is licensed per Lotus Domino Domain.

This means you have unlimited usage of Junction Lite v1.0 within your single Lotus Domino Domain for the low purchase price of $5 USD.

Purchase Information

Or you can click (and share!) the following direct purchase link:

http://abbr.dominoguru.com/junction_purchase

(Cross-posted to the LLD Support forums. Example: How many people know about PlanetLotus.org or the greater Lotus Online Community?

I am curious as to how many Lotus professionals -- that is, people who work with products in the IBM Lotus product portfolio, such as Lotus Notes Domino, Sametime, Quickr, Traveler, Foundations, etc. -- know about resources like PlanetLotus.org (http://www.planetlotus.org) or the greater Lotus Online Community.

PlanetLotus.org is an aggregated list of blogs specifically discussing IBM Lotus products.

The greater Lotus Online Community is a little more difficult to quantify. It is the global online presence of Lotus professionals through social networking sites & services (like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) to business networking sites & services (like LinkedIn, IBM Greenhouse, BleedYellow Connections, etc.).

It is an overall network of subject matter experts (to accurately use the industry buzzword), most looking to not only help other Lotus professionals but to also extend the knowledge of the capabilities of the Lotus products "beyond the [yellow] bubble".

If you have the time, I suggest you check them out. And no, you don't need a "blog" to participate -- just jump in and engage with members of one of the greatest global communities you're likely to find!

Lotus Notes Client apps can mirror the look of the Web 2.0 websites of today... even if you build in Lotus Notes 6.0! This tutorial walks you thru the build of a simple yet visually pleasing user interface (UI).

There is strong debate over the preferred ideal layout for websites and website-looking applications - fixed, fluid, or elastic. Of course, a User Interface should be developed specifically for your target user and their specific needs... but I think that you need to know how to develop each type of layout.

Most Lotus Notes Client applications are fluid layouts. They expand to the window container, and will often distort under small or extra-large resolutions.

I will use only traditional Lotus Notes Design Elements -- available from Release 6.0 to today -- to re-create the fixed layout.

The fixed layout is my current favorite... specifically because of the complete control it affords the layout and content designer. content, in this context of course, are NotesDocument managing Forms and Views Design Elements.

I used this approach to design the Lotus Notes Client UI for my Remote Console app...

(Click thru for more...)

I have a BlackBerry 9700 - which is the latest device to be released on the AT&T network. It's the best BlackBerry device on the market today.

My brother-in-law stopped over the house this past weekend for my oldest son's birthday. He (my brother-in-law) has an iPhone 3G. Not a 3GS, or even an iPhone 4 with duct tape... but a 2-generation old device. After dinner (and cake), I asked if I could borrow his iPhone for testing my soon-to-be-released Remote Console app.

I was shocked by how much easier it was to navigate the application, how much faster it loaded (his iPhone 3G over spotty-coverage AT&T 3G, my BlackBerry 9700 cheating over WiFi), and ultimately how much I enjoyed the user experience of the iPhone.

It made me remember that my 9700 camera zoom wasn't working.

It made me remember that I couldn't directly upload video from my mobile device to YouTube.

It made me realize just how much I hated my 9700 for its thousand different little cuts.

I had made up my mind that I was going to get an iPhone 4 and swear off BlackBerry devices.

Then I remembered OS6 is coming. I remembered the new Webkit-based browser (which apparently rocks).

I remembered the upcoming release of the BlackBerry 9800, complete with the Palm Pre-style form factor.

The vendor is attempting to give what some might say is a dying platform -- despite it's hold in the enterprise -- new life with the addition on more globally-leverages technologies.

... but this is the last straw. If the BlackBerry 9800 doesn't address this consumers needs, I'm really going to push for the less-secure, more globally adopted by people I actually know, platform.

It started with a single app, but might end with me moving away from a platform I've used for years now...