Unofficial Spiceworks

Spiceworks have just released the Spiceworks 4.5 beta.

Check out all the info and the download on the community http://community.spiceworks.com/group/show/349-spiceworks-4-5

Key things

• Help Desk Queuing (Rules and View) – Spiceworks have now implements Helpdesk queuing to help you and your team manage your time.
• Network Map – Spiceworks have improved the discover and layout of the network map.
• Spiceworks Extension Framework – Spiceworks API has been inproved and a new editor and the ability to attach files (images, etc)
• Apache WebServer – To improve Speed and compatibility Spiceworks now uses a Apache webserver
• Performance – Lots of work has gone into speeding up Spiceworks
• Localization – Its now quicker and easier to translate Spiceworks
• Exchange Support – Better Exchange support has been rolled out

Read in more detail http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/79609

Thanks Tabrez for doing this over a weekend.

ObieOne has just posted an update for his Spiceworks Mobile Helpdesk

You can download the beta from http://www.4shared.com/file/137330396/73652565/MobileHelpdesk_20.html

The main improvement is the use of a login to help control and manage who can use and see the app.

The mobile helpdesk works on most mobile devices in which have a browser, Blackberries, iPhones, Windows Mobile and even Android. It allows you to update, change and view your helpdesk tickets on the go. No need to remember the tickets anywhere commands.

Check it out the Mobile Helpdesk over on the community http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/759

Jen just posted the below, are you from the UK can you give it ago?

Hey UK SpiceCorps Members & Spice Heads!

Quick favor! We’re applying for a Techworld’s award in the UK and could use your help.

If you could chime in here (in 500 words or less) and post:

“Why I like using Spiceworks & think it’s ‘the best network management product’…”

….we’d really appreciate it! Anything goes — just be as ‘real’ as you always are here in the Community.

And thx in advance – your authentic Spiceworks-using voice will allow us to add a heck of a lot more spice to our submission than others will.

Cheers,

Jen

Read more and post yours

I’ve done my bit now your turn, you can see my attempt below; its not that great and not sure its really a “chime in” mainly as i don’t know what a “chime in” really is?

I like using Spiceworks and believe it is the best IT management product around because it provides me with all the tools I need to carry out my job in an effective manner for free. From the inventory to the helpdesk every little bit of Spiceworks is designed for IT pro’s by IT’s pro’s.

I find every aspect of Spiceworks useful; the inventory allows me to keep track of my whole network from new machines being added to new software being installed. With the added bonus of a helpdesk I can keep track of all my user’s problems and link them back to devices or software to help me gain the most out of the reporting features in which provide me with an accurate and up-to-date overview of my hardware.

Spiceworks is also great for alerting me when my servers go offline; with its powerful monitoring features I am able to keep track of toner levels and server uptime via email. It also provides me with a great way of keeping track of service providers that I use.

With new features being added and updated all the time Spiceworks is one of the fastest growing bits off software I use; there are so many great new things being added like the network map which now allows me automagically create a map of my network saving me time and money on network mapping software.

But by all means the best part of Spiceworks is the community; it’s a fun and exciting place to get answers to my problems and help people with theirs. It’s also a great way to keep to up to date with the latest IT news and get in contact with vendors about their products.

The Spiceworks team are also second to none for support; they all love their job and love being part of the community. They are willing to help you out where ever you need and regularly hold conference calls with members of the community about their product and services.

Spiceworks is the only bit of software that has adverts that I like; they are targeted to IT pros about things we will be interested in, also with people from Microsoft, AMD and IBM in the community we can keep up to date with product information and get hand on help with questions.

And that’s why I love Spiceworks in fewer than 500 words. There are bits that I have missed off im sure.

Also to show how much I love Spiceworks, checkout my website http://www.unofficialspiceworks.com/

Ohh and yes I did have to get some self promotion in there

Read more and post yours

Tabrez has just annouced 4.1 has been released.

The latest version of Spiceworks (4.1) is now available. We have been working on fixing a number of issues found in 4.0 as well as adding a number of nice features, we think everyone will want to update to this version of Spiceworks (4.1). A summary of issues fixed as well as enhancements is listed below. Feel free to open discussion on any that you feel need more details. Enjoy!

Read the release notes here http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/74080

• Customize HTML Email Templates in the Help Desk.
• Find new features with the new Inventory and Help Desk Guides.
• Manage Software Product Keys on the software or device page.
• Identify more Antivirus Packages with improved detection for more vendors.
• Edit Links between Network Map nodes.
• Access vPro web interfaces on the configuration tab.
• Identify devices that are from Remote Sites in the device details column.
• Over 150 performance and reliability enhancements.

PC Mag – http://blogs.pcmag.com/ – has done a nice right up about how Spiceworks has enhanced its Support Services

Spiceworks released Spiceworks IT Desktop Version 4.0 today. The new version arrives with enhancements that will play a crucial role in the way technicians management their accounts. New features include a helpdesk tickets feature that will allow users to create tickets. Technicians are able to edit and update existing tickets and track them.

The company says that in the future, Spiceworks plans to expand this feature and add a master console that can track multiple accounts at once. It seems this is the first step towards making the platform into a MSP solution.

Read more

As mentioned yesterday Spiceworks have already started work on 4.1, Shade is busy putting together some great new email notifications.

I’ve been taking a hard look at the help desk notification emails and here’s what I’m learning…

• The formatting makes it hard for end users to really see what’s going on.
• Admins want to be able to do some level of “branding” easily within the emails.
• There are too many templates and it’s not clear which template will be used.
• Subject lines aren’t very informative.
• In short: They’re not very usable.

Read the rest of his post

There are a few drastic changes from the old notification emails that you should be aware of before starting:

• There are no longer separate templates for different types of events.
• Instead, there are 2 templates: HTML and Plain Text.
• There’s a much more powerful template language for building the emails (http://www.liquidmarkup.org/). This language will allow you to do things that you couldn’t before (if/else, for, date formatting, text formatting, etc.)
• Admin and User notifications will be formatted from the same template. Sections of the template can be turned on or off optionally using the liquid templates.

Its an exciting change and one that will help bring in more people to use Spiceworks, you will be able to put your own images on the HTML emails as well as lay them out on in your corporate way.

Get a full day of hands-on Spiceworks training and IT networking that you can parlay into a weekend getaway or family vacation…IT doesn’t get any more magical than that now does it?!

SpiceWorld Orlando Agenda:

Morning: Foundational Topics

• Getting an Inventory of Your Network
• Setting Up Monitors & Alerts
• Running an Easy-to-Use Help Desk

Afternoon: Advanced Topics

• Customizing & Organizing Your Inventory & Help Desk
• Getting a More Accurate Network Scan
• Getting Detailed Reports & Metrics
• How to Harness the Power of 650,000 IT Pros

Plus, SpiceWorld Orlando includes breakfast, lunch, happy hour, cool swag, your Spiceworks certification, AND the chance to meet other users in your area- an IT dream come true!

Sign up now to receive Spiceworks training in your home state at SpiceWorld Orlando on July 17th!

Tabrez has just posted

We’ve released an updated build of 4.0. This build has fixes to the problems outlined below. Your Spiceworks installation will not automatically update to this version. If you’re seeing any of the problems outlined below then download the update and install it on your existing installation. (All Spiceworks updates are cumulative so the next update will include these changes). In general we recommend staying up with the latest build.

Fixes in this build address the following issues:

• Intermittent slow-downs. On some networks the Network Health Check (by default every 15 minutes) was causing the app to slow down.
• Case sensitivity in the user portal. There was a problem in the user portal where email addresses were being treated with case sensitivity.
• Network Map – Orphaned Devices. We’ve fixed a few cases where orphaned devices were showing up on the network map.
• HelpDesk Email Attachments: Email attachments from Outlook 2007 to Exchange 2007 were not being added to the ticket.
• Ticket Import Script: The bulk ticket import script was not working in the last build.
• Finding Network Map Nodes: Now to find a node on the network map simply start typing the name of the node in the search box. This feature will help you find nodes on the network map.
• View Device On Network Map: We’ve added a link to devices that allow you to quickly switch to seeing the device on the network map.
• Search Performance: Search performance has been optimized to return results faster.
• Empty Subject Lines: We fixed an issue where empty subjects in ticket emails were not being handled properly with Exchange.
• Remote Site Collector UI: If you’re using Spiceworks in a distributed fashion with the remote site collector this build makes your set up much easier! Just check out Francis’ how-to on setting up remote site collectors.
• HelpDesk Email Hanging Notifications: In some Exchange setups the helpdesk emails can cause the user’s email to hang.
• Filter Option on Network Map: The filter option is now visible in the toolbar on the network map.

Download the Update NOW