Support Tutorial - Custom Development

4. Custom Development

4.1.Introduction

If you need to add a new feature, extend or customize existing functionality, or have a developer-level question related to some of our products or supported open-source platforms, you can request this as a New Development issue.

Compared to Support Ticket, this type of support expects source code changes or writing a new code. Therefore it is not charged per-case basis but per-hour, based on expected time demanded.

A new development issue can be either private or shared. Private issues are only visible for you, while shared issues are visible also to other users. Public (shared) issues can thus be joined and co-financed by others.

A private issue cannot be joined by other users. This means that the development cost needs be covered by the customer in full. It is suitable for custom development requests that are:

• specific to your project and not likely to be reusable elsewhere

• if you want the customization exactly according to your own specifications with no discussion with others about it

• you need a fast delivery (shared issues take much longer time in general)

This chapter further only describes the private issue details. To learn more about the shared issues, check the Shared Issues chapter.

4.2.Starting a New Development Request

To start a new development request, click New Development link at the User Dashboard or in the left menu.

At the New Development form, first choose if you wish the issue to be private or shared.

Next, select the product and platform the development should be related to. Based on the combination selected, you may also be asked to fill in some additional information, such as the platform version, other software used, environment version or similar.

In the following section, please enter the description (specification) of the requested customization. Note that the more detailed and precise specification you provide, the more exact our time estimation can be.

Please note:To be able to start a New Development issue, you need to have positive support tickets! balance in your account! This limitation is in place in order to limit misuse of the development request form for standard support issues or sending us requests that are not meant seriously. If the custom development is completed successfully, the support ticket used will be restored upon request.

4.3.Custom Development Workflow

Communication about the issues goes through our support ticket system. At the Issue Detail page, you can view the full communication history with both replies and comments sent by you or us. Any reply we write you will receive also by e-mail. You can choose to answer by replying the email, or at the Issue Detail page.

1. Once we receive the Custom Development issue specification from you, our support team will study it and come with a time estimate needed its completion. If we are unable to make the estimation from the initial specification, we may contact you back with additional questions to clarify the specification more. Clarifying the issue can even require multiple rounds of questions and answers. The communication procedure at this point is similar as with Support Tickets, so for additional details, please check the Support Tickets Workflow chapter.

   

2. At the moment we are able to make the time estimation for completing the request, we will inform you about it. The estimated time will appear at the Issue Detail page.

3. After the time estimation is provided, you can decide whether you accept it or not. In case you accept, the estimated hours will be deducted from your account balance. If you do not have enough Support Hours available in your account, you will be requested to purchase them in our e-shop. If you find the development too costly to carry it on your own and decide not to accept the estimation, you can still consider suggesting the issue to be shared with others (for details, see chapter Shared Development).

4.4.Purchasing Hours for Development

You can buy additional hours needed for custom development easily by clicking the Buy Development link at the Support Dashboard or in the left menu.

You will be re-directed to a corresponding service in our e-shop. Choose the amount of hours you need to purchase. If you desire, you can also select faster than a standard response time. In such case, select the request value from the select box. The response time defines a time when we start working on the issue.

After the order is confirmed purchased hours will be credited to your account.