In searching for an Open Source PHP Intranet solution, I came across Precurio. It had the look and features I was searching for, so I decided to give it a spin.
After evaluating Precurio for a whole afternoon, I’ve decided not to use it. It does not seem mature or stable enough to meet my needs. Here is some of my feedback that I proved to them and hopefully I’ll come back in maybe a year it will have matured.
– Installation process is buggy. Had issues with cache_dir and had to manually edit Zend library files. User creation step was skipped several times till the cache_dir issue was worked out. Took me several hours to get it installed.
– Did not allow us to specify the socket in the mysql host name like most other PHP apps do.
– Various php errors and warnings appeared upon first use. Posted these in the Installation forum. Could not debug myself after a few tries.
– One of the biggest red-flags that made me end my evaluation of Precurio was when I noticed this posted to my profile Recent Activity feed:
Test Tester You account has been created. Your login details are:
Login : someone@example.com
Password : [snipped]
Imagine my surprise when my password was displayed for me on-screen. This is a MASSIVE security flaw. Even if this message is only displayed to me, it is 1) not hashed in the DB obviously, and 2) visible for anyone walking by my computer to see.
This tells me that Precurio’s approach to security is not up to my standards. Too bad b/c I was going to use it for 2 large projects. That was a deal breaker for me and stopped my evaluation in it’s tracks. Too bad b/c on the plus side the code is well organized and built on the Zend Framework.
Good start, and has huge potential, but needs a lot of work and maturity.
UPDATE1: Apparently it requires PHP version 5.3.0 and I’m on a slightly earlier version. So that might (and I say that with heavy skepticism) be the cause of the PHP errors.
UPDATE2: While user passwords are stored in some sort of two-way encryption in the main user table, it is stored in plain text in other tables. Not ok in my books – especially for corporate use.
UPDATE3: Precurio immediately released a patch for the plain text password issue. Great response time. I think I may continue to try an puzzle out the PHP errors on my version of PHP and see if I can’t salvage this after all.
Hey Sherri ,
i am also searching for an Intranet Portal which is opensource what do u recommend me ?
Hi Samuel,
I’m still evaluating solutions. I have been able to work around most of the issues with Precurio so that’s the best one I’ve found so far. I also tried Open Atrium but it is too simplistic and customizing Drupal is difficult if you’re new to it.
Hi Sherri,
I saw this post after a search on reviews of precurio.
it’s now 6 months later do you still use precurio? or did you choose another intranet solution.
Hi Menjur,
I had still felt Precurio was the best one I had found, but did not proceed further with it as I have not got around to pursuing a project that needed an Intranet. I’m definitely still planning on looking closer at it when the time comes.
Actually, for task, project and contact management, I’m now using Feng Office.
I’m testing Precurio now.
It seems good so far. I’m thinking of buying the Pro version. I like the interface and the the way it is structured.
Have you encountered any other software like it?
I would to see more reviews about it.
Feng Office has a terrible interface comparing to Precurio and it hasn’t got so many options.
Well, Precurio and Feng Office are not the same type of product. Precurio is more of an intranet/community. Feng Office is more of a project & contact manager.
I like Feng Office for it’s flexibility. I get to decide what namepaces represent. So far it is meeting my needs very well, and I was a bit concerned about Precurio’s security philosophy. I also do not have multiple employees so I don’t need many of the social network type features of Precurio.
Project Pier is a very good option as well. The default theme is a bit ugly, but when you add a nice custom theme is becomes very good. It is similar to Active Collab or Basecamp.
Thanks Sherri for the reply.
I liked the tip for Project Pier. For project management it seems just fine and you can’t get it any cheaper.
There are dozens of tools like that: copperproject.com, comindwork.com, remindo.com, wizehive.com, apollohq.com, twproject.com
Your ideas seems great for project management, but it seems that’s not what I need.
For me I’m looking for a small business solution like an intranet. I want to list contacts/coworkers, share documents between coworkers, assign small tasks, share informations/news (policies, notifications, etc), events (schedule meetings, etc)
Percurio seems to fits the requirements nicely. I’m thinking of playing for the installation so I don’t need to worry about that.
I’ve tried:
* Alfresco (with Alfresco Share), it is free, but very complex to configure.
* dotProject (ugly interface, but nice features, written in php)
* precurio (good one, but pro version is not free which includes Document management)