Q. What is Code Roller?

A. Code Roller is the only collaborative software development project lifecycle management solution that uses time tested, best of breed deliverables and workflow for the entire lifecycle of your software development project.

Q. Why should I use Code Roller?

A. To get more out of your custom software development effort. To develop software more efficiently thus making it more affordable. To develop more relevant software more quickly by reducing the discovery time.

Q. What is discovery time?

A. That is the time it takes to discover what the software really needs to do. People treat the original set of specs as some kind of gospel truth but that is rarely the case. Only frequent customer involvement through mutliple iterations can you discover the most relevant features of the proposed application.

Q. How does Code Roller reduce discovery time?

A. By accelerating all the phases of development so you can see the results of what you asked for more quickly. This reduction in the feedback loop between feature requests and final code facilitates quicker learning. Therefore reducing discovery time.

What Code Roller is Not

Q. Will you develop my web site for free?

A. No. The use of Code Roller is free. In Code Roller, you can get your own software engineers to work with your business people to produce custom web sites. If you want Dynamical Software to provide the software engineering skills, then that is not free; however, our rates are very reasonable. Also, we are looking to partner with visionaries and start up entrepreneurs to deliver the next generation of great applications to the web. If you are part of a new venture and are serious and committed about your success and if your business plan has merit, then we would be willing to code your site for an equity stake.

Q. Is Code Roller a developer tool?

A. No. Code Roller is a management solution. The value of Code Roller is its time tested, best-of-breed deliverables and work flow combined with social networking and crowd-sourcing techniques to keep the team focused, on track, and responsive to the business needs of the sponsoring organization. It also has traditional task management features such as Gantt charts and burn-down charts.

Q. Is Code Roller just another http://www.getacoder.com, http://www.rentacoder.com, or http://www.guru.com site?

A. No. Code Roller doesn't broker any deals or take a percentage of any payments. How people get paid or not is neither managed nor tracked in Code Roller. The Code Roller mandate is to guide and educate IT and business on how to develop more successful, more relevant, more affordable, and more effective software with less risk. Those other sites couldn't care less about whether or not the outcome is successful or has quality.

Where to Next?

Q. Outside of the help section, I don't see much here. Where are all of these deliverables that you speak of?

A. Check out the demo area.

Q. Why do I need to register to see the production area?

A. Software is very strategic to the companies that pay to have it written. They use this custom written software to compete with their rivals. They don't want the features of yet to be released software blasted all across the Internet. That is why anonymous access is prohibited. Even when you do register, you will only be allowed to see projects that you have a right to see.

Q. I don't have a user name and password. How do I get one?

A. You need to register on the site. Click the home link then the register link and fill out that form. Registration is immediate and free.

Q. What do I get if I register?

A. Full and unfettered access to the Code Roller functionality.

Getting Started

Q. OK, where do I go next now that I have registered?

A. Code Roller is all about software development project management so the next step would be to start a project.

Q. That looks complicated. Is there any way to start a project for us mere mortals?

A. Yes. You should use the new project wizard. There is a training video for how to do that.

Q. That's pretty cool. Do you have any other training videos?

A. Yes. Check out our training video library.

Q. Does the entire community see the details of my project?

A. No. The only information that the public sees about your project is what gets displayed when you click the projects link under the opportunity section on the left hand side. That is the short name of the project, who the project leader is, and the start date. Were you to click on a private project that is not your own, such as the Women Community Portal, you would get a permission denied screen.

Q. Is there a way to keep my project private on Code Roller?

A. Yes. Projects can be either private or public. The Code Roller project itself within the Code Roller application is a public project which means that any registered user can access it. Projects created by the new project wizard are private by default which means that only team members for that project can access it. You can tell whether or not your project is private or public by clicking on the project link in the green projects box. From the display project screen, scroll down and click the access control link. From the display access control page, you will notice that there is a public field that either says yes or no. There are also edit project, edit team, view project, and view team fields. It is these fields that control who can access your project and how. We have a white paper on access control within Code Roller.