Two observations about the web viewer/server:
(1) It does not seem to be possible to drag the border of two columns in order to change column size
(2) When right -clicking on the title row, only a limited number of options appear to add/delete as fields. Of particular importance, custom metadata fields are not offered as an option
I realize the server was sort of a bonus with DT2 and was thus not particularly feature-rich. But if the server and web interface are now the key feature for the top level purchase of DT3, then I am hoping it will be developed with the goal of matching User Interface features on the web and desktop as much as possible. Is this planned?
As of now these are the options on the Desktop version on my database (** click to see entire image **)
Yet here is the corresponding list of options on the web app:
Any thoughts on this?
Can I include custom metadata columns when viewing a database via the web server?
Can I include custom metadata columns when viewing a database via the web server?
No, you can’t. Custom metadata columns are not supported at this time. Perhaps it will come in the future, but it would likely be after the 3.0 public release.
If custom metadata columns are difficult to support I understand. Is it possible to support:
(1) Changing the width of standard columns on the web server (similar to how this works on the desktop version); and
(2) Allowing access to all metadata (regular and custom) via the inspector
I get it that you have tons of requests and need to prioritize. But the web server is a feature you have chosen to charge $300 extra for - an extreme premier feature which more than doubles the cost of the software. Without these features the utility of the web server is considerably reduced.
Put another way - who is the market to pay $300 extra for the webserver with considerably less capability than the desktop window?
I get it that you have tons of requests and need to prioritize. But the web server is a feature you have chosen to charge $300 extra for - an extreme premier feature which more than doubles the cost of the software. Without these features the utility of the web server is considerably reduced.
Put another way - who is the market to pay $300 extra for the webserver with considerably less capability than the desktop window?
We have had many business, academic, and collaborative users using web sharing for a long time - in its previous configuration.
Consider this… say you have an office with 20 workers and one person running a DEVONthink database on a Mac. You could broadcast a database with essential access to the databases via web sharing for $300-$500 dollars, or you could… Let’s do the math:
- Basic Mac Mini x 20 = $800 X 20 = $16,000
- 20 seats of DEVONthink Standard (taking a simple approach of buying a license with two seats, as an estimate): $100 X 10 = $1000
- The cost of getting non-Mac people up to speed on Macs in general and DEVONthink in particular = very difficult to quantify, but many thousands of dollars
So, well over $20,000 versus ~$500. 
Note: You are also talking about a web browser. There are limiting technological factors in using a browser and a broadcasted database versus an application using the native database. It will likely never have full feature parity with the application.
Point taken
But the ability to adjust the width of columns is clearly doable in a web app.
And the inclusion of an inspector with all standard and custom metadata fields is certainly doable as well.
I agree that feature party may never be equal - thus for example it may be necessary for the web users to view some data fields in the inspector rather than in columns. But right now many DT3 databases would be effectively unusuable via the web interface; that isn’t just an issue of feature parity. That also means the users who set up an office web database as you suggest need to consciously design such a database to avoid features and field types which are not usable over the web.
I don’t mean to sound negative - the other new features are amazing. But this is a really big blow to the web server to be so crippled in functionality.
I would not call it “crippled” since many users already use it in its state in DEVONthink 2.x, which is even less feature-rich.
Also, DEVONthink 3 is still in beta development, and there is plenty of work left to do on all fronts. The request has been noted.
There any update on this feature? I really understand that it’s not a high priority matter, but it would be revolutionary to my workflow and just makes me curious if is this on the roadmap.
Thank you all!
