OpenHab Marketing is Lacking

[jlemmer (Jörg Lemmer)]

Up to now, I am just making proposals and offer myself for the realisation of something that would allow a potential/new user to get a fast payoff of investing very limited time and without being confronted with too much technical background.

The idea of more than one showcase should solve the problem of a Getting Started Guide, that needs to cover nearly everything, as @rlkoshak wrote about. I could think of a matrix in which several showcases use a different OS in the background as chapter 1, different technologies with their respective bindings in chapter 2 and different use cases based on concrete devices, things, channels, items and rules, … in chapter 3. So a user could switch between the showcases based on the chapters. Like: OK, I want to realize the showcase in which is explained how to handle the rollershutters based on entries in a Google calendar. But I do not want to realize is, based on a Raspberry Pi. So I use chapter 1 of the showcase that explains how to realize a panic button, switching all outdoor lights on, that uses a Windows PC. And as I already have Homematic switches I use chapter 2 of the showcase … as the rollershutter showcase uses z-wave switches. And this matrix would then directly show the great advantage of the binding-things-channel-item concept, as every goal can be achived on every platform with every technology that offers the needed devices. Or comming back to @rlkoshak and his problem with the HUE equipment: A showcase with several scenes to make a great home cinema based partly on HUE RGB bulbs would then allow to take chapter 2 of some other showcase in which the binding for another technology, that also offers RGB bulbs, is installed and configured up to the point when you discover devices as things.

[Oliver2 (Oliver)]

I see, then it is a perfect match as I want to cover the first part for a new user: from downloading the image until his first GUI based rule - in a nice and easy way. Your showcase would be more on top of that guide if a user wants to do more?

[JustinG]

@rlkoshak

Though such a binding’s only reason for being would be to have some binding that links to Items. You don’t really need the binding except as a way to show how the Thing links to an Item. From that perspective I don’t know if it adds anything. We are still in a situation with a tutorial that doesn’t included concrete physical devices.

Physical device, no. That’s why it has to be something like the magic binding which, for example in the case of the sensors, spoofs data so that you get some input from the item you’ve linked to that “sensor”. Maybe in this case it’s a motion “sensor” that triggers a motion alert every some number of minutes. Then what this gets you is the ability to create a rule that automates the actionable item based on the sensor item.

The trick is the feedback from the actionable item. If it’s a switch then, at the moment, the only feedback would be you see the switch widget on the page change, so the one thing this is missing is some other visual feedback that separates the actual “switch” from the MainUI representation of it. I don’t have a ready answer for this. Something like just a browser alert even would work (“Your light has switched on!”), but from my limited knowledge I’m not sure how feasible that is. Someone smarter than me is going to need to have a flash of insight in that regard.

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

@JustinG

I’m not sure how feasible that is. Someone smarter than me is going to need to have a flash of insight in that regard.

Too soon to bring in the cloud connector and use notifications for this? Since the myopenhab.org account is free maybe not. Then again it might scare off the anti-cloud crowd.

I think asking them to look at the logs might be too far.

There is a long time open issue (at least I think it’s still open) to build logging into MainUI, but that’s going to require changes to openhab-core to create the API endpoint. We wouldn’t need events.log since that’s already there in the event stream. We’d just need an SSE or websocket to push out openhab.log.

Could kill two birds with one stone with that approach.

[JustinG]

@rlkoshak

We wouldn’t need events.log since that’s already there in the event stream.

It’s never too early to introduce users to the developer sidebar. A user with just a single rule and two or three items should be able to follow what’s gong on by watching the stream in the sidebar.

[pauli_anttila (Pali)]

@JustinG

What about the creation of a “demo” binding? Something akin to the magic binding by @wborn (but pared down). It could have one associated simple switch thing, one simple sensor thing, one bridge thing, one switch thing and sensor thing that rely on the bridge to work.

That way tutorials could work off of the demo binding but also list equivalencies. “These steps will use the demo simple items, but if you have Kasa, Hue … etc. then you can install that binding and follow along with your own device.”

I also proposed simulator binding idea few years ago, when Yannic used Nibe heat pump binding simulator features to develop the new UI.

Getting Started with OH3: rewriting the tutorial - 1. Introduction

OH3 could contain dedicated simulator binding, which provides collection of different kind of things. Simulator binding could also provides HW simulation web page for things, where user could see the real hardware behaviour and change the HW state. E.g. TV thing, simulation web page shows real picture of the TV and TV remote controller. When user “plug” power cable from web page, user could see that OH discovers the TV and/or thing is set to ONLINE. User could change volume via remote control…

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

@JustinG

It’s never too early to introduce users to the developer sidebar. A user with just a single rule and two or three items should be able to follow what’s gong on by watching the stream in the sidebar.

I completely agree and I kind of expect that any log viewer would be in the sidebar.

[stamate_viorel]

Talk about marketing and making things easier. It’s like buying Philips hue

Introducing Home Assistant Green: Your entry to Home Assistant

Edit you can set it with the homeassistant app I mean wow it does show it’s a business.

[maniac103 (Danny Baumann)]

@rlkoshak

This has been proposed a number of times. The task is enormous if the database is to include each and every device (which is what was proposed) with a massive ongoing maintenance tail.

I think that would be over engineered. What would be sufficient, I think, would be adding some tags to the addon metadata (vendor name, technology name, or similar things people are likely to search for) and a way to do a free text search over those to get the respective binding name.

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

Many add-ons support devices from dozens or more vendors. Many vendors support devices that require different add-ons to work with. I don’t think it’s as simple as that. But again, if you think you have a solution, great! Lets get some PRs going!

[John_Siemon]

Having just read through this thread/discussion and as someone who has evaluated HA (and continues to periodically evaluate it), but has settled on OH I would like to share a few thoughts.

Taking a high level view of a Smarthome, it is generally agreed that there 3 main functions; 1) Monitor, 2) Control, 3) Automate. To this end I believe most new users are focused on Monitor and Control. They wish to consolidate any number of standalone apps into a single app or system that is easy to setup and use. This is where HA excels in getting a user connected with their devices through automatic discovery and populating a rudimentary dashboard with almost no involvement from the user being required. Unfortunately OH falls flat in this regard and for a new user, as others have stated and I have recently experienced, this is the primary appeal of HA. Technical issues aside for the moment, this a major hurdle for OH that must be flattened in some way, be it a wizard or whatever, to keep a new users interest and begin to show the power of OH.

As an OH user from early days of 2.x, IMO and the reason I stick with OH is the ability to add complex automation using text files/scripts and perhaps now with UI (although I haven’t tried any truly complex automations with UI rules). In this regard HA falls flat IMO requiring a YAML implementation that has thus far escaped my ability to master sufficiently to replicate what I can do in OH. This is a key differentiator for OH vis-à-vis HA and something that should be highlighted. To illustrate my point, I am in my late 60’s and recently was having a conversation about IoT and the Smarthome with a few of my technically savvy nephews who are in their late 20’s. They proceeded to show me their HA smarthome implementations which was basically just consolidation of apps for single point monitor and control. When they were finished “showing-off”, I showed them my OH UI/Dashboard eye candy in all its splendor, then I told them that I rarely ever use the UI because my home is mostly automated. As I went into detail about the complexities of some of my automations it was a total eye opener for them, but the sad truth is they had never heard of OH.

This raises the next question in my mind as we begin to think about marketing OH. Namely, who is the target market? What type of user and level of technical sophistication forms the target audience that will help build and grow OH going forward? Is it the total newbie or maybe someone who has a system on another platform, but has hit limitations in the platform or their own ability to master the platform and take their installation to the next level (ie automation)? As someone made a point that we should not be competing with other platforms as the total Smarthome market is expanding and is still relatively young, with plenty of users for everyone. If that is the case, then what are OH key points of differentiation that should be highlighted to the potential user through this marketing that will make a prospective user choose OH over HA or any other platform? As another person wrote, marketing something that OH can’t deliver is not going to be helpful in the long run and at the moment there can be little debate that HA has the advantage for ease of installation and getting up and running with little knowledge or skill needed by the user. It is a “perfect newbie system” in this regard.

So while OH developers and maintainers take on the task of implementing some sort of auto-discovery/wizard for a future OH release, should OH not try market what it does well? As a starting point I have listed what I see as some key differentiators that keep me using OH, but I’m sure there are plenty more.

• 1. Choice of multiple UI/dashboards (eye candy)
• 2. Ability to “easily” create a very polished, pro-like UI/Dashboard with Main UI (more eye candy)
• 3. Ability to create complex automation rules/schemes with UI/scripts in choice of multiple scripting languages
• 4. Rigorous/standardized process in creating updates and adding new features
• 5. Semi annual releases with monthly milestones
• 6. Stability and security
• 7. Optional but Free OH Cloud Connector
• 8. …more

So what is the best way to get this message out? I’m not a social medial person, I have no accounts on social media, but all of my nephews and nieces use multiple social media platforms so if OH doesn’t have a social media presence is that something that should be considered as well as other avenues?

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

@John_Siemon

perhaps now with UI (although I haven’t tried any truly complex automations with UI rules)

You can write parts of rules in the UI using any of the supported rules languages so there is no limit to the complexity supported.

@John_Siemon

Ability to create complex automation rules/schemes with UI/scripts in choice of multiple scripting languages

Does HA have something akin to our Rule Templates? If not that could be a differentiator too. Not only does OH support complex automations more easily, in some cases you don’t even need to code them yourself.

@John_Siemon

if OH doesn’t have a social media presence is that something that should be considered as well as other avenues?

There is a Subreddit. The Facebook page is German only. I think there’s a Discord Channel but I’ve never used Discord so never tried to look. Instagram doesn’t really feel like a good fit. OH is on X but not super active (and I wouldn’t get an account over there before Musk took it over let alone now).

[John_Siemon]

@rlkoshak

Does HA have something akin to our Rule Templates? If not that could be a differentiator too. Not only does OH support complex automations more easily, in some cases you don’t even need to code them yourself.

To the best of my knowledge they do not have templates in the way that OH does. They do have a UI rule builder, but in my experience it is very, very limited.

[ysc (Yannick Schaus)]

@stamate_viorel

I mean wow it does show it’s a business

Of course it’s a business. They probably didn’t mean to be one initially but now they have a successful product backed by an incorporated company and several core developers on the payroll.
That’s what you ultimately choose, in fact - an open-source product backed by a for-profit company or a free software whose features which cost money are handled by a non-profit.

[Oliver2 (Oliver)]

@John_Siemon

I’m sure there are plenty more.

It is already here. please have a look (scroll down to USPs):

Call to action - volunteers for openHAB "marketing"

List of volunteers, areas of engagement: @stamate_viorel, all areas @bartus, videos @timo12357, positioning and other areas @jlemmer , description of openHAB Ideas: rework website to address new users by providing our USPs, guide them in the process from the first visit, retrieving first information on possibilities, installation, customisation Collection of USPs vendor-independent home automation solution, 100% royalty-free, no monthly fees (this means the user gets a platform wh…

Based on your post I have updated the list.

[jlemmer (Jörg Lemmer)]

I am thinking more of (a) complete start to finish tutorial(s) to realise a concrete use case, (each) devided into three chapters, instead of a “general” getting started guide. Therefore I need concrete bindings and add ons to be installed necessary for the individual use case. But nonetheless I would also support you in a general getting started guide. And I already have one here for openHABian as part of a tutorial for an openHAB appliance I am currently working on.

Something like (just an example, to find good use cases showing the advantages of OH will need some brain):

The story (use case):

Susan loves watching a good movie with her friends in her home cinema. She spend a lot of money for equipment. But with more and more devices to control she got frustrated. She bought a Logitech Harmony Hub to control the soures, the projector and sound system already and some HUE lights she controls via the HUE App until now. But she would love to have everything connected in a way that she just needs one button to switch between scenes like receiving her guests at bright light, starting up the equipment as the light gets down a litte bit, fading the room light completely while the HUE play behind the sofa turn to a dark red as a background light for the movie, dimm the room light up and down if a pause is necessary and having a sunrise effect while everything is switched off.

One of her frieds offered her a little old Windows PC, she could use for more automation.

What you need

Home cinema equipment already connected to a Logitech Harmony Hub
At least one HUE light for the room and one for the background light connected to a HUE HUB already
PC (Windows based)

Chapter 1: Installing OH on a Windows PC

…

Chapter 2: Install bindings for Logitech Harmony and HUE, create things for the devices to be controlled and connect items to the channels for each function they offer

…

Chapter 3: Create rules for the scenes and a simple GUI to activate them

…

By deviding the showcases in these chapters the advantage of a concept of several platforms, bindings for different technologies offering most identical items for similar functions of different devices can be shown and with each new showcase we could add a new platform, a new technology/binding, … to a “menu” the user could choose from like in a restaurant. You can order a complete meal by following the tutorial of one use case completely, but can also decide for a starter (platform), choose a main course and some side dishes (binding and add ons) and as a desert implement your desired use case in form of rules and GUI form different tutorials.

[jlemmer (Jörg Lemmer)]

The best would be a little set of fake devices placed on a webpage allowing some sort of interaction. So you could trigger your motion sensor by clicking it, having a “HUE light” that shows how it is dimmed up and down and changes colors, … Then you could open it in a parallel browser window to interact.

[jlemmer (Jörg Lemmer)]

@rlkoshak

There is a long time open issue (at least I think it’s still open) to build logging into MainUI

I use frontail in a webframe on a page in Main UI to have it available on every terminal in the house in case something does not work as expected.

[Oliver2 (Oliver)]

Why would Chapter 1 differ from one show case to another? Currently this sounds like 80% what I am working on.
Which is not a bad thing,… Gives us the option to save work if it makes sense.

[Kim_Andersen]

I think its wrong focusing on windows based openHAB.
Two reasons:

1. People are moving away from PC´s and towards mobile devices, smartphones, tablets etc. Alot of “smart home” devices comes with smartphone app today.

2. Windows based PC´s are expencive to have running 24/7. They use quite alot of power. And sometimes they´re even noisy.

The dilemma is, most people know Windows alot better than Rpi/NAS devices or simular. So it may take a huge job to convince them to use another platform. Lots of them will give up long before you even would succeed. They´re scary of an Rpi… Its a green plate with “something” soldered to it! This is where to convince them to buy a cover/case as well. But they will wonder… Where the heck is the cover… Their window PC came with a cover/case just fine. Now I just want to run a smarthome, and I´m about to build my own computer…

For none techinal people, this is an absolute no-go. Now matter how well the smart system (platform) is.

Now try and convince the same people to buy an expecive NAS