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All right, get ready to dive deep into Documize today.

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They claim to be like a one-stop shop

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for managing knowledge, whether it's for building

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amazing products or even just making sure

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your company's information runs smoothly internally.

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Oh, before we get started, a big thanks to SafeServer

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for supporting us on this deep dive.

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They're the experts when it comes to digital transformation

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and hosting solutions, and guess what?

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They can even help you with Documize hosting.

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So yeah, check them out at www.safeserver.desde.

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It's interesting, they're not just one tool.

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It's two separate products, actually.

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There's ZeraBase for product development and then Community,

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which is designed for managing internal knowledge

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across, well, the whole company.

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Yeah, that's right.

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We've got a bunch of Documize's marketing stuff

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from their website for this one,

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and then we also snuck a peek under the hood,

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so to speak, through their GitHub repository.

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It's like having the fancy brochure

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and the engineer's notes all at once.

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But the big question is, can Documize Leave

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really live up to the hype?

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Can it be that ultimate knowledge hub

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for both product stuff and company-wide knowledge?

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Let's start with ZeraBase, their product development tool.

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They call it Product HQ, and yeah,

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it seems to be all about centralizing, well, everything.

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Okay, so imagine this.

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You're building like a brand new app, right?

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You've got designers and developers,

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product managers running around,

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and maybe even some customer feedback trickling in.

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It's a lot to handle, right?

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Yeah.

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Documize says ZeraBase can handle all that.

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Everything from product plans and design assets

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to documentation and even customer feedback,

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all in one desktop application.

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And they really push that offline functionality.

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That's huge for people who are on the go

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or maybe have unreliable internet access.

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Definitely.

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They even have this quote from a VP of product,

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Eric Vortist, who says ZeraBase has basically

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become their product HQ.

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Sounds good, but it does make you wonder,

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what kind of company does he actually work for?

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And what problems were they facing

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that ZeraBase actually solved for them?

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Always good to be a little critical

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of these testimonials, you know?

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Oh, for sure.

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And then there's the pricing.

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Free for two editors and unlimited viewers.

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So smaller teams can get started without paying anything,

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which makes you wonder, what's their long-term plan here?

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Now let's move over to community,

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their internal knowledge management solution.

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This one's all about organizing all that company knowledge

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and making it easy to find.

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Think of all those documents that get scattered everywhere.

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You know, like shared drives, emails,

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people's hard drives even, processes, guidelines, manuals.

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Basically anything and everything

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a company needs documented.

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Documize says community can wrangle all of that.

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They even compare it to Confluence,

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which tons of companies use, but it can get so unwieldy.

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Documize is pitching community as like a simpler

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and more streamlined alternative to Confluence.

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One quote that caught my eye

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was from an infrastructure expert

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who was praising the built-in workflows in community.

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That just makes me wonder what exactly are these workflows

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and how customizable are they?

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Are we talking simple approvals

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or something way more complex?

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Okay, so we've heard the marketing pitch,

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but what about the technology behind it all?

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What's interesting is that Documize community is open source.

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So their code is out there for anyone to see on GitHub.

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Yeah, that means anyone can actually look at the code,

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modify it, even contribute to the project if they want.

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It's a big win for transparency.

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On the technical side, it's built on Go and EmberJS.

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Now, those might sound like a foreign language

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to some people, but the key takeaway

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is that it can compile down to a single file,

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making it theoretically super easy to install.

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So no more struggling

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with those complicated installation processes.

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That's a huge plus for me.

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Definitely, and they support a bunch of different databases

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and operating systems.

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You can basically use it with whatever setup you've got.

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And if you're worried about security,

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especially with sensitive information,

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you'll be glad to know they've got your back.

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Lots of authentication options,

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including the usual suspects like LDAP and Active Directory,

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but also things like Red Hat Key Cloak.

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And another thing, Community supports a lot of languages

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right out of the box.

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Let's see, we've got English, German, French, Chinese,

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Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish.

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I mean, is your language on the list?

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Now, they have this free Community Edition,

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but they also offer a paid version they call Community Plus,

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which is their enterprise version.

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The classic freemium model.

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OK, so what extra goodies do we get with Community Plus?

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Community Plus unlocks a bunch of more advanced features.

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We're seeing workflows again, plus version control

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so you can track changes, PDF export, analytics

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to see how people are using the knowledge base,

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and maybe the most important, you get dedicated support.

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And their pricing structure is a bit unique.

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Free for up to five users, then a flat fee for up to 100.

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That's a pretty good deal for smaller businesses

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compared to some other pracier options.

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But how does it compare to the competition

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for bigger companies with hundreds

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or even thousands of users?

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That's a really good point.

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We'll have to dig into that a bit more.

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Okay, so we've talked about the basics

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of ZeraBase and Community, but like,

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how would you actually use these tools in the real world?

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Okay, so let's say you're building

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a new software application.

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You've got your whole product team,

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you've got people sketching out features,

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designers working on mockups,

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developers coding like crazy,

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and testers trying to, well, break everything.

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It's a lot of information flying around, right?

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Exactly.

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That's where ZeraBase comes in.

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It's meant to be that central hub

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where all that information can live together.

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No more trying to decipher notes on napkins

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or digging through endless email chains.

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So instead of having, like, project plans in one tool,

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design files somewhere else,

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and documentation all over the place,

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it's all in ZeraBase.

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Sounds pretty good to me,

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but how do you keep everyone, like, on the same page?

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That's one of the things ZeraBase is really pushing.

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Product managers can lay out their roadmaps,

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and they're directly linked to design mockups,

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documentation, even code repositories.

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Everyone can see, you know, what's being built and why.

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So no more, like, lost in translation moments

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between different teams.

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No more developers building the wrong thing

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because they didn't have the latest design specs.

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It's got to save a lot of time.

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Absolutely, and we can't forget about, you know,

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customer feedback, Documize talks a lot about integrating

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that right into ZeroBase.

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Wait, so instead of having customer feedback

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off in some separate tool,

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it's right there next to the product plans

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and development progress.

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Yeah.

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That's a pretty cool idea.

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It is.

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It helps teams make newer decisions,

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prioritize features based on what users actually want,

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not just, you know, guessing.

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Yeah, closing that loop between what users are asking for

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and what you're building.

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Okay, that all makes sense for product teams,

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but what about community?

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Where does that fit in?

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Think about all that knowledge that's kind of locked away

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in people's heads or hidden deep in the company servers,

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you know, those processes, guidelines, policies,

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the things that keep everything running smoothly.

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That's where community comes in.

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You mean all that, like, tribal knowledge

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that disappears when someone leaves the company?

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Or those super important documents

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that no one can ever seem to find?

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Exactly.

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Community wants to be that central place

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for all that information,

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making it accessible and searchable for everyone.

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I can see how that would be really useful

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for, like, onboarding new employees.

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Yeah.

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Instead of handing them a stack of old manuals,

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you can just point them to community and boom,

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they have everything they need.

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And it's not just for new people either.

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Think about collaboration between different departments.

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Like, let's say the marketing team needs to know

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about the latest sales process.

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No more scheduling meetings or sending a million emails.

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They can just find what they need in community.

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So community is kind of like the ultimate

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knowledge library for your company.

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But you mentioned earlier that community is open source.

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That seems like a pretty big deal.

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It is.

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It means anyone can actually look at the code,

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see how it all works, even suggest changes or contribute

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their own code.

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That kind of transparency is pretty rare

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in the software world.

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OK, that's cool for the tech folks.

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But what about regular people?

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Like, what are the benefits for people who don't code?

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Well, one thing is you can potentially

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customize community to fit your company's needs exactly.

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Maybe you have a specific workflow or some particular

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security requirements.

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With open source, you can actually tweak things.

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So it's not just a one-size-fits-all thing.

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You can adapt it to your own situation.

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Exactly.

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But there's also a potential downside

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you have to think about.

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Uh-oh.

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What's the catch?

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Well, with open source, you're relying on the community

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to support and maintain the software.

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So what happens if the company behind Documize disappears?

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Will the community keep it going?

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Yeah, that's a good point.

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It's like putting all your eggs in one basket

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and hoping that the community will always

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be there to, well, catch them.

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It's a bit of a gamble, for sure.

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But for some companies, the benefits

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of transparency and customization,

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they might outweigh those concerns.

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Speaking of risks, let's talk money.

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We've danced around it a bit.

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But how much does all this actually cost?

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Well, remember, ZeraBase is free for smaller teams.

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They only charge when you have more than two editors.

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That makes it really appealing for startups

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and smaller companies just starting out.

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Yeah, it's a smart way to get people using it, right?

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Start off with a free version.

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And then, boom, they're hooked and ready to pay.

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Exactly.

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And then there's community.

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The basic version is free for everyone.

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But they have that paid enterprise version,

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Community Plus, that gives you all the fancy features.

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Right.

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The workflows, version control, analytics, all that good stuff.

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But how does the pricing work for Community Plus?

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It's kind of interesting.

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They have a free tier for up to five users,

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which is pretty generous.

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But once you hit that limit, you pay a flat fee

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for up to 100 users.

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So it might be a decent deal for small to medium businesses.

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But what about the really big companies?

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Yeah, if you've got hundreds or even thousands of users,

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that flat fee could get pretty expensive.

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I wonder how it compares to other enterprise knowledge

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management solutions.

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That's definitely a question worth looking into.

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It seems like Documize is really targeting

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those smaller, faster moving companies

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with their pricing model.

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It'll be interesting to see how that works out

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for them in the long run.

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Definitely.

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OK, so we've looked at how ZeraBase and Community

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could fit into real world workflows.

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And we've talked about the whole pricing thing.

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But there are still some big questions to answer.

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Yeah, like can one platform really do it all?

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And are there any downsides to relying

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on an open source solution?

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We'll dig into those questions in part three.

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OK, welcome back to the last part of our deep dive

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on Documize.

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We've gone through their features,

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looked at potential use cases, even gotten

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into the tech side of things.

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But now the big question, can Documize actually

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do what it says it can do?

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That's the real question, isn't it?

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They're basically trying to be two things at once.

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The essential tool for product teams, that's ZeraBase,

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and the ultimate knowledge base for the whole company

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with Community.

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It's ambitious, for sure.

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Having your product development info all in ZeraBase

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and then seamlessly connected to the company's knowledge

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and Community, that sounds pretty powerful, you know?

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Imagine this.

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A developer is working in ZeraBase and hits a roadblock,

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some kind of tricky technical challenge.

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Instead of getting stuck, they just jump over to Community,

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search around, see if anyone else has run

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into the same issue before, maybe even

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find some internal best practices that could help.

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It's like having all the knowledge of your company

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right there easy to access.

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But here's where I get a bit hesitant.

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Can one platform really do both things well?

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Or do we lose something by trying to do too much?

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That's a good point.

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It really comes down to your needs.

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If your product development is super complex,

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maybe you need a tool that's specifically

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built for that ZeraBase might not be enough.

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And then on the other side, if your company has a huge

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knowledge base with sensitive info,

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you probably need a system with really tight security

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and powerful search.

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Community might not be up to that task.

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Exactly.

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It's about finding the right tool for the job.

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Another thing to consider is how easy

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it is to learn, especially with community.

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Documize says it's simpler than Confluence.

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But any new platform takes time to get used to and integrate

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into your workflows.

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Oh, for sure.

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And people don't always like change.

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If community isn't easy to use, people

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are just going to go back to their old ways,

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emailing files around or keeping stuff

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on their own computers.

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Documize has to make the user experience really

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good to succeed.

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Yeah, I agree.

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Speaking of succeeding, let's go back to the open source

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thing with community.

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We talked about the benefits, transparency, customization,

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the potential for a really active community.

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But there are also risks, right?

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Right.

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The big one being, can they make it last?

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Can Documize build a successful business

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around a product that's mostly free and open source?

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It's a big gamble.

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It depends on them building a strong community that's

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not just using the software, but actually contributing to it.

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Writing code, documentation, providing support,

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they need to become like the center of everything community.

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So it's a bit of a catch-22.

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They need a strong community to succeed,

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but to get that community, they need to prove that, well,

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community's here to stay.

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Exactly.

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It'll be interesting to see what happens.

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If they can make it work, they could really change the knowledge

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management world.

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So we've talked about the pros and cons,

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looked at the potential benefits and the risks,

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even dug into some of the tech stuff.

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But really, the best way to see if Documize is right for you

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is to just try it out.

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Totally.

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Go to their website, read the documentation,

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maybe even try a free trial, see how it feels,

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if it fits into how you work, if it clicks for you.

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And think about if it really addresses your specific needs

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and challenges.

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Don't just use it because it sounds cool.

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Make sure it's the right tool for what you're trying to do.

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Well put.

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This has been a really interesting look at Documize.

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We talked about their strategy of having two products, what

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they're doing with open source, and the big question of if they

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can make it work long term.

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00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:56,860
A huge thank you to SafeServer for making this deep dive

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possible.

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If you need experts in digital transformation and hosting

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solutions, and yes, that includes Documize hosting,

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00:14:03,540 --> 00:14:07,380
check them out at www.safeserver.de.

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They're the people to talk to.

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Until next time, keep exploring and keep learning.

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Happy learning, everyone.