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I have just signed up with Action1 and am looking to give a stage by stage review as I have seen things that I like and things that I don’t like.

This will be over a couple of weeks as stage 1 is - deploying the software and reviewing the gui design and layout of Action1. I need all clients to use the current (old) WSUS system to deploy the agent, then move over to using Action1 to actually update.

I am pretty certain that one or more people from Action1 will see this because they seem to be pretty active on Spiceworks. So, here you go.

Positive Aspects

  1. Manual and Deployed installations were ridiculously simple. Simply download the MSI (which is also very small size and lightweight) and using my current deployment software just select Action1 Agent msi and select machines to deploy to. No need to work out options/flags such as product keys etc. Showed up pretty much instantaneously in Gui Console. This is brilliant. Thank you.

  2. Another brilliant feature is that it is completely hidden from the end user. I could not see it in the start menu, nor in the taskbar where you normally see Anti Virus, Intel etc showing up. I did see it in control panel - uninstall software (so should be easy to remove if desired as some programs make this very difficult) and I found the Action1 folder within the Windows folder.

  3. I am really pleased to finally be able to finally see vulnerabilities such as Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86, which are programs that are quite difficult to update as they are not software you tend to install (directly) and it’s not easy to know what machines have these irritating Visual C++ as well as Microsoft’s Onedrive (which I keep trying to remove as we don’t use it). Nice to also see software that has been deployed like Zoom, but not every machine is up to date as software only updates when someone loads the software.

Issues that need to be addressed

I have noticed two issues (I use Firefox ESR).

  1. When going to say Vulnerabilities or Installed Software, the website seems to remember the last page you were on - say page 3 instead of going back to the beginning. I can see how this might be useful in some ways, but because 99% of websites go back to page 1, it creates an unintended un-intuitive experience because user expects to be on page 1 when going back to that page. I probably could get used to this, as I can see the advantages of it. I would be interested to hear what others think of this particular feature.

I have also noticed that it is also retaining previous search results.

  1. The real problem that I have is that when I click on page 2, 3 or whatever, it goes to the next page, but always shows the bottom of the list and I have to scroll up. I kind of see the advantage of this as it means you can quickly go from page to page looking for letter “m” in the alphabet or something like that, but you can do that with search as well. So, I would consider this a bug in Firefox.

Desired Feature Requests

Auto Collapse

Auto Collapse the following Main Menus - Dashboard, Automation, Real Time Reports & Alerts and the last section Configuration. That way it is easy to see you have 4 main sections and you don’t have maximised sections that you don’t use most of the time.

In addition, it would be really good to auto collapse menus such as Builtin Reports - IT Asset Management so that Software Inventory collapses when you open Hardware Inventory which collapses when you open Managed Endpoints. IT Asset Management itself should collapse when you open Patch Management or Endpoint Security.

It might also be a good idea to have a better visual separation of Software Inventory, Hardware Inventory and Managed Endpoints from their respective submenu items. Collapsing all the main menus (and submenus), so that only the active main menu and subsection you are viewing is expanded, just makes it so much easier to navigate (especially if you are very new to the interface).

I am aware that some people would rather have the design as it is and others like to minimise everything and have a much more minimalist interface. Is it not possible to cater for both viewpoints, by enabling us to configure this in like a system settings or something? For me, I like to declutter my view.

LHS Menu and Dashboard Overview Section

With regards to LHS menu - I would recommend changing the order to Update Approval, Endpoints, Vulnerabilities and then Installed Software - and match the same order on Dashboard Overview. The reason being is that Update Approval (Missing Updates) is really the menu that you use the most in a Patch Management Program!

I am assuming that once you have updated the software listed in the Update Approval, most of the vulnerabilities listed would be removed. For example, I have one instance of Zoom (6.3.60501) listed in Update Approval and I have 45 CVE’s listed for Zoom on various computers. Why remediate in Vulnerabilities, when it’s much easier to approve update in Update Approval.

I would also recommend renaming Update Approval to Missing Updates (to match name you have on Dashboard Overview and because it’s more intuitive).

Possibly User Training

One thing that I have noticed, that may be more to do with me not being familiar with the product, is I cannot see which computers do not have say Openvpn installed. I can click on Openvpn in the both Installed Software and Update Approval and I can see which computers it is installed on, as well as version. But there is no ability to see what computers don’t have Openvpn installed.

Hopefully this review is of interest. Early days yet, but I do like the simplicity of the product and what I have done so far, seems to have worked flawlessly. However, I would really like the ability to collapse menus to make it clutter free.

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Screen Menu bug.

My laptop is a 13.3 inch laptop. I have resolution set to a default of 1920*1080 (recommended) and Windows 11 is using scale of 150% (which again is recommended according to Windows 11).

On that resolution and scale, I cannot see the Logout option in the menu. I can see as far down as Support. I have to change scale to 100% to be able to see help and sign out.

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I would argue that like your suggestions where you like clutter-free and menus collapsing, this one might not be used by everyone, especially those who setup automations, since this can approve on deploy.

It’s good to have manual control, though I expect many people wouldn’t have the time, or use a test group of devices, then after 1 week for example, approve and send.

Remediate isn’t just for deploying, in your above example of Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, there are no more patches, the product is EOL and no longer available, so remediate might be to accept that and remove it from the vulnerable list by marking it as user accepted (accept the risk).

You will learn a lot more and answer some of your own questions the more you use it, but for your reference, it’s all covered here
Action1 Documentation: User Guides & Resources

For what it’s worth, many of your nice to have’s are not things I have seen others ask for, but you should post them here
Action1 - Roadmap

I disable scaling as, as you’ve noticed it restricts what you see by adding a fake zoom.

They most likely will, but the channel for suggestions is above under roadmap.

The one you will see most frequently, is @mike-action1 the owner. :+1:

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One thing you might consider before you get too deep. You can set up multiple organizations (management groups). For example, I have them for Servers, Workstations, and then I have one for high security Servers. Figure out if you want to do this at the start. You can then drop down each org, and generate an installer. Separate MSI for each. This will put the machines under the proper org. You can move them later sure, but easier to do right off the bat. This allows you to restrict who can get to what. For example your end user service desk may not have rights to servers, and you may keep things like access to certain servers restricted to a select few.

Downsides of this. You set up separate patch rings and groups under each org. Not sure I consider that a downside but some might. Also means you have to look at multiple orgs to see security vulnerabilities as there isn’t an “all” option. If you have 2 or 3 orgs like I do, It’s not a big deal.

For those that have those “IT is not allowed to patch these, the vendor has to do it” servers. Most of us have them. Some of us have multiple ones like that. Some of us have app groups that manage their own patching. Put them in a separate org. This way they aren’t throwing off your vulnerability numbers, and it also makes it very trivial to highlight when these machines are becoming an issue so you can gently remind those application owners, they need to get on the ball.

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@Rod-IT I fully agree that a lot of people like having all menus maximised. Everyone is different. Which is why I would like to see the possibility of a toggle option in the user profile, where this can be set according to the user’s preference. I am not exactly ADHD, but I have always disliked too much noise, clutter etc. I like clean and minimalist as it helps to focus better. A toggle option in user profile should make everyone happy.

Automations probably should be in the first section anyway - I would have thought as you are quite correct. I would certainly automate Windows Defender updates - I don’t need to approve those manually.

I assume that you can just remove Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable and install the latest C++ redistributable as presumably the program using the C++ requires a certain version? Part of the problem is also knowing what program is actually using this.

When I am more familiar with the software, I will start using the Feedback on the Action1 website. This is more just a beginner’s user review, however I will request collapsing menus as the current format where nothing collapses is not really optimal for me.

@PatrickFarrell I have not got as far as planning groups etc. However, I don’t think that I need to go that far. I just need four basic groups - Servers and Clients, within Clients - Office, Staff and Pupils groups - and then a secondary requirement is to ensure that openvpn for example is only installed on laptops in the Office and Staff Groups. There is no need for Openvpn on a computer for obvious reasons.

Multiple Organisations for this client would be overkill as only I would be accessing Action1. But I will review that thoroughly when I am actually ready to start using Action1 to update software. I am just waiting a week or so, for the Action1 agent to be deployed to all machines as and when they come online.

Thanks for the feedback.

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Good luck on your A1 journey. You can always move the nodes between orgs later if you choose. With just one person, I wouldn’t break it up either. I have senior service desk staff with permissions to deploy apps/patches to end user machines, but not servers, which is why I do it that way.

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Just a little view of how you can have the same software, yet it can look very different with very minor tweaks.

Spiceworks you are familiar with.

Here is another website that also uses Discourse, but is in my opinion so much better as there is no clutter.

Another Discourse Website

What they have done is put all the crap that Spiceworks has on the LHS into a dropdown called Categories. They have also used the 3 lines menu to create a mega menu when you actually want to view menu options. So much better than how Spiceworks has done it. You can display exactly the same content - but some people would prefer how the other website have done it.

Although my biggest frustration with Spiceworks is when creating a question or discussion, you can no longer properly see categories to add to the question anymore - like you used to on the old system. I really wish that they would fix that as I have noticed the Spiceworks team editing topics to add more categories to questions I have asked - and I presume that they are doing this with other users.

Anyway - rant over. I will provide feedback on their forum and ask them to implement optional collapsing of menus.

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What’s wrong with the left side column? It’s just white space on the other site. It’s not like they are making use of the space gain?

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Note I’m saying this as a desktop viewer on a 27" monitor, I haven’t tried it on mobile :smiley:

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I am talking about when on a computer. I am talking about the - My Feed, Daily Challenge, Unanswered Questions etc. I just think it would be better tucked away in a menu like the other website does it.

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I would agree if that space was being used for something else, but on the other site it’s just white space. So from a user navigation perspective as a new user you have no idea those options exist unless you happen to click the hamburger menu.

It’s an individual taste thing. I’m fine with it as it is because that space wouldn’t be utilized otherwise. You can hide it on the Spiceworks site though by clicking the hamburger at the top left next to the Spiceworks logo which should make it the same as the other site. Should really fork this into another post separate from the A1 post.

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Yes, I don’t intend to hijack my own post to be about Spiceworks. I was just using the two sites to make my point about how Action1 can look very different with very minor tweaks. I will do a request on their feedback about the collapsing toggle. Thanks

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Please do, you can send information through the feedback form, or you can go directly contribute to the roadmap. We drive development off industry need and customer request. So when you put something on the roadmap it democratizes “need” , by putting it in a form of all in favor say “Aye”.

What that does is let our users share their ideas, and collaborate with others doing the same, I would suggest all users explore the roadmap and vote/comment on feature that is important to them.

Especially if you have a difference of behavior between browsers, please use the feedback in the console (Under your account bubble) describe the environment (OS/Browser/Versions)

Some of these are just use cases, we have an active support community here, discord, reddit, that are always hopping on to assist. Like Patrick’s suggestion of isolating orgs to keep things you control in scope and things you do not in another scope. Or Rod’s direction to documentation, as well we have webinars on demand for use, demonstration, features, and more.

Some of these are simply correcting the understanding of how things work.
For example, though the system will not allow you to create a “Endpoints without this” easily, there are ways around that. With the API and PSAction1 or without.

Using PSAction1 you can clone the software report, filter it to not contain endpoints that have the VPN client installed, use that as a datasource, and dynamically create. Our Field CTO just finished a 4 part Blog series and companion video to go over cases like this it should be published soon.

Using just Action1 not API and PSAction1 you could run a regular endpoint automation script, to set a custom attribute of something like “HasVPN” and then build a group dynamically off that attribute… You could even set an install automation to that group, so when an endpoint is detected to not have VPN, it gets classified in that group, and an automation automatically installs the VPN client.

So the best way past populating the Roadmap and voting on desired feature, is to ask specific questions like “How would I do using Action1?” in any of our community support outlets. Or of course if a paid subscriber, just reach out to support direct.

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I hate that view, it looks old and boring, while I am not saying this one is better all in, it’s cleaner than that one. This is what makes us different, but if that was how Action1 looked, I would probably look elsewhere for tools.

While I don’t post many questions, it’s not hard by any means. Different I will grant, but not hard. I will also clarify, everyone is different and adapting is hard for some - I have my own views posted on here about this layout, but it’s not about ease of finding things for me, if you can adapt between XP, 7, 8, 10 and 11, you can adapt here and in other situations too. Does it suit everyone, no. Will it ever, also no.

I will also add that I use these systems on a 34" ultrawide monitor, I have to have tabs in windows otherwise it’s even more white space.

The site you linked looks like it’s designed for mobile first which probably looks great over on a mobile, but on a desktop it’s (for me), unproductive use of screen space.

Hopefully, if enough people share your views it will be put in.

I am in the dashboard rarely as I’ve set most tasks to schedule, I check in periodically, but I know when my schedules are.

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Just a pro tip here, since the primary access to the internet globally right now is a mobile device, that has lead to an increase in page design that is more mobile first, and that sometimes creates the inverse of what the problem used to be, which was cumbersome when viewed on a mobile, and in doing so, it defies the traditional monitor aspect ratio.

But this can be worked to your advantage, especially if you run multiple monitors, turn one 90 degrees and put it in portrait mode. It can fundamentally change how you interact with some sites.

If you have ones that just simply work better in this configuration, you have options to make shortcuts direct to them with things like alternate agent strings and or screen dimensions to make some of them very much so look and feel like large desktop cell phones…

Seems simple, but when people see mine arranged that way, and ask why, I show them, and they go “woah, ok, I am dong that…” pretty consistently.

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Sooner or later we’ll see a push to go back to 4:3 aspect ratio monitors because everything is getting slimmer page wise :smiley:

I’d have to replace my other 27" with one that actually has a vesa mount to rotate it. the one that does is my gaming monitor.

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I totally get the mobile first context, but not all apps are capable and for some, even if they were, it can be harder on a smaller screen and harder if you need to look at or do multiple things at once.

I’m not against mobile first, but like the OP, I would like a choice as I tend to almost always use a monitor as i have various things on the go at once.

Appreciate the tip though, I’ll have a go and see how i fair.

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I agree it is maddening sometimes, I am not in the fan camp for sure , but I also hate to use my mobile as anything but a phone unless I have to.

Of course the comfortable medium (And what I see a lot in WSYWIG editors) is smart device detection, and adjust site experience accordingly. But in anything other than a general content site, that gets into a lot of overhead, for instance to design completely independent UX/UI for a web app can end up 150% more work for 5% more market share. Its a struggle for sure.

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Don’t even get me started on router vendors that basically removed all functionality from web based management that you could do on your computer and now you have to do it on your phone with an app.

No, I have 2x27" monitors, a keyboard and a mouse. My S22 Ultra screen is large, but there’s no comparison between that experience and being able to do it on a computer. There is literally nothing I prefer doing on my phone from serious computer experience when I have access to a computer. The phone is an I’m sitting somewhere waiting and bored and need to kill time experience.

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And that is why I keep a few old cell phones around to install their junk, then wipe it after. :wink:

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