Getting started with Odoo online

Not long ago, nearly all companies kept their primary information systems in-house. This approach requires not only a lot of capital expense in purchasing servers and software licenses, but also creates a lot of responsibility and risk in backing up data and ensuring business continuity. Today, more and more companies are choosing to host their business applications in online networks commonly known as the cloud. Odoo allows you the flexibility of both options—either hosting on your own hardware, or utilizing Odoo's online software services.

Taking advantage of Odoo online

The best thing about accessing Odoo online is that you can jump in and start using the software right away. You don't have to decide what operating system to use. You don't have to install any software at all. Just enter the URL into your web browser and you are ready to get started.

Another added benefit of taking this approach is that you will verify that your web browser is up to date and compatible with the latest version of Odoo. So, even if you intend to install Odoo on your own hardware, it is still worth taking a minute to test out the online trial version of Odoo. Expect to put a great deal of time into determining which Odoo applications are right for your company.

Taking a few hours to use the Odoo online version is time well spent and you can put off installing Odoo until you are more certain it is the right software for your business.

Tip

Use the Odoo free edition to verify browser compatibility with any older machines.

Odoo browser requirements

Odoo is designed to run on a variety of modern web browsers. Supported browsers include:

• Google Chrome (recommended)
• Firefox
• Internet Explorer
• Safari

Tip

Macintosh users will need to make sure they are running Mac OS X or above. Users running older Macintosh systems are currently having difficulties running Odoo version 7. Also, in my experience, Google Chrome tends to offer the best experience in working with Odoo. Firefox is also often recommended by others in the Odoo community.

Odoo mobile phone and tablet support

Beginning with Odoo 8, Odoo has native support for mobile phones and tablets. Menus are designed to flow and format properly. The new website application even includes a preview within the portal administration to emulate how the site would appear on a mobile phone. While you still suffer many of the limitations that come with a small screen size, the applications are functional and make it even easier for developers to create mobile Odoo applications.

Odoo's mobile application support covers both the Android and Apple iOS platforms. Make sure, however, that for any processes you intend to implement for your business, you test all processes thoroughly for both desktop and any mobile solutions. Smaller screen sizes might make some data unreadable or very awkward to work with.

Accessing the Odoo free online trial

Accessing the online trial version of Odoo online could not be simpler. Just open up your browser and navigate to https://www.odoo.com/start.

You will then be prompted to choose one of more than 20 business applications, as shown in the following screenshot:

Don't worry, you can add more applications later:

Clicking on the appropriate button for the application immediately begins installing your own unique Odoo instance.

For our example, let's go ahead and install the CRM application by clicking on the Install CRM button:

Be patient as it can take thirty seconds or longer for the servers to build the database and bring up the starting page. When the installation is complete, Odoo automatically signs you in so you can begin trying out the software. The goal of this approach is to get users to directly start using the software right away and avoid having to fill out lengthy forms or create logins and passwords to begin using the software. It really is just one click and you have your own version of Odoo to play with.

In the preceding screenshot, you can see the screen that appears after installing the CRM application. With it, you can manage your customers, leads, and opportunities. We will discuss the CRM application in detail in Chapter 3, Exploring Customer Relationship Management in Odoo.

Take a few minutes to look around in Odoo to get familiar with the interface. You don't have to worry about breaking anything or doing anything wrong. If you run into problems or get confused, just close your web browser and try again.

Note

This is a demonstration and will only last for one four-hour session. If you close your browser, you will lose your setup and have to start over again.

Continuing to use the trial version of Odoo

At the very top of the Odoo application, just under the address bar in the browser, you will see a message that informs you about how much longer your trial version of Odoo will run before you need to register. Also, remember that it is possible to lose this instance of Odoo before the time runs out.

Clicking on the message will take you to the typical standard signup form to provide your name, e-mail, and other information to register your trial version of Odoo:

After you have filled out the form and clicked on Start using, the Odoo application will once again reload. Now, you will see in the top-right-hand corner that you are logged in under the name you provided in the signup form. Also, you will see at the top, a countdown of how many days are remaining in your trial version.

Subscribing to Odoo

For 15 days, you can use Odoo for free without subscribing. Once your 15 days run out, you must subscribe to Odoo in order to keep using their enterprise cloud-hosted version of the software. The first two users of Odoo are free indefinitely.

This means you can sign up and continue using Odoo with just two users without having to pay any monthly fees. For additional users, the current pricing is $25 per month, per user at the time of writing. Each application that you use also will incur a monthly cost depending upon the specific application.

The following screenshot is the Odoo Online Pricing calculator in July of 2015:

You can locate the Odoo Online Pricing page at https://www.odoo.com/pricing-online.

Tip

Odoo Online is priced for employees that use the applications. You are not charged for customers or suppliers that access Odoo through the web portal.

Depending on your requirements, an Odoo subscription might be a good decision. Installing and maintaining an Odoo installation takes a degree of expertise and has risks for production systems. You must maintain adequate disaster recovery procedures in case of server crashes or hard drive failures. There are also complexities in applying bug fixes and migrating to newer versions of Odoo. This book will help you with many of these tasks. Yet, it can be quite convenient to have an Odoo subscription so you can focus on the functional, rather than the technical, aspects of working with Odoo.

To subscribe to Odoo online and continue using Odoo past the 15 day trial period, click on the Subscribe to keep it running link at the top of the page:

Using Odoo without subscription fees

If you choose not to pay the subscription fee, do not fear! The remainder of this chapter will assist you with installing Odoo on your own hardware.