If you can't get what you want by standard customization, then you can go one step further and download the QuickPlace Development Kit (QDK) for free and modify the basic structure of the system. You'll need a copy of Domino Designer. Be warned that the schema is by no means set at this stage and the documentation is sparse. Basically, the QDK allows you to:

• Customize a QuickPlace by directly modifying the QuickPlace objects, which are in turn stored in a Notes database.
• Inspect and customize the QuickPlace objects using updated templates.
• Automate the creation, modification, and deletion of QuickPlace objects.
• Trap QuickPlace commands at the API level.

The last item above is one of the most interesting because it allows you to integrate your place with another system.

Final impressions
All in all, I'm pretty impressed with QuickPlace. It's still finding its feet, but allows collaborative systems to be set up, run, and torn down quickly and easily. It works over an existing Domino system, but doesn't get in the way. QuickPlace will also run standalone. It can be modified by the you nine different ways and has an API level if you need it. My only gripes are that it's relatively slow on a modem outside of the company firewall (there's lots of graphics and JavaScript flying about) and it only really works, for the moment at least, in Win32. If nothing else, it's worth looking at just to see what an expert can do with Domino.

Mark Lawson is a freelance Notes consultant in the UK. He can be reached at markl@electricmemo.com