WhiteboardQ - from demo to durable

WhiteboardQ is taking shape. This week was about making it survive real world “small business IT”: weird networks, locked-down (and wide open) PCs, and “Front Desk server has to work for a non-techie”. Handed version 0.9.7 off yesterday to channel partner for a demo to our first dental client soon! In parallel to supporting real local clients through established channel partners, I am getting whiteboardq.com production ready to sell as a full B2C application (business-to-consumer… think “buy now” button, credit card, download your software").

This week (1/20-1/23) I worked on WhiteboardQ for 27 hours. Since I am a one-human show, I get to do design and implementation, documentation, and test. Other stuff too. The loop is tight, but it’s a large volume of work and lots of context switching. Here’s what I got done in the last three days:

Architecture

Split server manager into two separate executables (FrontDesk vs BackOffice) instead of runtime detection…
- FrontDesk: tray app, subprocess control
- BackOffice: stand alone app, Windows Service control
Server-authoritative config (thresholds, sounds moved from client to server. This is a much better “real world” fit than each client having its own configuration (Chaos!) Threshold times and sounds need to be consistent office wide.

Installers (Inno Setup)

Install/uninstall hygiene is what earns trust from end users and IT. First (and last) impressions matter a lot.

FrontDesk installer (tray flavor)
BackOffice installer (service flavor)
Client installer
Firewall rules baked in for ports 5000 (comms) and 5001 (discovery)
Got all of the default settings “right” for real world scenarios (front desk = less technical, back office = IT pro)
Pre-install notice for BackOffice explaining to IT staff about Windows Service + auto-start
Uninstallers offer option to remove data files
Servers require admin, client does not
Wrote an IT tool to detect if WhiteboardQ files / service / registry keys / firewall rules are present.

Server Discovery

UDP broadcast discovery (port 5001) - zero configuration
Client broadcasts, server responds with IP
Discovery enumerates all network interfaces, broadcasts on each interface’s broadcast address
Works on dual-NIC, multi-homed, VPN systems
Client reconnect on discovery implemented
Logging added to client discovery (for initial setup debug)

Client UX

Settings simplified: just IP/hostname and port, not wss:// format
First-run wizard auto-detects server, sets hostname, allows override
Auto-start on Windows boot (configurable)
Auto-reconnect if server goes away
Settings UI and About dialog cleanup
–debug flag for verbose logging
Logs to %APPDATA%\WhiteboardQ\logs\client.log

Server Manager UX

New UI layout: License → Status → Logs → Thresholds & Sounds
Threshold inputs are just integers (removed “minutes” from editable text)
Green/yellow/red tray status icons
UI sizing fixed (was unreadable on small displays)
Admin warning for service start/stop in BackOffice mode

FrontDesk Server

Windows mutex + RegisterWindowMessage broadcast
Double-click shortcut while running in tray → brings existing window to front

Network and Firewall

Tested Multi-homed system network configurations for real world hardening
- Mix of wired, wifi, and VPN networks
- broadcast out through each adapter
- handle edge case of no server, multiple servers found
Allow any firewall profile - important for demos, industry standard, let IT lock down if needed

Testing

Multiple code reviews on all 3 codebases (peer, security-focused, compatibility-focused, redistributable-focused…)
Verified on Windows Server 2019+ (full support)
Windows Server 2012 (and earlier) NOT supported in mainline product, but will offer white glove support for channel partners for 2012).
Multi-homed / VPN systems tested with various firewall configurations
Tested on 6 different Win10/11 systems ranging from potato to my gaming rig. All performed great.
Slow, busy, error conditions on network tested
113 automated unit / function tests all passing
Load test: 60 clients × 10 msgs/min × 10 min. Even “Wipe all messages” + “Restore all messages” (worst case) stayed stable.

Documentation

End user readmes created
Updated spec for iterative changes during test / code review loop

Anyone can build a demo. Production-ready is different work entirely. If you’re a SMB IT channel partner serving local businesses, this is the kind of ‘simple, local, works’ software I ship fast. B2C site coming soon. If you’ve got an idea to optimize your business workflow, or even one that needs to become a product, hit me up on my Calendly at johnbrantly.com while I’m still taking on new clients. Look forward to chatting!