OpenMeetings 1.9.0 available

Version 1.9.0 is probably the last major release before OpenMeetings will become a project of the Apache Software Foundation. 1.9.0 has over 10 new features. For example you can use webcams with multiple resolutions from very small 4:3 to very large 16:9. Or polls can be saved and poll results are available as pie-chart. Another major improvement enables you to mute other microphones one-by-one and additionally you can give yourself exclusively the micro and mute everybody else with a single click. Further you can run OpenMeetings now completely over SSL using HTTPS and RTMPS (Flash Streaming over SSL). For a complete list please review our changelog.

Changes:

• Run OpenMeetings over SSL using HTTPS and RTMPS see RTMPSandHTTPS
• Rename the complete application webapp path see CustomizingWebappName
• rtmpT (rtmp over HTTP Tunneling) working again
• Save polls: You can now save polls, delete polls and close polls. Also poll results are displayed as pie-charts.
• Mute any user: You can mute yourself. Additionally moderators can also mute other microphones. Mute status is displayed in user-list and status icons in video pod and on top of the user list
• Give exclusive microphone: Mute everybody except yourself with a single click. The User can click on his video pod (or press F12), if he has the needed rights, his micro is unmuted while everybody else is muted. The moderator can additionally give the right to have the functionality to "Give exclusive microphone" to to any user and/or can also directly click on any other participant's video to "Give exclusive microphone" to this user.
• You can now see in your own video pod not only the green light but also the full activity meter indicating your loudness
• You can now choose between multiple resolutions for the video, remote video pods are synced to the size too. With different dimension (4:3, 16:9). Does also reduce needed bandwidth to use exactly the supported resolution and you can choose smaller video sizes to save bandwidth. You can also change the available resolutions and default selection in the config.xml
• Invalid invitation hashs now show in the error message why and in which time period they are exactly valid
• Refactored calendar server side code to use java.util.Timezone everywhere. The application now stores all times in the server time. Only the backup contains timestamps so you could potentially export in one time zone and import into a server of another without issues.
• Changed calendar E-Mail and fixed iCal invitation in Gmail to display correctly
• Calendar meeting reminder email is now send 15 minutes upfront (15 minutes can be changed in configuration)
• Default room size for conference rooms created via calendar is now 50 (default room size can be changed in configuration)
• Minimum length for user and password is now 4 (minimum length can be changed in configuration)
• Fix new FFMPEG param style (you can revert to use the old param style through the config_key "use.old.style.ffmpeg.map.option") see SwitchBetweenFFMPEG
• Max upload size can be configured now (max_upload_size)
• Fix calendar if first-day-in-week is configured to be Monday instead of Sunday (default)
• JUnit tests now run integrated in Eclipse and on the Nightly Build Server see JUnitTestings
• Apache RAT is integrated to handle some parts of the code audit when importing our code to Apache Incubator SVN
• Oracle available as DB configuration see Configuration_Oracle

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_9_0_r4692.zip

Changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Design Apache OpenMeetings Logo and Win Prize!

Are you good at logo designing? Do you like open source? You can quickly get a great prize by creating a logo for Apache OpenMeetings, a free browser-based software that allows you to instantly set up a conference in the Web and that is now accepted for the Apache Incubator. The Incubator is the first step of becoming a regular project of the Apache Software Foundation.

The main idea of this contest is to conceptualize and design a brand new logo. To get an idea visit our websites at http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings and http://www.openmeetings.de and compare them to other Apache projects from the list http://projects.apache.org/indexes/alpha.html.

The contest will start at 02.12.2011 till 31.12.2011, so hurry up to take part!

We will rate your designs and give you feedback. If we choose your logo as the winning logo, you can win a prize – a book of your choice!

Show on Amazon

Show on Amazon

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Show on Amazon

Take this opportunity to show your creativity and win the prize!

Send us your logo at: service@openmeetings.de

Configure OpenMeetings with Oracle

We have tested successfully to run OpenMeetings on Oracle DB, in the current repository there is a sample configuration files.

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/Configuration_Oracle

Updated SugarCRM Plugin 1.2 for OpenMeetings

Changes in OpenMeetings SugarCRM Plugin 1.2

• changed workflow
• easier installation (no manualy changes needet any more)
• easier use
• Smarty Template Engine
• ready for Sugarcrm 6 

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_sugarcrm_v_1_2.zip

Changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

OpenMeetings accepted for Apache Incubation

We are happy to announce that OpenMeetings is accepted for the Apache Incubator.
The Apache Incubator is the first stage of becoming a project of the Apache Software Foundation.

You can see the result of the Vote in Apache's Incubator Mailing list archives:
http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-general/201111.mbox/%3C6EEF2F10-37F3-4CDA-A491-0F074036D0D2%40objectstyle.org%3E

And our Proposal:
http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenmeetingsProposal

We will keep you updated about the current status of the incubation process through our project-website.

OpenMeetings 1.8.7 released

OpenMeetings 1.8.7 fixes an Issue with the ENTER Key/Event in Remote Desktop Control.

Changelog: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Download: http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_7_r4518.zip

OpenMeetings 1.8.6 released

Version 1.8.6 includes two updates:

• Refactor scheduler that sends emails to participants of calendar events
• add option poly2bitmap to workaround issue of SWFTools "only supports 65536 shapes at once" error message 

Download: http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_6_r4488.zip

ChangeLog: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Setting up User Environment for Openmeetings

The manual covers requirements for connecting a participant's computer to Internet, recommended hardware list and a number of steps to install the software on the computer. It is assumed that software installation is done by IT profesional with administrative privileges.

Review: Real Time Specification API of WHATWG

The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) is working on a specification for the future of HTML in Realtime Collaboration:  

http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/webrtc.html

On the first sight it covers a lot of the topic developers are waiting for a long time: 

Beeing able to access the microphone and camera natively by using the pure JavaScript.

It seems like the nature of the communication is based on a Peer-2-Peer communication, which obviously must sound like christmas in some ears :).

First: The WHATWG is not reallye "the" specification group of HTML, the real specs will be done by the W3C. There are also specs in process at the w3c http://www.w3.org/2011/04/webrtc-charter.html.

If looking more closely at the specs you have to admit that there are some open questions on both sides, the w3c and even more at the WHATWG.

Some very basic question is if the Codec that will be used for encoding the audio and video will be an open one or not. I do understand that manufactors have little interest in publishing a codec that is suitable for everybody. On the other hand it could be quite difficult if different browsers support different codecs. Or even worse if big companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple agree on certain Codec, license each other but lock-out browser vendors that don't have 20.000 patents to claim each other.

Having an open standard for realtime communication does not necessarily mean that everybody can implement those specs. If there is no open codec available that all browser platforms do support that could even lock-out small software vendors.

A very basic technical question is also how they plan to fix the Firewall problem: Peer2Peer is nice, but even Skype has a fallback method to proxy data through a central server.

But looking at the milestones planned in the specification (End in 02/2013), there might be also major changes in those specs.

OpenMeetings 1.8.5 released

Changes in OpenMeetings 1.8.5 

• Update of installer and new option to exclude the default rooms in the installation (this can be handy if you import a backup directly after installation) 
• Fix backup import tool issue with wrong organization_id after import (Users could get assigned to a previous existing organization if there are multiple) 

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_5_r4452.zip

3 steps to install OpenMeetings in Version 1.8.4

In Version 1.8.4 installation of OpenMeetings is a 30 second task:

To update from past versions or migrate see UpdateOpenMeetings, for payed services see Service and Hosting.

You can download latest version from:
GoogleCode Website

New Moodle Module for OpenMeetings 1.8.3

With the new integration and OpenMeetings version 1.8.3 you can now create separated users in OpenMeetings with the access-level "SOAP-Only".
The "SOAP-Only" user can do exactly what is needed to run the integration but nothing more. This does result in no need for any OpenMeetings Admin-User in the Moodle Module config! So you can better protect your OpenMeetings server from non-authorized access via the SOAP Gateway and
no need to share confidential account data."SOAP-Only" users can not login to OpenMeetings administration or manipulate user accounts via SOAP.

It is recommended to update to the latest version of OpenMeetings (1.8.3). Moodle Mod 0.9 for Moodle 1.9.x is still compatible with OpenMeetings 1.8.3 and you can also use the new secure user with access level "SOAP-Only" with the old Moodle Mod 0.9.

Sample Video showing the installation of Moodle Mod and integration with new access level:

New features of Moodle Plugin:
- Secure "SOAP-Only" user access level (see documentation on top)
- 3 Moderation Types for Conference Rooms (Moodle admins, teachers and course creators are automatically a moderator):
Moderation Type A) Participants need to wait till the teacher enters the room
Moderation Type B) Participants can already start (first User in room becomes moderator)
Moderation Type C) Every participant is automatically moderator when he/she enters the room
- New Flag "Allow Recording": You can set in the room configuration now a flag that controls if the recording button is available or not
- Fix Icon in Moodle Course overview and edit page
- Fix Issue when deleting a conference room from a course (all conference rooms where deleted from all courses)
- Add/Fix Moodle Mod languages: German, French, Spanish (OpenMeetings itself has around 30 languages)
- Clear and restructure conference creation form for Moodle moderators
You can try and test the Moodle integration at:
http://moodle.openmeetings.de
Download is available from our project side: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/
Support is available at: http://www.openmeetings.de

Installation of OpenMeetings under IBM DB2

There are some official documentation about installation of OpenMeetings under IBM DB2 available now:

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/Configuration_IBM_DB2

OpenMeetings 1.8.2 released

Changes in Version 1.8.2:

• Improves language handling: The default language is bound now to the user-profile, not to the server settings!
• Fix some issue in creating conferences via the integrated calendar
• Fixes issues when drag and droping a video from the file-explorer to the whiteboard 
• Update Chinese Simplified

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_2_r4283.zip

ChangLog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Case Study at OSOR, Open Source in Finland and Sweden including OpenMeetings and Moodle

There is an interesting story about using Moodle and OpenMeetings in OSOR published:

http://www.osor.eu/studies/finland-and-sweden-collaborate-using-oss

Article on running OpenMeetings/Red5 in Windows Azure

There is an interesting article about how to deploy any Tomcat Application to Windows Azure:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cesardelatorre/archive/2010/09/12/developing-and-deploying-java-tomcat-apps-into-windows-azure.aspx

OpenMeetings Drupal Integration, new Module Demo Video

There is a new Demo-Video available for Drupal Integration of OpenMeetings.

Possible Features

• Embed Links to conference rooms into Drupal articles
• Single Sing on using your Drupal login
• List recordings in Drupal
• Embed recording links in articles  

Where to get the Drupal Module

Contact: service@openmeetings.de
Website: http://www.openmeetings.de

New Website and OpenMeetings 1.7 released

The Team at OpenMeetings announced Version 1.7 and the new official website of OpenMeetings at http://www.openmeetings.de
http://www.openmeetings.de will be the general landing zone for people to get started with OpenMeetings.
The Demo Servers are now located at http://demo.openmeetings.de
Besides that there are some new features in Version 1.7:

• Multi-Whiteboard, you can add new whiteboard instances, each whiteboard can have the full range of tools and documents inside.
• Advanced File-Explorer, Drag and Drop Interface for managing files, including possibility to create a document tree with folders.
• Private and Public Drive in File-Explorer. The File-Explorer has two different views, one is the Private Drive and the other the Public Drive. The Private Drive always contains the same files. Those files are only visible to the user currently loggedin. The Public Drive is bound not to the user, but to the conference room. All users in the conference room have access to the Public Drive.
• Save whiteboards. You can save each whiteboard instance as a file. The file is located in the File-Explorer and can be drag and drop’ed and organized like any other document, image or folder.
• New User-Level: SOAP/Web-Service only. For security reasons there is a new user-level. You can now create user-accounts that have only the ability to access via SOAP. In former versions you always need an admin account.
• MyRooms section. Each user has now by default 2 personal rooms that are always accessible exclusive for that user. There are buttons to enter those rooms from the dashboard
• VoIP-Integration. Together with our Finish partner and the Open Source Department of Kvarken region we have done a VoIP integration by using an applet for the audio part. For further information see VoIPAndSIP

You can download the latest version at:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/downloads/list