OpenMeetings on the road to graduate from Incubator

We are happy to announce that the vote was successful to graduate OpenMeetings from the Incubator, the result of the vote can be seen here http://markmail.org/message/zlu2jc23ls4hopjo.

The next Board meeting will be at the 19th December of 2012, we will submit our resolution and hopefully the Board will follow the recommendation from the Incubator to establish Apache OpenMeetings as top level project!

However, as we are still an Incubator project we did submit also a quarterly update of our project.

Project and community status:

• Roadmap for OpenMeetings 2.1 and 3.0 has been discussed http://markmail.org/message/ugazdo4xgclakrib Version 3.0 is mainly about a HTML5 version of OpenMeetings. Discussion resolution was to choose Wicket as basic JavaScript framework and jQuery for pure client side tasks. By now we did already implement an HTML5 interface for the administration section. Discussion which approaches to use for the actual conferencing part is still ongoing
• A testing application for AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation, build into Flash Player 11.2) was implemented and is in review http://markmail.org/message/g2zdwuruu7vuizvg
• A new clustering of OpenMeetings will be available with the next release of the 2.x tree, we have been discussing some approaches, see http://markmail.org/message/jvkawqwqrpajk2qo and working on the implementation
• Plugins are now hosted at apche-extras.org, index of plugins: http://code.google.com/a/apache-extras.org/hosting/search?q=openmeetings
• A fast feather track was presented at the ApacheCon EU: https://blogs.apache.org/openmeetings/entry/openmeetings_apachecon_presentation_slide

Posted at 01:53AM Dec 07, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[0]  | 

OpenMeetings ApacheCon Presentation Slide

Today we had the chance to do a quick presentation at the Fast Feather Track at ApacheCon Europe in Sinsheim.

This was our presentation:



The presentation is also available at:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/Documents+for+Presentations+and+PR

Posted at 08:49PM Nov 08, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[2]  | 

Google Summer of Code 2012 at Apache OpenMeetings

We were very happy to have 3 official students participating in the Google Summer of Code 2012 program! There was even a 4th student that worked on his proposal even not accepted officially as there have been not enough slots available. All students met their goals some even did more then required.
As OpenMeetings is about making virtual conferences we organized a weekly virtual meeting to catch up with everybody. It was sometimes difficult to attend for everybody as the students and mentors are situated in different timezones, starting with GMT-4 to GMT+7. But we had a chance to talk to everybody face to face several times during the summer!

German Grekov's project was about implementing a Connection Test tool that can be run upfront a meeting to test upload, download and if required ports for OpenMeetings are open.
The final result was a UI that shows the most important information to the end-user


The test performed by the tool can be configured using a XML configuration, so that a users can customize the ports if they configured OpenMeetings to run on different ones.
German has documented the tool in more details:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/Connection+testing+tool

His second task was to integrate a volume slider in the video pods. With a volume slider each user can adjust the audio of each video separated. Conference participants always have different microphones (with a good or bad quality), therefore it is very useful thing to have the opportunity of adjusting of some settings at runtime.
The image shows the volume slider next on the top of the video view.


More information about the project can be found in the wiki documentation:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/Volume+slider

Dmitry Zamula had the most difficult project agenda as his task required the most knowledge of various components of OpenMeetings. His goal was to create a component that would allow conversion of word and presentation documents into thumbnails and or html files. He decided to use Apache POI for the conversion. The final goal of the whole component to have one day editable documents in the whiteboard of OpenMeetings. His component is one step in that direction as it converts documents in the HTML format. Based on that potentially an editor could be created where you can edit the document online. While that task is quite difficult to integrate it was further difficult as he had not only to learn OpenMeetings component set but also the one of Apache POI.
The graph shows the process of generating html formatted content


Finally he was able to create documents in HTML format. The solution was a very good start to explore the chances of collaborative editing of documents within OpenMeetings.
More info can be found on his wiki page: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/Posting+documents+on+the+whiteboard+with+POI

Ankur Ankan did realize an integration of OpenMeetings in Zimbra. Zimbra is an Exchange replacement for collaboration and communication. It provides a plugin loader system and the plugins are called “Zimlets”. Zimlets are basically JavaScript coded applications.
But a Zimlet can also perform REST calls. It does that by using the Zimbra server as Proxy server to prevent cross side scripting effects.
Ankur successfully tackled those hurdles, did get familiar with the Zimlet architecture and implemented his plugin step by step.
Besides his implementation he created some docs that also contain screenshots of the plugin https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/Openmeetings+Plugin+for+Zimbra.

What really is great that he did also complete all steps to finally create a working release from his project so that the distribution of the plugin can start and users can work with it!

Josh Dolitsky did not officially work as a GSoC student because slots were already full, but he agreed to work on the project even if not accepted! His task was to update and implement the ATutor Plugin. ATutor is an ELearning suite from OCAD (www.ocad.ca Canada). The plugin needed to be updated to use the latest REST API calls of OpenMeetings. Also, it needed to be refactored to remove any non-Apache License compatible dependencies.

This is a screenshot of the Plugin in action:


The plugin is now almost ready to start a vote to release it! He did also prepare some wiki page about his results:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OPENMEETINGS/ATutor+plug-in+installation+and+usage

Posted at 07:57AM Sep 11, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[0]  | 

Apache OpenMeetings Moodle Plugin 1.4 Incubating released!

The plugin enables integration of Apache OpenMeetings Incubating http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/) conference rooms in the popular e-learning LMS Moodle (http://www.moodle.org).

Add virtual conference rooms to courses Moodle organizes learning units in courses. The plugin enables teachers/course moderators of Moodle to add new conference rooms to courses.

Single sign-on and Role-based access control When the user enters the conference room via Moodle he does not need to re-login again. The plugin also transfers the role from Moodle to the conference room so that a teacher, admin or course moderator is automatically a moderator in the conference room.

Enhancements for teachers and workgroups In the plugin configuration you can choose if students that access the conference room need to wait till a teacher enters the room or can directly start.

Integration of recordings Instead of conference rooms you can also integrate conference recordings in Moodle. A recording can be any past conference session that you’ve recorded with OpenMeetings. Students can then watch the recording streamed from the server. Additionally teachers, course moderators and admins can download it.

Installation and documentation can be found at:http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/MoodlePlugin.html

Downloads of sources and binaries are available from the mirrors: http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/downloads.html

All downloads can be verified using the Apache OpenMeetings code signing KEYS

Posted at 08:38AM Sep 04, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[1]  | 

Apache OpenMeetings 2.0 Incubating released

We are happy to announce Version 2.0 of Apache OpenMeetings Incubating!

This is our first release as Apache project and there have been major changes almost everywhere in the application.

Restyled UI The UI has been refactored to have a common look and feel. Additionally most of the icons are now loaded at runtime. That means you can change colors and icons at runtime without changing the source code. More info: http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/themes-and-branding.html

New Calendar The calendar was completely refactored and got a new UI that was built from scratch that also adds some new functions. For example it is possible now to password protect invitations sent via the calendar. Further the timezone handling has been refactored and there is now also a SOAP/REST API to handle calendar Events ( http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/SoapRestAPI.html )

Integration with Asterisk The application contains now modules to directly integrate OpenMeetings with Asterisk for SIP/VoIP integration. It enables you to dial in as well as dial out of conference room to SIP or ordinary phones. More info: http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/voip-sip-integration.html

Install/Backup/Import via command line Additionally to the Web-Interface you can now do all basic operations via console. Just cd to your OpenMeetings installation directory and type “admin” (or ./admin.sh) and you will see all the options available (OpenMeetings service should be shut down while doing those operations)

Using SWF10 for Video Components All audio/video related components now use SWF10 for broadcasting and receiving audio and video signals. That makes it possible to use for example the echo cancellation feature build in the SWF10 Flash Player.

There are a lot more improvements for example to recording, screen sharing and new layout options. To see the full list please review our Release Notes for Version 2.0:
https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ReleaseNote.jspa?projectId=12312720&version=12319197

There are also new Integration Plugins in the pipe!

Integration into Atlassian Jira There is a plugin in our SVN that will be released soon for integration with Atlassian Jira, you can watch a demo here: https://blogs.apache.org/openmeetings/entry/jira_integration_apache_openmeetings_demo

Integration into Atlassian Confluence Same for Atlassian Confluence Wiki, you can watch a demo here: https://blogs.apache.org/openmeetings/entry/demo_video_about_upcoming_atlassian

Important Changes OpenOffice service does not need to be running as permanent service. But you have to set the path to OpenOffice (or LibreOffice) and JODConverter tools in OpenMeetings configuration. OpenMeetings (and JODConverter) will start and stop the OpenOffice service when they need it.

Upgrading from Version 1.9 or prior To update from an old version of OpenMeetings to 2.x you should use the integrated Backup and Import tool that exists since around Version 1.3. You should follow our documentation, see: http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/Upgrade.html

Downloads of sources and binaries are available from the mirrors linked here:
http://incubator.apache.org/openmeetings/downloads.html

All downloads can be verified using the Apache OpenMeetings code signing KEYS

Posted at 09:18AM Jul 26, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[3]  | 

Apache Openmeetings inside Teambox

Teambox/Openmeetings integration[Read More]

Posted at 05:41AM Jul 16, 2012 by aaf in General  |  Comments[0]  | 

Jira Integration Apache OpenMeetings Demo Video Preview

In addition to the recently shown Confluence plugin there will be also a plugin to integrate OpenMeetings conference rooms into Atlassian Jira.
There is also a Jira Test-Instance available: http://85.214.108.167:8080/

You can see a demo here:


Well done Eugen!

The demo video is available at: https://vimeo.com/37419990

Posted at 01:05PM Mar 26, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[0]  | 

Demo video about upcoming Atlassian Confluence Plugin for Apache OpenMeetings

Eugen from the Apache OpenMeetings team shows his first version of the Confluence Plugin. It enables integration of Apache OpenMeetings Web-Conferencing rooms into any Confluence wiki and managing the conference rooms from inside Confluence.[Read More]

Posted at 11:05AM Mar 19, 2012 by sebawagner in General  |  Comments[0]  |