History: PluginTogether
Preview of version: 39
Plugin Together
This wiki plugin is an experimental service for your website from Mozilla Labs called TogetherJS, that makes it surprisingly easy to collaborate in real-time: notify unique urls, co-write, talk, follow pages visited by your buddies. It was formerly known as TowTruck. It was added in Tiki12 and improved in Tiki15, Tiki19 and Tiki21.
Since Tiki22 you can specify a diffeernt server through a new parameter added to the plugin, in case the server side code needed for this plugin to work is no longer working with the default server provided by Mozilla.
You can easily use this plugin in your Tiki installation by means of applying the Together profile.
Note: Together is alpha-quality software. We do not recommend using it in production at this time, even if it looks promising as a Real Time Collaboration (RTC) tool.
Parameters
Collaborate in real timeIntroduced in Tiki 12.
Go to the source code
Preferences required: wikiplugin_together
| Parameters | Accepted Values | Description | Default | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
buttonname |
text | Set the button name. Default is CoWrite with TogetherJS | CoWrite with TogetherJS | 12.0 |
serverurl |
text | Hub server URL address if the default one is not working or you are willing to host your own hub server. | 21.0 | |
| A service for collaborating on your website in real-time. TogetherJS lets users communicate, co-author, co-browse and guide each other. TogetherJS is implemented in JavaScript; no software or plugins to install, and it is friendly with existing web pages, while still letting developers customize the experience. Note: TogetherJS is alpha-quality software. We do not recommend using it in production at this time. | ||||
Current Limitations
- Before Tiki15: You need to deactivate "Warn on edit conflict" in Settings -> Wiki -> General preference Otherwise, you will get this annoying message: "Override lock and carry on with edit"
- If you are permitting anonymous edits, you'll want to turn off "Anonymous editors must enter anti-bot code (CAPTCHA) " Settings -> Security -> Spam protection
Where does it work?
In theory, TogetherJS can work with any feature in Tiki. However, some features in Tiki may need adjusting. The following table is to keep track of the state of each feature.
| Version | Feature | Works or not |
| 12.2 | Wiki pages with wiki syntax | yes |
| 12.2 | Spreadsheet | no |
| 12.2 | Tracker Items | yes (textareas) |
| 12.2 | Drawing with SVG-edit | No |
| 12.2 | Slideshow in view mode | No |
| 12.2 | Slideshow in edit mode | Yes |
Examples
This code added to a custom module, or a module menupage in a side column:
{together}
Would produce a TogetherJS button. Once clicked by a user, it will add a TogetherJS widget in the right margin of the window, as in the following image:
In this example,
- user Mary has clicked at the button "CoWrite with Together" (formerly known as "TowTruck", like in the screenshots)
- the TogetherJS widget is shown up in the right margin of the window
- Once you click at the icon to invite friends, you will get a unique url that you can send over email, sms or any means to your buddies, so that they can start cowriting with you in that Tiki page (tracker item in this example)
- You can also change your default username in Together, set your own avatar, color, etc. In this example Mary sets the avatar to a puppy, and keeps the default brownish-redish font color.
- Additionally you can talk (experimental) or chat with your buddies.
Once you sent the link to your buddy (let's say, user John), and he clicks on it, he will see a window like the following requesting him to accept the collaborative session:
Once accepted, he can log in that Tiki site (if needed), and he will see something similar to Mary.
Clicking at the avatar of your user you will be able to see the options to rename your user, set avatar, font color, etc.
In this example, John renamed his Together username accordingly, choose a tennis ball avatar and did set his font color to orange. After that, he continued editing the contents of the tracker item, that became updated in real time in Mary's browser also.
1.1. Setup up your own server
See:
https://togetherjs.com/docs/#hosting-the-hub-server
On Ubuntu 16.04 servers, you also need to:
- install npm (npm v 3.5.2; node version 4.2.6 are the default versions, and they seem to be ok for PluginTogether to work)
On Ubuntu 16.04 servers, you also need to:
- clone togetherjs code
- symlink /usr/bin/nodejs to /usr/bin/node
- run server binding it to a domain, eventually with https (ideally), using apache proxy to server the node server in port 8080 to users visiting that domain with http or https.
- enable mod proxy proxy_http proxy_wstunnel
Run the server with
-
cd /var/www/togetherjs/; node hub/server.js &
Check the process with:
- http://example.com/status > should say "OK"
Related links
- https://togetherjs.com/
- https://blog.mozilla.org/labs/2013/09/reintroducing-togetherjs-formerly-known-as-towtruck/
- https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/10/introducing-togetherjs/
- http://www.ianbicking.org/blog/2014/03/towards-next-level-of-collaboration.html
- http://www.ianbicking.org/blog/2013/11/nouning-the-verb-of-browsing-and-activity.html
Aliases
PluginTowTruck | Together | Realtime | Mozilla Together | Mozilla TowTruck | TogetherJS