Realtime Collaborative Plain WikiText Editor
Collaboratively edit wiki pages in realtime with friends and colleagues |
Type | XAR |
Category | |
Developed by | |
Rating | |
License | GNU Affero General Public License 3 |
Table of contents
Description
RtWiki is a Realtime Collaborative Editor for XWiki Syntax and scripts based on the cjdrt Realtime Engine and the XWiki WebSocket Integration extension.
In contrast to the RealTime Wiki Editor which is based on the Jupiter Operational Transformation Algorithm and implemented in the Google Web Toolkit, RtWiki is based on a radically new peer-to-peer design implemented entirely in Javascript and based on the Bitcoin Blockchain. While the Jupiter Realtime Editor had issues such as poor performance with large pastes, its fundamental limitation was its inability to handle multiple types of content because the server had to be aware of the content type. This realtime editor is based on RtBackend which is unaware of the document's content and merely handles registrations, de-registrations and the forwarding of messages, much like a chat server.
The RtWiki editor preserves the user interface of the original XWiki Wiki editor so with the RtWiki editor, you can smoothly transition from editing Wiki syntax alone to editing with other collaborators as a group.
If a document is currently being edited in Realtime, the normal "This document has been locked for editing" screen will appear but will allow you to join the Realtime Collaborative Session if applicable.
And of course if you are uncomfortable with realtime editing, you can click on the ALLOW REALTIME COLLABORATION checkbox to return to normal editing at any time and your preferences will be preserved.
Prerequisites & Installation Instructions
We recommend using the Extension Manager to install this extension (Make sure that the text "Installable with the Extension Manager" is displayed at the top right location on this page to know if this extension can be installed with the Extension Manager). Note that installing Extensions when being offline is currently not supported and you'd need to use some complex manual method.
You can also use the following manual method, which is useful if this extension cannot be installed with the Extension Manager or if you're using an old version of XWiki that doesn't have the Extension Manager:
- Log in the wiki with a user having Administration rights
- Go to the Administration page and select the Import category
- Follow the on-screen instructions to upload the downloaded XAR
- Click on the uploaded XAR and follow the instructions
- You'll also need to install all dependent Extensions that are not already installed in your wiki
After installing with the Extension Manager, you will need to open the WebSocket Port as described above and restart the XWiki installation.
Release Notes
v1.18
fix http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-53
v1.17
RTWIKI-52 unable to save if document contains non-ascii characters when certain Java plugins are present on host instance.
v1.16
RTWIKI-51 race condition in save and view eats save content.
Occasional deadlocks would cause the page to redirect before the save had completed.
v1.15
closes RTWIKI-50.
v1.14
RTWIKI-11: integrate changes which are made at the server side
using merge algorithm
RTWIKI-15: Do not autosave unless there have been actual changes to the text.
RTWIKI-29: Realtime should never override a save which bypassed the realtime session.
always merge, whether using buttons or autosave
RTWIKI-32: Hook the save button - merge on save
save and view/continue are _almost_ guaranteed to send ISAVE messages. only in the event of a network disconnection will other users be unaware of your having saved. related: RTWIKI-36
RTWIKI-33: On merge failure: keep our version OR theirs
settled by merge dialog
RTWIKI-34: Give Messages when merging
there are a variety of translatable messages, and a simple API for displaying them
RTWIKI-35: Use merge algorithm from inside of XWiki to do merge for RTWiki
RTWIKI-37: changes made during an asynchronous merge are overwritten
check if changes have been made, and discard merge until next cycle if so
RTWIKI-40: ISAVED messages are not recognized by chainpad
catch these messages before they are ever sent to chainpad
RTWIKI-41: don't merge if latestCommonAncestor and most recent version are equal
RTWIKI-42: in the event of a merge conflict, present a modal dialog
additionally, receiving an ISAVED message closes this modal
RTWIKI-44: don't save if live content is determined to be equal to the last saved content
determined by the server
RTWIKI-46: autosave cycles continue while the merge dialog is pending
set a flag while dialog is displayed, short-circuit during check if flag is present
RTWIKI-47: Only users which have made changes should autosave or settle merge conflicts
this cuts down on the number of merges the server performs. It also prevents displaying merge dialogs to non-editing users
RTWIKI-48: documents can wrongfully merge with themselves
if the merged document's content hash is found in the realtime history, the merge is ignored. This prevents merges which are reversions to earlier states
v1.13
Closes RTWiki-28, prevents unnecessary saves by comparing against the state of the last saved version (fetched via REST URL).
v1.12
Fixes http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-30.
v1.11
Fixes http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-29.
v1.10
http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-26 If one person edits a document using WYSIWYG, another is incorrectly invited to "join realtime collaboration"
- attempt to get the language of the document from the html tag in case that the document is 'locked for editing'
2. do not consider a realtime collaborative session as existing unless another user has registered
v1.9
fix http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-21
v1.5
v1.4
v1.3
v1.2
fixed http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/RTWIKI-3
v1.1
Added modal-popup to tell the user if he/she has been disconnected
Added lag meter to tell latency to the server and user-list to show who else is collaborating
Added auto-save every 30 seconds with save-announcements to prevent a document with many users from thrashing the server.
Updated the demo
Dependencies
Dependencies for this extension (calebjamesdelisle:rtwiki 1.18):