Thanks to Aventail
- a provider of SSL and VPN products, who sponsored the stall space for
Pantoto communities demo. Because of their support, Pantoto communities
like SAATHII, Tsunami Knowledge Center, Toto, PCRA and Shramik were
demonstrated every day to the interested FOSS participants.
Our stall got a good response, where along with showing the demo we
distributed Pantoto flyers. Servelots team members also had stickers
stuck on their backs, which declared - Turn me around for a Pantoto
Demo!
On Dec 2nd afternoon, Servelots along with Mahiti and Sarai called for a
Birds of a Feather (BoaF) meet on IT for NGOs. That was one BoaF! In spite
of some flying tempers we had a very responsive audience and we came out with a couple
of action items. The minutes of the BoaF is still to be edited. Contact us if interested!
Overall the FOSS.in was very eventful - awesome speakers, great
presentations, cool technologies and not-so-good food. Wish we did not have so much plastic/thermocol at the event.
Pantoto version 2.0 Release Candidate 1 (RC1)
contains some new features and enhancements in some functional areas
more importantly, in v2.0 RC1 Pantoto has undergone significant design
and technical enhancements.
These release note contains Whats New, Download Instructions, Known
Issues,and Frequently Asked Questions. These notes will be updated when
we get feedback on this RC, and once no major issues are reported there
will be Pantoto v2.0 release.
Whats New
--------------------------------------------------------
1. HTML Editor
The new HTML editor ( TinyMCE ) is user friendly in adding and editing content for web publishing.
2. CAPTCHA for Registration process and posting of guest pagelets
A CAPTCHA is a program that can generate and grade tests that most
humans can pass, but current computer programs can't pass. This feature
has been integrated with the Registration screen and when guest user
post information to make sure that only "real" people are posting
information.
3. Customizable interface/skin
A new skin , named bluez , has been added, which offers a flexible way
to move around your top bar image, menu options and to change the
colors of your site.
4. Enhanced RSS Feeds
A user friendly interface is provided to configure the RSS feeds.
5. Easy to create the HTML forms for your site
The process of creating the HTML forms is known as One click form.
Creating one-click form has become pretty easy and has the feature of
selecting or deselecting the required fields for the one click form.
6. Expand and collapse structure
Now one can see all the categories, locations, related pagelets, etc in an expand and collapse tree format.
7. Duplicate is called Duplicate!
Earlier to create a copy or a duplicate pagelet, we use to use the
action (and terminology) "Post Similar", now we have reduced the
confusion! To create a copy/duplicate, one has to perform the Duplicate
Function.
8. Pagelet property can be changed from My Space
Now one can change the default properties of a Pagelet from My Space.
Download Pantoto 2.0 RC1
--------------------------------------------------------
To download and install Pantoto 2.0 RC1, follow the given links
Known Issues
--------------------------------------------------------
1) Discussion Forum functionality is yet to be provisioned
2) Events Calendar functionality is yet to be provisioned
3) Photo Album functionality is yet to be provisioned.
4) Toto -83
5) Toto-251
6) RSS Feed
a) While editing the RSS Feed Configuration, there is no option to
select different set of categories of interests or to select more
number of categories of interests.
b) Currently only one external feed can be configured.
And there are still many issues to resolve, which will be resolved in next release.
FAQ's
----------------------------------------------------------
Q1)How do I download the new Pantoto (2.0 RC1)?
A) Read the download instructions given above!
Q)What are the Software/Hardware requirements for installing and running
Pantoto 2.0 RC1?
A)Software requirements : JDK1.4, Mysql 4, Ant, Rapid SVN (for Windows), Jikes
? ? Hardware : RAM 128 MB, Disk space 100 MB, Pentium III processor or latest.
Q)Is Pantoto 2.0 RC1 free? If yes, can I use it and customize it?
A) Yes! Yes!
Q)What license does Pantoto 2.0 RC1 use?
A) APL2.0, which is compatible with GPL.
Q)Is there a Help Manual for Pantoto 2.0 RC1?
A) Yes! The Help available in the form of pagelets and also in the pdf
format. A user can just click on Help Menu Option to view the pdf
format.
Q)What are the design and technical enhancements in version 2.0 RC1?
A) We are using Hibernate for persistent mechanism, Jakarta-i18n
library for internationalization of error and messages and CSS for new
skin. Also the old codebase has been picked, preened and spruced up to
implement the Object Oriented methodology fully and some design
patterns.
Q)Why the new HTML Editor ?
A) Pantoto v2.0 uses TinyMCE instead of Htmlarea, which is a rich-text
editor. Since the development with Htmlarea is not active anymore, bugs
related to Htmlarea were not resolved. So we switched to TinyMCE which
is another Rich text editor and is active. Tiny-MCE is very light
weight and easy to integrate and lot more features than HTML area . It
has multiple browser support like Mozilla, MS-IE, Firefox, opera &
safari.
Q)Which feature in Pantoto v2.0 use TinyMCE?
A) a. Edit Category
b. Create pagelet
c. Adding remarks
Q)What is CAPTCHA ?
A) A CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turning test to cell
Computers and Humans Apart) is a program that can generate and grade
tests that most humans can pass, but current computer programs can't
pass. It is used to prevent software program (robot) from using various
types of computing services.
Q)Why is CAPTCHA needed in Pantoto v2.0?
A) CAPTCHA is needed in
a. Registration Form : To prevent automated registration in Pantoto
based communities. This can be achieved by populating the registration
form and submitting it many times by a spamming program.
b. Guest pagelet: To prevent automated posting of pagelet by non registered users(guest).
Q)Why a new skin?
A)The existing skins in Pantoto- Corporate, Classic, Website - were not
customizable by a user in terms of layout and style. A CSS based skin,
whose styles and layouts can be overridden by the user in terms of
hierarchy was needed to achieve this.
Q)What is the new Skin?
A)The new skin, Bluez, has a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) cased approach
because of which customizable options comes in to picture, so now any
community can design the look and feel of there site, pretty easily. It
is also a prototype skin based on which other skins can be developed.
Q)Whats enhanced about RSS Feed in Pantoto v2.0?
A) A new user interface is provided for an Admin of a domain to
configure t he RSS feeds for their domain. Additionally, RSS feeds are
now generated using the Rome API, which generates the feed files
according to the RSS 2.0 specification. And the reader for the RSS
Feeds is a Ajax Javascript RSSReader instead of a servlet call which
makes the request process faster. There are some know issues (details
in Known Issues) with RSS feeds in v2.0.
Indic-Sarai fellows Surekha and Raghavan have come up with an "IndicIMEToolbar" for Mozilla based browsers which will facilitate users to key in Indian Language characters in web applications like email, filling some forms etc. This Indic IME toolbar can be added to Mozilla, firefox and Netscape7 browsers.
Using this Indic IME toolbar, one can
Type in Indian Languages in web pages
Send emails in Indian Languages
Edit documents in composer's HTML source mode, save to file system and/or take a hard copy of the same.
Note: This is possible only in Netscape7, but for some reason, it doesn't work in Mozilla's composer.
The IME functionality is implemented using Javascript event handling. This toolbar can be directly installed from
Though there are localized linux operating systems available with IME support at the OS level, this toolbar will be helpful for those who do not want (or wait for the) the entire application/os in local languages but just want the facility to type in Indian Languages in web pages.
This toolbar is tested in Mozilla1.7.1, Netscape7.1 and Firefox1.0 [on windows and Redhat Linux9]. Send us your comments/suggesions/feedback to Surekha Sastry [surekha AT servelots DOT com] & Srinivasa Raghavan [ raghavan AT servelots DOT com].
PANTOTO is being localized! Surekha and Raghavan are Indic-Sarai fellows who have joined our team to develop Indic tools and test them by integrating the tools with PANTOTO as test bed. The tools that they develop during the course of their fellowship will be made available in the public domain so that their work will benefit not just the PANTOTO communities project but the entire Indic community.
If you do not have the appropriate font installed on your system, then you will see a box in case of IE5.5+ and a '?' in Netscape6.0+ for the Indic characters. In order to see the Indic characters, please install the font raghu.ttf
Available on Source Forge
The PANTOTO Communities software is being made available on Source Forge http://SourceForge.net/projects/pantoto. The software is available under both GPL and Apache Licenses. Please join the effort.
Release
We
made our second public release of the software. Features that allows sorting of
serach results, sending notifications for remarks and other enhancements that will make the software more user friendly.
Localization Work
has commenced on provisioning localization of the PANTOTO Communities
software. This is being done using the software that has been developed
by the Indic-Sarai fellows. Sarai has been supporting the development
of tools that can be used for Indic Language needs of a web
application.
They also encourage developers/organizations and other working in the area of Indic/localization to participate in the Indicart http://mail.sarai.net:8080/indic community.
About PANTOTO
What is the PANTOTO?
PANTOTO
is a platform independent, web-enabled software product that allows
end-users to configure information management systems, online
communities, and extranets.
It is targeted at SMEs,
not-for-profit organizations and government organizations by being a
software that aims to reduce the dependency on the software developer.
Developed
in Java, PANTOTO uses a MySQL database and a Tomcat/Resin web-server.
The user interface has been developed using the WebMacro template
engine.
Development of the PANTOTO Communities project is being driven by Servelots Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
Servelots is a Bangalore based IT company and its sole agenda is to develop, enhance and service the PANTOTO software.
With
a current team strength of ten, the team is expanding, also into other
cities, to meet a growing set of customization needs of clients.
PANTOTO is a free/open source software on sourceforge.net, and the developer circle extends beyond the team at Servelots.
What is the profile of PANTOTO users?
Mostly
from the NGO and SME sector. PANTOTO adopters are typically functional
experts who are not computer savvy, but are able to put together simple
web-based applications for information and community management for
their needs.
Calling for Participation
We are currently seeking software developers who have worked with Open Source and in an Open Source Environment.
We
also invite particpation from individuals who have experience in
information management/documentation/networking with an interest in the
social development sector.
Working with
us in this project requires an understanding of the significance of
your contribution to the NGO sector. We are today in an environment
where IT resources are inaccessible to the NGO and SME sectors. Visit http://PANTOTO.com for more information.
PANTOTO Communities - Communities Managing Community Knowledge
JANASTU - "let it be... people!" - is a not-for-profit organization that helps institutions in the social development sector create, deploy and manage information solutions.
Shri B.K. Chandrashekar - minister for Primary and Secondary Education formally inaugurated Janastu on August 28 at the state youth center. NGOs, research institutions, subject experts, and representatives of bilateral projects attended the workshop in good number.
JANASTU has been working with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions that allow organizations and individuals to build online communities and mange information repositories. It will use tools that will catalyze participation amongst people.
The mission of Janastu is to e-nable the social development sector to pro-actively manage community-based knowledge and sustain it. The "let it be people" approach will provide a model where participatory management enables community based knowledge repositories.
Participation is networking, collaboration, dissemination, communication, building applications...
Community is focus group, beneficiaries, associates, members, co-ordinators, managers...
Knowledge from MIS, surveys, monitoring & evaluation, events, documentation...
