Campware News http://www.campware.org Free Software for a Free Press en-us Campsite 3.3: Cheaper, Faster, Better! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/763/

Download Campsite 3.3 now!

The main enhancements Campsite 3.3 brings are:

  • New article-field types: switch and numeric
  • Pluggable caching mechanism
  • Much improved caching (list classes, all database access classes, images, object lists, template meta action list)
  • Optimization of the ArticleType and ArticleTypeField classes
  • Caching for static methods that return objects list
  • Better log of all backend activity
  • Better online template editor (Editarea)
  • Global setting for resizing images inserted via the TinyMCE editor
  • Upgrade of the TinyMCE editor to the latest stable version, with a completely rewritten Paste from Word plugin
  • Enhancements to the Article Type management screens
  • Usability improvements to the Localizer tool (progress indicator and highlights to string groups needing attention.

For a full list of enhancements and bug fixes, please see this Trac report

If you like Campsite and would like to help it develop even faster, please take a minute to read our new How to Contribute section of the Campsite wiki.

You can start by spreading the word about Campsite: simply send the attached press release to any relevant people or addresses you may know, or help us make a translation into your language (mail us)

Enjoy the new release!

Sagart Paroiste "Speedy"

 

]]> 2009-06-24T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.2.3 Has Been Released! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/759/
Download Campsite 3.2.3 now! The new release fixes a critical bug which did not allow the creation of new article types plus a couple of more bug fixes:
  • Installer displays warnings related to session initialization
  • Tiny media plugin is not localized
]]> 2009-05-11T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.2.2 Has Been Released! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/758/
Download Campsite 3.2.2  now! The new release brings the following features:

    * Article attachments in article edit mode via TinyMCE editor
    * Image shrinking for images inserted by TinyMCE
    * Integration of Media TinyMCE plugin and Article media files
    * Add image derivates cache
    * Rename "Import legacy archive" into "Import XML" in Actions menu
    * List most recently commented articles and most recent comments
    * Ordered "Clear System Cache" and "Import Legacy Archive" in Action Menu
    * List most recent comments / most recently commented articles
    * Implement custom size parameters for text edit fields
    * Plugin update functionality

Bugs fixed:

    * Blog plugin: Add confirmation for user that images have successfully uploaded
    * Blog plugin: Add option to automatically resize image
    * Adding new content to the blog is broken because of the lack of validation
    * Blog plugin: Allow some HTML tags
    * Information about writable directories is missing
    * It's not possible to create new interview
    * Blog plugin: published/creation date renamed
    * Interview plugin admin: input validation failed
    * Article edit screen: >Save All< does not save topic fields
    * Adding a blog on new install, without having image generates error
    * Comments not appearing in admin interface
    * Import script doesn't report omitted content
    * Password strength meter rates passwords generated by strong password generartor as weak
    * Login action always returns error
    * The sections list is empty when the issue or language were not set
    * The issues list is empty when the language was not set
    * Garbage remains in the database after article delete
    * Misspelled list name in search list error reporting
    * The subscription by publication action is not handled properly
    * Constraints in articles list do not accept dynamic fields
    * Type parameter in articles list constraints does not accept case insensitive values
    * Blog plugin: form smarty plugins does not respect template parameter
    * Advanced setup and sytem preferences screen are not documented
    * Blog plugin: delete child object on delete blog/blogentry
    * Invalid article selection in articles list on topic exclude constraint
    * Crash when submitting comments
    * Blog plugin: Column "published" have to replaced by "date"
    * Interview plugin: Fix the limit parameter for lists
    * Poll plugin: Fix the limit parameter for lists]]> 2009-05-09T00:00:00+00:00 New Howto: Importing Entire Issues From InDesign http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/757/ Campsite 3.2.1's new Import Legacy Archives feature can import any XML file, provided it is in a certain format. Our new howto shows you how to use this feature together with Adobe InDesign CS2 (or newer) so that you can save the time and trouble of importing articles one-by-one from a print issue.

Read the howto on our developers' wiki here.

As always, we'd love your feedback on this howto or others. Feel free to leave your comments in the comments here, or on the Campsite support mailing list, the developers' mailing list or, if you don't want to sign up, in the support forum and developers' forum.

]]> 2009-04-01T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.2.1 is Out! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/756/
Download Campsite 3.2.1  now!

The new release brings the following features:

  • Article attachments in article edit mode via TinyMCE editor
  • Image shrinking for images inserted by TinyMCE
  • Integration of Media TinyMCE plugin and Article media files
  • Add image derivates cache
  • Rename "Import legacy archive" into "Import XML" in Actions menu
  • List most recently commented articles and most recent comments
  • Ordered "Clear System Cache" and "Import Legacy Archive" in Action Menu
  • List most recent comments / most recently commented articles
  • Implement custom size parameters for text edit fields
  • Plugin update functionality

Bugs fixed:

  • Blog plugin: Add confirmation for user that images have successfully uploaded
  • Blog plugin: Add option to automatically resize image
  • Adding new content to the blog is broken because of the lack of validation
  • Blog plugin: Allow some HTML tags
  • Information about writable directories is missing
  • It's not possible to create new interview
  • Blog plugin: published/creation date renamed
  • Interview plugin admin: input validation failed
  • Article edit screen: >Save All< does not save topic fields
  • Adding a blog on new install, without having image generates error
  • Comments not appearing in admin interface
  • Import script doesn't report omitted content
  • Password strength meter rates passwords generated by strong password generartor as weak
  • Login action always returns error
  • The sections list is empty when the issue or language were not set
  • The issues list is empty when the language was not set
  • Garbage remains in the database after article delete
  • Misspelled list name in search list error reporting
  • The subscription by publication action is not handled properly
  • Constraints in articles list do not accept dynamic fields
  • Type parameter in articles list constraints does not accept case insensitive values
  • Blog plugin: form smarty plugins does not respect template parameter
  • Advanced setup and sytem preferences screen are not documented
  • Blog plugin: delete child object on delete blog/blogentry
  • Invalid article selection in articles list on topic exclude constraint
  • Crash when submitting comments
  • Blog plugin: Column "published" have to replaced by "date"
  • Interview plugin: Fix the limit parameter for lists
  • Poll plugin: Fix the limit parameter for lists

 


]]> 2009-03-31T00:00:00+00:00 Press release - Campsite 3.2: Helping news organizations save money on their websites http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/755/ For immediate release
Contact: Douglas Arellanes (douglas.arellanes at mdlf.org)


Campsite 3.2: Saving news organizations money on their websites
 
With all the talk recently about newspapers worldwide facing difficult financial situations, the time is right for tools that let them both make more money and also save them money. The new release of the Campsite content management system can help. Made and released by a non-profit foundation called the Media Development Loan Fund, Campsite 3.2 helps news organizations get their sites online quickly and easily, and with features tailor-made for news.
 
"Campsite 3.2 is made by journalists for journalists," says Sava Tatić, the head of the Media Development Loan Fund's technology arm, the Center for Advanced Media Prague (CAMP), "It gives news organizations websites with features that would cost in the tens of thousands of dollars."
 
Campsite 3.2 brings a number of new features that are high on news organizations' lists, including a host of plugins, small programs that can be quickly written to address a certain need or provide a certain functionality. The plugins shipping with Campsite 3.2 include:

  • Blogs --support for either staff-created or public blogs that can share design appearance with the news site, with all the features users have come to expect from blogs.
  • Online interviews - support for in-office "live" interviews with guests. The plugin can also be used for by-the-minute breaking news coverage.
  • Polls - The ever-popular instant surveys can be integrated with other site content flexibly, quickly and easily.

 
"We think the blogs plugin is significant because they leverage a feature Campsite has had for years - the ability to tag content for later retrieval. These "topics" in Campsite lingo mean it's easy to tag a news article and a blog item with the same topic. Then when a site visitor clicks on that topic, they can browse all articles with that topic with a single click," said Douglas Arellanes, who works with Tatić at CAMP.
 
Because Campsite is free and open source, it's available for anyone to download and start using. It's written in the popular PHP programming language, making it even easier to adapt to do new things. "We strongly encourage cash-strapped news organizations to focus their limited resources on making the things they need, as opposed to paying for a costly, proprietary website content management system," Tatić said.
 
"Our organization supports independent media in developing countries. Many of these media organizations have been cash-strapped for as long as they can remember. For us, the open source model was the most efficient way of getting everyone the features and functionality they needed - because people share their improvements, everybody wins."

Campsite 3.2 can be downloaded from the Campware website, or directly from SourceForge at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=66936&package_id=65091

You can find out more about the Media Development Loan Fund at http://www.mdlf.org.

UPDATE: Thanks to Claudia Cruz, we now have the press release en Español. It's attached here.

]]> 2009-03-16T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.2 Official Relase is Here! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/753/

The highlights are:

  • Improved search engine (allows for advanced search options)
  • New WYSIWYG editor (TinyMCE instead of Xinha)
  • Static author field (allows for easier article author/writer-related features on sites)
  • Improved article statistics (including more front-end use of the stats: e.g. most commented)
  • AJAX saving in the article edit screen (as the first step of UI ajaxization)
  • New or improved plugins: Blogs, Polls, Online Interview.

The full changelog is here.

]]> 2009-03-06T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.2 is Coming (rc4 is here). http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/752/
Download Campsite 3.2 rc4 now!
The major novelties are:
  • New WYSIWYG editor (TinyMCE instead of Xinha)
  • Improved search engine (allows for advanced search options)
  • Static author field (allows for easier article author/writer-related features on sites)
  • Improved article statistics (including more front-end use of the stats: e.g. most commented)
  • AJAX saving in the article edit screen (as the first step of UI ajaxization)
The full list of implemented features and bug fixes is here.

IMPORTANT: Read these HOWTOs before you upgrade:
Fix Database Encoding
Author Field Populating

]]> 2009-01-28T00:00:00+00:00 Campcaster 1.4 "Monrovia" Beta 2 packages available http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campcaster_news/751/
The 1.4 Beta 2 packages can be downloaded by adding the Campcaster repository to your list of available software. For Synaptic users, this is under Settings -> Repositories -> Third Party Software and then adding this address:

deb http://code.campware.org/ubuntu hardy main

Then press the 'refresh' button and do a search for 'Campcaster'. You should then see the 1.4.0-2beta2 packages.

These packages are for testing only; we do not recommend you use them to power your broadcast until we have had the time to get some proper testing in. But this is something where you - the Campcaster community - can help as well.

We need people to test this release to see if everything works as advertised, and if it doesn't, we need bug reports.
]]> 2008-12-02T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.1.2 is Here! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/750/
Download Campsite 3.1.2 now!
The changelog:

  Improvements
  ------------
  - #2623: Like operator for strings in searching
  - #2625: Allow accessing of time in published articles
  - #2634: Make Campsite more friendly to shared hosting
  - #2637: Allow image resize when displaying article images

  Bugs Fixed
  ----------
  - #2310: Username restrictions problem
  - #2499: Array expected as argument: Fixed since 2.7 release
  - #2528: Unset include path for PEAR classes
  - #2530: PEAR error when trying to post a comment
  - #2551: Syncing Phorum and Campsite users fails in data type validation
  - #2573: User login error on inconsistent databases
  - #2593: Update user permissions fails in some specific conditions
  - #2595: QuickForm PEAR package missed for Interview plugin
  - #2610: The value of the article custom fields of topic type is not correct
  - #2621: Unsetting issue in local behaves different than in previous versions
  - #2622: MetaDateTime class file is not correct, __autoload() fails
  - #2624: Invalid property remember_user of object login
  - #2629: Poll plugin fails in form interactions
  - #2630: Article search is slow on big databases
  - #2633: Plugin warnings: "Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated"
  - #2636: Crontab overwritted when multiple Campsite instances are installed

The Ubuntu .deb packages will be released in the coming days.
]]> 2008-11-01T00:00:00+00:00 Testimonials http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/749/ 2008-09-12T00:00:00+00:00 Screencast / video tutorial for Campcaster Radio Software available online now! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campcaster_news/747/ here. Go here for the video tutorial / screencast. Below you can find a list of the individual chapters covered. Have fun.

Campcaster Video Tutorial
1. Campcaster Studio
      • 1.1. Installing Campcaster manually from Debian Packages
      • 1.2. Installing Campcaster using the Synaptic Package Manager
      • 1.3. Setting up the Sound Cards
      • 1.4. Adding your station logo
      • 1.5. Login into and understanding the Master Panel
      • 1.6. The Scratchpad: moving songs, and playlists
      • 1.7. Single file upload
      • 1.8. Mass import of files
      • 1.9. Playing, Cueing and Previewing Songs
      • 1.10. Creating playlists, adding fades and playing out
      • 1.11. Search and browse files and playlists in the media archive
      • 1.12. Scheduling playlists for playout
      • 1.13. Connecting your station to a network hub
2. Campcaster Web / Station
      • 2.1. Remote access: logging in
      • 2.2. Remote access: adding files
      • 2.3. Remote access: creating playlists from files
      • 2.4. Remote access: scheduling playlists for playout
      • 2.5. Remote access: searching and browsing the media archive
3. Compiling Campcaster
      • 3.1. Campcaster from source: configuring
      • 3.2. Campcaster from source: compiling
]]> 2008-08-16T00:00:00+00:00 Summercamp 2008: Open Source's Best Kept Secret http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campware_news/745/ This year's theme is symbolized by a QR code, a play on Campware's lack of concerted promotion. Aside from setting the global development road maps for Campware products, the meeting will feature hands-on coding and UI design workshops.
]]> 2008-08-15T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.1.1 Has Been Released http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/744/ Download Campsite 3.1.1 now! Here is what is new:

Small Improvements
  ------------------
  - #2445: Creating standardards/API for campsite plugins
  - #2606: Add a nickname field to the comment form
  - #2607: Implement a way to remember the user upon login
  - #2609: Update the Russian translation
  - #2600: Implement an attribute that returns the number of  articles in the search action]]> 2008-07-31T00:00:00+00:00 Read the Fine Manual(s)! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/743/
That is to say that we've finally updated our Campsite manuals for versions 3.0 and 3.1. Upgrading to Campsite 3.x has never been easier. Don't hesitate, go for it today!

We are looking for volunteers for updating the manual for Cream 3.0.
As it happens sometimes, feature development takes precedence over documentation, so we are already gearing up to release Campsite 3.1.1 at the moment the first complete manuals for the 3.x versions are ready.

We apologize for the inconvenience or furstration that any of you may have had with the incomplete manuals. Please help us make them better by your comments and suggestions. If you'd like to volunteer for more substantial tasks (Cream 3.0 would love some of your attention), please let us know.


]]> 2008-07-25T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.1.0 Official Release is Here! http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/742/ Download now!

Campsite 3.1.0 runs on any operating system that runs PHP, Apache and MySQL, including Linux, Windows, Macs and BSD variants. And if it doesn't, we need bug reports!

We thank the Campware community for patience and help with this major milestone in Campsite development.

The Campsite 3.1.0 package contains default sample templates together with the corresponding database which you can install by following the steps in the INSTALL file. (Newbie Windows users: Try opening the INSTALL file with Notepad or Wordpad).

Unlike the 2.2-2.7 versions, Campsite 3.0 and 3.1 do not support multiple instances anymore. This means that for each instance you want to run you have to install Campsite in a new virtual host.

The install process is much simpler and the dependencies are much fewer: we removed the C++ code so every dependency related to it vanished. No more compiling :)

We're looking forward to getting user feedback, so please get involved in the Campsite community. Check the Campsite support forum or join our mailing list for more info.

Changelog for Campsite 3.1.0

For full details about these changes, see:
http://code.campware.org/projects/campsite/query?milestone=3.1.0

Improvements:
- #1549: Install cron jobs all at once
- #2176: Implement a statement that will display the whole
article body
- #2362: Check for topics in articles in template language
- #2484: Online interview module
- #2522: Security checks
- #2536: Introduce permissions based on sections for staff users
- #2552: Allow plugins to register attributes in Campsite context
- #2560: Article statistics: Most Read
- #2564: Make Ubuntu package
- #2565: Special values for ComparisionOperation class
- #2566: Show number of articles in each section
- #2584: Implement a method to upgrade the database on new install
- #2579: Beginning of the plugins API
- #2505: Online interview plugin
- #2494: Rewrite Poll plugin for 3.1 release

Bugs Fixed:
- #2366: Fix image handling
- #2449: Crash when uploading image
- #2577: Unexpected error in comments when the thread id did not
exist in phorum
- #2578: The order of the order fields is not preserved in lists
- #2589: Subscription form set to paid by default

]]> 2008-07-04T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.0.3 is Available http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/741/ Upgrade now! This release eliminates a number of bugs reported by the Campsite community:
  • #2581: Lists loop over the content more times than needed.
  • #2582: The internal link popup crashes with error message.
  • #2583: Internal links are not processed in certain conditions.
  • #2574: After all permissions are granted to an user, it is not possible to remove permissions from him by unchecking single checkboxes.
  • #2580: Bad template path in template conversions
]]> 2008-06-20T00:00:00+00:00 Campsite 3.0.2 is Available http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/740/ Upgrade now! This release eliminates a number of bugs reported by the Campsite community:
  • Syncing campsite and Phorum users still queries Users table which is no longer in use.
  • Introduce text button for preview, get rid of the magnifying glass icon in the article edit screen.
  • Fixed a typo in the French language definition.
  • Fixes in all form statements in the template language: do not set the hidden tpl parameter when the template was not defined, set the template based on the given parameters, code cleanup, added new error message for invalid template error.
  • Fixed invalid error message when the issue, section or article template was not set.
  • Fixed bug in phorum user creation: do not set the user id manually, the user id is an autoincrement key.
  • The topic parameter is not set in the URI when the topic was defined.
  • Fixed error reporting in issue, section and article lists; added new error message.
  • In article comments list initialize the default order to the thread order.
  • Fixed the htaccess file for the windows install.
  • HTML coding fixes.
  • Small fixes in the INSTALL file.
  • Fixes in the default demo templates.
  • Fixed declarations for operators greater_equal, smaller_equal.
  • Fixed the version display in the admin interface.

]]> 2008-05-26T00:00:00+00:00 Press release: NGO Releases Free Software Tool for Independent Media http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campsite_news/739/ www.campware.org. The Campsite software began in 1999 as one of the first open source content management systems in the world, and its list of features has grown in response to real-world experience in regions such as Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia and Latin America. It is now being used by more than 100 media organizations worldwide, serving hundreds of thousands of users per day with vital news and information.

One of the major areas of work on Campsite 3.0 was to make it easier to install and use in more places. The heart of Campsite 3.0 – its system for creating templates that join design information with articles and photos from a database – has been rewritten to use the popular PHP programming language. Now Campsite 3.0 can be installed on any server running PHP and a MySQL database server, including on Windows servers and at internet hosting providers. “Our use of the PHP-based Smarty templating engine will also result in a much wider range of technical options for Campsite users,” said Campsite lead developer Mugur Rus. “Campsite also now supports content caching, which leads to greatly improved site performance,” Rus said.

Radio journalists will appreciate how Campsite 3.0 provides tools for providing audio on demand on websites through integration with the Campcaster system for radio broadcasting (also produced by Campware). Campsite also provides support for online polls, in addition to previous features such as combined article comments and forums.
Campsite 3.0 also provides integration with another tool Campware has developed – the Cream customer relationship management system. The combination allows media organizations to manage on-line subscriptions, ad orders, customer information, customer communications and payment information; in the long run, this helps to improve sales and give independent media greater financial independence.

“The Campsite team has put a lot of time and effort into making it both more powerful and easier to use, and we believe this will make it more popular. It's a virtuous circle,” said Sava Tatić, managing director of the MDLF's Center for Advanced Media Prague and leader of the Campware Initiative.

“We started developing Campsite in 1999 because we saw that there was a need for tools that helped news organizations get online. We make our tools available to others because we are firm believers in the open source ethic. Practically speaking, this has meant that the software has become far better and had a much greater impact than if we had kept it to ourselves,” Tatić said.

Campsite 3.0 is available for free download from the Campware Initiative's web page at www.campware.org. The Media Development Loan Fund is a US-registered 501(c)3 public charity devoted to supporting independent media in countries in transition. For more information, visit www.mdlf.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Contact: Douglas Arellanes (douglas dot arellanes at mdlf dot org).]]> 2008-05-07T00:00:00+00:00 Campware News: Got 3.0 Yet? http://www.campware.org/en/camp/campware_news/738/     Campsite 3.0
    Cream 3.0
    Campcaster 1.4 Update
    Campware stuff from Cafe Press
      What's in a Name?
    Donating to Campware
    Things we've got our eye on - open source software relevant to independent media
    Real time, chat-based discussion on the Campware IRC channels

Are you using Campware's solutions for your media organization? We'd love to hear what you've been up to. Write us at contact@campware.org with your news.

Campsite 3.0 update

Campsite, our flagship web content management system for media organizations, has finally released version 3.0. Campsite 3.0 is important for many reasons, mainly because it is the first all-PHP version of Campsite, replacing Campsite's template parser with the popular and widely-used Smarty templating engine. For users, the main difference they will see with Campsite 3.0 is that it can be installed on any server running MySQL and PHP, including Windows and MacOS X servers. Webmasters, system administrators and site designers will appreciate all the new features and functionality that can be built using the new templating system.

Campsite 3.0, codenamed "Filip," can also be installed on hosted servers, which will bring down the costs of operating a powerful, professional news site down even further. Root access is no longer required to install Campsite.

The Campsite 3.0 release also rolled up many of the features intended for the 2.7 release, including site replication and what we call the "Radio Package" for integration with our Campcaster radio management system. Site replication means that you can have one Campsite server installed in your office and then have it sync on a regular basis with a public server located at a fast hosting provider. The "Radio Package" enables users at radio stations to store their audio files on Campcaster's storage server, but to serve those files to the public via Campsite for audio-on-demand.

For those using older Campsite versions, there are upgrade scripts that should be able to help speed your transition to the new version.

We still need to update and refresh the Campsite manuals, and we are always open to new suggestions for items to go into those manuals. Also, for those of you who are multilingual, we would like to ask you to get involved in updating existing localizations into other languages and to localize Campsite into new languages.

You can download Campsite 3.0.1 "Filip" here.

We're looking forward to your feedback on the new Campsite 3.0. You can use the 'Help-> Feedback' option from Campsite or join either the Campsite support mailing list at http://sympa.mdlf.org/wws/subscribe/campsite-support or the Campsite developers' list at http://sympa.mdlf.org/wws/subscribe/campsite-dev


Cream 3.0 and MDLF's Digital Kiosk

Campware's customer relationship management system, Cream, had a major release in mid-August of 2007. The 3.0 version of Cream includes a number of important improvements, including the fact that it now works with the free and open source MySQL database server, as well as providing better integration with Campsite for more automated management of users and subscriptions.

We decided to "eat our own dog food" with Cream, and since February 2008 we've been using an altered version of Cream to run our Digital Kiosk e-commerce service. The Digital Kiosk lets you buy subscriptions, books, CDs, and other items from 14 independent publishers worldwide at http://digitalkiosk.mdlf.org.

The Digital Kiosk is a service that enables independent organizations to sell their products and services online; in many parts of the world, banks still do not allow their customers to take online payments. Campware created the Digital Kiosk as a way to enable these media organizations to accept online payments for their goods and services. Now that it's powered by Cream, we're able to have much better management of products, orders and customer communications.


Campcaster 1.4 "Monrovia"

Work is continuing on the 1.4 "Monrovia" release of Campcaster, our radio playout and automation system. Campcaster had a quiet release in the fall of its 1.3 "Dakar" version, which included a substantial reworking of the Campcaster Studio program to enable features such as drag-and-drop between windows. The main work in the 1.4 "Monrovia" release involves a rewriting of its interface with the Gstreamer multimedia layer under Linux. What this means is that sound handling is much faster, numerous file formats (including WAV and FLAC) can be supported and the system will be able to use other plugins from the Gstreamer multimedia framework. While a lot of that sounds like Linux audio geekery (and it is), this will greatly improve Campcaster's playback reliability and keep Campcaster on the right path for future development.

Work on the Campcaster 1.3 and 1.4 releases has been covered by a generous grant from the Open Society Institute for West Africa (OSIWA). In cooperation with West Africa Democracy Radio, a news and information network based in Dakar, Senegal, we are working on a deployment of Campcaster among community radio stations in rural Liberia.


What's in a Name: Campware Naming Conventions

In case you've ever wondered why Campware usually includes a codename in its releases, there is indeed a method to our madness. Here's a quick guide.

Since the 2.2 version, Campsite releases have been named after someone close to the developers - in practice this has meant new births.

2.2 "Mara", released April 14, 2005 - named after Mugur Rus' daughter Mara
2.3 "Niko", released August 1, 2005 - named after Paul Baranowski's nephew Niko.
2.4 "Rade", released January 10, 2006 - named after Sava Tatić's son Rade.
2.5 "Eli", released  - named after Micz Flor's nephew Eli.
2.6 "Joey" - named after Douglas Arellanes' daughter Joey.
3.0 "Filip" - named after Pavla Čihařová's son Filip.

LiveSupport 0.91 (later renamed to Campcaster) was codenamed "Fritz" after developer Sebastian Goebel's grandfather Fritz, and it also used this convention. But then we changed it so that the Campcaster releases changed their naming to be after the cities in which the work was deployed.

1.1 "Freetown" - Freetown, Sierra Leone
1.2 "Kotor" - Kotor, Montenegro
1.3 "Dakar" - Dakar, Senegal
1.4 "Monrovia" - Monrovia, Liberia

Cream doesn't have a naming convention yet.

Bonus trivia: On a training visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, Douglas Arellanes and Paul Baranowski found out that in Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, "Kotor" means "dirty." :-)))



Campware Stuff from Cafe Press

One of the useful ideas to emerge from the SummerCAMP developers' and powerusers' event in Prague in the summer of 2007 was to create our own CafePress store, where people can buy things like shirts and coffee mugs with the logo of their favorite Campware project. Proceeds from this go to maintaining Campware projects. Check out the store at this address:

http://www.cafepress.com/campware

Also, if you have any suggestions for stuff you'd like to see on a Campware t-shirt or other CafePress product, let us know about it. We're always interested in good ideas from you, our community.


Donating to Campware

It's extremely easy to make a donation to Campware (through our parent organization, the Media Development Loan Fund), and it's even tax-deductible if you live in the USA. We take credit card donations online through our Digital Kiosk service.

Things We've Got Our Eye On - Open Source Software Relevant to Independent Media


(K)Ubuntu, Ubuntu Studio and 64Studio
If a magic goldfish were to grant Campware a wish, it just might be for a good, specialized Linux distribution relevant to the media organizations we work with. But we're always bad with magic goldfish and the closest thing that's out there to our dream distribution is the Ubuntu Studio project, which gathers together a number of the top audio, video and graphics programs based on the Ubuntu Linux distribution. (We love Ubuntu, but you probably already knew that.)

We especially like Ubuntu Studio's sound apps, including the outstanding Ardour digital audio workstation, and of course Audacity (see below). Ubuntu Studio includes a couple of things important for multimedia production, including a low-latency kernel (important for recording one track while listening to others in your headphones) and an automatically-configured version of the Jack program for handling audio outputs. Check it out at www.ubuntustudio.org. The project seems to have been quiet for a while now, so we hope they continue with it.

Ubuntu in and of itself is pretty great. It and its KDE-based variant Kubuntu are really the first Linux distributions we feel comfortable promoting to journalists on deadline. Campware has versions of its Campsite and Campcaster software available in packages tailor-made for Ubuntu, and if you install them online, you get the added benefit of being able to automatically update the software when new versions come out. You can visit the Ubuntu website at www.ubuntu.com

We had the good fortune of meeting Daniel James of the 64Studio project, which, like Ubuntu Studio is a specialized Linux audio distribution, but one based on Debian. As its name implies, 64Studio works quite well on AMD's 64-bit CPUs, but is also very good on regular Intel chips. Daniel and his team are doing some good work, and now offer custom Ubuntu distributions of 64Studio and other bespoke programs. Nice stuff! http://www.64studio.com

Audacity
Audacity is a sound editing program, and as such it has special importance for Campware's target audience of media organizations, both because it's extremely powerful, has a lot of features and is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh. Plus it's free and open source. We're using and promoting it among the radio stations we work with as an alternative to programs like CoolEdit, Vegas and Audition. Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net for more.

OpenOffice
OpenOffice continues to get better with every release. The latest, 2.4, is pretty slick, and at least the word processing and presentation programs are on a par with MS Office. Those who work with people who use lots of macros in Excel would still probably be better off sticking with that, but for simple spreadsheets, OpenOffice works fine.

At Campware, we strongly support localization and internationalization efforts, and we're happy to see that OpenOffice has been ported to a number of world languages, including spell checkers. You can download the latest version of OpenOffice at www.openoffice.org.

There are a couple of variants of OpenOffice that are also worth keeping an eye on.

IBM Lotus Symphony is a new version of the OpenOffice.org office software. We're just testing it now, but already it looks a lot slicker and user-friendly than OpenOffice. And there are Windows, Mac and Linux versions too.

Our Mac-using friends should take a look at NeoOffice, which is a version of OpenOffice that's been altered to take better advantage of native OS X features.

Google Documents
Because Campware works with people all over the world, collaboration becomes pretty crucial to whatever we do. We're starting to experiment with Google Documents for documents where a) people are spread out b) where we need to keep track of who made which changes at which time. Google Documents is pretty good in this way, and it works with both MS Office formats and OpenOffice.

Trac
We love Trac. Trac is a wiki-based ticketing system and, well, a wiki, but one that interfaces with the Subversion server our programmers use to submit their programming changes. Trac is what we use to run our developer pages (all of which are at http://code.campware.org). And of course it's open source. Visit http://trac.edgewall.net for more info.


VLC
VLC is a media player that will play just about any multimedia file out of the box. VLC supports all kinds of video formats, including Windows Media, and it runs on all three operating systems - Windows, Mac and Linux. More at http://www.videolan.org/vlc


Real-time discussions on the #campsite and #campcaster IRC channels

If you've got a burning question that won't wait for the various Campware mailing lists, you might want to try visiting the #campsite and #campcaster IRC channels on irc.freenode.net. If you have an IRC-friendly chat client program, it's very easy to head there, and if you don't, try installing the very easy-to-use Pidgin instant messenger client. Then you can navigate over to irc.freenode.net and the #campsite and #campcaster channels.


About this newsletter

Campware News is supposed to come out quarterly, providing an update on goings on in and around the Campware Initiative, which seeks to create free and open source tools for independent media in the developing world. You are getting this email because you - or someone - added you to our subscription list. We hate spam maybe even more than you do, so if you think you've gotten this email in error, you can sign up or unsubscribe here:

http://lists.campware.org/mailman/listinfo/campware-newsletter
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