30 April 2014, 9:01

I added Mozilla's TogetherJS to my mahara as a way to experiment with a collaboration tool. This is something that I think has potential to help newbies be successful in mahara more quickly.  I am curious what others have tried.

TogetherJS is a javascript library that allows to chat, use audio and follow each others' screens. I added a new button with the label 'Team work' to both the default and a custom theme. When a user clicks it, the blue side bar will open and provide a URL. Once shared, both users can chat, follow each others' screens and have an audio conversation (not tried). In the video I have both Firefox and Chrome browsers open and I go back and forth between the two. In case someone would like to try it, it's at http://www.portfoliocommunities.com and the themes 'default' and 'Spacelab' have it. TogetherJS is available here https://togetherjs.com/

Here is a quick 2 minute video where I simulate a simple discussion between two users. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5f9M_gVPRjwNGNCNVNoLWFQNGs/edit?usp=sharing

Firefox browser

Firefox on the right and Chrome on the left during a shared session.

08 May 2014, 22:51

This is really interesting Dirk - how does it work with regards to page permissions?

Would you have to use it on commonly accessible pages, for example in Mahara groups?

09 May 2014, 17:11

Hello Mike,

It seems to respect page permissions. For example, when a friend takes me along to a page to which I do not have access to, I wont see the page and will see the access denied mahara message. I can still send a chad message saying 'Hey, I don't have access to where you are taking me'.

The same is true for groups. If I create a page inside a open group and take a friend along, that friend wont see that page until he/she joins the group. So it looks to me that page permissions are working as they should.

It gets a little messy in my example when I tried to edit a page. Maybe its because I was logged in as the same user in two browsers. I'll check it out some more.

02 June 2014, 21:12

Hello Dirk,

This is pretty neat and has potential for troubleshooting a problem though an admin will still need to be logged in as a user since page permissions are adhered, too, but at least some of the explanations would be easier I guess.

And then of course collaborating on a group page...

Cheers

Kristina