Many people still rely on Microsoft Outlook as their day to day client and while we are confident that WebApp and DeskApp should be the client of choice with Kopano, we also strive to make users happy, that still want to keep working with Outlook. Out of this need we created the Kopano OL Extension (KOE), which is now available in version 1.2 final. Compared to the beta from earlier this month, we have included some small usability improvements to the new shared folder feature and readied the code for its open source release.
What did I miss, if I did not download the 1.2 beta already?
The changes in this version range from small improvements, like the new “Open WebApp” button, to big changes like he reworked shared folder feature.
The reworked shared folder feature now allows to not only open individual folders, but also full folder hierarchies. Since disk space is always precious we implemented this feature in a way, that you can even deselect individual folders. On top of that you can also decide if you want to reply as the user of the shared folder. Please be aware that you need Z-Push 2.3.4 for the new shared folder feature to fully work.
When replying from such a folder the “From” address is then automatically set to the address of the shared store.
Do you have a lot of opened shared folders? You can now quickly jump the settings of any shared folder through its context menu.
Administrators that make use of roaming profiles will surely be glad to hear, that you can now specify a location other than “AppData\Local” for the storage of the GAB.
Wait, did you say KOE is now open source?
Yes, we do believe in transparency and the values of open source, that’s why we now finally decided to also license KOE under the AGPL license version 3, which is now also visible through a small “about” dialogue from within Outlook.
Sadly the old repository did create some sensitive information, like packaging information and the according signing key, therefore we decided to create a fresh new repository and couldn’t contain commit history of previous versions. You can get the source code directly from its dedicated repository on Kopano’s Stash instance, or alternative you can also download a “nightly” snapshot of the master branch over at the Kopano Community Downloads.
Feedback & Download
What else is still missing for you in KOE? Or do you maybe want a deeper integration of Kopano WebMeetings inside of Outlook? We are looking forward to your feedback, for example through our new Kopano Forum.
The Kopano OL Extension can be downloaded from the Kopano portal. You can find more detailed setup instructions in the Kopano Knowledge Base. If you want to participate in development, or just have a look how we implemented a certain feature, you can find die AGPLv3 licensed code in the Kopano Stash instance. To use KOE you need at least Z-Push 2.3, we recommend to use the Z-Push package repositories to easily stay up to date.
