Notification add-on for OpenProdoc

The main purpose of this add-on for OpenProdoc is to notify users and contributors when a new document is inserted through the Contribution Module. Although it was originally developed to be used in conjunction with the Contribution Module, it can also be used as a notification system for a regular OpenProdoc installation (i.e., without any additional module enabled).

This add-on was created by Guillermo Castellano, from Nosturi.

The code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0.

Functionalities

• Sending an automatic thank-you email to contributors every time they submit new content through the Contribution Module.
• Sending automatic email notifications to a specific group of OpenProdoc users if new content is submitted to a specific folder type.
• Supports HTML templates.

Requirements

• OpenProdoc 2.3 or higher.
• Java 1.8 or higher.

This add-on has been developed and tested on GNU/Linux, but it should work properly on any environment which supports Java 1.8 or higher.

Configuration

1. Download this repository. It is not mandatory to run it in the same machine used for your OpenProdoc instance.
2. Open ProdocRem.properties with an editor and change the properties as needed. This file is used to establish a remote connection with the OpenProdoc database.
3. Open notification.properties with an editor and change the properties as needed. This file is used to define the variables of the add-on, such as the email address responsible of sending the emails, the group of users that will receive the notifications, etc.
4. If you want to use an HTML template for the thank-you email, write the path to the template in the "template" field of notification.properties. You can use the keyword %contributor in the template to create a field for the contributor's first name.
5. Open the OPDContribNotification file supported by your Operating System (.sh, .command or .bat) with an editor and change the properties as needed. This file is used to start the add-on. Note that you can create different launcher scripts with different configurations. This is useful if you want to set up a task to notify contributors and another one to notify OpenProdoc users.

Important: If you aim to use a Gmail address to send the notifications, you must turn on access for less secure apps in the Gmail account. For security reasons, it is highly recommended to use a dedicated address.

Running the add-on

Start the add-on by running the OPDContribNotification file supported by your Operating System (.sh, .command or .bat).

You may want to set up a Cron job to run the launcher script (or scripts) at specified times and dates (e.g., every hour, once a day, etc.).

Additional information

This documentation assumes you are already familiar with OpenProdoc administration. Otherwise, you should start by reading the official OpenProdoc Online Help.

Please read the changelog.

If you need any further assistance, don't hesitate to contact me.

Acknowledgements

This project was developed with the support of Greenpeace Spain.

Special thanks to Joaquín Hierro for his invaluable help.