This guide should help you with configuring OpenACS Notifications to use Postfix instead of the qmail MTA on Macos X. However the instructions should be similar for OpenACS installations on other OSes.

Once postfix is installed, all you need to do is enable it to start as your default Mailserver in /etc/hostconfig. Proceed with configuring Postfix, then onfigure OpenACS Notification Parameters to use Postfix. Finally, restart Postfix for the configurations to take effect. You may also need to restart your OpenACS server as well.

NOTE 1: Replace hostname.mydomain.tld with the hostname of your server. This should be something like openacs.org.

NOTE 2: I've assumed that the OpenACS server will run as the service0 user.

NOTE 3: You need to create the Maildir directory in the home directory of the service0 user.

$ mkdir /Users/service0/Maildir

Edit /etc/hostconfig to enable Postfix on Panther

MAILSERVER=-YES-

Edit /etc/postfix/main.cf

myhostname=hostname.mydomain.tld
myorigin=$myhostname
inet_interfaces=$myhostname, localhost
mynetworks_style=host
virtual_maps=regexp:/etc/postfix/virtual
home_mailbox=Maildir/

Edit /etc/postfix/virtual

Add the following regular expressions:

/^notification-(.*)@hostname\.mydomain\.tld/ service0
/^bounce-(.*)@hostname\.mydomain\.tld/ service0

Edit /etc/postfix/master.cf

Uncomment line 77 and change:

#smtp inet n - n - - smtpd
to
smtp inet n - n - - smtpd

OpenACS: Configure Notifications Parameters

EmailDomain: hostname.mydomain.tld
EmailQmailQueue: /Users/service0/Maildir
EmailReplyAddressPrefix: notification
EmailQmailQueueScanP: 1

OpenACS: Configure Mail Services Lite Parameters

BounceDomain: hostname.mydomain.tld
BounceMailDir: /Users/service0/Maildir
EnvelopePrefix: bounce

Restart Postfix

$ sudo Postfix stop
$ sudo Postfix start

What about sending a bulk mail message to all community members that we have created an end users welog?

Instead of linking to other websites, I am using the blogroll feature in Larsblogger to create shortcuts to the most important functionality of the site I am creating. It would be usefull to have an option to add additional blogrolls, just like we can add more category trees. That way the blog keeps the traditional blog features also.

The "How to" category could be used to create goal centred approach similar to the wasy the folks at Basecamp are roling out "chunks" of usefull features. like their Tada and Backpack tools, people are likely to be looking for.

One of the most useful tools in Larsblogger is the bookmarklet. On eTNweblog I monitor travel industry news, and adding stories to my blog is now a matter of seconds. I receive a Google allert, check the the story for relevance, highlight the the first 5 sentences and click on bookmarklet in my browser toolbar, which automaticaly pastes header, highlighted body copy and URL to the my blog. Works like a charm. All you have to do is drag the bookmarklet (go to blog admin) .

At the moment there are 2 stylesheets for larsblogger. This default one, and one I think only available if you install DotLRN, with a much more attractive calendar display. Who knows where it is located, and is there a simple way to change between the 2 designs? I also think we should have a third default stylesheet based on 3 collumn with header picture.

Just activated categories. If you have ideas for more topics, let me know.

As a designer / manager using OpenACS, I find myself wanting more information on the best ways to use OpenACS (rather than develop it). I'd love it if there are people out there managing sites who have tips or hints for working with OpenACS from a administrator's perspective. I agree with Ben Koot's post - I feel like it is an iceberg, and I don't really know how to get the most out of OACS yet. Thanks!

OpenACS has some really powerful features that we would like to expose through this blog. We will try to present features that will be of immediate use to OpenACS developers. However before diving into the deep end, a few basics of OpenACS will be covered within this posting for reference.

OpenACS Packages

OpenACS has transformed from a monolithic code base (3.x and below) to a neater modularised code base in the latest releases (4.x and above). Applications that use the OpenACS framework are now developed in self-contained modules called "packages". All packages are structured using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.

There are core packages such as the kernel, templating and authentication packages that give you the basis for a web application that supports user, group and application management. You can extend the functionality of a vanilla installation of OpenACS by plugging in already developed packages such as a calendar or wiki through a package installer interface. Or if you can't find a package that provides the functionality you need from OpenACS's extensive package catalog, then you can easily develop your own package.

A package contains an XML based .info file containing meta-data for the package. The core packages use the .info file for dependency checking, as well as for defining properties and specifying call-back commands. The package can also have an SQL directory that contains all SQL files for generating the data model for the application. There is a TCL directory that contains all library procedures for the application. Finally, there is a WWW directory that contains all the presentation logic for the Web application. The structure of the notes package is as follows:

notes

    + notes.info

    + sql

        + oracle

        + postgresql

            * notes-create.sql

            * notes-drop.sql

    + tcl

        * notes-apm-callbacks.tcl

        * notes-init.tcl

        * notes-procs.tcl

    + www

        * index.adp

        * index.tcl

        * index.xql

        * index-postgresql.xql

        * index-oracle.xql

In the SQL directory, the notes-create.sql file is called only once when the application is installed, and is used to create the data model in a database. Currently there is support for both Oracle and PostgreSQL in OpenACS, so depending on which RDBMS you are using, the notes-create.sql will be executed from the SQL sub-directory that corresponds to the RDBMS used.

In the TCL directory, the notes-apm-callbacks.tcl file contains procs that get called when the application is installed/mounted. The notes-init.tcl contains TCL procs that initiate the application when AOLServer starts up. The notes-procs.tcl contains TCL procs that can be used by files in WWW or by other packages.

In the WWW directory, each web page consists for an XQL file, a TCL file and an ADP file. The ADP file contains HTML and templating tags for presentation of data from the data base. The XQL file is an XML based file that contains SQL statements that can be used by the TCL file. SQL statements common to all database systems can be placed in file.xql, whereas RDBMS specific SQL statements can be placed in file-postgresql.xql or file-oracle.xql. The TCL file contains the logic for executing SQL statements and then pushing the returned data to the ADP template file.

That just about covers OpenACS and packages from a high-level overview. In future posts we will start blogging about more useful features in OpenACS.

This is a blog intended for use by OpenACS users. Share your latest tips and hints here!