# octomode

> *work-in-progress*

Octomode is a collective editing space for PDF making, using Etherpad, Paged.js and Flask.

Inspired by the multi-centered, tentacular cognition capabilities of the octopus, we imagined a space in which the artificial boundaries of writing and design can be crossed; where writing, editing and designing can be done in one environment simultaneously, allowing the format to influence the matter and vice-versa.

More expanded documentation can be found here: <https://cc.vvvvvvaria.org/wiki/Octomode>

An installation guide can be found below.

## Install octomode

You can clone this repository to run octomode on your own computer or server.

`git clone https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/octomode.git`

Install the dependencies.

All the `python` dependencies are listed in `requirements.txt`

To install them, you can run:

`make setup`

This creates a virtual environment at `.venv/` and installs all the dependencies here.

Next to this, you also need to install `pandoc`.

`sudo apt install pandoc`

Now we need to configure *octomode*:

`cd octomode`

`nano .env` 

Configure your environment, save the following configuration settings as to a file called `.env`:

```
OCTOMODE_APPLICATION_ROOT=XXX
OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER=XXX
OCTOMODE_PAD_URL=XXX
OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL=XXX
OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=XXX
```

- **OCTOMODE_APPLICATION_ROOT**: *optional*, default: `/`
- **OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER**: *optional*, default: `5001`
- **OCTOMODE_PAD_URL**: *optional*, default: `https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/`
- **OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL**: *optional*, default: `https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/api/1.2.15/`
- **OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY**: *required*, **no default**

(Note: You must provide a value for `OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY`.)

`make run` (runs the Flask application)

Open the application at port `5001`, for example: <http://localhost:5001> or <https://mydomainname.ext:5001>.

## Install octomode with an URL prefix

If you want to install octomode with an URL prefix, like <https://mydomainname.ext/octomode/>, then you can use the gunicorn WSGI.

If you have ran the `make setup` command already, then `gunicorn` is already installed.

Configure your application root URL in your `.env` file.

You can simply run *octomode* now with the following command to run it with `gunicorn` (and not the built-in Flask dev server):

`make action`

### Dependencies

* pandoc
* python dependencies, see: `requirements.txt`

## Use octomode locally

It's recommended to use Firefox when working with octomode locally. Chrome or Chromium do not load external etherpads in iframes.