# 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 ).
### Prerequisites
* Existing [Etherpad ](https://etherpad.org ) installation
* [Pandoc ](https://pandoc.org/ ) >= 2.x
* Python >= 3.11.x
### Get started
You can clone this repository to run octomode on your own computer or server.
```
git clone https://git.vvvvvvaria.org/varia/octomode.git
cd octomode
```
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_PAD_API_KEY**: *required* , **no default**
- **OCTOMODE_APPLICATION_ROOT**: *optional* , default: `/`
- **OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER**: *optional* , default: `5001`
- **OCTOMODE_PAD_URL**: *required* , default: `https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/` (you need API access to this pad instance)
- **OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL**: *required* , default: `https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/api/1.2.15/`
**Note**: you must provide a value for `OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY` , `OCTOMODE_PAD_URL` and `OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL` .
Now we 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, we also need to install `pandoc` .
```
sudo apt install pandoc
```
Configure your webserver, to connect your application root (for example `octomode.mydomainname.ext` ) to the port on which the flask application is running (`localhost:5001` by default).
This is an example for nginx webservers:
```
location /octomode/ {
proxy_pass http://localhost:5555;
}
```
And finally, run the application.
```
make run
```
Open the application at port `5001` , for example: http://localhost:5001
## Install with URL prefix
If you want to install octomode with an URL prefix, like < https: / / mydomainname . ext / octomode / > , then you can use the gunicorn WSGI.
Configure your application root URL in your `.env` file to `/octomode` :
```
OCTOMODE_APPLICATION_ROOT=/octomode
```
After that, you can simply run:
```
make action
```
This will first check if you already install gunicorn in the `.venv` folder, and after that run *octomode* with `gunicorn` and not the built-in Flask dev server.
## Which browser to use?
> **WARNING**: When working collectively, it's recommended to use the same browser
> and if possible also the same version of that browser, to get the same (or at least
> the most similar) PDF. Different operating systems and browsers render CSS rules
> slightly differently, which can result in out-of-sync layouts between across
> a group of people.
> **WARNING**: It's recommended to use Chrome/Chromium when working with Octomode.
> Firefox renders images in very low quality.
> **WARNING**: It's recommended to use Firefox when working with Octomode
> locally. Chrome or Chromium do not load external etherpads in iframes.
