Converting writing to a document file

The use of so-called office applications can be reduced by taking advantage of the possibilities offered by this publishing application, as documents can be created in other ways, too. The component of the open source software Apache POI is what is used to create a Word file based on the information contained in a writing in the publishing application.

A writing has as optional text parts a Document header and a Document footer, where information (address, document type name and date) can be provided using the syntax that is shown as placeholder hint in relevant textareas. That information is then placed in appropriate positions in the header and footer of the resulting document file, together with page numbering, etc. This information is only used in the writing sending view. The document file is created at the click of a button and is available for further use as a downloadable file.

Sending email based on a writing

It could be that some writings' only purpose is to be available to be sent as email, where the email is sent within the publishing application itself. Might be useful when initiating a conversation or when sending for which reply isn't expected, as the reply messages won't be shown in the publishing application.

Before such email can be send, a SMTP server to use must be set in the user settings. Required details are the address of the SMTP server and the port number it uses, as well as a username and password for it. SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and it is used only for outgoing email. The information required is the same as what might be needed to configure a separate email application, but not necessarily the same for the username and password if one wants to create separate ones for this purpose. Communication toward the SMTP server is not highly secured as only using a more secure port number gives more benefits in this regard. Email is send from the server of the instance of the publishing application, thus not straight from the browser.

As an experimental feature, attachments can't yet be sent, but it will be allowed that these could have as attachments selected project files from the project and images in the writing (either those that are included and those that are just attached to it).

The sender can choose what kind of plaintext the writing is converted to (originally HTML with styling). The recipients list can be used to send one email to many or to each one individually, where the email(s) are sent with a single button press.

Exporting a writing together with its images

When preparing a writing and its images for publishing elsewhere, such as in a discussion forum or a Facebook group, writing and its images can be exported to a zip package containing three different versions of the writing. One of them is an unstyled HTML version with tags p, h1 and h2 (lists are converted to text paragraphs). The other two are plaintext, with the difference that one does not have a blank line after a text paragraph. Pictureshows' image filenames are named in a way to make it easier to identify which ones belong to the same pictureshow.