Recently I tweeted about my initial exploration of the fantastic OpenETC project, and I thought I would share them here:
Pretty jazzed to try the @cloudron_io platform for open courses and publishing with @getgrav, Markdown & Git on @openetc today. OpenETC is all about community to foster and support open infrastructure for the BC post-secondary sector, so I'll be sharing as I go along 🚀 #openetc pic.twitter.com/QY5loidk85
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Through the Cloudron 'App Store' it's quite easy to quickly install and try out a variety of open source and community apps. Several of my favorite apps for use with open courses and publishing are here, including @rocketchat, @gitlab and @nextclouders. pic.twitter.com/bdlEkMQ3MR
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
But things get even more interesting for folks who are comfortable with just a tiny (really tiny) amount of scripting… the LAMP app (the what?). With LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) we can install and try out a wide range of apps… such as the modern file-based Grav CMS🎉 pic.twitter.com/NXIjF6XQqI
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Once the LAMP App is installed, you will need to configure it using the 'Terminal', basically a window where you can type in commands. For this example let's install a ready-to-run Grav package called Open Publishing Space… just how would we do that? pic.twitter.com/CoOibh6D9Q
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Thanks to Grav not requiring a database and minimal server requirements we can basically get it going in under a minute, and with only seven lines of script🙂 For those of you who just can't wait, here are all the needed script commands👇
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
And here is a little screencast of what entering those six (well, actually better than seven😉) lines of script in the Cloudron Terminal window and then opening the resulting installed Grav CMS👇 pic.twitter.com/Czv7YNHxjd
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
It's a good time to remember that most Apps on Cloudron are basically one-step installs, requiring absolutely no scripting. However, the fact that a full LAMP stack with Terminal is available to explore with is absolutely a game changer too.
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
With the Cloudron platform, there are several choices of Git-based web apps to host #OER materials and offer a truly open collaborative platform which supports the 5Rs. In addition to my favorite GitLab, Gitea is a nice option too👇 pic.twitter.com/BiSMcJkl9R
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
So! Let's see what we can get with combining the modern file-based Grav CMS with the Gitea Web app… here is a blog-style Grav app called Open Publishing Space hosted on OpenETC (look for the far-right menubar item 'View Content Repository')👉https://t.co/OicRjtGzmx
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Using the Git Sync Plugin, site content (in the Markdown format, a simpler markup language than HTML) is automatically synced to a public FIPPA compliant - thanks to EDUCloud - Gitea content repository to provide direct access to all source site content 👉 https://t.co/otzy9kLEkg
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
But remember, OpenETC is all about community! Not only can Grav pages be automatically synced to a Git app, but also site theme files. This means that fellow educators, technologists, and designers can provide hands-on help to EACH OTHER🤝 https://t.co/3VW4rQg5iJ
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Getting back to site content, let's say you wanted to reuse the content of the site page https://t.co/bKEpIXNoYe you could provide direct access to the matching page (a Git Sync Plugin option) on the Gitea repository https://t.co/pZwZj2Giac (including images) to view or download. pic.twitter.com/cZN5GKSTHu
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Here's an example of open course materials using a Grav app called Open Course Hub, which features the ability of being able to seamlessly embed content from this site into another system (i.e. LMS), and once again with all content synced to a Gitea repo👉 https://t.co/P1pzr8iQUG pic.twitter.com/cYqsXkESjX
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
And I think that's a wrap! Kudos to the OpenETC creators @brlamb, @grantpotter, @tanbob and advisors @edtechfactotum and @ammienoot for such a fantastic open infrastructure platform for the BC post-secondary sector.🎉 Heading to #ETUG? Keep an eye open for the OpenETC session!
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
FAQ #1: Do I need to have both Grav and my Git app, such as GitLab or Gitea, on OpenETC?
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
No, you can use any Webhost for Grav (and most have one-click installers for Grav, so no scripting needed!) and then use OpenETC just for your synced Git repository for ✅FIPPA compliance.
In fact, to me this distributed approach is ideal - it lessens the resources at @openetc for an open and collaborative FIPPA compliant content platform while placing the (heavier?) demands of Web hosting on another supplier. My favorite Grav web host? @ReclaimHosting hands down!!
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
FAQ #2: Can I use Grav alone to get started?
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Yes, you can use just Grav for your website - and to make it even easier there are a number of ready-to-run Grav packages (called Skeletons) for download https://t.co/9PFedwpqcF Then, if you like you can use the Git Sync Plugin etc.
FAQ #3: Who's the intended audience for Grav Open Course Hub or Open Publishing Space?
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
I'd say more 'Tech-savvy' authors who want a fast + flexible workflow:
✅Code editor usage (eg Atom)
✅Markdown or HTML basics
✅Understanding folder hierarchies
✅GitHub/Git working knowledge
And to complete the set of Grav CMS tests on OpenETC let's welcome the Learn2 with Git Sync Package, featuring the ability to view (or edit) the source Markdown of any page for #OER along with the super-powerful TNTSearch engine👉 https://t.co/NtW4rNQHVM https://t.co/YXHBrsOAyl pic.twitter.com/ZpEppeEzJp
— Hibbitts Design (@hibbittsdesign) June 19, 2019
Want to reuse this open content? Save this Page as Markdown
