Chamilo ONLYOFFICE integration plugin

This app enables users to edit office documents from Chamilo using ONLYOFFICE Docs packaged as Document Server - Community or Enterprise Edition.

The app is compatible with Chamilo v1.11.16 or newer.

Features

The plugin allows teachers to:

Create and edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Co-edit documents in real-time: use two co-editing modes (Fast and Strict), Track Changes, comments, and built-in chat.

Supported formats:

For editing: DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, DOCXF, OFORM.

Installing ONLYOFFICE Docs

You will need an instance of ONLYOFFICE Docs (Document Server) that is resolvable and connectable both from Chamilo and any end clients. ONLYOFFICE Document Server must also be able to POST to Chamilo directly.

ONLYOFFICE Document Server and Chamilo can be installed either on different computers, or on the same machine. If you use one machine, set up a custom port for Document Server as by default both ONLYOFFICE Document Server and Chamilo work on port 80.

You can install the free Community version of ONLYOFFICE Docs or scalable Enterprise Edition with pro features.

To install the free Community version, use Docker (recommended) or follow these instructions for Debian, Ubuntu, or derivatives.

To install the Enterprise Edition, follow instructions here.

The Community Edition vs Enterprise Edition comparison can be found here.

To use ONLYOFFICE behind a proxy, please refer to this article.

Collect Chamilo ONLYOFFICE integration plugin

Get the latest version of this repository running the command:

git clone https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE/onlyoffice-chamilo
cd onlyoffice-chamilo

Get a submodule:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Collect all files

mkdir /tmp/onlyoffice-deploy
mkdir /tmp/onlyoffice-deploy/onlyoffice
cp -r ./ /tmp/onlyoffice-deploy/onlyoffice
cd /tmp/onlyoffice-deploy/onlyoffice
rm -rf ./.git*
rm -rf */.git*

Installing Chamilo ONLYOFFICE integration plugin

The plugin has been integrated into Chamilo since version 1.11.16.

To enable, go to the plugins list, select the ONLYOFFICE plugin, and click Enable the selected plugins.

If you want more up-to-date versions of the plugin, you need to replace the pre-installed default plugin folder with the newly collected plugin:

/var/www/html/chamilo-1.11.16/plugin/onlyoffice

where chamilo-1.11.16 is your current Chamilo version.

If your Chamilo version is lower than 1.11.16, go to Chamilo Administration -> Plugins -> Upload plugin.

Upload onlyoffice.zip (you'll find it in the Releases section). You'll see the plugin list.

Then launch composer install from the Chamilo root folder.

Return to the plugin list, select the ONLYOFFICE plugin, and click Enable the selected plugins.

Configuring Chamilo ONLYOFFICE integration plugin

On the Plugins page, find ONLYOFFICE and click Configure. You'll see the Settings page. Enable the plugin and specify the Document Server address.

Starting from version 7.2, JWT is enabled by default and the secret key is generated automatically to restrict the access to ONLYOFFICE Docs and for security reasons and data integrity. Specify your own Secret key on the Chamilo Settings page. In the ONLYOFFICE Docs config file, specify the same secret key and enable the validation.

How it works

To create a new file, the teacher opens the necessary folder and clicks the ONLYOFFICE icon "Create new".
The user is redirected to the file creation page where they need to enter the file name and format (text document, spreadsheet, or presentation). The browser calls /plugin/onlyoffice/create.php method. It adds the copy of the empty file to the course folder.
To open an existing file, the user chooses the Open with ONLYOFFICE icon.
The request is being sent to /plugin/onlyoffice/editor.php?docId=«document identificator». The server processes the request, generates the editor initialization configuration with the properties:
- url - the URL that ONLYOFFICE Document Server uses to download the document;
- callbackUrl - the URL at which ONLYOFFICE Document Server informs Chamilo about the status of the document editing;
- documentServerUrl - the URL that the client needs to respond to ONLYOFFICE Document Server (can be set at the administrative settings page);
- key - the etag to instruct ONLYOFFICE Document Server whether to download the document again or not;
The server returns a page with a script to open the editor.
The browser opens this page and loads the editor.
The browser makes a request to Document Server and passes the document configuration to it.
Document Server loads the document and the user starts editing.
Document Server sends a POST request to callbackUrl to inform Chamilo that the user is editing the document.
When all users have finished editing, they close the editor window.
After 10 seconds, Document Server makes a POST request to callbackUrl with the information that editing has ended and sends a link to the new document version.
Chamilo loads a new version of the document and overwrites the file.

More information on integration ONLYOFFICE Docs can be found in the API documentation.

ONLYOFFICE Docs editions

ONLYOFFICE offers different versions of its online document editors that can be deployed on your own servers.

Community Edition (onlyoffice-documentserver package)
Enterprise Edition (onlyoffice-documentserver-ee package)

The table below will help you to make the right choice.

Pricing and licensing	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
	Get it now	Start Free Trial
Cost	FREE	Go to the pricing page
Simultaneous connections	up to 20 maximum	As in chosen pricing plan
Number of users	up to 20 recommended	As in chosen pricing plan
License	GNU AGPL v.3	Proprietary
Support	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Documentation	Help Center	Help Center
Standard support	GitHub or paid	One year support included
Premium support	Contact us	Contact us
Services	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Conversion Service	+	+
Document Builder Service	+	+
Interface	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Tabbed interface	+	+
Dark theme	+	+
125%, 150%, 175%, 200% scaling	+	+
White Label	-	-
Integrated test example (node.js)	+	+
Mobile web editors	-	+*
Plugins & Macros	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Plugins	+	+
Macros	+	+
Collaborative capabilities	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Two co-editing modes	+	+
Comments	+	+
Built-in chat	+	+
Review and tracking changes	+	+
Display modes of tracking changes	+	+
Version history	+	+
Document Editor features	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Font and paragraph formatting	+	+
Object insertion	+	+
Adding Content control	+	+
Editing Content control	+	+
Layout tools	+	+
Table of contents	+	+
Navigation panel	+	+
Mail Merge	+	+
Comparing Documents	+	+
Spreadsheet Editor features	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Font and paragraph formatting	+	+
Object insertion	+	+
Functions, formulas, equations	+	+
Table templates	+	+
Pivot tables	+	+
Data validation	+	+
Conditional formatting	+	+
Sparklines	+	+
Sheet Views	+	+
Presentation Editor features	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Font and paragraph formatting	+	+
Object insertion	+	+
Transitions	+	+
Presenter mode	+	+
Notes	+	+
Form creator features	Community Edition	Enterprise Edition
Adding form fields	+	+
Form preview	+	+
Saving as PDF	+	+
	Get it now	Start Free Trial

* If supported by DMS.

ONLYOFFICE / onlyoffice-chamilo