OpenProject 17: Project management tool enables collaboration in documents

The developers of the open-source project management tool OpenProject have released version 17.0. The update includes a new editor that allows multiple users to work on documents simultaneously. All changes can be tracked in real-time and are automatically saved. Further innovations are available for organizing meetings and structuring projects.

Live collaboration only in new documents

For real-time collaboration, the developers rely on the open-source editor BlockNote, which is also used by the Office suite openDesk, funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. In addition to working together on documents with a live view of all active users, it also allows attaching files via drag-and-drop. Work packages can also be linked or embedded with a live preview.

However, these innovations only apply to documents created with BlockNote in version 17. Collaboration is not possible in existing documents. OpenProject marks these with a “Legacy” label and opens them in the previous CKEditor, which is still included as a fallback.

In the cloud version hosted by OpenProject and in container-based on-premises installations, real-time collaboration is automatically active but can be deactivated later. However, documents created meanwhile can no longer be retrieved, so the developers advise against switching off the new feature. Package-based installations use the old editor by default. Here, administrators must first set up their own Hocuspocus server to activate the new feature.

New integrations for iCal and SharePoint

For automatic synchronization of appointments in calendar apps, OpenProject 17.0 now includes an iCal connection. In addition, users can collaboratively prepare an agenda in draft mode, guide through the agenda step-by-step in presentation mode, and create multiple result entries for a meeting. There is also a newly designed project start page and a revised process for creating projects from templates.

In addition to these freely accessible innovations, the developers are also expanding their range of paid enterprise extensions with OpenProject 17.0. For example, the project management tool now has separate connections to the M365 storage services OneDrive and SharePoint, allowing administrators to set more restrictive permissions.

Related projects can also be grouped into so-called programs and coordinated together. In total, the update includes more than 90 bug fixes and 75 feature enhancements. All changes can be found in the release notes of OpenProject.

(sfe)