Yesterday I blogged about the ownCloud 5 release in general and I promised to blog today about all the features that are new and improved in ownCloud 5
New design
In ownCloud 5, the main navigation was redesigned to clearly differentiate it from the in-app navigations. This also allows the app more room and thus a better focus on the content of your ownCloud directories. Settings and Log-out menus were combined into a user menu on the top right, which also shows the currently logged in user and makes it more intuitive to use. The settings are further simplified and app-specific settings are moved from personal settings into the relevant apps. To help people get their data synchronized, there is a new first run page linking the desktop & mobile apps as well as documentation how to sync contacts and calendars. This information is also displayed in the personal settings – and makes getting started with ownCloud much easier for a user.
Essentially, the new design helps to concentrate more on the content and makes it easier to navigate and setup the Desktop and Mobile syncing clients.
New Antivirus App
The new antivirus system scans uploaded files for viruses. The admin can choose if infected files should be deleted automatically and/or logged/reported in the log file.
New Files Undelete feature
Now users can undelete a file that was accidentally deleted through the web interface. Simply select the files in the files undelete section and they are returned to where they were deleted, with versions maintained.
New REST APIs
A new Open Collaboration Services (OCS)-based REST API is added to access and control ownCloud remotely. The newly released OCS 1.7 spec is supported. Main feature is a new capabilities API for closer communication with the Desktop and Mobile clients. It is now very easy for ownCloud apps to provide an REST API so more API features will be added in the future.
Display names
In the interface and share dialog, display names are shown instead of the login names. The display names are easier to understand for users and can be changed by the admin. The admin can configure the display names and they can be changed by the users themselves. The display names can also be fetched from an LDAP or AD server for bigger installations. This makes it much easier to work with ownCloud, as users are identified separately from their system-generated IDs
New search engine
A new Lucene-based full text search engine app is added. People can use the search to not only find files by name but also by content. Scanning is done in the background to ensure a responsive user experience for the users.
New photo gallery
ownCloud 5 contains an improved and rewritten photo gallery. It has an improved and streamlined user interface with a slideshow feature. Photo galleries can also be shared with others.
New documentation system
There is completely new user, admin and developer documentation. The user and administrator documentation is shipped with ownCloud and available in the help menu. The developer documentation is available online.
LDAP / AD enhancements
LDAP can now search in attributes, not only in the ownCloud username. The search attributes can be configured. Multiple User/Group bases can be configured in the LDAP backend. LDAP backend supports paged results for better performance if the server offers it (requires PHP 5.4) An LDAP/AD backup resp. replica host can be configured for HA environment. Multiple LDAP / AD servers can be configured.
Enhanced external storage app
Increase performance of integrated secondary storage, including Dropbox, Swift, FTP, Google Docs, S3, WebDAV and external ownCloud servers, with a significantly faster, more efficient and easier external storage app. This is the fastest way to a personal hybrid cloud.
Improved Versioning
The versioning support for files is improved with an intelligent algorithm that automatically expires old versions if running out of space. The versioning keeps revisions every 2 seconds for the first 10 seconds, every 10 seconds for the next minute, every minute for the next hour, every hour for the next 24 hours and one revision per day until running out of space or quota.
Expanded file cache
The file cache was rebuilt in ownCloud 4.5, and underwent a minor facelift in ownCloud 5.0 to improve speed, performance of external files, and scalability of sharing. The system is also a little faster with the new file cache, and less prone to corruption in production.
Improved apps management
The management of the shipped and the 3rd-party apps in ownCloud is improved. 3rd-party apps can be easily installed from the central apps repository (apps.owncloud.com) and are automatically removed from the server if disabled. If a new version of an 3rd party app is published by the author then an update button appears on the apps page inside ownCloud and he app can easily updated with just one click. More feedback is now given to the user during long running installation and updating operations. Recommended apps are shown in the apps list with a “recommended” label so that users can find high quality apps better.
Improved bookmarks
The user interface of the bookmarks app is improved and a lot easier to use.
Improved contacts
Contacts are now organized by groups (categories) instead of address books giving more intuitive access to Friends, Coworkers, Family etc. The main view shows an overview of the most relevant fields and the amount of info adjusts automatically depending the size of the browser window or device. The web UI is now written entirely in javascript giving a more responsive user experience.
Improved syncing
The desktop syncing clients and the mobile clients have improved communication with the server and can sync faster with lower server load.
Improved calendar
The calendar has now support for classed and the option to declare events as confidential or public. The sharing is improved and compatibility with clients also extended.
General fixes
In general, there were a number of bug fixes, UI enhancements, and improvements in performance. Most notably a 5x improvement in disk write actions, as well as better overall scalability of ownCloud across the board.
- Windows Server support extended
- PDF viewer is updated for improved performance and compatibility
- Improved media player
- Improved overall performance
- Improved download performance
- Show file size and progress during downloading
More information here: http://owncloud.org/features
Thanks a lot to everybody who made this release possible. You guys rock.