Share directly to other servers
ownCloud Server 8 is available. This new release brings improved sharing and collaboration between clouds and introduces faster ways of getting at your files with favorites and improved search.
Federated Cloud sharing
In previous versions of ownCloud, users on separate ownCloud servers could collaborate by sending public links. These links then offered a recipient the option of permanently mounting this public link in ownCloud, something referred to as server to server sharing. In ownCloud 8.0, the process for setting up server to server shared folders is now as easy as sharing a file with another ownCloud user on the same server. Rather than having to send a shared link, you can directly refer to users on other cloud servers in the share dialog, while users on the other cloud will get notified that a file was shared with them with the ability to accept or deny. This makes it easier than ever for ownCloud users to work together across different ownCloud servers and organizations to collaborate and get work done.
Federated Cloud Sharing has been recently celebrated in the announcement of OpenCloudMesh, a joint international initiative under the umbrella of the GÉANT Association, which is built on ownCloud’s open Federated Cloud sharing application programming interface (API). OpenCloudMesh enables collaboration beyond the borders of individual clouds to create a globally interconnected mesh of research clouds — without sacrificing any advantages in privacy, control and security an on-premises cloud provides.
See search results where it counts
Getting at your data
With ten thousand files or more found on a typical users file sync and share account, files can be very hard to find in a standard filesystem view. With file and folder favorites, users can now assign a favorite icon to files and folders that are important on the server, and be able to quickly locate, access and edit important content. More importantly, server favorites set a foundation for additional file and folder meta data in future releases of ownCloud.
We also overhauled the search interface, providing a simpler and easier user experience, including enhanced result set reporting, additional search parameters and general usability improvements to make it easier for users to find the files they need fast.
Server Administration
As the ownCloud ecosystem grows, more and more apps are available to add to the server. Over time, this can make it more difficult to manage and administer the ownCloud server.
To improve configuration handling, the ownCloud Admin and Settings pages now have a new sidebar for more quickly accessing app configuration options. The App management screen introduces a much improved layout, optimized for handling larger number of apps by grouping them. Third Party apps available for automatic download and installation in the App management are displayed with their ratings from the ownCloud app store.
Pick apps based on their rating
In addition to the existing filter and text string search-able user management, an entirely new set of features has been added to ownCloud. Admins can now edit email addresses for system users, sort users, select multiple users at once, rename groups and more – making it easier than ever to manage an ownCloud system in operation.
Much, much more
More improvements made available in ownCloud Server 8, including the open sourcing of the Provisioning API, enhancements for developers and many smaller feature and usability improvements can be found detailed on the ownCloud 8.0 feature page.
- The ownCloud apps on apps.owncloud.com are not yet all updated for ownCloud 8. We have made significant improvements for app developers in ownCloud 8, see here for an overview. For those just starting to develop with ownCloud, a new app tutorial and demo app will provide a proper foundation to build against the extensible ownCloud Server 8.0 platform.
- ownCloud 8 is translated in over 30 languages. If you want to help translate ownCloud to your own language, help out here.
- There are many other ways to join the ownCloud community and contribute to putting users back in control of their data. See our contribution page to get started.
You can grab the latest ownCloud release from owncloud.org/download. For upgrading, see the documentation and check out the upgrading help that has been compiled by the Forums team. The Updater app will offer an upgrade to the new release later this or next week.
We look forward to your feedback. Don’t forget to tell others about this ownCloud release! Join the conversation via #owncloud on twitter, Google+, Diaspora and Facebook!
