Configuring the Client
The OpenCms workplace provides a rich user interface (UI). Many of the features it employs, such as the file hierarchy and the navigation system, are achieved with very complex JavaScript that requires IE or Mozilla. Two notable features, the WYSIWYG content editor and the advanced sourcecode editor, require IE to function properly. This section explains the configuration of the browser clients.
Mozilla, derived from the Netscape browser, is the core of several different web browsers, including the Netscape 7.x family, Mozilla, Firefox (formerly Firebird, originally Phoenix), and Galleon. OpenCms will function well with Mozilla-based browsers provided that they have JavaScript and cookies enabled, and do not block popup windows.
Since none of the Mozilla browsers support ActiveX or the built-in IE controls, the WYSIWYG editor and the advanced source control plug-in can't be used. OpenCms will default to a sourcecode editing text area for all editing.Because of the inconvenience this causes, there has been discussion in the OpenCms developer community of changing to Java-applet based editing or another rich JavaScript-based editor. They may be put together in one or more OpenCms modules.
Internet Explorer requires that cookies and JavaScript be enabled. Some IE extensions, such as the Google Toolbar, block pop-up windows. If you run an IE extension that blocks pop-ups, you will need to disable that feature in order to use OpenCms. The WYSIWYG editing feature of OpenCms is enabled by default, and no configuration must be done to make it work.
Additionally, OpenCms can use an 'advanced' ActiveX control for sourcecode editing (for JSP and XML Template files). The advanced LeEdit OCX Control (available from AY Software: http://www.aysoft.com/ledit.htm) provides 'cut' and 'paste' buttons within the source code editing pane (even without the LeEdit control, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+V work for cutting and pasting).
A trial version of the LeEdit source code editor is available for free, though it will pop up a 'Buy Me' window randomly. The full LeEdit control cost (at this time of writing) is $145 US for an individual license—a hefty price for simply adding cut-n-paste buttons. If you are interested in configuring the LeEdit source control, configuration information is available on the OpenCms.com site (it is also included on the ActiveX screen of the OpenCms installation wizard).
Note
Mac users will find that neither the WYSIWYG editor nor the LeEdit control work—not even on IE. Because both controls require ActiveX, a Windows-only technology, neither of them functions on a Mac platform. Additionally, OpenCms 5.0.0 is known not to work with the Mac Safari browser because of differing JavaScript models.