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OpenProject release 12.5: direct upload and linking of files to Nextcloud

Published by Birthe Lindenthal March 20, 2023 Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

OpenProject 12.5 is released, and it is again packed with many new collaboration features, improvements and bug fixes. With the OpenProject Nextcloud integration it now becomes possible to directly upload new files or link existing files from within an OpenProject work package to your Nextcloud files storage. Moreover, with OpenProject 12.5, the system administrator can set additional non-working days on an instance level, such as public holidays. Also, we are happy to publish another Enterprise add-on: The Advanced search functionality not only supports full text search but also enables users to search for work package attachments or content. It is now a part of the free-of-charge Community version.

Our OpenProject’s Enterprise cloud will automatically be updated today, 20th March 2023.

What is new in OpenProject 12.5?

Upload and link files to Nextcloud while working in OpenProject

OpenProject 12.5 launches the next step in the OpenProject and Nextcloud integration. Integrating even closer with Nextcloud makes it easy for project managers and teams to store and review files, track progress, and give all relevant stakeholders visibility into project issues and tasks. We are excited to see how our technologies help teams successfully collaborate on projects without any compromises in data sovereignty.

With OpenProject 12.5, it is now possible to upload new files and link them directly from a work package in OpenProject to your Nextcloud file storage. The close connection of work packages with project-related files combines the advantages of both open source systems. We can rely on a secure set-up without giving data to foreign SaaS providers.

Different use cases are covered for uploading and linking files directly in a work package.

Link an existing Nextcloud file or folder to an OpenProject work package

If you want to link an existing project related file or folder from Nextcloud to an OpenProject work package, you can now do it directly within the work package in OpenProject.

To do so, start by clicking on Link existing file underneath the name of your listed Nextcloud file storage.

Work package files showing linked files and folder to Nextcloud

New file picker in OpenProject

A new file picker will appear, displaying all the files and folders on your Nextcloud instance that you have permission to see. You choose the respective file or folder from Nextcloud via the file picker:

Pop up file picker in OpenProject

To link a certain file or folder with this work package, click on the checkbox to the left of each item. Once you have selected the file(s) or folder(s) you wish to link to the work package, click on the Link files button. The number on the button will represent the number of files/folders you have selected.

Upload a new file while working in OpenProject

It is now possible to upload a new file from your device directly to Nextcloud from within an OpenProject work package.

In this case, the file you want to link has not yet been uploaded to Nextcloud. Hence, click on the Upload files link. You will then be prompted to select a file (or multiple files) on your computer that you want to upload to Nextcloud.

Alternatively, you can also simply drag a file or folder on your computer to this area (under the name of your Nextcloud file storage) and drop it in the drop zone that appears.

Once you have selected or dropped the files you would like to upload, you will need to select a folder on Nextcloud to which they should be stored.

To save the files you uploaded to the currently folder in Nextcloud, click on the Choose location button.

gif showing upload of Nextcloud file to work package

Upload files during creation of a new work package

If you create a new work package in OpenProject and want to add a file to the work package, you can now upload or link files from Nextcloud directly.

Thereby, it gives you two options on the Files tab: upload a new file or link an existing file from Nextcloud, as described above.

Work package detail view files tab showing My Nextcloud where you can now drag and drop a file

Edit files in an OpenProject work package

The Files tab shows you Nextcloud files that are linked to the current work package. Hovering on any linked file with your mouse will give you options to open or download the file, show the containing folder in Nextcloud or remove the link. Please note: Removing the link from within a work package in OpenProject will not delete the file or folder in Nextcloud. Uploading a new file with the same name will ask you to either overwrite the existing one in Nextcloud or create an additional copy next to it.

Setting public holidays as non-working days

In OpenProject you can define working days and non-working days of the week. At an instance level you set which days of the week are considered working days.

With OpenProject 12.5 you can now add additional non-working days to take into account e.g. public holidays or other closures. Consequently, work packages cannot start or end on these dates and these days do not count towards the duration of a work package.

View in administration where you define non-working days

Please note: These additional non-working days will be set instance-wide and are valid for all projects. They need to be set for every year, e.g. Christmas day has to be set for 2023, 2024 etc. if applicable. After adding non-working days, you will be asked if a re-scheduling of work packages should be done.

Track project changes

From OpenProject 12.5 the Activity view will now include the tracking of changes of project attributes and project custom fields. You can directly open the project activity view from the Project list by clicking on the extended menu of a project and then choosing project activity.

Project list with drop down menu that shows Project Activity

Also, you can see the project attributes changes in your Activity module within a project and filter for the required information.

overview over project activities of one project

New default filter for overdue work packages

We added a default filter Overdue in the work package table so that you can quickly see which of your work packages are overdue and need your attention.

work package table with 2 overdue work packages

Printing Wikis

If you want to print your Wiki, with OpenProject 12.5 you can now do so. A print function has been added to the More menu at the top right in your Wiki.

Screenshot of a Wiki with drop down menu on the right showing the print function

Advanced search for work package attachment or content for the Community

With OpenProject 12.5, we are happy to announce that another Enterprise add-on was released for the free-of-charge Community version. The advanced filters enable not only fulltext search but also to filter and search for work packages attachments and content of the attachments.

Further improvements, changes, and bug fixes

Extend the data model and the API to save and query historic values of work packages as a foundation for baseline comparisons.
The default work package filter “Latest Activity” also includes rejected, closed and on hold work packages.
Archive projects can now be done by non-admins.
The number of GitHub pull requests will be shown in work package tab.

Please see a complete list of all features and bug fixes in our OpenProject 12.5 release notes.

Installation and Updates

To test the features of OpenProject 12.5 right away, create a free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
Prefer to run OpenProject 12.5 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
Want to upgrade from a Community version to try out the Enterprise add-ons? Get a 14-day free trial token directly out of your current Community installation.

Migrating to OpenProject 12.5

Follow the upgrade guide for the packaged installation or Docker installation to update your OpenProject installation to OpenProject 12.5. We update your hosted OpenProject environments (Enterprise cloud) automatically.

Support

You will find more information about the new features in the OpenProject Documentation or you can post your questions in the Community Forum.

Release Notes

Please refer to the OpenProject 12.5 release notes for an overview of all the new and improved features, as well as a list of fixed bugs.

Credits

A very special thank you goes to the following sponsors for features and improvements of this release:

The City of Cologne for having sponsored the tracking of project changes, adding additional non-working days, and parts of the Nextcloud integration.
Autoliv for having sponsored the API changes, i.e. extending the data model and the API to save and query historic values of work packages as a foundation for the upcoming baseline comparisons.

A very big thank you to M V, Sven Kunze, Rince wind, Christina Vechkanova, Johannes Frenck, Marc Burk, Jörg Nold, Nidhin Manoharan, Jörg Mollowitz, Benjamin Rönnau, Harald Herz for finding and reporting bugs.

And of course a big thank you to every other dedicated user who has reported bugs and supported the community by asking and answering questions in the forum as well as to all the dedicated users who provided translations on CrowdIn.