Linux and Mac users, if you've been missing your Activities side shelf, I've discovered a hack! Follow my instructionis below to hack Lotus Notes 8 and add the Activities sidebar even if you are a Mac or Linux user!!!!!
How? Well, I simply looked at the Eclipse internals and figured out what plugins are needed and copied the plugins from my Windows Lotus Notes 8 Public Beta 1 client into my Mac. How do you get this? Well, first, let's work through some logistics...:
Disclaimer: This is NOT supported by development and is provided AS-IS 
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License Agreement: Before you use this, you agree to the following:
- Post a comment to this blog entry if you install this and it's successful
- Will not send me an email/ST with 'support' issues
- Will not hold me responsible if your Notes client breaks
- Will test the plug-in and post a comment to this blog entry with stuff that works (see below)
Here's what I've tested successfully with Lotus Notes v8.5 Public Beta on my Mac Leopard 10.5.4.
- Browse activities
- Drag-n-drop of emails into an Activity
- Different view options (To Do's, Sections, Recent, etc)
- Create an activity
- Create items for an activity
- Hover over item --> Item preview
As you can see, I haven't tested the offline capabilities.
Here's how it looks:
Ready to get started ? Here's how to install:
- Make sure you are using at least Lotus Notes 8.5 Public Beta 1
- Go to File -> Application -> Install
- Select Search for new features to install and click Next >
- Click on Add Remote Location...
- Set the Name to Activities Sidebar
- Set the URL to http://kensethdewalt.servicesolution.com/luis/site.xml
- Click Ok and then Finish
- Follow the remaining steps and restart Notes for the changes to go into effect
I am surprised that this works :) I will try it once I have access to a Windows Notes installation.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the Quickr sidebar plugin yet?
Andy
Hey Andy!
ReplyDeleteAh.. the power of Java! :)
Haven't tried the Quickr plugins yet. But if there's interest, I can hack that too!
Hi Luis
ReplyDeleteSome additional steps needed otherwise File-Application-Install wont be visible in the client:
Need to edit /Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/rcp/plugin_customization.ini
then add the line
com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true
Using the Administrator client, open the Desktop policy settings document. On the Basics tab, go to the Provisioning section.
In the Allow user to do user initiated updates field, click Enable.
Still testing. There is LOTS of interest in Quickr and Activity plugins for the Mac...
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing the extra steps! I, erroneously, assumed that everyone had already done that hack to make the File-Application-Install menu visible ;)
I have a trip next week. I'll use that plane time to see if I can hack the Quickr plugins too, so stay tuned. My only fear is that the Quickr plugins may rely on some DLLs... hopefully, they are pure Java code.
Hi Luis, Wondered if you ever got the chance to try the Quickr plugin?
ReplyDeleteHi Andy,
ReplyDeleteNot yet buddy! But I have a 4.5 hr flight tomorrow so I'll see if I can try it then.! :)
Stay tuned!
Luis, it looks like the plugin installed properly according to the eclipse plugin manager, but this sidebar application does not show up in my Mac 8.5 Beta. I added this line, com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true and it did not seem to help. Any other ideas?
ReplyDeleteHmmm..
ReplyDeleteNot sure why that would happen. Once you restart Notes, go to File > Application > Application Management. From there, expand the 2nd item (/Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/shared/eclipse) and click on com.ibm.openactivities.client.feature 3.0.1.20080527-1803.
Now, on the right hand side, click on 'Show Properties' and finally click on 'Status'. Are there any errors there? What does it say?
Oddly enough it says, "The feature is configured properly." Are there any other property or ini files that need to be touched to tell the sidebar to load new apps? Thanks again for your help in advance!
ReplyDeleteSo strange, not sure what to tell you. There's nothing else you have to do. With the Eclipse framework, it should detect the plugin and load it at startup.
ReplyDeletePublic Beta 2 is about to be released. Please try it again with that version and let me know.
Thanks again, Luis. I am will keep playing around. I am glad you took the time to post this entry.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (wish I knew who you are), I found something which may fix your problem.
ReplyDeleteOnce you start Notes, go to View > Right Sidebar Panels and make sure that Activities is checked.
Hope this helps!
@Andy M, I looked at moving the Quickr plugins over, but they have some win32 specific things in them. So we'll have to wait on development to fix those :(
ReplyDeleteLuis,
ReplyDeleteJust tried out your hack, and am running into the same problem as Anonymous. Everything looks to be installed fine, but no Activities in my side bar. (Checked the view menu, but it doesn't show up there either.)
One question for you... When I point Notes to the update site, it lists the Activities plugin as well as a Sametime 7.5 Web App plugin. Do I need the Sametime web app plugin, or just Activities? (I tried just installing Activities first, and when that didn't work, went back and added the web app.)
Seth
Hi Seth,
ReplyDeleteMake sure that you are using the plugin for the right build (ie. select the Public Beta 1 plugin if you are using Notes 8.5 Public Beta 1, select Public Beta 2 plugin if you are using the Notes 8.5 Public Beta 2 build.) If you are using another Notes 8.5 Beta (that's not PB1 or PB2) the plugin won't work.
I'm waiting for the final version of Notes 8.5 so I can copy the plugins from the Windows version. Stay tuned to this blog!
I would love to see the Quickr sidebar also. Thanks for posting the Activities, Luis. The offline is problematic for me, but if I don't go offline it works just fine.
ReplyDelete