Jekyll2024-01-24T10:20:39+00:00https://foodcoops.net/feed.xmlfoodcoopsWeb-based software for food cooperatives.foodcoops.netFoodsoft 4.8.0 released2023-09-18T00:00:00+00:002023-09-18T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2023/09/18/foodsoft-4-8-0<p>About a week ago, Foodsoft 4.8.0 was released bringing many changes.
A lot of work happened to enable further development work on foodsoft by upgrading the programming framework (Ruby on Rails).
Also some fixes and smaller features wandered into this release.</p>
<p>The most notable changes are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Update Ruby to 2.7 and Rails to 7.0</li>
<li>Introduce Message Formatting with Actiontext Trix Editor</li>
<li>Disable member list via configuration</li>
<li>Add Turkish language support</li>
<li>Add admin UI for SupplierCategories</li>
<li>Add BankGateway</li>
</ul>
<p>See the <a href="https://github.com/foodcoops/foodsoft/releases/tag/v4.8.0">changelog</a> for details.</p>foodcoops.netAbout a week ago, Foodsoft 4.8.0 was released bringing many changes. A lot of work happened to enable further development work on foodsoft by upgrading the programming framework (Ruby on Rails). Also some fixes and smaller features wandered into this release.Future of the global hosting service2023-08-16T00:00:00+00:002023-08-16T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2023/08/16/future-of-hosting<p><em>A similar text was send via email to all contact person of the foodcoops that uses app.foodcoops.net on 08/15/2023.</em></p>
<p>More than six years ago a <a href="https://foodcoops.net/2017/07/14/open-community-driven-foodsoft-platform/">group of volunteers</a>
got together to run the Foodsoft hosting in its current form. This group consisted of people who were active in various
foodcoops and were willing to commit to maintaining their own infrastructure (i.e. Foodsoft and all its related components).</p>
<p>Over the years, the group has gotten smaller and for more almost 2 years, maintaining the Foodsoft hosting was done by one single person.</p>
<p>For various reasons the hosting group has decided to end the global hosting service in its current form as of 12/31/2023.</p>
<p>Now this does not mean that you will no longer be able to use your Foodsoft from 01/01/2024.</p>
<p>The IT collective <a href="https://roko.li">rokoli</a> plans to continue the Foodsoft hosting and participate in the further development
of the Foodsoft. Rokoli was created in the <a href="https://senselab.org">Sense.Lab</a> environment. Sense.Lab is the non-profit association
that already provides the legal framework for the Foodsoft hosting and pays all the bills.</p>
<p>The idea is that in the future each foodcoop will be provided with 5 free Foodsoft member accounts and each additional Foodsoft member account will cost 1 € net / month.</p>
<p>For this, rokoli can offer:</p>
<ul>
<li>A mianaged hosting for your Foodsoft instance,</li>
<li>Security updates of the Foodsoft and participation in its further development,</li>
<li>Support in case of technical problems,</li>
<li>Maintaining the foodcoops.net forum.</li>
</ul>
<p>Whether this will work and whether it will be possible to finance the work depends largely on the number of foodcoops that will continue to use the hosting.</p>
<p>So now it’s your turn:</p>
<p>Please contact the hosting group until 10/15/2023 via email to <a href="mailto:hosting@foodcoops.net">hosting@foodcoops.net</a> and us if you want to continue the hosting with rokoli.</p>
<p>Of course, you can also operate your Foodsoft yourself in the future. We will provide you with all the necessary data (Foodsoft configuration and database)
for download. In this case, please also send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:hosting@foodcoops.net">hosting@foodcoops.net</a>.</p>
<p>Maybe you use this moment as an opportunity to create a new hosting group out of the foodcoops. Feel free to use the Foodsoft forum to coordinate your efforts.
On Github we have created a detailed documentation over the years that makes it easy to get started. Of course, in this case you will also receive all necessary Foodsoft data.</p>
<p>Important: After 12/31/2023, we will delete the Foodsoft instances of all foodcoops that have not reported back. No matter which variant you choose, please contact us.</p>
<p>All the best</p>foodcoops.netA similar text was send via email to all contact person of the foodcoops that uses app.foodcoops.net on 08/15/2023.Microsoft mail services rejecting Foodsoft mails2023-05-22T00:00:00+00:002023-05-22T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2023/05/22/ms-rejecting-mails<p>We have recently noticed that Microsoft (owner of Hotmail, Outlook, Live, Office360, etc.) is rejecting all emails originating from our server.
That happend for no obvious reason. It’s not possible that some with an Microsoft mail address received a spam message that originates from our server.</p>
<p>You’ll find quite a lot of reports from other server administrators describing the same situation. Also is often hard to get the IP address
<a href="https://disroot.org/it/blog/microsoft_hostility">delisted</a>.</p>
<p>As a workaround we relay all mail to Microsoft owned mail services via another mail server.</p>
<p>But in fact it’s Microsoft responsibility to not rejecting regular mail communication with their customers.</p>
<p>Now it’s your turn: <a href="https://support.microsoft.com/de-de/home/contact">Complain</a> to Microsoft about the rejecting and ask them to delist the IP address 46.38.240.91.</p>foodcoops.netWe have recently noticed that Microsoft (owner of Hotmail, Outlook, Live, Office360, etc.) is rejecting all emails originating from our server. That happend for no obvious reason. It’s not possible that some with an Microsoft mail address received a spam message that originates from our server.Automatic product catalog updates for Odin are working again2023-05-17T00:00:00+00:002023-05-17T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2023/05/17/odin-catalog-updates<p>At the global hosting platform we provide for some suppliers a shared product catalog database.
Because it’s updated automatically each Foodcoop which is using the database can save a lot of time.</p>
<p>We’re happy to accounce that <a href="https://www.odin.nl/">Odin</a> is sending their weekly catalog updates to
our system again. So no more manually editing products and prices.</p>foodcoops.netAt the global hosting platform we provide for some suppliers a shared product catalog database. Because it’s updated automatically each Foodcoop which is using the database can save a lot of time.Foodsoft Hosting status updates2023-05-14T00:00:00+00:002023-05-14T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2023/05/14/status_page_discontinue<p>Some time ago we <a href="https://foodcoops.net/2021/09/07/status_page/">introduced</a> a status page for the Foodsoft hosting. From today on
we will close this service. As an alternative we will post any updates at <a href="https://foodcoops.net/categories/#hosting">hosting</a> category of our news section.</p>
<p>You can also subscribe with your feed reader using this address: <a href="https://foodcoops.net/feed.xml">foodcoops.net/feed.xml</a>.</p>foodcoops.netSome time ago we introduced a status page for the Foodsoft hosting. From today on we will close this service. As an alternative we will post any updates at hosting category of our news section.New support forum2022-11-28T00:00:00+00:002022-11-28T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2022/11/28/new-support-forum<p>For quite some years our support and developement forums were hosted at <a href="https://nabble.com/">Nabble</a>.
Because of the antique interface and some questionable political statements from a Nabble administrator we moved the forums away.</p>
<p>Say welcome to our new <a href="https://www.discourse.org/">Discourse</a> forums at https://forum.foodcoops.net. All previous topics and user data have been preserved.
Discourse brings a fresh look to this support channel and hopefully it animates you to contribute to it by adding new topics or answering questions of other Foodsoft users.</p>foodcoops.netFor quite some years our support and developement forums were hosted at Nabble. Because of the antique interface and some questionable political statements from a Nabble administrator we moved the forums away.Custom settings for Foodsoft instances2022-06-20T00:00:00+00:002022-06-20T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2022/06/20/custom-settings-for_foodsoft-instances<p>At <a href="https://app.foodcoops.net">app.foodcoops.net</a> we serve multiple Foodsoft instances with a feature called <em>multi coop</em>. So far we used a single configuration <a href="https://github.com/foodcoops/foodsoft/blob/master/config/app_config.yml.SAMPLE">file</a> for all instances. This meant that individual settings per Foodsoft instance were not possible. Until now.</p>
<p>We changed our setup to enable custom settings per instance. Have a look at <a href="https://github.com/foodcoops/foodcoops.net/blob/master/Ansible/roles/foodsoft/Configuration.md">this</a> page to get to know all possible settings. If you want us to enable some settings please send us an <a href="mailto:hosting@foodcoops.net">email</a>.</p>foodcoops.netAt app.foodcoops.net we serve multiple Foodsoft instances with a feature called multi coop. So far we used a single configuration file for all instances. This meant that individual settings per Foodsoft instance were not possible. Until now.New supplier with automatic article import2022-04-06T00:00:00+00:002022-04-06T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2022/04/06/new-supplier<p><a href="https://www.naturkost-elkershausen.de/">Naturkost Elkershausen</a> is a wholesale retailer located in Göttingen, Germany. They provide their article list as a <a href="https://n-bnn.de">BNN</a> file which is supported by our <a href="https://foodcoops.net/global-foodsoft-platform/#shared-database">shared database</a>.</p>
<p>This makes it easy to automatically import all their articles. If you are already a customer of Naturkost Elkershausen you can now activate this supplier in your Foodsoft instance.</p>foodcoops.netNaturkost Elkershausen is a wholesale retailer located in Göttingen, Germany. They provide their article list as a BNN file which is supported by our shared database.Major rework of the global Foodsoft platform2022-01-09T00:00:00+00:002022-01-09T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2022/01/09/major-rework-of-the-global-foodsoft-platform<p>Over the last weeks we updated our global Foodsoft platform to make maintenance and
customizations easier. As a side effect there are two new features for our users:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can now reply directly by e-mail to messages that have been sent
via your Foodsoft. If you click on “Reply” in your e-mail client the individual
reply address of the message will be automatically selected.</li>
<li>We can make your Foodsoft instance accessible via your own domain. If
you are interested in this, send a message to
<a href="mailto:hosting@foodcoops.net">hosting@foodcoops.net</a>.</li>
</ul>foodcoops.netOver the last weeks we updated our global Foodsoft platform to make maintenance and customizations easier. As a side effect there are two new features for our users:Call for donations 20212021-12-09T00:00:00+00:002021-12-09T00:00:00+00:00https://foodcoops.net/2021/12/09/call-for-donations-startet<p>An essential principle of the Foodsoft hosting offer is that all foodcoops share the
costs incurred among themselves. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity
to send a big thank you to all of our previous donors!</p>
<p>With this call we want to start a new donation campaign. Our goal is to raise EUR 500.</p>
<p>If your foodcoop has not yet donated, we are looking forward to your contribution.
Our recommendation is a donation of EUR 20 per foodcoop.</p>
<p>Have a look at <a href="http://foodcoops.net/call-for-donations">this page</a> for more information.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> We reached our goal. Thanks to all our donors!</p>foodcoops.netAn essential principle of the Foodsoft hosting offer is that all foodcoops share the costs incurred among themselves. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to send a big thank you to all of our previous donors!