Server

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Revision as of 17:00, 16 February 2015 by Dave (talk | contribs) (→No Bonjour?)
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In the Pro version, and in kJams2, kJams allows the KJ to enable a web server that is built right into kJams, which allows singers to use a web browser (even from a mobile phone) or the iJams or wtkJams application to manage their queues. Basically it will allow singers to log in and manage their "Tonight", "Favorites", and "History" playlists. They can search the Library or any of their singer lists to find songs they can then put into their "Tonight" list. They can reorder their "Tonight" list so the songs come in the order in which they want to sing them.

Note: Internet Explorer and Opera are not supported. You must use FireFox, Safari, or, with a little work, Chrome.

Take Note

Singers created by the host in kJams (rather than thru the web interface or thru an iPhone) do not have a password. Singers without passwords will NOT show up in the list of singers that can be logged into. To assign a password to a singer so they can log in, in kJams context click the singer and pick "Get Info", then type a password.

Playlist used for Server Search

By default, the playlist that is searched by the server is the Library. However, the host can change this to any other playlist if desired, by context-clicking the playlist and choosing "Playlist used for Server Search".

This is handy if, for example, you have every song in the world in your Library, but only want a subset to be visible for user searches when they use the web server. This setting is remembered per-venue. Only one Playlist may be used for the Server Search.

How To Turn It On

  1. To enable existing singers for remote login, right click on each singer and pick "Get info..." and enter a password.
  2. go to "Preferences"
  3. Click "Server".
  4. Check "Enable kJams Web Server"
  5. Keep the default port number (80) unless you're already running a web server. If you are, try 12345 as your port.

Testing the Web Server

The web server will be on port 80 (or whatever other port you've configured it to) on the IP address which your computer or laptop is set to on the local network, whether wireless (usually) or wired.

To make it easier to find, both for wtkJams and for users accessing it with a standard web browser on their phone, tablet, or laptop, kJams uses Apple's 'Bonjour' service discovery protocol. Client-side support for this is built into OS/X on Apple laptops, into iOS on iPhones and iPads, and into Safari for Windows. If your singers are using other browsers on Windows or Linux, including Android phones and tablets, they will have to find the server to log in in other ways, which we'll describe below.

If you're using Windows

  1. Required install Bonjour for Windows (it says "Print Services" but it's the real Bonjour)
  2. You *should* install Safari or FireFox (All other browsers do not support Bonjour)
  3. You *may* use FireFox or Chrome, but there is no support for Bonjour (see "No Bonjour?" below)
  4. Note that "Internet Explorer" is not supported at all.

Using Safari?

  1. Run Safari on any computer on your LAN
  2. go to Preferences->Bookmarks, and turn on Bonjour (both "Bookmarks Bar" and "Menu")
  3. browse your Bonjour sites for "kJams: <Venue Name>" and pick it! (The default <Venue Name> is "Singers")
  4. For example if your venue is called "Prancing Pony", then you'll look in safari for "Bookmarks->Bonjour->kJams: Prancing Pony"

Using Firefox?

  1. Run Firefox on any computer on your LAN
  2. install the Ciaociao extension
  3. click the new icon in the icon bar, looks like a little "World"
  4. browse your Bonjour sites for "kJams: <Venue Name>" and pick it! (The default <Venue Name> is "Singers")
  5. For example if your venue is called "Prancing Pony", then you'll look in safari for "Bookmarks->Bonjour->kJams: Prancing Pony"

No Bonjour?

One option is to run kJams, then go to the Video menu and pick "QR Code-Web Server". This will display a QRCode grid on the Video screen. Have your singer scan that with a QR-Reader app on their smart phone, this will take them right to the your kJams Server.

Otherwise, you must find out the "sharing name" of your server machine

  1. Mac: in System Preferences->sharing, eg: "bree.local"
  2. Windows:
    1. start menu->control panels->system->computer name. That plus ".local" is your "sharing name". eg: if your "computer name" is "bree" then your "sharing name" is "bree.local"
    2. If the above doesn't work: start->control panels->network and sharing->change adapter settings->double click the LAN adapter->details->IPv4 address: that set of four numbers is your "sharing name", go figure.
  3. to get the full address, you must append ":<port number>" to the sharing name unless it is 80. eg: if your port number is 12345, and your "sharing name" is "bree.local", the full address will be "bree.local:12345". if the port is 80, you do not need to append anything.
  4. Go to any computer on your LAN, and in the web browser, enter the full address.

As an example of what the server looks like: https://karaoke.kjams.com:12345 (un: dave, pw: a)

Send me some feedback on what works and what doesn't, and what you need to make it better. Thanks!

If you don't have wireless

If you are hosting a show in a venue which doesn't have Wifi available to patrons -- don't laugh, there are still a few of those -- you can set up an Ad-Hoc network.

  1. Create a new network
    1_create_network.png
  2. name the network
    2_network_name.png
  3. run kJams
  4. click on the folder "Singers", this is actually the venue name
  5. click it again without moving the mouse, this will let you rename the folder
  6. name the venue
    3_venue_name.png
  7. go to preferences->server
  8. turn on the server (see above "How To Turn it On" for more info)
    4_turn_on_server.png
  9. you can set the Port to 80 or just leave it at 80
  10. if you're using a web browser:
    1. make sure the web browser computer is on the same network as the kJams computer
    2. in your web browser, find the kJams Venue name in the Bonjour list (see Step 7 Above), then click it! You're in!
  11. if you're using an iPhone:
    1. go to Settings->WiFi and pick the Ad-Hoc network. Note: to pick it, tap the NAME, not the blue arrow on the right.
      5_pick_network.PNG
    2. run iJams or wtkJams
    3. join your venue! (see links in previous step for examples) You're in!

If you're hyper savvy

You can put this on a *public* IP address under some domain, and use port 80 (provided there's no other web server on that address). that way people can *from home* enter something like:

https://karaoke.kjams.com:12345/

and then set up their tonight list, before they even get to the venue! isn't that spiffy? We will, at some point, have a checklist for how to set this up, including some thoughts on security.

Known Issues

  • A search that returns more than 200 songs will say "too many hits, refine your search" or something like that. ("200" is the default, but you can change it in the prefs "maximum number of songs returned in web server search")
  • A failed login (i.e., bad password) will not display an error; it will just display the login page again.
  • Updates made in kJams (eg: song added or list reordered) don't show up in the web UI unless the playlist is refreshed

Updates to the Server Resources

When there is an update to the server resources, you have to manually update them.

Code

if you're a code monkey and stuff you can look here

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