Technical innovations of VIMP 5.8
Version 5.8 brings a host of new functions and improvements. Read this article to find out which technical innovations may require your attention. As always, you can find the complete list of all changes in our Changelog.
System requirements
Please note the system requirements. For version 5.8, these are basically downward compatible with the requirements of VIMP 5.7. In addition, installation under PHP 8.3 is now also supported.
SourceGuardian Loader
The SourceGuardian Loader must be installed in version 15.0 or higher in order to install VIMP 5.8.
Important: New since VIMP 5.6 is that all versions, including VIMP Ultimate, now require SourceGuardian Loader to be installed. It is therefore essential that you install this on your server before updating a VIMP Ultimate version. Installation instructions for different Linux distributions can be found in our FAQ.
Start page manager
With the new start page manager, you have the option of creating and managing individual media boxes on the start page.
You can choose from the following boxes:
- All media
- Recommended media
- Continue watching media
- My client's media
- Media of other clients
- Individual categories
The boxes can be arranged in any number and order.
Improvements in screen and webcam recording
We have completely revised screen recording with this version. The main new feature is that the stream is now transmitted directly to the server during recording, which means that even very long recordings are now possible (previously, the maximum recording length depended on the main memory of the client computer).
The new component can be found in the configuration under the setting item “Streamed Screen Recording”. It is activated by default and requires the following role authorization:
upload screen streaming
The previous screen recording component will remain in VIMP for a limited time, but is now disabled by default (“Screen Recording” setting item) and will be completely removed in one of the future VIMP versions.
We have also standardized the upload process for recorded streams (webcam and screen). The finished stream is now finally transferred to the normal upload form, where the usual metadata for the video can be entered.
New user menu
The user menu in the front end has been made clearer and more compact.
Google Privacy Sandbox Integration
Videos are now embedded with VIMP in accordance with the Google Privacy Sandbox requirements. These requirements relate to changes regarding third-party cookies, which include a video embed on other websites.
Login with e-mail address
As an alternative to logging in via the user name, VIMP now also supports logging in with the e-mail address. The prerequisite for this is that the e-mail address only exists once in the database, i.e. there are no users marked as deleted who have this e-mail address, too.
In addition, login via the e-mail address only works for LDAP users if they already exist in the VIMP database, i.e. if they have previously logged in at least once with the user name.
For authentication via SAML, login with the e-mail address is not possible.
Disable categories
As of VIMP 5.8, you have the option of completely deactivating categories. Previously, it was mandatory to assign media to at least one category. From now on, you can completely disable categories if you wish. The corresponding option can be found in the configuration under the component settings.
Customized start page
By default, VIMP always opens with the start page when your domain is called up. If you wish, you can now also define any other page from your menu as the start page. The corresponding settings can be found in the configuration under Components -> Start page settings.
Livestream subtitling
VIMP now also supports the display of subtitles in livestreams. The prerequisite for this is that the subtitles are supplied with the HLS stream.
Changes to the configuration
Subheadings
To further structure the configuration, VIMP 5.8 introduces additional groupings on certain configuration pages. These increase clarity and better organize related settings.
Password protection for certain settings
Privacy-sensitive settings have always been hidden in the configuration. As of VIMP 5.8, additional authentication with the password of the logged-in administrator is required as additional protection when accessing one of these values.
Default fallback user
When users are finally deleted, their media can be automatically transferred to a defined user. This setting is now automatically active with “admin” as the fallback user. This setting can be changed in the configuration in the user settings.
Housekeeping
Media marked as deleted can now also be permanently deleted (purged) via the existing media housekeeping task.
In addition, the mode (by time or by number of entries) can now be defined for the housekeeping of the activity and sys log.
The corresponding settings can be found in the configuration under Basic -> Data cleanup.
Upload
Under Media -> Upload, you will find a new configuration option that can be used to activate or deactivate the MIME type check for uploaded media. The check is active by default.
New and modified tasks
Thumbnails
A new task can be used to generate missing thumbnails. The task searches for media that do not have a thumbnail entry in the database and generates a new thumbnail for them. It also searches for media that have a thumbnail in the file system but no entry in the database. A new database entry is created for these.
Task name: framework:regenerate-thumbnails
License key
The license key task now requires authentication of a valid administrator user.
Taskname: framework:licensekey
Modified API methods
The API method getMedium now also contains the path to the m3u8 manifest file when HLS is activated.
New update parameter
The updater and the update task now support a new parameter “previewthumbs”, which activates the option to skip the check for missing preview images if required.