Treeleaf NOW Updates and Bug Reports

[Sekishi]

Hello everyone,

Since the Treeleaf NOW feature is undergoing fairly active development, I thought it would be wise to start a thread for posting updates, bug reports, feature requests, etc.

For the record, this applies to the Treeleaf NOW page at:

http://treeleaf.org/now/

As well as the various Hangout such as:

http://treeleaf.org/free-sitting-room
http://treeleaf.org/scheduled-sitting-room
http://treeleaf.org/sewing-room

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat #lah

[Sekishi]

Treeleaf NOW Update (Beta 7).

1. The Zazenkai section now updates automagically with:
- Links to the most recent 4 Zazenkai threads
- The most recent embedded youtube video from the Zazenkai section
- *Note*: When Jundo posts the upcoming Zazenkai on Thursday night / Friday morning the video will simply be a "Hangouts on Air" logo until the Zazenkai begins

2. Minor updates to the "etiquette" sections for some of the rooms.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat #lah

[Kokuu]

Thank you so much for your work, Sekishi. It is greatly appreciated.

Deep bows for your techno wizardry

[Shokai]

Great work Sekishi, thanks!

gassho, Shokai

sat/LAH

[Sekishi]

Thank you all. But please try to use this thread for posting updates, bug reports, and feature requests.

Deep bows,
Sekishi #sat


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[Seishin]

Sekishi

This thread seems an ideal way of providing both updates and fault reports. Thank you.

From my perspective (daily use of FSR) all seems stable, albeit I'm now solely using my android phone not laptop/win10/chrome.

The only issues I experience is more likely to be a problem with Hangouts itself which is outside your jurisdiction. When sitting with someone else I'll just get their Google avatar or it will flick between avatar and video feed. I know other experience the same issue, as Marcus often logs he's been sitting with Dennis Hopper
Its a bit like the Treeleaf logo popping now and then during Zazenkai but more frequent.
Doubt there's nothing that can be done so I just accept it as part of the experience. Anyway, that's the only "problem" for me these days.

STMIZ LA

Toby


Sent from my MID2809 using Tapatalk

[Richard]

Hi
Yup, that is exactly the same for me....also, not sure if this a Hangout thing?.....If I join when there is 1 other person in FSR and they leave, my call ends...ideally I would keep my call open in case others join

Apart from that, I find the FSR really useful and supportive. I use every day
Gassho
Richard
SatToday/LAH

[Shoka]

Hi
Yup, that is exactly the same for me....also, not sure if this a Hangout thing?.....If I join when there is 1 other person in FSR and they leave, my call ends...ideally I would keep my call open in case others join

Apart from that, I find the FSR really useful and supportive. I use every day
Gassho
Richard
SatToday/LAH

Richard,

The hangouts closing is unfortunately a "feature" of hangouts. In testing what we have found is if 2 people are in a room and one leaves, hangouts automatically closes the call. I would assume programmers figured no one would just sit in a call alone, and didn't want both people to have to remember to "hang up". If there are 3 or more people in the hangout, then when someone leaves the call stays open.

As to the switching between avatar and video, that has more to do with the actual internet connections of the people in the hangout. If your internet slows enough hangouts will switch to just showing your avatar. As Toby said it even happens to Treeleaf sometimes.

But again, thank you to those who are using the rooms it is still an experiment but for the most part seems to be working and helpful to the sangha.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

[Sekishi]

The hangouts closing is unfortunately a "feature" of hangouts. In testing what we have found is if 2 people are in a room and one leaves, hangouts automatically closes the call. I would assume programmers figured no one would just sit in a call alone, and didn't want both people to have to remember to "hang up". If there are 3 or more people in the hangout, then when someone leaves the call stays open.

There is a case in which it will stay open with only one person. I think maybe if the person who joined first is the last person left after people come and go it still stays open, but otherwise it closes (but don't quote me on that).

Anyhow, what Shoka says is correct, we unfortunately do not have any control over this behaviour -- it is baked into how Hangouts works.

Thank you all for the feedback!

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat #lah

[Seishin]

There is a case in which it will stay open with only one person. I think maybe if the person who joined first is the last person left after people come and go it still stays open, but otherwise it closes (but don't quote me on that).

Anyhow, what Shoka says is correct, we unfortunately do not have any control over this behaviour -- it is baked into how Hangouts works.

Thank you all for the feedback!

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat #lah

Sekishi

From my experience your observation is right. If I'm first on and folks join then leave and I stay on by myself then the call stays open.
FWIW - If the call bombs out as I'm the last man standing, I bow, bring the call back up bow, and continue sitting for the rest of my session.
This way the call is open to any one who joins in the mean time.....................in theory anyway, as I can'y recall anyone jumping when this scenario occurs.........and it has many times.

stmiz

[Seishin]

Sekishi

Not sure it's just me but I'm not convinced Tapatalk is staying in sync with the forum. This seems to have been happening since the recent upgrade. The number of items in the Tapatalk Unread section does not match the items of unread items when I access the forum via a browser. For example Jundo's recent book review and recommended threads which I've not accessed, do not appear as unread on Tapatalk.

Like I say could be just me but thought I'd flag it as a possible post release issue.

SZIZTM

Sent from my MID2809 using Tapatalk

[Kyousui]

Is the current Zazenkai before or while it is in progress, in the Treeleaf Now section, live or is it just a link to youtube?

[Jundo]

Is the current Zazenkai before or while it is in progress, in the Treeleaf Now section, live or is it just a link to youtube?

I don't believe my Friday Night Weekly Zazenkai, Tom, has anything to do with "Treeleaf Now." The "one way" thread is visible in the thread I post each week in the Zazenkai section, like here ....

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...eekly-Zazenkai

... and near the live start time, Shingen usually posts a link in that thread to join "two way", like he did here ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...l=1#post209662

Gassho, Jundo

STLAH

[Shoka]

Sekishi

Not sure it's just me but I'm not convinced Tapatalk is staying in sync with the forum. This seems to have been happening since the recent upgrade. The number of items in the Tapatalk Unread section does not match the items of unread items when I access the forum via a browser. For example Jundo's recent book review and recommended threads which I've not accessed, do not appear as unread on Tapatalk.

Like I say could be just me but thought I'd flag it as a possible post release issue.

SZIZTM

Sent from my MID2809 using Tapatalk

Mine seems to be doing the same thing. I believe it is also once you have gone to the app and the unread section anything that was in there disappears, even if you haven't read it.

But I know that Tapatalk also just updated, so it could be a bug on their side as well.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

[Sekishi]

Is the current Zazenkai before or while it is in progress, in the Treeleaf Now section, live or is it just a link to youtube?

Hi Tom,

Because the Friday Zazenkai is a "Hangouts on Air" thing that happens through Youtube, we do not currently have a way to easily include the "join two-way" link toit on the Treeleaf/NOW page.

The most recent video DOES appear there however. Please note that this is somewhat "experimental" right now, so it may not always work perfectly (I have the NOW application going through our RSS feed, and looking for the most recently posted youtube video in the "Weekly Zazenkai" thread).

Does that answer your question?

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

[Sekishi]

Mine seems to be doing the same thing. I believe it is also once you have gone to the app and the unread section anything that was in there disappears, even if you haven't read it.

But I know that Tapatalk also just updated, so it could be a bug on their side as well.

Can verify this here too. It seems like each visit just zeros out the unread threads.

Since we've updated vBulletin, the Tapatalk add-on for vBulletin, and the Tapatalk app has updated, it is going to be fun tracking down the nature of this issue.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat


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[Kyousui]

When the calendar of the sittings is updated, it would be nice to see when it was updated. I massage the file on my computer to show CDT rather than eastern.

[Shingen]

When the calendar of the sittings is updated, it would be nice to see when it was updated. I massage the file on my computer to show CDT rather than eastern.

Hey Tom,

Are you creating a link to the calendar? If you just create a link (shortcut) then you will always have the most current calendar. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Kyousui]

Hey Tom,

Are you creating a link to the calendar? If you just create a link (shortcut) then you will always have the most current calendar. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

I don't want a link, as I need times in CDT. It's hard to convert at 5:30 AM

Sat Today

[Shingen]

I don't want a link, as I need times in CDT. It's hard to convert at 5:30 AM

Sat Today

Hello Tom,

We have those times set in the calendar, as they are the same as our weekly and monthly zazenkais, so it is easier as folks know them. However if you need to convert a time, please try this link as it will do that for you (plus it is the one I use all the time). =)

Time Conversion Website: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?pl=1&lid=6&h=6

Edit: Also Tom, can I ask if you download the calendar? If that is the case, when I make changes I will send out a notice to everyone of that change, so then you can download and customize as you need. How does that sound?

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Tairin]

Just a thought... instead of having a document with all the sitting times could we have a shared calendar such as google calendar with all the sitting times? That way people can view the calendar online if they wish. They can also have it imported into their favourite calendar app for reminders. Best of all the calendar should localize the time to the individual

Gassho
Warren
Sat today

[Shingen]

Just a thought... instead of having a document with all the sitting times could we have a shared calendar such as google calendar with all the sitting times? That way people can view the calendar online if they wish. They can also have it imported into their favourite calendar app for reminders. Best of all the calendar should localize the time to the individual

Gassho
Warren
Sat today

Hey Warren,

We already have this and it is available through the "Calendar" link on the top menu. =)

We could do a shared calendar, let me look into that.

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Kyousui]

Hello Tom,

We have those times set in the calendar, as they are the same as our weekly and monthly zazenkais, so it is easier as folks know them. However if you need to convert a time, please try this link as it will do that for you (plus it is the one I use all the time). =)

Time Conversion Website: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?pl=1&lid=6&h=6

Edit: Also Tom, can I ask if you download the calendar? If that is the case, when I make changes I will send out a notice to everyone of that change, so then you can download and customize as you need. How does that sound?

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

Sending out a notice would be nice. I like awarren's suggestion (a lot) too.

[Shingen]

Sending out a notice would be nice. I like awarren's suggestion (a lot) too.

Hey Tom,

Yes I am looking at Warren's suggestion ... so keep posted. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Taiten]

The weekly / monthly Zazenkai sits are in the middle of the night for those of us in Europe.

I don't know if this is technically possible, but could it be done to have a scheduled replay of the zazenkai in a live google hangout say 12 hours later than the original live version? European Leafers could join the room live (with respect to each other) but the video replay could be the session 'leader'. So effectively you could have 9 people sitting together all sitting along with a replay of the original zazenkai session.

Gassho,
Nick

Sat today & LAH

[Byokan]

The weekly / monthly Zazenkai sits are in the middle of the night for those of us in Europe.

I don't know if this is technically possible, but could it be done to have a scheduled replay of the zazenkai in a live google hangout say 12 hours later than the original live version? European Leafers could join the room live (with respect to each other) but the video replay could be the session 'leader'. So effectively you could have 9 people sitting together all sitting along with a replay of the original zazenkai session.

Gassho,
Nick

Sat today & LAH

Whoa. I don't know if that's possible, but it is genius. Mind blown.

Gassho
Byōkan
sat + lah

[Sekishi]

The weekly / monthly Zazenkai sits are in the middle of the night for those of us in Europe.

I don't know if this is technically possible, but could it be done to have a scheduled replay of the zazenkai in a live google hangout say 12 hours later than the original live version? European Leafers could join the room live (with respect to each other) but the video replay could be the session 'leader'. So effectively you could have 9 people sitting together all sitting along with a replay of the original zazenkai session.

Gassho,
Nick

Sat today & LAH

I wish there were a nice automagic way to do this, it would be awesome!

But I think short of one person screensharing the YouTube video playback (or even aiming a camera at a screen playing it back), I don't know of a way.

Anyone else know?

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

[Kotei]

Hello,

there are different 'fake' camera drivers, that work with google hangout, like 'ManyCam'.
Also, there are youtube-video-grabber avail, like 'Clip-grab'.
Sooo, grabbing the video and playing it back as a fake 'camera' should work technically (tested with 2 accounts).
But still, someone will have to grab that video and start the playback. (click/click/click).

Thought about offering such a playback-sitting experiment, too, but did not find the right time slot (and courage ;-) to do so.
Usually I RE-sit on Monday early morning (Europe), but I guess, that this time slot is not very comfortable for others.

edit: Maybe we should schedule a first test? Software is already set-up over here.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Taiten]

Hi Kotei,

That's really interesting.

I'm a bit too new here to offer to host yet, though I'd gladly sit along with a replay that was daytime/evening Sunday UK/Europe time.

Gassho,
Nick

Sat today & LAH

[Kotei]

Hi Kotei,

That's really interesting.

I'm a bit too new here to offer to host yet, though I'd gladly sit along with a replay that was daytime/evening Sunday UK/Europe time.

Gassho,
Nick

Sat today & LAH

Hi Nick,

I am open to adjusting my schedule and hosting this UK/Europe replay somewhen during the weekend.
Don't know, if I am 'longtimer' enough to do so. Learning something new here nearly every day. However, I would sit along, too.
Morning/Forenoon is more easy for me to adjust to, but evenings should work too.
Maybe there is some more interest, that defines a timeslot.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Kakedashi]

Today I wanted to enter the free sitting room, but somehow my browsers refuse to install the Hangouts-plugin correctly. I tried to install on Edge, Chrome, and Opera, and once the installation finished the browser is stuck on "verifying installation." I tried to refresh and close/reopen the browser, but then I was asked to reinstall the plugin again. I also downloaded and install Google Hangouts separately but all to no avail. My OS is Windows 10

Gassho,
Kakedashi

SatToday/lah

[Shingen]

Today I wanted to enter the free sitting room, but somehow my browsers refuse to install the Hangouts-plugin correctly. I tried to install on Edge, Chrome, and Opera, and once the installation finished the browser is stuck on "verifying installation." I tried to refresh and close/reopen the browser, but then I was asked to reinstall the plugin again. I also downloaded and install Google Hangouts separately but all to no avail. My OS is Windows 10

Gassho,
Kakedashi

SatToday/lah

Hey there,

Have you tried to uninstall the plugin via the control panel. Then clear your cache in all browsers that you have used. Reboot your system to ensure all is cleared.

Then open Chrome and reinstall the plugin here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/hangoutplugin

Let us know how you get along, =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Kakedashi]

I followed your advice and it worked. Edge doesn't really like google plugins but it works fine on Chrome now. I'm looking forward to sitting with you all via Hangouts.

Gassho
Kakedashi


SatToday/lah

[Shingen]

I followed your advice and it worked. Edge doesn't really like google plugins but it works fine on Chrome now. I'm looking forward to sitting with you all via Hangouts.

Gassho
Kakedashi


SatToday/lah

Excellent, good to hear.

Yah Edge is not the best browser and I believe that is why Microsoft is getting rid of it and rebuilding ... seems the new one will be based off of Chromium which is what Chrome is build on https://www.onmsft.com/news/microsof...m-inspired-one

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[allwhowander]

Having a strange issue with FSR on Hangouts. Kind of upsets me, because I've finally developed something of a regular routine now for early morning shikantaza.

I "join" FSR first (muted and video blocked), then open Insight and start the timer. When I finish, I exit the timer first, then go to Hangouts, which sometimes doesn't let me back in -- it just tells me "you are already on a call" and then it quits on me. This happens intermittently. Sometimes it will show me as "already on a call" but won't let me out; other times it lets me end the session and close out as normal. I ended up doing a "force stop" because I wasn't sure what call I was on or with whom, but dawn is not a good time to call anyone.

I use my Samsung Galaxy S7 every morning, first thing after I wake up, after my alarm goes off. Sit up (meh, sometimes) -- FSR, timer, shikantaza, start the day. This has become my routine ..... except Google likes to play games with me now before I've even had my tea (not nice).

Suggestions? :-)

gassho,
kim
st/lh

[Sekishi]

Having a strange issue with FSR on Hangouts. Kind of upsets me, because I've finally developed something of a regular routine now for early morning shikantaza.

I "join" FSR first (muted and video blocked), then open Insight and start the timer. When I finish, I exit the timer first, then go to Hangouts, which sometimes doesn't let me back in -- it just tells me "you are already on a call" and then it quits on me. This happens intermittently. Sometimes it will show me as "already on a call" but won't let me out; other times it lets me end the session and close out as normal. I ended up doing a "force stop" because I wasn't sure what call I was on or with whom, but dawn is not a good time to call anyone.

Hi Kim,

I wonder if Hangouts just does not like being a "background" process. I do not have this exact problem, but I know on my old iPhone 6, I'm always low on memory and iOS will sometimes halt a background app to give resources to the foreground app. Hangouts gets shut down very quickly if I try to switch over to some other app.

Just for giggles, would you mind trying things in the opposite order -- start the timer on IT, then go to the FSR and stay until the timer goes off. Then let us know how if it works any better?

Gassho,
Sekishi
#sat

[allwhowander]

Hi Kim,

I wonder if Hangouts just does not like being a "background" process. I do not have this exact problem, but I know on my old iPhone 6, I'm always low on memory and iOS will sometimes halt a background app to give resources to the foreground app. Hangouts gets shut down very quickly if I try to switch over to some other app.

Just for giggles, would you mind trying things in the opposite order -- start the timer on IT, then go to the FSR and stay until the timer goes off. Then let us know how if it works any better?

Gassho,
Sekishi
#sat

Sure -- come to think of it, Insight doesn't always play nice either

I'll try to remember to switch direction tomorrow morning. Will let you know when i do, thanks.

gassho
Kim
st

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

[Washin]

I wonder if Hangouts just does not like being a "background" process.

This is why I never use both apps on a single device. Had same problems in the past.
These days I open the Hangouts on the laptop/tablet while using IT on the smartphone.

Gassho
Washin
st/lah (and voted!)