With version 2.7.0 of the open-source real-time editor Etherpad, the developers are replacing the outdated Abiword with LibreOffice as a converter for importing and exporting DOCX, ODT and PDF files. As a side effect, Etherpad now handles DOCX export ex works without additional tools. Anyone migrating from an older version must settings.json necessarily the path to soffice-Enter the LibreOffice binary – otherwise the conversion will get stuck. The release also brings convenience features for the timeslider, more control for pad creators, hardening in the software supply chain and a long list of bug fixes.
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Etherpad is a self-hostable web editor written in Node.js for real-time collaborative writing – functionally comparable to Google Docs, but under the Apache 2.0 license and without cloud requirements. Etherpad can be expanded to include authentication, additional export formats or editor functions using a plugin system.
Timeslider and pad defaults
The timeslider, which allows you to replay a pad’s editing history, now shows line numbers and allows you to change the playback speed – faster or slower than in real time. What’s also new is that the creator of a pad specifies its default settings and thus has more control over the initial configuration. Anyone who operates multiple Etherpad instances under the same domain will be able to avoid collisions between session cookies in the future using a configurable cookie prefix.
There is a new hook for plugin developers aceRegisterLineAttributeswhich allows custom line attributes to be preserved across enter and line break operations. This means that plugins that mark paragraphs as quotes or tasks no longer lose their tags when you press Enter. The project includes a one-line installer for quick initial installations. In addition to Docker Hub, the Docker images are now also available in the GitHub Container Registry (GHCR). The npm publishing of core and plugins now runs via OIDC Trusted Publishing – eliminating the need for long-lasting API tokens, which increases supply chain security.
Bug fixes from database to input
The update includes numerous bug fixes: Etherpad now provides the database drivers for Postgres, MySQL & Co. again; Recently, fresh installations have often failed due to the database connection. After a reconnect, Etherpad now immediately writes away outstanding changesets instead of silently discarding them. On busy pads, sporadic “mismatched apply” errors should also be a thing of the past.
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The maximum message size in Socket.IO increases to 10 MB, so that even large pastes no longer fail at the limit. In addition, the release fixes numerous detailed problems relating to numbered lists, copy & paste formatting, input via dead keys and ESM/CJS interop in the settings module, which recently disrupted plugin compatibility. The team has also worked on accessibility, for example with better screen reader support and aria live notifications. The full release notes are available in the project’s GitHub repository.
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