Groupboard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Groupboard is an on-line whiteboard.

Groupboard is a multi-user java whiteboard, which allows multiple users to draw in real-time. Users can put a Groupboard onto their website simply by copying a few lines of HTML code. The groupboard is also referred to as a drawingboard and artboard.

1 History
2 Features
3 Set-Up
4 Uses
5 External links

[edit] History

Groupboard started as a java website toy on the Etchinghill Studios website (a now defunct computer games company) in 1996. It was developed by David Jameson in his spare time from the DrawTest java example, and only supported a single board.

The java whiteboard continued to be developed by David after leaving Etchinghill Studios, and in 1997 a new version supporting multiple boards was released and the groupboard.com website was set up.

Since then, Groupboard has been developed and refined, and is now a commercial product with thousands of customers around the world.

[edit] Features

Platform: Java - it is a set of multi-user Java applets

Languages: English, Français, Español, Dansk, Português, Norsk, Deutsch, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew

Unicode character support for languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese and Chinese

Adjustable: the applet parameters allow adjustments to the color, size, user rights and more

Graphical javascript/html user interface possible

Interoperable with Skype

Groupboard Designer - extra features: cut, paste, pan, zoom, undo and a tool library for saving pre-designed shapes

GroupWorld.net - extra features: voice/video conferencing and desktop sharing, 3D chat, recording

[edit] Set-Up

You can choose between a hosted Groupboard or a Standalone Server License. With the hosted version you can put the Groupboard on own webpages by simply pasting a few lines of HTML code, basically the applet code. With Standalone Server License you can download a package containing the java classes and executables, which can be installed on a dedicated server.

[edit] Uses

Online Live Tutoring e.g. for math, languages or drawing is one of the classic uses of Groupboard.

The demo page has developed into a popular hang out among fellow Groupboard regulars where the builtin chatroom is often used for role playing while the more artistic users share drawing space on the whiteboard. One of the administrators known as SIXY has built and maintains a gallery of some of the most active regulars.