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• v3 FAQ
  
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v3.0 Changelog

Composing a complete change log for Centova Cast v3.0 was somewhat difficult, as v3.0 represents over 2 years of development work and a rewrite of approximately 75% of the Centova Cast code. Accordingly, this list mentions only the most notable changes in the v3.0 release, and we strongly recommend giving it a try for yourself to experience all the new features and functionality.

Major New Features

• Centova Cast is now a stand-alone control panel; it provides its own web and FTP services and no longer depends on an external Apache, PHP, or FTP server
• Implemented a brand new, glossy user interface which should be more attractive and intuitive for newer users
• Added AJAX file manager to allow uploading, managing, and removing files via the web interface
• Added full support for Windows Media Services streams (including autoDJ) via a Windows-based daemon
• Added full support for ShoutCast v2 and sc_trans v2
• Multiple mount points can now be created and individually configured in IceCast and ShoutCast v2
• Dramatically improved cluster support; web interface can be installed on a single server and only a subset of core files need to be deployed to the streaming server machines
• Bundled a new Flash player for web-based listening playback of MP3/Ogg streams
• Added a new DJ account type, which allows station managers to delegate specific privileges (managing playlists, stopping/starting autoDJ, etc.) to their DJs
• Statistics are now recorded internally relative to UTC, and displayed relative to the user's selected time zone
• Statistics can now be retained indefinitely and are no longer limited to 60 days
• Reimplemented statistics system using AJAX for dramatically improved performance; graphs are generated client-side using jQuery/Flot to eliminate server-side image generation delays
• Historical statistics for user-defined time periods can now be downloaded as spreadsheets (CSV format)
• Added support for retrieving album details from the iTunes Store and last.fm, as well as custom web sites provided by each user
• Added support for enabling/disabling/prioritizing album data sources (Amazon, iTunes Store, last.fm, ID3v2, etc.) on a per-account basis
• Added AJAX log manager to allow easy web-based review of system and event logs
• Added support for per-account language settings
• Added server status page to show status and performance metrics for clustered servers
• Added automated song request identification and queueing
• Implemented efficient new port-80 proxy system

Minor New Features

• Recent tracks widget now updates automatically in realtime via AJAX, and displays album title if available
• Live statistics page now updates automatically in realtime via AJAX
• Stream status icons in the client area now update automatically in realtime via AJAX
• Recent tracks, current song, and on-demand widgets now fade/slide using jQuery effects
• Media uploaded via FTP is now auto-detected and imported by Centova Cast within a minute or two
• Multiple instances of the same widget can now be used on the same page (i.e., to show statuses for multiple streams)
• Most tables (accounts list, etc.) are now sortable by clicking column headers
• Added syntax-highlighting-style coloring to log viewers
• Added a Google Maps(tm) widget to the code snippets page
• Added configurable server location options for Google Maps widget
• Added configurable poll limit, poll frequency, number of tracks, and hide/show covers options for the Recent Tracks widget
• Added configurable poll limit and poll frequency options for the Stream Details widget
• Added a simple backup script to automatically back up Centova Cast to another server
• Added multiple-account start/stop/suspend/unsuspend/delete functionality to admin area
• Reduced HTML page sizes and consolidated JavaScript/CSS to improve page load times
• Added support for temporarily banning users after too many login failures
• Added Stream Directory widget to list all streams in Centova Cast
• Added Recent Tracks RSS/Atom/JSON feeds
• Added Stream Info JSON/XML feeds
• Added current playlist information to stream info widget
• Media library panes are now resizable/collapsible
• Added support for start page subdomains (username.foo.com instead of foo.com/start/username)
• Added support for trimming the event log
• Dramatically improved cover image processing performance
• Reorganized admin settings page and accounts' Widgets configuration into tabsets
• Tracks can now be moved up/down in the playlist editor by increments of 25 or 100 by holding Ctrl or Shift
• Added alternative JSON interface to existing XML API
• Added several new API methods
• Added raw configuration file editor
• Added raw database manager

Notable Improvements

• Ported all widgets and much of the UI to jQuery for a dramatic improvement in aesthetics
• All widgets can now be configured to work with specific mount points
• New multifile web-based uploader supports HTML5, Flash, and HTML4 upload types, ensuring support in all browsers
• Much of Centova Cast, including ID3 tag parsing, image resizing, and other critical components, have been ported from PHP to compiled C code for significantly improved performance
• Added autoDJ status to Stream Details widget
• Added options to autoconvert HTML email message content to text and vice-versa
• Simplified (shortened) HTML for JavaScript widget code snippets
• Current/recent tracks will try to convert sc_trans v1 metadata to proper ID3 tag data
• Numerous improvements to artist/album/title extraction and cleanup for track detection
• Various improvements in IceCast XSL page parsing and handling
• Client accounts are now deleted by default when their parent reseller account is deleted
• Implemented framework for future support of customizable menus
• Implemented framework for future support of custom plugins
• Globally renamed 'Code snippets' to the more universally-recognized term, 'Widgets'
• Stream status icons in client area header are now continually updated via AJAX
• Pressing the backslash key in the admin accounts list now brings up the filter dialog
• Added progressive search to the filter dialog in the admin accounts list, with 1.5 second delay
• When filtering the admin accounts list with a keyword that returns exactly one match, pressing Ctrl+Enter in the keyword field will auto-login to the matching account
• Many improvements to WHMCS billing module
• Completely rewrote Amazon module for better performance
• Updated quick links page with more relevant information
• Added support for batch commandline functions
• Added geolitecity package for automatic installation of the GeoLite City database

Notable Fixes

• Fixed various problems with M3U importer
• Upgraded to new Amazon.com API to fix broken Amazon.com support
• Playlists can now be scheduled for 00:00:00
• IPv6 addresses are no longer rejected by the account editor

Again, this list represents only the most significant changes in the v3.0 release.  To experience the full range of new features and functionality, we encourage you to try out the Centova Cast v3.0 Live Demo.  You are also welcome to order a free 14-day Centova Cast v3.0 trial license to try out the new release.

v3.0 Major Changes

Clients who have been using Centova Cast v2 should be aware of the following major changes in the way Centova Cast operates.

• v3 is no longer dependent on an external Apache/PHP installation.  It is a standalone control panel similar to CPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, etc.  All you need to provide is a working MySQL server and Centova Cast provides the rest.
  
  
• Centova Cast's web interface is now completely separate from its stream management functionality.  That means that if you have multiple servers, you only need to install Centova Cast's web interface on ONE server.  The rest of your servers just run a small (~5MB RAM) control application that communicates with the web interface.  Well, that, and an FTP server (~4MB RAM) of course, which Centova Cast provides.  So your stream servers can now be extremely lightweight, and it's dead-easy to add new servers to your cluster.
  
  
• Our OS requirements have changed.  We now support CentOS 4/5/6 and Debian Stable only, on both x86 and x86-64 architectures.  Why?  Because a significant portion of Centova Cast is now written in C, so we have to compile for specific OS targets rather than relying on the platform-independence of PHP.
  
  Realistically, other Linux distros *should* work (we do build with compatibility in mind) but YMMV.  FreeBSD will be officially supported in the near future (the recent FreeBSD 8 release now runs under Xen so it's much more convenient for us to port to it now) but for now, FreeBSD support is gone.
  
  
• Unlike prior versions, third-party control panels are not recommended.  It's possible to run Centova Cast alongside CPanel/Plesk/DA, but because Centova Cast provides its own FTP server now, you're going to have to work some magic to ensure that the two do not conflict.  Most CPs configure their FTP servers to bind to all available addresses, so even if you put Centova Cast's FTP server on its own IP address, you're still likely to see a port conflict.
  
  If you're using a third-party CP, you may need to configure oldschool (v2.x) FTP integration and use your CP's FTP server instead of the one Centova Cast provides.  That's still supported, but is no longer configured automatically by the installer.  You can also choose to eliminate FTP altogether and just use Centova Cast's web-based uploader, which is a new addition in v3.0.