Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly. OpenLP 1.9.9 is the last of the beta series. From now on, OpenLP is in release candidate phase! Release candidate phase means that we will not be adding any more features and will be concentrating on fixing bugs.

We believe that all the functionality which was in version 1.2 has now been included in version 2.0, and for the next few months we will be focusing our efforts on fixing as many outstanding bugs as we can.

Features added:

• Transparent themes, for background videos (theme video backgrounds not yet possible)

• On-the-fly changing of backing tracks

• Repeating of backing track list

• Use VLC for displaying videos - not on Mac OS X yet, unfortunately. (Note: To be able to use this feature the VLC media player has to be installed on your computer.)

• Search songs by song book/number

• Configurable automatic service file names using the date

• The reference format used to look up Bible verses has been localised, and can be changed along with the interface language

• Configure the "next slide" action when at the end of the current item in the slide controller to either move to the first slide again, to the next slide of the next item, or nothing.

Of course we have also fixed over 46 bugs in this release!

The full list of changes can be seen on our launchpad page.

In just over a weeks time, the OpenLP facebook page will be switched over to the new Timeline view. The new view gives us the opportunity to add a cover image to go along the top of the page, and this is where we would like your help...

Ideally we would like to use a picture of OpenLP being used, with a full worshipping congregation and both the operators screen and the projector screen in view. For example a long time ago when v1 was just being born and monitors were still the size of a small car, the photo on the right was taken. We would like to bring it up to date..

As always, there are a few restrictions. This makes it significantly harder, but we might accept an image close to the mark:

1. We would like to see a view of a recent v2 version, with close to the default layout.

2. Any lyrics on the screen ideally in the Public Domain, if possible. Although Scripture will be fine too. English would be preferable.

3. A fairly full looking congregation, who don't look like they are bored ;)

4. The trickiest bit.. the image has to be an unstretched 851x315 resolution.

5. In focus ;) and not too dark.

6. Note that facebook displays the OpenLP logo over part of the bottom left of the image

7. Oh and full permission for OpenLP to use the picture, although you'll retain the copyright.

Also if you have other ideas for a type of image we could use, then please share them in the comments too.

You can post images to our facebook wall or use an image sharing site such as imgur and post the links below.

Disclaimer: We don't guarantee we'll use your photo as the cover even if it the only one created and has a 1000 likes. Therefore we don't recommend you spend 3 solid days setting up the perfect shot, and going out to buy the latest Canon or Nikon DSLR just to take this picture! Raoul has the final word.

We look forward to seeing your photos :)

OpenLP has officially been accepted into openSUSE Factory, which means that in openSUSE 12.2 users will be able to install openLP right out of the box, without having to add any additional repositories. openSUSE 12.2 is scheduled to be released on July 11th.

If you're currently running Factory all you have to do to install OpenLP is run 'zypper install openlp'. For more information, you can visit the OpenLP build page: https://build.opensuse.org/request/show/106648

Many thanks go to Joseph Mulloy who tirelessly working at it for many months. He had to fix bugs in other packages and prod people to compile their packages properly, just so that he could get OpenLP into openSUSE. It really was quite a mission, but he did so anyways.

I'm happy to announce that the software upgrade of the site went well, and things should be mostly back to normal. If you have any issues with the site, please just drop us a line in our IRC channel. Please make sure you mention the page you were going to, the URL you ended up on, and the exact error you got. Also please note that most folks are only awake and active in the afternoon and evening hours of UTC/GMT.

Tomorrow evening we will be giving the OpenLP site a much-needed software upgrade. We will have to take the site offline for a few hours while we perform the upgrade, but don't worry, you can still find us in IRC, and the OpenLP 2.0 manual will still be available.

The site will be offline from around 17:00 UTC until approximately midnight UTC.

A few months ago, we rewrote how media (videos, etc) works in OpenLP. Part of the reason for the rewrite of how media is handled was to be able to use VLC as your video player inside OpenLP. Today we are happy to announce that we now have VLC support in OpenLP, via the nightly builds.

Please keep in mind that the VLC support might contain bugs since it has not yet been fully tested. Feel free, however, to test it out. As usual, please report any bugs you find.

Note: You will need to install VLC and enable VLC support in the media setting (Settings -> Configure OpenLP...) before you can use it.

Hot on the heels of the Christmas 1.9.8 release, an updated version of the Android client has been added to the Android Market.

This release contains two updates:

• The ability to blank the screen to the theme or desktop as well as the screen. *This change requires version 1.9.8 to function fully.*

• A number of translations.

The next release should be available at the same time as 1.9.9 is released.

This weekend we were able to set up the necessary infrastructure for doing test builds for Mac OS X automatically.

Nightly builds are created every day around 10pm GMT. These builds are created on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and should also work on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). These builds include latest development changes in OpenLP. The latest test build is available on the download page.

I would like to encourage Mac OS X users and testers to test OpenLP builds and report bugs periodically since we do not have a lot of Mac OS X developers and the support for Mac platform is not perfect.

Happy testing and reporting!

Hello everyone! OpenLP's popularity is on the rise. We just hit 1,200 fans. That is a large accomplishment in itself for a project like OpenLP. With this rise in popularity we could use some help from the community. As you probably already know we have been hard at work on a manual and support is always available through chat, but OpenLP also has a YouTube channel. Many times a video is worth more than a thousand words when demonstrating a feature or helping out with a technical issue.

We would love for members of the OpenLP community to help out with support. We can always use help with the manual or in chat, but specifically we would love to have your videos. Maybe you would like to document a feature that once found you couldn't live without. Maybe, you are a pro at setting up OpenLP and dual monitors and would like to demonstrate. If you would like a sample of a video please check this video out.

If you have your cameras rolling email us at support@openlp.org with your video and we will link to it on YouTube. If you do not have the video posted online and would still like to get it to us, file syncing services such as Dropbox, UbuntuOne, and Spider Oak (to name a few) all have a way to share a file with a public link. If that isn't your cup of tea you can also use a site such as TransferBigFiles.com to upload a file and have a public link so others can access it.

If you have been looking for a way to help the OpenLP community out this would be a great way and also should be fun in the process!

Looking back over the past year, OpenLP has had quite an eventful year. In 2011 we had the last two releases of openlp.org 1.2.x, had five releases of OpenLP 2.0 (1.9.x), we moved from alpha releases to beta releases, and we end-of-life'd openlp.org 1.x. Not only that, OpenLP even has an Android app!

Both as an application, and as a project, OpenLP has gone from strength to strength during 2011. Since the first beta release (version 1.9.5) we have had over 80,000 downloads, and the new manual has seen steady improvement since it was first put together. There have been a number of favourable reviews of OpenLP, and we've seen people talking about OpenLP more on the Internet this year. The OpenLP site has also seen almost 150,000 visitors this year.

This coming year promises to be even bigger and better. While we don't have a fixed release date for OpenLP 2.0, the general feeling is that it will likely be toward the end of 2012. This means that lots of bug fixing lies ahead of us, we'd like to get things like translations and the manual complete, and look at revamping the web site for the final release too.

Often we make New Years resolutions but in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells us:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

2 Corinthians 13:5, ESV

A careful self-evaluation is often insightful and motivating, especially for Christians working on their New Year’s resolutions. As we kick off the new year, take time to examine you faith and confirm your commitment to Christ, reflecting on what He has done for you this past year, and thinking of what you can do in the coming year to strengthen your faith and deepen your relationship with Him.

In short, the OpenLP team wishes you a blessed and fruitful new year.

PS: Don't forget to upgrade OpenLP to version 1.9.8.