What is the Courier?
The courier is a mechanism to allow tools to update the user interface based on back-end changes. It is used by tools like presence and chat. For more information, visit Courier.
Will the Courier be configurable in Sakai 2.0?
No it is not configurable.
Because the Courier is now part of the tool rather than part of the portal,
it is up to each tool as to whether it uses Courier.
The only "tools" which use Courier in 2.0 are Presence, Chat and
Presentation. I have asked Glenn to also make the courier have different
timeouts for different tools based on the tool's semantic needs.
If presence is disabled, the courier associated with the presence also goes
away.
On a tool by tool basis, we can evaluate the need for courier and add it
where appropriate.
Also, with some work, we could make an option to put a "silent" courier in
the portal. The only real value of that would be knowing precisely who was
logged in at any time from an administrator perspective.
In Sakai 2.0 sessions last 30 minutes before auto logout. In Sakai 1.0 they
lasted 30 seconds before auto log out. In Sakai 1.0 the portal courier
was required or you would get logged out. In Sakai 2.0 this is not
required.
In Sakai 1.0, the courier specifically reset the (30 second) countdown time,
but did not reset the session (60 minute) timer. In Sakai 2.0 there is no
30 second timer - and the courier explicitly does not reset the 60 minute
timer so people are still logged out after the inactivity period regardless
of the presence or chat.