Mozilla has revealed a new Mozilla Labs project- named ‘TowTruck,’ that lets multiple users collaborate in real-time on specific websites. Using JavaScript, any site with TowTruck enabled allows up to three users to collaborate using text chat; voice chat features are also in the pipeline but are currently not enabled. Mozilla has stated that TowTruck is currently in alpha mode and should just be used for testing purposes and not mass deployment.
After TowTruck has been enabled on a site, clicking on the corresponding icon on the page will let a user login using his profile and generate a unique link that can be shared with other users. This will not only let you chat with others but also edit pages in real-time while also seeing changes as they happen on page, as they are being edited by the other users you’ve invited.
Mozilla hopes to launch the service with support in 2013 and hopes to scale up the service with full chat functionality for three users, the ability to differentiate between users with colours, ability to create archives of TowTruck sessions for future reference, adding ‘sticky notes’ to sessions and enabling excerpts.
If you want to give TowTruck a whirl, head on over to Mozilla’s page.
Sources: Mozilla, ZDNet