allow the html-to-pdf conversion when uploading Indico material

[mariadimou]

Dear Indico developers,
right now, Indico doesn't offer the option to convert an html page to pdf. This would have been useful.
I tested this via https://indico.cern.ch/event/715317/. See screenshot here for what I got:

Thank you very much for considering this enhancement request.

Yours ever
Maria

[bpedersen2]

Hmm, while it seems a nice feature from a users perspective, I do not think it is a good idea from a n administrators point of view:

1. Rendering arbitrary web pages on the server as pdf requires trust in the source page to be safe to render.
2. Rendering arbitrary content may pose copyright problems.

So I think requiring this to be done offline (with the possibility to check the rendered pdf before uploading) looks the better option to me.

[mariadimou]

I respect the experts' opinion. Please continue discussing between developers or close this enhancement request, as you see appropriate. Thanks very much for considering it anyway.
Yours
Maria

[ThiefMaster]

I agree, not only do most websites look awful when converting them to PDF (or printing them), but it's also pretty much outside the scope of Indico.

PDF conversion of user-provided documents is a different thing (but even that is a CERN-specific plugin and not part of the Indico core) since it increases accessibility for users who might not have Office installed. Web links on the other hand are rarely something where you want an outdated snapshot.

Anyway, if you do want to preserve the content of a website as of a certain date, you could use a service like https://archive.is/ - they create a snapshot of the website and give you a link to it. I don't know how long they keep them though...