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0
Answered
AP Syndication requirements in Webinar: What's new in BLOX CMS (December, 2014)
Christina Masters mentioned new AP syndication requirements in the December 2014 Webinar. I'd like more information about the exact requirements. Is there an announcement from the AP or documentation that you could refer me to?
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Jennifer!
We have a great doc on this here:
http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/How-do-I-set-up-an-Associated-Press-Syndication-Channel_8966.html
You'll need to get your login information from AP. But, other than that, it is very easy! =)
We have a great doc on this here:
http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/How-do-I-set-up-an-Associated-Press-Syndication-Channel_8966.html
You'll need to get your login information from AP. But, other than that, it is very easy! =)
0
Under review
smart truncating
User today wanted to know where the rest of a caption was. Seems they were looking at the sildeshow block and the caption was truncated mid-word at about 180 characters.
I was wondering about truncating in general... when doing so instead of truncating at the exact character count... Could you not go back the last space prior to that and truncate there with a "..." appended.
In the example (see image below) the truncated caption would be;
"DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers set new corn and soybean records last year, harvesting the largest crops ever as a cool summer allowed the plants to mature under mostly favorable ..."
instead of
"DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers set new corn and soybean records last year, harvesting the largest crops ever as a cool summer allowed the plants to mature under mostly favorable condit"
That way the reader would receive an indication the text was truncated purposefully and and was not ;an error.
I was wondering about truncating in general... when doing so instead of truncating at the exact character count... Could you not go back the last space prior to that and truncate there with a "..." appended.
In the example (see image below) the truncated caption would be;
"DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers set new corn and soybean records last year, harvesting the largest crops ever as a cool summer allowed the plants to mature under mostly favorable ..."
instead of
"DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers set new corn and soybean records last year, harvesting the largest crops ever as a cool summer allowed the plants to mature under mostly favorable condit"
That way the reader would receive an indication the text was truncated purposefully and and was not ;an error.
0
Answered
Leverage browser caching
Craig V 10 years ago
in BLOX CMS
•
updated by Patrick O'Lone (Director of Software Development) 10 years ago •
4
Does anyone know if we have access to .htaccess file in blox to leverage browser caching
0
Answered
settings > Jobs > youtube
Can I create a mrss job feed from youtube to create individual youtube assets in blox?
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Craig!
I would actually recommend the Syndication tool. It's free and should be available under Editorial.
Using the Syndication tool, you can set up a channel to YouTube - based off of a user account or a keyword.
Then, you can either just pick and choose from the Syndication channel the items you want (it is really nicely integrated with Editorial).
Or you can create an importer to feed all of the items in automatically as YouTube assets. You can assign them a keyword, flag, section, delete date, etc.
I would actually recommend the Syndication tool. It's free and should be available under Editorial.
Using the Syndication tool, you can set up a channel to YouTube - based off of a user account or a keyword.
Then, you can either just pick and choose from the Syndication channel the items you want (it is really nicely integrated with Editorial).
Or you can create an importer to feed all of the items in automatically as YouTube assets. You can assign them a keyword, flag, section, delete date, etc.
0
Answered
Custom Properties for Site User Accounts?
I see that custom properties are able to be set for site user accounts, which is interesting.
However, I found nothing in the documentation about them. Are they available for use in UTL or elsewhere in Blox?
However, I found nothing in the documentation about them. Are they available for use in UTL or elsewhere in Blox?
0
Answered
Can we allow users to select multiple answers in a poll?
We post a yearly "Top 10" poll where we ask readers to vote for the top news stories of the year. We've used PollDaddy in the past. Trying to reproduce something similar in TN, but I don't see a way to allow users to select more than 1 answer (i.e. "you may select up to 10 from this list"). Is there a custom property that allows us to set the max. number of items a reader may vote for?
0
Interstitial ads
Can interstitial ads be placed on sections fronts(as well as home page) of touch 5 or only assets? Not that I am a fan of this idea, but I was asked if it was possible.
+2
Under review
Need a way to manage the display of new urls, section tag, site index, rss, etc. in one menu
When new applications are installed (in our case Tributes) by project managers or the like, new urls (and section tags) need to be excluded from site indexes and RSS options until the products go live.
I have more than once found new urls created (not by my staff) in our site index and rss options. Our readers use our site index.
Feature request: We need a way to manage the display of new urls, section tags, site index, rss, etc. in one menu. In the admin when creating new urls/sections, it would be great to have the option to select a checkmark to hide or display urls/sections in the site map, rss, etc. (The current "exclusion" fields are limited.)
I have more than once found new urls created (not by my staff) in our site index and rss options. Our readers use our site index.
Feature request: We need a way to manage the display of new urls, section tags, site index, rss, etc. in one menu. In the admin when creating new urls/sections, it would be great to have the option to select a checkmark to hide or display urls/sections in the site map, rss, etc. (The current "exclusion" fields are limited.)
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
On the normal article page, we can't have full width inline photos due to the "media box" inset into the article. It is difficult to know how "tall" the media box is, causing users to place items next to it which end up overlapping.
So, we've created some new article modes such as the longform article. When all items are placed inline, they end up being full width across the entire page.
So, we've created some new article modes such as the longform article. When all items are placed inline, they end up being full width across the entire page.
0
Answered
longview presentation - cutlines
I like using the Longview presentation for what we call our "Lifestyle" pieces.
However, if you pull the photo into the copy, you lose the cutline. Is there a photo presentation option I can use to keep the cutline working? I've tried showcase, but of course, it moves it to the top of the page.
http://www.starherald.com/entertainment/air-link-receives-state-of-the-art-helicopter/article_bd3e8753-5626-54e9-b446-5535dc92cede.html
However, if you pull the photo into the copy, you lose the cutline. Is there a photo presentation option I can use to keep the cutline working? I've tried showcase, but of course, it moves it to the top of the page.
http://www.starherald.com/entertainment/air-link-receives-state-of-the-art-helicopter/article_bd3e8753-5626-54e9-b446-5535dc92cede.html
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
The cutlines are there, you just need to click on the photo to see it. We did it this way because sometimes cutlines are so long that they cause a huge break in the story that it is distracting.
However, I'll see if there is a way we can 'hint' to the user that there is more if you click on the photo. Maybe it needs to do something on a mouseover or something...
However, I'll see if there is a way we can 'hint' to the user that there is more if you click on the photo. Maybe it needs to do something on a mouseover or something...
0
Answered
Article personality
OK, so I missed this section in the webinar because I was having difficulty logging into the webinar.
How do I get the author to show up above as it shows in the documentation? Do I put the author byline in the "author" section? I've tried byline and tagline, have an image of the author, but it doesn't do it, so I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for your help!
How do I get the author to show up above as it shows in the documentation? Do I put the author byline in the "author" section? I've tried byline and tagline, have an image of the author, but it doesn't do it, so I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for your help!
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Maunette!
The author needs to have a user account, be assigned to the story as "author," and the account should be filled out with their avatar, bio, etc. If they fill out their Twitter and Facebook, those will show up as well.
Then, of course, you need the "presentation" mode set to "personality."
The author needs to have a user account, be assigned to the story as "author," and the account should be filled out with their avatar, bio, etc. If they fill out their Twitter and Facebook, those will show up as well.
Then, of course, you need the "presentation" mode set to "personality."
0
Answered
Block Custom Property Type Image - How to get the image/URL?
When making a custom block and creating custom properties via Customizations, there is an "image" type, where you can upload an image (pretty cool!). Though, there seems to be no way to pull the image URL, and I've seen no examples in the docs or Core block code, etc.
I've already tried:
this.block.custom.test_image_type;
and
this.block.custom.test_image_type.url;
and they don't appear to work. Any ideas?
I've already tried:
this.block.custom.test_image_type;
and
this.block.custom.test_image_type.url;
and they don't appear to work. Any ideas?
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi there!
You will see a lot more of this in our new templates which are due out next year.
But, the way to access this image is:
[% this.block.custom.image.resource_url %]
(Where "image" is the name of the property.)
You will see a lot more of this in our new templates which are due out next year.
But, the way to access this image is:
[% this.block.custom.image.resource_url %]
(Where "image" is the name of the property.)
+1
Answered
Presentation mode for YouTube assets
We see that you can set an image asset to display in presentation mode: "showcase" and have it display prominently when it is a child asset of an article. Is there a way to do this with a child YouTube asset? If not (at this time), are there any plans to add presentation modes for YouTube or video assets?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
We have a "workaround" way to do this - a custom property.
On the YouTube asset, go to "other" and then enter:
name = position
value = showcase
Available position values:
showcase = Large and on top of the article
top = Top of the media box
bottom = Bottom of the story
On the YouTube asset, go to "other" and then enter:
name = position
value = showcase
Available position values:
showcase = Large and on top of the article
top = Top of the media box
bottom = Bottom of the story
0
Thanks
timeline feedback
I was very happy to see the presentation modes for collection assets. I am in the process of implementing several of them. I was most excited to try the timeline mode. Unfortunately it left me disappointed.
There's too much white space between the arrows. The timeline doesn't size to accommodate more 3 items occurring at the same time (it will work with 4 or more but they sit on top of each other.) The article list looks like an un-formatted mess. In my example if it could accommodate a full size picture it did otherwise it used a 300px thumbnail. I'd prefer as much consistency as possible. For example always use a 300px thumbnail (unless image is smaller). When it used the full size picture the metadata (posted, comments, keywords) showed up under the 1st paragraph text (like it should.) When a thumbnail was used the metadata showed up under the thumbnail which I don't particularly like but could accept if it was consistent, which it's not. Lastly clicking on the items in the timeline does nothing. It should either open the article or at least take you to the item further down on the page.
I love the concept and think with some tweaking it would be a much better. I did a mockup of my idealized version of the timeline. The biggest difference is the current asset is on display between the arrows. As you would click on the arrows or boxes in the timeline that asset would change. Because the asset link, preview, preview paragraph etc would all show up top the only thing needed in the article list is a headline list and maybe the posted date.
I'm interested in seeing feedback on this and in seeing how other are implementing the new options.
There's too much white space between the arrows. The timeline doesn't size to accommodate more 3 items occurring at the same time (it will work with 4 or more but they sit on top of each other.) The article list looks like an un-formatted mess. In my example if it could accommodate a full size picture it did otherwise it used a 300px thumbnail. I'd prefer as much consistency as possible. For example always use a 300px thumbnail (unless image is smaller). When it used the full size picture the metadata (posted, comments, keywords) showed up under the 1st paragraph text (like it should.) When a thumbnail was used the metadata showed up under the thumbnail which I don't particularly like but could accept if it was consistent, which it's not. Lastly clicking on the items in the timeline does nothing. It should either open the article or at least take you to the item further down on the page.
I love the concept and think with some tweaking it would be a much better. I did a mockup of my idealized version of the timeline. The biggest difference is the current asset is on display between the arrows. As you would click on the arrows or boxes in the timeline that asset would change. Because the asset link, preview, preview paragraph etc would all show up top the only thing needed in the article list is a headline list and maybe the posted date.
I'm interested in seeing feedback on this and in seeing how other are implementing the new options.
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