Though TownNews.com representatives often participate in discussions, this is not a customer service site. For immediate help, call 800-293-9576 or submit a support request via our online ticketing system.
Feature request: Clicking on photos in a mosaic presentation shouldn't load a new URL
The new ability to embed a collection with the mosaic presentation is great, except users can't just expand a picture without going to a separate URL. If the photos simply expanded when clicked, just like the images do at the top of stories, readers wouldn't have to load a new URL or leave their spot in a story.
It's a jolt in the experience when the page moves to a new URL. It forces users to hit "Back" to finish reading the story, and is disruptive as-is. Mimicking the features the photos display at the top of the page would fix this.
Hi Meagan!
Thanks for this! To be honest, this was my oversight when building the mosaic. When we first created it, the images didn't link anywhere at all. So I just asked that they go through to the image page so I could see them better. But, I should have asked for our image overlay behavior. It is better user experience, it has potential ad spots, and it more consistent. Better all around!
I will put in a change request. Thanks for the feedback!
Feature request based on new BLOX article designer release!
So, of course I have a feature request already re: thew new BLOX release, lol.
We love dragging related stories into body text. But we actually prefer an article asset's 'summary' presentation rather than the 'default' presentation for sibling assets.
Feature request: Ability to designate which presentation you want to be your default.
REST API to return section assets as JSON
Is there any plans on implementing a REST API to return assets as JSON?
It would be really useful for integration with our home-grown systems (Mobile apps, internal APIs, etc) to be able to get a list of all the assets in a section as JSON, then query as asset for all it's data, child assets, etc in a JSON format.
The only way I can see to get data out of the BLOX CMS is via the RSS/ATOM feeds functionality, which is lacking much of the assets data and is no where near as easy to work with as JSON.
There is a new webservices API available after our next update, which should be out tomorrow. Docs are available by going to your domain and adding /tncms/webservice. (Again, you'll see the new CRUD API after 1.35 is released).
Syndication Importers "Do not publish"
Is there a way to bring over assets from syndication with importer as "Do Not Publish"?
We now have the "workflow" option available as a setting on the RSS and YouTube channels. This way, you can set all incoming content to a workflow wish is not set to publish.
More channel types are coming soon.
Customer's account keeps getting disabled
I have a customer account that keeps getting disabled (at least once per week). And once I unlock it, he says that he still cannot login. I'm hoping that someone might have a solution
It's probably best to submit a support ticket so a customer service representative can help troubleshoot what might be happening with this account. There are a lot of variables that could cause a user to have issues ranging from browser plugins (like ad blocking), account sharing, or just plain old user error.
"Do not publish" flag feature on content imported from Field59
We really need the "Do not publish" flag feature on content imported from Field59.
Thanks for your request! This is scheduled to be released next week.
Facebook Video
It would be helpful to be able to use Facebook Videos as assets, like you can with YouTube videos. Right now the closest we can do is using an HTML block with its embed code, which is not ideal.
Getting video from Blox to our app
Good afternoon, everyone,
We are trying to get a video feed from Blox to our app (which is made by Whiz).
The URL I am giving Whiz is not what they want. They said my URLs return articles with videos, but there is no direct link to play the video iteself.
What they need is...
- Feed is in Whiz format -- see the two urls above have 'whiz' in them
- If not Whiz format, then an standard mrss feed
- Feed has link to actual video -- an .mp4 or .m3u8
Would anyone care to sure their URL format for a MRSS feed?
Please and thank you.
Andrea
Anyone using one online store to both sell photos/stories from a page, and also merchandise?
Hi there -- we're looking to expand what we can offer to sell on our site, to include not just stories and photos but also other branded merchandise. Our sales contact, Carol, suggested SecondStreet for us and they would definitely fit the bill for photo and story reprint sales, but they indicated they're not doing much on the "other merchandise" front right now.
We could use something like Shopify for an online store, but we'd prefer to keep our number of payment processors kind of low if we can. (Among other things, we're in a university environment where we have to get full review from multiple departments with payment modules.)
Thanks in advance!
Add a desktop view for the back-end of BLOX on a mobile device
We've been using FLEX for about a year and I've just now noticed there isn't a way to break out of the mobile view of the back-end like there used to be for Zen.
For instance with Zen I could go to the front-end website and click "View full site." Then I went back to the BLOX back-end website thus tricking BLOX to show me the desktop version of the back-end. This was probably an unintentional workaround but it was very handy when I was away from a computer and needed to change something other than an asset.

Creating block - one week
I am trying to create a block with content that stays in the block for only one week. I know how to set it up for "today only" but I can't figure out the coding for having stuff that was published in the previous week.
Sponsorship to Remove paywall
We've got an advertiser asking about how much we'd charge to let them sponsor the entire website and remove the paywall for a period of time. Basically letting everyone read everything for free, sponsored by XYZ, Inc.
Has anyone done anything like this before? Very curious to hear any thoughts on how to price this or reasons why would shouldn't even consider it.
Thanks!
Please make HTML block keep its hard returns
Some of us are OCD about how our code looks. So it's somewhat of an exercise in frustration when creating an HTML block to then have the system remove hard returns. I don't see any rhyme or reason as to what it removes. It does save tabs(or four spaces) which is good but hard returns are really a crapshoot.
I'd like the ability to see Taboola/Outbrain revenue
To my knowledge there isn't a way in BLOX to see the revenue made from clickbai...I mean Taboola/Outbrain ads. I think they look unsightly on our website and I'd like to get rid of them, but if they're performing well I can't justify getting rid of them.
I don't receive our bills from TownNews so I never see how much we get per month. Is there a way that certain admin can view the performance of Taboola/Outbrain ads?
Hi Nick!
If you put in a CRM ticket, our accounting staff can look up that information for you. I did look up one of your recent months, and I'll just say that this program is paying about 65% of your BLOX hosted fees for all of your umbrella sites! So you're doing quite well! (Sorry!)
I would also mention in the ticket that may want to experiment with tweaks to the formula or the design to be more in line with something you're comfortable with. You may be able to tweak the logic slightly to optimize less on revenue (you may make a little less money, but have better ads) before just removing them entirely.
Section Specific Website Logos

Customer support service by UserEcho