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+1
Answered
Permalinks?
Is there any way to know what the permanent link/slug of a particular story will be before it is published?
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Social broadcast is a great way to handle social posts, because they will go online nearly instantly and automatically link to your content - but also you can click on the "live" link at any time after save to get the live URL.
+2
Answered
TownNews feature request: Generate an RSS/Atom feed for Apple News publishing platform
Hi there, I'm trying to figure out how to create a feed from our Blox site to test with the new Apple News Publishing platform.
Essentially, the feeds the Missourian now has are formatted as a search, not really a feed per se (that is, the feed url doesn’t end in .xml or similar) — the url looks like this: feed://www.columbiamissourian.com/search/?q=&nsa=eedition&nfl=advertorial&t=article&l=20&s=start_time&sd=desc&f=rss
That works fine in the feed readers I tested it in, but for the Apple Publishing Platform feed we need an Atom or RSS feed in .xml or .rss format.
I went through Town News support and it's apparently not something that is currently generate-able there.
The Apple feed specification is here, if it's useful: https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/News_Publishing_Guide/RSSBestPractices.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40015407-CH13-SW1
The reason we want to generate that RSS/Atom feed is to test with the Apple Publishing Platform beta. There's a roundup of the new News app in this Nieman post: http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/06/for-news-organizations-this-was-the-most-important-set-of-apple-announcements-in-years/
If others are interested, please note and it will help bump up priority.
Thanks!
Essentially, the feeds the Missourian now has are formatted as a search, not really a feed per se (that is, the feed url doesn’t end in .xml or similar) — the url looks like this: feed://www.columbiamissourian.com/search/?q=&nsa=eedition&nfl=advertorial&t=article&l=20&s=start_time&sd=desc&f=rss
That works fine in the feed readers I tested it in, but for the Apple Publishing Platform feed we need an Atom or RSS feed in .xml or .rss format.
I went through Town News support and it's apparently not something that is currently generate-able there.
The Apple feed specification is here, if it's useful: https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/News_Publishing_Guide/RSSBestPractices.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40015407-CH13-SW1
The reason we want to generate that RSS/Atom feed is to test with the Apple Publishing Platform beta. There's a roundup of the new News app in this Nieman post: http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/06/for-news-organizations-this-was-the-most-important-set-of-apple-announcements-in-years/
If others are interested, please note and it will help bump up priority.
Thanks!
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Rob!
The search link that you referenced above (http://www.columbiamissourian.com/search/?q=&nsa=eedition&nfl=advertorial&t=article&l=20&s=start_time&sd=desc&f=rss) is still a valid RSS 2.0 feed, even though it doesn't end in an .xml. From what I can tell, Apple does not appear to require a specific extension... only a valid feed.
I personally set up another site as a News Channel on the Apple News Publisher platform, and my RSS feed was domain.com/rss (with no specific extension, though it is a valid feed) - and it appeared that it was accepted. That being said, I haven't been notified that my channel is live yet.
In other words, I think it will work if you try it. There may be additional tweaks we have to make to optimize things going forward, so let us know how it goes.
Here is some more information about generating MRSS, RSS and ATOM feeds from BLOX using search: http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/How-to-Generate-RSS-ATOM-or-iATOM-feeds-from-BLOX_5941.html
And, if you want to create specific channels based on certain sections in your BLOX site (for example, a specific channel for a columnist or a sports team), here are details on how to create search queries (which can then create feeds): http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Search-Queries_5555.html
Let me know if you have more information about this, or if you've confirmed something different. It's a new thing so we're trying to stay on top of it! =)
Christine
The search link that you referenced above (http://www.columbiamissourian.com/search/?q=&nsa=eedition&nfl=advertorial&t=article&l=20&s=start_time&sd=desc&f=rss) is still a valid RSS 2.0 feed, even though it doesn't end in an .xml. From what I can tell, Apple does not appear to require a specific extension... only a valid feed.
I personally set up another site as a News Channel on the Apple News Publisher platform, and my RSS feed was domain.com/rss (with no specific extension, though it is a valid feed) - and it appeared that it was accepted. That being said, I haven't been notified that my channel is live yet.
In other words, I think it will work if you try it. There may be additional tweaks we have to make to optimize things going forward, so let us know how it goes.
Here is some more information about generating MRSS, RSS and ATOM feeds from BLOX using search: http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/How-to-Generate-RSS-ATOM-or-iATOM-feeds-from-BLOX_5941.html
And, if you want to create specific channels based on certain sections in your BLOX site (for example, a specific channel for a columnist or a sports team), here are details on how to create search queries (which can then create feeds): http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Search-Queries_5555.html
Let me know if you have more information about this, or if you've confirmed something different. It's a new thing so we're trying to stay on top of it! =)
Christine
0
Under review
Prevent asset edits if comments not entered
We have enabled the “Allow update comments” option for Editorial Assets. However only certain users ever remember to enter comments making it difficult to track changes, especially when they are minor ones.
I’d love to see an option that would make comments mandatory; BLOX would prevent an asset from being saved unless something had been entered in the comments box.
Maybe it could be only enforced if it has been X minutes since the last update so that someone could easily fix a small typo right away.
Any thoughts?
I’d love to see an option that would make comments mandatory; BLOX would prevent an asset from being saved unless something had been entered in the comments box.
Maybe it could be only enforced if it has been X minutes since the last update so that someone could easily fix a small typo right away.
Any thoughts?
0
More views for images/collectiong
Hi all, wondering if there's advice on how to generate more views for our photos and collections? We have photographers using cryptic naming devices for archive purposes and wondering if giving them matching headlines would help with views as well? Trying to sell the point to stubborn journalists. Any advice is welcomed.
0
I'd like to import an article asset and make it a child of another article
We have a series of articles about cooks, with related articles (2-4, usually) containing recipes which were contributed by the cook profiled. I'd like to import the recipes from NITF, but don't see a way to say "this article is a child of article {ID}". Is there a way to do that, which I'm missing? If not could, could a way be added? Thanks!
0
Answered
Set up Flex on a url with a custom application skin
Is it possible to set up a custom application skin with Flex so we can use it based off of the url?
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Craig!
A few issues with this:
1. You can only have one active global folder at a time so that could potentially cause problems. Technically Flex doesn't have dependencies on global, but I'm not sure if there would be conflicts. You definitely wouldn't get customizations and code from that global.
2. Your header and footer from Zen would not work on Flex. Flex would not ask for those files.
3. Any variables set on Zen would not work on Flex (we have purposefully namespaced them) and vise versa.
It MAY be theoretically possible (I haven't tried it) to have a Zen site running a non-standard Flex skin such as Live e-Edition (which has no header and footer or theme options like the rest of the site). However, since Zen and Flex Live e-Editions are very similar, I'm not sure why you'd want to.
A few issues with this:
1. You can only have one active global folder at a time so that could potentially cause problems. Technically Flex doesn't have dependencies on global, but I'm not sure if there would be conflicts. You definitely wouldn't get customizations and code from that global.
2. Your header and footer from Zen would not work on Flex. Flex would not ask for those files.
3. Any variables set on Zen would not work on Flex (we have purposefully namespaced them) and vise versa.
It MAY be theoretically possible (I haven't tried it) to have a Zen site running a non-standard Flex skin such as Live e-Edition (which has no header and footer or theme options like the rest of the site). However, since Zen and Flex Live e-Editions are very similar, I'm not sure why you'd want to.
+3
Under review
Support for Disqus commenting
Blox already has an option to turn on Facebook commenting. Now how about including the option for Disqus, which is an incredibly popular commenting system.
Moreover, Disqus has built a single sign-on solution into its API that, though it's a bit complicated, could be integrated with Blox logins, making the experience seamless for users.
At the very least, the option to use the free Disqus commenting should be one that's included.
Moreover, Disqus has built a single sign-on solution into its API that, though it's a bit complicated, could be integrated with Blox logins, making the experience seamless for users.
At the very least, the option to use the free Disqus commenting should be one that's included.
0
Under review
How do a I change the size of marketplace logos?
I know I can change the size of the image with css but it stretches the logo beyond it's actual width. So is there a way to tell the back-end to display a logo with a larger width? I tried the "Logo preview widths" and uploaded a new image but it still gave me a width of 200px that ends in ".preview-200.jpg" When I change the number in that just to test the file it doesn't find an image.
0
html child assets in rss feed
How can I include a child html asset in a rss feed? I created a custom search skin to include it.
http://www.theintell.com/search/whiz-test/?q=&t=article,collection&l=20&d=&d1=&d2=&s=start_time&sd=desc&c[]=sports/high-school*,sports/high-school/varsityrap,-sports/high-school/agate,-sports/high-school/scoreboard&f=rss&fulltext=unionall
Here is an article from this feed that has a child html asset.
http://www.theintell.com/sports/softball-william-tennent-stuns-abington-with-four-run-th/article_47fb4684-090b-5fcc-8d5f-dd5e92d16985.html
http://www.theintell.com/search/whiz-test/?q=&t=article,collection&l=20&d=&d1=&d2=&s=start_time&sd=desc&c[]=sports/high-school*,sports/high-school/varsityrap,-sports/high-school/agate,-sports/high-school/scoreboard&f=rss&fulltext=unionall
Here is an article from this feed that has a child html asset.
http://www.theintell.com/sports/softball-william-tennent-stuns-abington-with-four-run-th/article_47fb4684-090b-5fcc-8d5f-dd5e92d16985.html
0
Under review
Sorting assets with children first
I know there is a query rule to only display assets with child assets but is there(or will there be) a sorting rule to show assets with children first? Often times only a few of our local articles have photos. The editors are supposed to give articles priorities each night to ensure the ones with photos display at the top but that doesn't always happen. This can be troublesome, especially on the weekends when I'm much more concerned with enjoying my time off than checking BLOX.
0
Collection > Pesentation (Series)
For collection with presentation set to (Series), is there a way to make the thumbnail size larger?
0
Answered
Add Survey Form to New Asset types
I'd like to have an Input Form available thru BLOX CMS New Asset types so that community youth sports coaches can send in their box scores and provide a brief comment to a few simple questions. Questions would vary according to season/sport. About half of coaches feel comfortable sending me an email, but the other half need prodding to get a comment out of them -- an essential for a story. I don't have time to chase them all down each week. Here's an example that I helped set up with one local sports team:http://www.seiunitedsoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=846271. When they complete the form and hit the Submit button, the info should come to me in an email. This should actually be easier than the Poll asset that's already available, but the answers would vary instead of multiple choice. Can we do this? Thanks.
Answer
Christine Masters
10 years ago
Hi Christopher!
Looking at your example, this looks very much like something you should be able to build with BLOX Forms. You can set up a new questionnaire, set yourself as the recipient, e-mail the link to the coaches. The submissions would then be e-mailed to you, as well as be available in the Form Submissions panel for review (in case you are on vacation and someone has to fill in, etc.)
Here are our docs:
http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Forms-Manager-Overview_6417.html
Hope this helps! =)
Christine
Looking at your example, this looks very much like something you should be able to build with BLOX Forms. You can set up a new questionnaire, set yourself as the recipient, e-mail the link to the coaches. The submissions would then be e-mailed to you, as well as be available in the Form Submissions panel for review (in case you are on vacation and someone has to fill in, etc.)
Here are our docs:
http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Forms-Manager-Overview_6417.html
Hope this helps! =)
Christine
+1
Geolocations and Blocks
What is the best way to query a block based off of someone's currently location. So if I am in Doylestown PA then the block would only bring in news tagged for Doylestown.
0
Under review
Google Surveys + paywall integration
Christian Ramirez 10 years ago
in BLOX CMS
•
updated by Rich Griffin | Product Manager (Product Manager) 10 years ago •
3
I would like to see the ability to integrate both Google Consumer Surveys with a paywall. Offering a fallback to customers who would like to opt out of surveys for a subscription fee.
0
Fixed Navigation of E-edition Viewer
When viewing e-editions on all types of media, is there a way we can make navigation fixed? that way the viewer doesn't have to scroll to the top of page to go to next page?
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