Welcome to TownNews.com's customer community! Connect with other TownNews.com customers and with us to suggest features, share best practices and ask questions.

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.
0
Answered

how to add colmns to minilist asset

Adam 9 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 9 years ago 1
hello i was wondering if there is a custom property that will allow the minilist asset have two columns instead of just one big long one?
Answer
Christine Masters 9 years ago
Hi there!

The block itself does not have the ability to split into two columns. But, if you had two or three regions that were side by side, you could put multiple minilist blocks in them and it would have a similar effect.

It is possible to add custom regions to front and index pages by using include points and then styling the regions appropriately. If you need help with this, please submit a ticket to our Customer Support telling them what you're trying to do. :)
+3
Completed

Recommendation for Mobile/Touch5 article pages (related content)

Mike DellaVecchia 11 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 9 years ago 9

The biggest complaint we get from mobile users on a regular basis is that they can't seem to find related content on mobile article pages.  The "Related" menu option in the footer doesn't immediately jump out at them and it goes largely unnoticed. 

I've included a screenshot of what I think would be a great alternative.  Buttons beneath the article photo in the aside column for each piece of related content would seem to work well and allow users to quickly spot and click on related content like videos, audio, etc.  The great part is that you are already doing something similar with business listings in the mobile marketplace (which is where I stole the idea/code in the screenshot).  It would be great if these buttons could stay at the top of the article when the viewport changes for phone display.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  I'm looking forward to using this feedback tool on the regular!


Image 2

Answer
Christine Masters 11 years ago

The bottom bar showing the related items is largely a remnant of the old "app"-style design, where the bar stayed on your screen and was much more visible.


Now that people have mostly switched to a more web-like style, it is a good idea to change this.


We will add this to an upcoming release. It may not look exactly like this, but we will do something similar. =)


Thanks!

0
Under review

Mobile Touch 5

Craig V 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Jacki Gray 9 years ago 4
Why does our mobile touch 5 pages bounce the user back to the top? I know it may have to do with everything not fully loaded as you scroll down but this does not happen on desktop version.
http://m.buckscountycouriertimes.com/mobile_adv/
0
Answered

User account email verification

Kevin M. Cox 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated 10 years ago 4
Hopefully I'm just missing it, but is there a way to have the BLOX system verify an email address is legitimate as part of the new user signup process?

Currently users can create an account with any email address they want and there is no verification required to prove that use actually controls that email. This creates a potential issue with trying to use Domain based Subscription Services since we aren't actually verifying that someone has a real email in a particular domain.

I can't remember the last time I've used a service that didn't require verification so I'm hoping we can enable it for our site.
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
Hi Kevin!

We do offer email confirmation... so when they sign up for an account, we email them and then they have to click on the link to prove they have access to that account.

Go to Settings -> Users -> Public Profiles and enable email confirmation.



The "special templates" referenced above are included by default in our core templates.
0
Answered

Forms with Touch 5 application skin.

Craig V 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 1
Is it possible to set settings > urls application to "Form" with a application skin of "Touch 5 Mobile"? I know once our site is responsive then it won't be a problem, but until then I would need an option for this.
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
We don't have specific "Touch 5" skins for forms. But I do have another option...

On the standard editorial forms skin, if you pass ?p=1 through the form, it does "popup" mode without the shell of the site.

The guts of the form itself and simple and responsive, so once you get rid of the site shell, you're left with a responsive form.

So, you could link to this:

https://showcase-dot-bloxcms-dot-com.bloxcms.com/site/forms/announcements/engagement/?p=1
+2
Under review

Using masthead photos on a long-form story

Sean Cassidy 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 3
I'm wondering if it's possible to make the masthead presentation mode for photos to be centered when it's placed on a long-form story. Right now, if you use a masthead photo on a long-form story, it floats left. However, the headline is centered, so it looks off. You can get around this using the "showcase" presentation mode for photos, which spans it across the whole page, but it adds the title of the image and grey lines on the top and bottom of the image. It would be nice to display above-the-headline photos that look clean. We used to be able to do this before with the "panoramic" presentation before it switched to an actual swiping panorama. It displayed the photo cleanly above the headline with the credit and cutline.
+2
Under review

Newsletter sign-up on mobile

Adam Wratten 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 2
Hello! Is there a good way to set up a newsletter sign-up page on a Touch 5 site?
0
Answered

Google Survey

Craig V 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 1
We would like to use the following. http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Google-Survey-Custom-URL-Properties_7779.html . It doesn't seem to be working though. I implemented it under /business url and it just unlocks the content completely and doesn't display the survey. Example: http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/business/saladworks-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/article_37967825-3277-5345-b8bb-9d5f477f1f97.html
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
Hi Craig!

The Google Survey implementation requires a few more steps, such as having subscription set up, and IDs and so forth. It also requires a special 'Subscription Pro' contract, which you may already have.

Our staff would be very happy to help you with the set up though. Just submit a ticket to CS, or email your sales rep. Thanks! =)

PS Also note that Google Surveys doesn't always show a survey, and the default behavior when it doesn't is to show the content.
0
Answered

Including a "read More" link back to article when copy and pasting body text

Mike DellaVecchia 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 2
I've noticed that certain news websites, when you copy and paste a portion or full article, it automatically pastes in a link back to the article as well.  I think this would be a great feature to add.

For example, Politico:
Atlantic City has one of the highest crime rates in New Jersey, with 4,287 crimes in 2014, 522 of which were violent, according to the New Jersey State Police’s website.

Crime levels are falling, dropping by 13.6 percent in the past year, but think tank and policy researchers list it as one of the main impediments to the city’s recovery as a tourist haven. The city’s budget cuts also led to reductions to the police department.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/atlantic-city-meltdown-chris-christie-115204.html#ixzz3SfjsHbCj
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
Hi Mike!

This is usually done with Tynt:

http://tynt.com/product_copypaste#axzz3T54BQnQI

From what I recall, it is just some JS that you add to your footer.
0

Video: Simple Player block

Scott 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Kevin M. Cox 10 years ago 1
Currently when a YouTube video is finished playing in the Video: Simple Player block, Youtube puts in a link (or several links depending on the size of the block) to related videos. These videos may or may not be related to your site. They are chosen by Youtube, not TownNews or your staff.

We are wondering what the community would prefer as the default. The choices are to a) keep things as they are and have YouTube supply links to related videos or b) don't show any related videos at all after your video is done playing. 
0
Answered

Edit Comments Tab Rules of Conduct?

Kevin M. Cox 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated 10 years ago 2
It is possible to edit the Rules of Conduct displayed on the Comments tab of articles? If so can we do it ourselves (in the templates maybe) or do would we have to open a ticket?

Thanks.

Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
Hi Kevin!

It is a macro that can be edited in the site component. If you have template access and know about the site component, it is in the messages file. If not, you can open a support ticket and they can do it for you or help you. =)

Christine
0
Answered

Remove AP from front end search results

Craig V 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated 10 years ago 3
Is there an easy way to remove all AP from the front end of search results page? 
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
Hi Craig!

Here are details on how to add search parameters: 

http://docs.townnews.com/kbpublisher/Search-Queries_5555.html

So, to exclude ap, the parameter would be &nfl=ap (for ap flagged articles).

This parameter can be added to any search form on the site via a hidden input field. Ask Customer Support if you need help setting this up. =)

+4
Under review

Obit asset type?

Laura Rauch 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 4
I would like BloxCMS and TCMS to have an obituary asset (a customized article asset) with common fields for obituaries such as dates of birth and death, last name, first name, middle initial, etc. Maybe even times for services
0
Answered

Is there a way to modify the RSS output from BLOX sections?

Adam Wratten 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 3
We're launching a new app and it's only pulling in what is displayed in the RSS feed, which happens to be a single photo and a paragraph.

This is understandably problematic as it doesn't allow the full article to be displayed and makes all our collections pointless to our app audience.

So, what can I do to make our RSS feed show the entire article and all (or even more) associated photos?
0
Answered

Sort rules Random

Craig V 10 years ago in BLOX CMS updated by Christine Masters 10 years ago 1
When I set a blocks sort rules to (random) and have the query size set to 1 for the amount of assets to show, it should change the asset that is showing when I refresh, correct? it is not changing though.
Answer
Christine Masters 10 years ago
It doesn't reload every page refresh, but it should change every "page build." Or, any time an updated page is built and cached - which should be every 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the page and the situation, etc.