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Broadcast for calendar events
Is there any way to use broadcast for calendar events? It lets me choose the calendar sections but since the events aren't in editorial assets I can't actually use it. When I go to them in community/calendar there is no broadcast option under the other tab.
This would be very beneficial to get the word out about events, so we'd like it added as a feature request.
Question: Changing section name
Just a question ... If I change the name of a section in the back end of Blox, will it wipe out all the content that was there.
Example: We have a section called "Entertainment." We are thinking "Features" would be more accurate and we could shuffle a couple of other things underneath it. Its been my experience in the past that changing the name wipes it out... Is this still the case.
Feature request: Hyperlinks in contributed content
When users contribute an article, they can make the text they create bold or italic. They cannot link to stories on the site or to other sites. I want to allow users to include links in their content. I've submitted a feature request; any help to make it a reality is appreciated!
Chartbeat integration
Has anything been built to integrate the Chartbeat dashboard with the Blox or TCMS dashboard?
Calendar Start Date / Reservation Date
We have many events that require advance reservations, but there is really no defined way in a calendar asset to display the RSVP date. We can use a RSVP flag - but it doesn't provide the RSVP date. We can add the RSVP date in the copy, but it is lost and events are displayed based off of the start time.
Are there any suggestion as to how events that have RSVP dates can be handled?
It would be great if there was some way to have a field of data for an RSVP date - and if this field of data was filled in this date would display in place of the actual event start date.
Add HTML, YouTube, link assets as sibling assets
The list of what can be used as a sibling asset is too limited. Link, HTML and YouTube assets, for example, are excluded, but shouldn't be. We have HTML assets and YouTube assets that are story — stories are more than text these days.
Anyone else? (Bonus if they're more than headlines, but there are rumors that that's already in the works.)
Does BLOX have a way to present a landing page or splash ad?
We've got a BLOX form on our site that our ad department would like to be a landing page. Is that possible in BLOX? Or maybe a splash page like this...
Hi Craig!
Yes, we have built-in (fixed position) spots that can serve DFP on Flex, if your site is using the DFP mode. What site is this for? It might be good to put in a Customer Support Ticket if you want them to evaluate a specific site.
On Flex, we have fixed positions that can serve DFP, Ad Manager or OAS ads. Or you can create a block with one of those ad types, but that's the part that is difficult to put inside the story (because, at present time, you can't place blocks specifically on articles.
Google AMP and TownNews
Hi there, Google is officially launching its Accelerated Mobile Pages project today (to read more: https://backchannel.com/google-is-going-to-speed-up-the-web-is-this-good-a92a6043598b#.5wr1t0kdr ). Regardless of how we feel about the technology, newsroom executives are going to want us to start coding in that way, or feed pages into a code generator. Does TownNews have any plans regarding AMP that you can share with us?
Hi Rob!
Yes, this is already in process!
We started by just building an alternative asset-only template for Google AMP, however, there are some tags (like our internal stats code, or base href injected into the page) that are required for BLOX and not permitted on AMP (so the page will not validate). So this requires that we actually update the software to build in knowledge of Google AMP.
We are hoping this will be done in the next month or so, assuming we don't face any other roadblocks. :)
Is it possible for the Facebook (share) button to recognize a user's Facebook mobile app?
I've tried this on both Zen and Flex. Selecting the Facebook (share) button on an asset launches Facebook in my browser on my iPhone.
Is it possible the Facebook button can recognize my Facebook mobile app instead? The Twitter (share) button does. I think on Android a user is given the option to continue in the browser or launch their Facebook app. Or is this just me and I'm late to the party? Is it up to the individual user?
I would think this would improve the mobile experience for many users--making it fast and efficient to share content. On mobile--I hit the login option to Facebook and abandoned my attempt to share.
Calendar events with multiple times don't show details
The BLOX calendar needs more details for events with multiple times/mini events that make up a bigger event. For instance the Elvis tribute artists are coming to our town this weekend. They have a bunch of events throughout the weekend. Here's what the back-end looks like...
Each one of those times has a "Schedule name" with it because I assumed the schedule name would differentiate it on the front-end. Not so. Notice how it looks on the front-end.
And the calendar widget block doesn't even display the times but I have no idea why. The ESL event and the conversational Spanish class show their times. And it isn't because Elvis doesn't have times. Just look at all of those times I filled in!
I don't want to have to go in and create new mini-events when there's a big event like the Elvis Festival but as the system is now it seems like I would have to in order to get the front-end look I'm wanting.
So....
1. Is there any way TownNews can have "Schedule name" or a similar field display on the front-end?
2. Can we get the calendar widget block to show time details on ALL events?
All of that complaining aside I feel the need to sing the praises of TownNews for a minute. Y'all have an outstanding product and we love using BLOX. So in all of these posts that we flood community.townnews with I don't want your hard work and accomplishments to go unappreciated. What is SO great about TN is that I know y'all listen to our input and there's never a "We've arrived!" mentality. There's always work to be done and improvements to be made. So thanks guys! You make our jobs fun!
Thanks, Nick. I'm sure you've already considered this but you'd be sacrificing the ability to edit each event. For instance, the "Opening Ceremony" may have information particular to that event - guest speakers, acts/lineup, prices, ticket links, 18 and Over flag - all of which would then have to be included in the body of the single event. The "Gospel Concert" may be a 21+ event.
For a weekend-long event consisting of several different schedules and details you can imagine that single event could get awfully long.
Section tag order
No big deal, but would it be possible to get the option to have the most recently added section tags appear at the top of the list? This would ensure that the wire stories are opening in the local site sections we apply instead of our "ap" section, where we are not really targeting ads. I know it's easy to drag it to the top, but people don't seem to be getting the message...
Improve "asset author display" option for "byline"
In Flex (or even Zen) it would be great if the "asset author display" was enhanced and recognized the "byline" as it does the "author."
I had to change the page customization setting for "asset author display" on our Flex build to just "byline." We have admins (editors) that are set as the author for assets -- but the content they are managing is not their byline. The byline is for the reporter. Now a reader no longer has the option to directly email the reporter by clicking the name in the byline. Nor can they now choose to "follow" the reporter in the byline.
Having admins identified as authors is most useful within the database for search and tracking content. But the frontend recognizing the byline would be more useful in our situation.
I'm curious how other newspaper clients are using the byline and author fields?
See notes in red:
Can I change the default font site-wide without CSS?
I have CSS access but there are several places where font is being called within the CSS. Does Zen or Flex allow the default font to be changed somewhere in the site customizations, url customizations or page customizations?
On Zen it is difficult to do because when we built Zen, we didn't really have a unifying CSS framework, so there are many different classes with different styles. So you have to get a list of all the classes to hit with CSS, and even then you'd probably miss some.
You should be able to hit the article page headline, or perhaps the titles or headline on the front page, which will give you a different look and feel, but it won't be the equivalent of changing the font everywhere.
On Flex we do have site styles which usually change your font. In addition, since we use Bootstrap, it is much easier to just change the Bootstrap defaults in order to make big changes on your site with very little code! =)
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