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Computing and Information Services

Version: 22 October 2009

This CMS version release makes a large number of changes to the CMS and the Profile System. Updated versions of the Guides will be available before the release.

Summary

The following changes will be made as part of the new CMS version. Additional details of the larger changes follow.

CMS changes

  • Linked content can now also copy the images and resources from the original content. The linked content content type can also be used in the right sidebar.
  • The red bar contains two extra links, to the live page, and to an editors' sitemap
  • Several unused content types have been removed from the CMS. All of these types are at least two years old and not used on any CMS page.
  • Improvements to the News and Events aggregator content types
  • A new Video Player content type allowing a wider range of video formats to be used in the CMS.
  • User submissions for FAQs
  • The access restrictions page in Page Options now has an option to move the page into a /local/ or /password/ to make applying these restrictions simpler
  • Images in feature boxes can be aligned left, right, or centre
  • Feature box content will use the *bold* and _italic_ entries that other content types such as news and event use. Feature box content already formatted as HTML will be unaffected by this change.
  • Additional news item options for image and image caption display
  • Sites managed by the CMS outside the www.dur.ac.uk domain can now use the custom authentication features.
  • The "include from remote URL" content type can be added to the right sidebar to allow advanced users to create dynamic feature boxes.
  • Several improvements to the speed of the CMS have been made.

Profile System changes

  • The concept of "central categories" for staff will be removed from the Profile System. Departments currently using central categories will have those categories converted into department-specific categories and should not need to make any immediate changes.
  • Role entries in the Profile System can have their email marked as a "preferred email" for system emails to go to. We will be gradually adding support for this to other web applications.
  • RAE-related options have been hidden in the Profile System.

Bugs fixed

  • A bug in the form copying code, to create a new form based on an existing one, that meant that the allowed values for checkbox, radio and select fields were not copied, has now been fixed.
  • A minor display error for checkboxes and radio buttons in forms has now been fixed.
  • The 'boxed layout' content type is now less picky about URL formats. Copying and pasting a URL should now work.
  • If multiple galleries are placed on a single page, the display should now work correctly.
  • An error with caption assignment in the gallery content type is now fixed.
  • An error with link generation when showing RSS feeds from other sites is now fixed.
  • It is no longer possible for a departmental admin to remove themselves from their department in the Profile System. This guards against departments being left without any admins.

Updates to linked content

The "linked content" content type, used to include content from elsewhere in the CMS on a page, now supports inclusion of the images and resources associated with the original content. This change also applies to the "random content" content type.

The "linked content" content type can now be used in the right sidebar to include other right sidebar content. This is not supported by all templates.

Additions to the red bar

The red bar at the top of CMS pages now has two extra links:

  • Editors' sitemap: This link shows the structure of the site, editing permissions, and the review dates for content on the pages. This site map has been available for some time, but we hope that making it more prominent will help people to identify their Site Administrators and other people responsible for content.
  • Live page: this link goes to the live version of the current page.

Removal of unused content types

The following general content types have been removed.

  • Media Contacts Information
  • Module outline
  • Postgraduate Programmes
  • Press Cuttings
  • Staff / Postgraduate List

All of these content types were at least two years old and were not in use on any CMS page. The "Staff / Postgraduate List" content type is replaced by the "Staff/Postgraduate List (improved)" content type, and we thank all of you who have moved to using that over the previous few years. All of the other content types can be reinstated if there is demand for them.

User submissions for FAQs

Users can now submit questions (and optionally suggested answers) to FAQ lists if this is enabled. Submitted questions will not be displayed until they are reviewed and approved by an administrator. This feature works in a very similar way to the existing Events submission feature.

News and Events aggregator improvements

The Aggregator content types now include an option to show the name of the News/Events section that the items come from as part of the display. This may be useful when aggregating news or events that were originally written only for display on a single site.

The Events Aggregator now has an extended range of options for the time selection of events to display.

Central categories removal in the Profile System

"Central categories" were a temporary measure as part of the Directory migration project to allow those departments using the old "Profile System categorisation" to migrate without affecting their staff lists. Now that the migration is complete, this feature will be mostly removed. Any staff currently assigned to a central category will be re-assigned to a department-specific category with the same name and sorting information, and so there should be no change to staff lists as a result of this.

A single "uncategorised" central category will be kept as a default for new additions to the system, but this should be changed to a real category by administrators.