Squiz Matrix

This year's Squiz International User Conference is being held at the Sebel Hotel, Albert Park, in Melbourne between the 20th and 22nd of October. Formally the MySource Matrix International User Conference, this year's conference has been expanded to ... [More] cover the whole suite of Squiz products, including Funnelback, MySource Mini and two new products currently in development; Squiz Search and Squiz Analytics. The Squiz International Users Conference 2010 is the place to be for thought leadership on web content management and search technology solutions. Tap into the full spectrum of Squiz expertise in one place at one time, to help deliver optimised websites, intranets and search solutions for your organisation. Whether your role is business focussed or technical, this year’s conference will have something for you. Over the course of the conference there will be cocktail receptions, a gala dinner at the famous Red Spice Road Restaurant and plenty of opportunities to socialise and network with your colleagues from the Squiz community. Sounds good so far right?. But we've got something special in store for everyone this year - the Squiz Advocate election. This replaces the feature bazaar that we normally have just for Matrix. This year, we have a fresh new format for listening to our users - we'd like to give all attendees the opportunity to elect a Community Advocate to represent our users' needs. We'll give the successful candidate a budget of AU $100,000 to spend with Squiz on anything that will help the community most - this might mean adding new functionality to our products, developing new training resources, spending time with Squiz Labs or simply creating new community content! Emphasis added by us, but why wouldn't you come and hang out with Labs anyway? You can get more information about the conference on the Squiz website. Or if you want something you can print out and stick on the wall next to your bed, we've got a nice promotional flyer with heaps of information, including the 3-day program and session information. But hurry. The early bird special discount ends on the 31st of July. [Less]

Versions 3.26.6 and 3.28.2 of MySource Matrix have been released today, each containing a number of bug fixes and introducing some impressive new features. Version 3.26.5 is the latest release of the 3.26.x branch (released in January) and contains ... [More] 37 bug fixes and 5 new features. Version 3.28.1 is the latest release of the 3.28.x branch (released in May) and contains 39 bug fixes and 8 new features. The new features introduced in these releases of MySource Matrix include enhancements to the Funnelback package for both versions, including the introduction of a brand new Funnelback Search Log Report asset (detailed in issue #282 of the MySource Matrix Newsletter).MySource Matrix v3.28.2 also sees the addition of new keyword modifiers and the ability to specify an alternate video file for Video File assets (kindly contributed by Nic Hubbard). These features are detailed in issue #283 and issue #284 of the MySource Matrix newsletter. To upgrade your system, please follow the relevant upgrade guides on the MySource Matrix website. View the changelog for v3.26.6 View the changelog for v3.28.2 You can download these releases on the MySource Matrix download page. [Less]

Monday July 5th sees the release of versions 3.26.6 and 3.28.2 of MySource Matrix. Squiz Labs has been busy this week preparing for these releases - unit testing the hoard of new features that will be available to users. These include enhancements to ... [More] the Funnelback package for both versions being released, as well as a variety of additional features for version 3.28.2, including the ability to use submission actions on an e-commerce form and the addition of two new keyword modifiers. Both releases also contain a number of bug fixes and will be available for download from the MySource Matrix Download Page on Monday. Our developers have also managed to roll out more exciting new features for MySource Matrix this week, including another Features Bazaar feature: Dynamically Changing the Nested Asset. See below for more information on this feature as well as this week's other new developments. Alternate Video File Configurable for Video File Assets Due for release in version 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) A new option is available for video file assets to specify a secondary file, allocated as the assets' alternate video source. This file can then be provided as an alternative to users, enhancing the accessibility of the video. For example, if you are using an Ogg video file and you would also like to provide users with the option to download an mp4 version of the video, you can use this attribute to select the mp4 file as the alternate video file for the asset. The Alternate Video File Asset field is located on the Details screen of the video file. In this field, select the asset to use as the alternate video file. Once set, the alternate video file's attributes can be accessed using the following keyword replacement format: %asset_attribute_alt_asset_<asset_attribute>% For example, %asset_attribute_alt_asset_asset_url% will display the URL of the alternate video file. This feature was kindly contributed by Nic Hubbard (http://www.zedsaid.com). Dynamically Changing the Nested Asset Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) New Dynamic Option fields are available in nested content division and design areas, allowing you to dynamically change the nested asset using a GET parameter in the site URL. Once a GET variable has been set in the GET Variable Name field, it can be used in the URL of the page in conjunction with an asset ID, to change the asset being nested. In this example, the GET parameter has been set to 'id' and is calling asset #150 as the nested asset. The content of asset #150 will be nested in the site in place of the originally set nested asset. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. Disabled SOAP Services Removed from the WSDL File Due for release in version 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) The SOAP WSDL file contains the complex and simple type parameters for the available functions of a SOAP server. Previously, this file would display parameters based on the SOAP API services that were enabled on the SOAP server. For example, if you had enabled the SOAP API asset service on the SOAP server, the parameters of every function within that service would appear in the WSDL file, regardless of whether or not the functions were enabled on the service. This not only cluttered the WSDL with unnecessary parameters but also allowed users to view the parameters required for functions that were not being used. This features hides the parameters of those functions that are not enabled on the SOAP server, cleaning up the WSDL file, making it easier to navigate and more relevant to the SOAP server's configuration. Keyword Replacements for Multiple Page Assets Contextable Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) The following keyword replacements for Multiple Page assets have been made contextable: %current_page_name% %previous_page_name% %previous_page_link% %next_page_name% %next_page_link% %page_name_x% %page_link_x% %toc_unordered% %toc_ordered% %navigation_menu_selection_list% These keyword replacements would previously only return values for the default context. The correct values from the current context will now be returned when these keyword replacements are used on the Multiple Page asset. This feature further enhances the role of Contexts within MySource Matrix, increasing the information that can be supported over multiple contexts. [Less]

A new version of the MySource Matrix Easy Edit Suite is now available for download on the EES download page. All the changes in this version are behind the scenes and strengthen the bridge between MySource Matrix and MySource Mini. If you plan ... [More] to use MySource Matrix and MySource Mini together, using the EES as a common interface, please ensure you are running: MySource Matrix 3.28.1 EES 3.28.1 (build 477) MySource Mini patch 10231 New EES users can take a look at the installation guide for install and configuration steps. Existing users just need to replace their existing EES directory with the new one in the 3.28.1 download. No additional configuration steps are required. If you have any questions about the EES, or you would like to request features or report bugs, please post in the EES phase one support thread. [Less]

This week, Squiz Labs have been busy with the continued development of the Features Bazaar features that have been headlining our recent newsletters. This week, three exciting new features from the Features Bazaar have been developed: Allow Users to ... [More] Specify an Asset Listing's Start Position, New Related Asset Metadata Field Type, and Obscuring the SharePoint System from Users. This brings the tally of developed Features Bazaar features to eight, with six still in development. All fourteen of these fantastic features will be available in version 3.30.0 of MySource Matrix, due for release in September. We have also been hard at work fixing reported bugs and developing other new features for MySource Matrix.See below for further details on the features mentioned above, as well as some of the other exciting new developments that we've been working on this week. Allow Users to Specify an Asset Listing's Start Position Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) An option is now available on an Asset Listing Page, allowing users to specify an asset position to start the listing at. This setting is configured via a new Start Position field, located on the listing's Details screen. By default, this field is set to 0, meaning that this option is disabled and the listing will list the assets as normal. Setting this field to 5, for example, will start the listing from the fifth asset and list the remaining assets from that position. When using custom groupings, this setting will apply to the individual group listings. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference.  New Related Asset Metadata Field Type Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) A new metadata field type is now available to allow users to select related assets as metadata values. Attributes from these related assets can then by dynamically retrieved through the use of keyword replacements, used within the content of the page. The Related Asset metadata field can be selected on the Details screen of a Metadata Schema, as shown below. When this schema is applied to an asset, users will be able to select an asset from the asset map to specify as a related asset. You can retrieve attributes of related assets using the following keyword replacement format: %metadata_asset_<related_asset_field_name>_<asset_attribute>% For example, %metadata_asset_Related_Asset_asset_url% will return the URL of the asset that has been selected in the Related Asset field. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. Obscuring the SharePoint System from Users Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) The SharePoint package within MySource Matrix allows a user to list the documents of a SharePoint server using the SharePoint Saved Search asset. Previously, the URLs of documents returned from these searches were served from the SharePoint server, meaning that the address of your SharePoint system was visible to users when printing the URLs of documents on the frontend. This feature allows the SharePoint Saved Search to download and serve the returned documents directly from your web server. This option is configured in a new Download File field on the Details screen of the SharePoint Saved Search. When this field is set to 'Yes', the SharePoint documents will be downloaded to your web server, reflected in the document's download_url on its Details screen. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. New Keyword Modifiers: Replace and Contains Due for release in version 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) Two new keyword modifiers have been added to MySource Matrix: replace and contains. The replace modifier replaces a string in the returned value using regular expression. The format of this keyword modifier is shown below. replace:<string>:<replacestring> Example: We have an asset named 'MySource Matrix'. Using the keyword replacement %asset_name^replace:Matrix:Mini% will print 'MySource Mini' (replacing 'Matrix' with 'Mini'). The contains modifier will test if a specified string appears in the returned value. The format of this keyword modifier is shown below. contains:<string>contains:<string>:<YES>:<NO> Example: We have an asset named 'MySource Matrix'. We can test the recurrences of the letter M using the keyword replacement %asset_name^contains:M%. This keyword replacement will print '2' as the letter M appears twice in the asset name.Alternatively, you can append the YES and NO parameters to the modifier to check if the string appears in the returned value. The keyword replacement %asset_name^contains:Matrix:YES:NO% will print YES. Enable Make SOAP Call Submission Action in E-Commerce Form Due for release in version 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) A Make SOAP Call submission action has been added to the Ecommerce Form Page, accessed on a new Submission Actions screen (via the Ecommerce Form Contents asset). This submission action works in a similar manner to the existing Make SOAP Call submission action of a Custom Form (see the Custom Form manual for more information), sending a message to a remote SOAP server on the submission of a form. Question keyword replacements can be used in the SOAP request message to set form answers as parameter values. The parameter values returned from the SOAP call are then stored as global session variables and can be printed using global keyword replacements. [Less]

In July last year, Squiz announced its acquisition of the enterprise search engine technology and services company Funnelback. Since this date, our dev team has been working in conjunction with Funnelback's developers to utilise its search engine ... [More] technology within MySource Matrix. Earlier this year, the Funnelback Package was released, providing Matrix users with an innovative and feature-rich search system. Since release, our developers have continued to support and enhance this package, this week seeing the development of the Funnelback Search log report asset. This report provides the search statistics for Funnelback on your system. A number of additional features are also currently being worked on, including the selection of assets to exclude during Funnelback indexing. The Features Bazaar feature 'Changing the Status of an Asset from Up For Review to Archived' has also been developed this week. All fourteen of the features chosen at last year's Features Bazaar will be available in version 3.30.0 of MySource Matrix, due for release in September. As always, our developers have also been hard at work fixing reported bugs and developing other new features for MySource Matrix. See below for further details on the features mentioned above, as well as some of the other exciting new developments that we've been working on this week. Changing the Status of an Asset from Up For Review to Archived Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) New functionality has been added to allow the archiving of assets that are Up For Review. Previously, users would have to make an asset Live, through the asset's approval process, or change its status to Safe Edit before being able to set an asset as Archived. This feature allows users to bypass these steps, directly changing the status of an Up For Review asset to Archived. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference.  Funnelback Search Log Report Due for release in versions 3.26.6 and 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) A new log report asset is now available for the Funnelback Search package, providing statistics of searches on a system. This includes details on the most popular search queries and queries which failed to return any results.    The Funnelback Search log report displays the statistics for each collection on a system, as well as a tally of the system-wide total results. Below is an example of the statistics of a collection. The log report can be configured to display search statistics on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis, with archived reports available on the asset's Report screen. Allow Cacheable Headers to be Sent Based on Root URL Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) A new Root URL Specific screen is available on the cache manager to set the system root URLs to send cacheable headers for, independent of Matrix's cache settings. Previously, Matrix would only send cacheable headers if the Send Cacheable Header setting was enabled (on the System Configuration screen) and if caching was enabled for the asset. For systems using third party cache, such as Squid cache, not sending cacheable headers would result in the caching system not receiving the appropriate headers. This new screen sets the cacheable root URLs, for which cacheable headers will always be sent, so long as the sending of cacheable headers is enabled on the System Configuration screen. By default, all system URLs will be selected on this screen. [Less]

Work has continued this week on development of the Features Bazaar features, elected at last year's MySource Matrix International User Conference. Two of these features have been completed this week: the Search and Replace WYSIWYG plugin and the ... [More] single page option for an A-Z asset listing page. Our developers have also been hard at work fixing reported bugs and developing other new features for MySource Matrix. See below for some of the exciting new developments that we've been working on this week. Search and Replace WYSIWYG Plugin Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) A Search and Replace plugin has been added for the WYSIWYG editor, allowing users to search for text, replacing it with a specified replace string. For example, you could search for all uses of the word 'canine' in your page and replace those instances with the word 'dog'.  By default, this plugin will be enabled and the Search And Replace icon will appear in the WYSIWYG editor, as shown below.    Clicking this icon will display the Search and Replace pop-up where you can search for text, choosing to replace matches on either an all, selection or individual basis. A number of replace options are also available.   This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. A-Z Asset Listing: Option to Display All Assets on a Single Page Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) New fields are available on an Asset Listing page for A-Z listings. These options allow users to display A-Z listings as a single page, when previously, only multiple page listings were available.    When using a multiple page A-Z listing, users navigate through pages of assets, with each page representing a different letter. Single page A-Z listings list all these assets on the one page, categorised under letter headings (configured in the A-Z Letter Format field).   Clicking a letter on the page list at the top of the screen will automatically take you to the corresponding section of the page. For example, clicking L will navigate the user to the assets listed under the L heading. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. Word Logic for Funnelback Search Due for release in versions 3.26.6 and 3.28.2 (July 5th 2010) Word logic options are now available on the Funnelback Search page to allocate whether searched terms should be excluded or included (any or all) from the search results. These settings can be configured on the backend or on the frontend (via user selection).  The Word Logic field, on the Details screen of the Funnelback Search page, allows you to set the default word logic for the search page. By default, this is Include any, meaning that results will be displayed if containing at least one of the searched terms. The options Include all (all searched terms must be included in results) and Exclude (search results must not contain the search term) are also available.  The %search_logic% and %metadata_logic_X% keyword replacements can be used to display the word logic options on the frontend of your site.   This allows users to define the parameters of their search themselves.   [Less]

Versions 3.26.5 and 3.28.1 of MySource Matrix have been released, each containing a number of bug fixes and introducing some impressive new features. Version 3.26.5 is the latest release of the 3.26.x branch (released in January) and contains 38 bug ... [More] fixes. Version 3.28.1 is the second release of last month's 3.28.x branch and contains 22 bug fixes and 4 new features. Some of the new features introduced in v3.28.1 of MySource Matrix include the new Easy Edit Suite Login Design asset, the ability to separately enable Permission and Workflow Roles on your system and enhancements to the Javascript API's getChildren() function. These features are detailed in issue #280 of the MySource Matrix newsletter. To upgrade your system, please follow the relevant upgrade guides on the MySource Matrix website. View the changelog for v3.26.5 View the changelog for v3.28.1 You can download these releases on the MySource Matrix download page. [Less]

Squiz Labs has been busy this week on a variety of projects, headlined by the preparation of next week's releases of MySource Matrix. Our Matrix dev team has been working hard since this week's code freeze, unit testing Matrix's new features in order ... [More] to be ready for release. Monday June 7th will see versions 3.26.5 and 3.28.1 of MySource Matrix made available to users. Both versions will be available for download on the MySource Matrix Download Page. Our hands have also been kept full with further development of the new Easy Edit Suite, introduced with last month's release of version 3.28.0. Focus has been set on finalising the development of an Asset Finder for the EES, the addition of which will allow users to navigate systems, selecting which assets to edit. Metadata Fields requiring the Asset Map, which were not previously supported, will also be made available for editing. This is just one of the new features that will be introduced in Phase 2 of the Easy Edit Suite, due for release in version 3.30.0 of MySource Matrix (available September 6th 2010). In addition to these features, we are continuing to support and improve Phase 1 of the EES, fixing any issues and bugs reported by users. See the MySource Matrix Forum for more information on known issues and to report any EES bugs that you have discovered. Lastly, work has restarted on the development of the fantastic new features elected by users at the MySource Matrix International User Conference 2009 Features Bazaar. Conference delegates in attendance were provided with mock Squiz dollars, used for bidding on a number of potential features up for auction. From the nineteen features put forward, fourteen were "bought" and are due for release in version 3.30.0 of MySource Matrix (available September 6th 2010). Visit the MySource Matrix Features Bazaar Page to view the features due for development. The Features Bazaar is a fun and innovating event designed to seek users' input in the development of MySource Matrix and is a regular highlight of Squiz's annual User Conferences. Registration is currently open for the 2010 Squiz International User Conference, held in Melbourne, Australia. Click here for more information on this year's conference, including the conference agenda, speaker topics and pricing information. As always, our developers have also been hard at work fixing reported bugs and developing new features for MySource Matrix. See below for some of the exciting new developments that we've been working on this week. Changing the Link Type When Creating a New Asset Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010)   When creating an asset within MySource Matrix, the asset would previously be created as a TYPE_1 linked asset. This was an automated process, which meant that if you wanted the asset to be TYPE_2 linked, you would need to configure its Link Type on the asset's Linking screen. This new feature gives you the convenience of selecting the Link Type of an asset when creating it, allowing you to create TYPE_2 linked assets in a single step.   When creating a new asset, you will notice the new Link section on the Create screen. In the Link Type field, simply select the Link Type to create the asset as, for example TYPE_2. When committed, the asset will be created as the chosen link type. This is a Features Bazaar feature, chosen for development by attendees of the 2009 MySource Matrix User Conference. Easy Edit Suite Login Design Due for release in version 3.28.1 (June 7th 2010) A new EES Login Design asset has been added to MySource Matrix to complement the new Easy Edit Suite interface, providing a login page that is visually consistent with the EES's sleek MySource Mini-style design.   When no alternate Login Design has been set for a Site using the Easy Edit Suite, the default MySource Matrix login box will be displayed - styled to resemble the system's Administration interface. The majority of users of the Easy Edit Suite will not be familiar with the Matrix backend, so it is important to provide a smooth user experience by creating a consistent look and feel in all aspects of the EES interface. This is helped achieved using the EES Login Design. The ees_login_design asset is located in the System Designs Folder, under the System Configuration Folder in the Asset Map. This design can be applied on the Settings screen of the Site you have enabled the Easy Edit Suite for. To do this, select the design in the System Defined Login Design field, as shown below.   Once the design has been committed, the new Login Design will be used for the Easy Edit Suite's login page on your Site. This login page will be displayed when users who are not logged in attempt to access the /_edit interface. For more information on the Easy Edit Suite and its functions, refer to the Easy Edit Suite Manual at the MySource Matrix User Manual Library. Separate Permission Role and Workflow Role Systems Due for release in version 3.28.1 (June 7th 2010) When enabling Roles on a system, users previously only had the option of enabling Roles on the entire system, as shown below, meaning that Roles for both Permissions and Workflow were enabled. As Roles can be quite performance intensive, this feature allows users to enable Roles individually for both Permissions and Workflow. This means that if, for example, only Workflow Roles were enabled, the system's performance would not be affected when dealing with Permissions.   These fields are located on the system's System Configuration screen. New "userProxy" objectClass Supported in LDAP Due for release in version 3.28.1 (June 7th 2010) Previously, the LDAP package only supported the organizationalPerson and intOrgPerson objectClasses for User objects. This feature introduces the userProxy objectClass, allowing User objects using this objectClass to be expanded in the Asset Map. Such Users would have previously been discarded by the system and excluded from the Asset Map's LDAP tree. JS API: getChildren() Function Enhancements Due for release in version 3.28.1 (June 7th 2010) Enhancements have been made to the JS API's getChildren() function to return NOTICE linked children in the JS API's response. Previously, NOTICE linked children were grouped as Non-Dependant children, as shown below. direct_dependant_child => 1direct_non_dependant_child => 6 This feature enables the JS API to differentiate between these child types, returning values for both Non-Dependant and NOTICE children, as well as for the Dependant children of the asset. direct_dependant_children => 1direct_non_dependant_children => 2direct_notice_linked_children => 4 These enhancements have been added to provide a more comprehensive response from the JS API, assisting in the development of Phase 2 of the Easy Edit Suite. %order_xml% Keyword Replacement for E-Commerce Checkout Page Due for release in version 3.30.0 (September 6th 2010) This new keyword replacement (%order_xml%) has been added to the E-Commerce package's Checkout Page asset. Using this keyword replacement on the Receipt bodycopy of the Checkout Page will provide XML format information for newly created orders. [Less]