MySource Matrix Developer

MySource Matrix Developer Newsletter Issue 51
Friday 25th November 2005

covers versions 3.4.7 stable, 3.6.2 stable, 3.7.0 development

News

Listing Defaults Changed

During the development phase between 3.4.x and 3.6.x, a default value of all listing assets was changed. The number of assets displayed per page was changed from "0" to "10". When systems were upgraded from 3.4.x to 3.6.x, listings that were still using the default value (ie. that field was never modified) were changed to only list 10 assets per page rather than show all assets on the same page.

This has now been fixed and will be released in 3.6.3. Upgrading to 3.6.3 will change those values back to the original value of "0".

Lexicon Package Now Part Of The Core

New features being developed for content tagging have require the thesaurus to be part of the core MySource Matrix system. From 3.8.0 RC1 onwards, all assets from the lexicon package will be available in the core MySource Matrix download.

The asset types and database tables have been moved into the core assets folder. Clients with the lexicon package will need to run some database queries (included in the upgrade section of this newsletter) before upgrading to versions 3.7.x or greater.

New Features

Asset Map Support For Large Asset Lists

Added to: 3.7.0 development

When there are a large number of assets on the same level, the asset map takes a while to load all of them and the list becomes too long to browse through. The asset map has now been changed to only load and show a set number of assets on the one level. This number is configurable on the system configuration screen and defaults to 50 assets. When the list of assets is too large to show, buttons are provided to display the next and previous 50 assets in the list and to navigate to the top or bottom of the list.

Asset Thumbnail Varieties

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Image varieties of images attached as thumbnails can now be printed in listings using keywords. Previously, only the thumbnail image itself could be printed. To print a variety of a thumbnail, use the following keyword structure:

%asset_thumbnail_v_<variety name>%

Reverse Asset Lineage Design Area

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new attribute has been added to the asset lineage design area to allow you to print the lineage in reverse (ie. with the last asset first and the first last). This may be useful if printing lineages right aligned instead of the usual left alignment.

To print a lineage in reverse, add the following line to an asset lineage design area:

<MySource_SET name="reverse_lineage" value="true" />

Referrer Keywords For Redirect Page

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The redirect page now exposes keywords for the referring asset (the asset that the user was on before going to the redirect page). These keywords can be used inside a paint layout for the redirect page. The keywords are in the form:

%referring_asset_<keyword>%

All standard keywords can be used and keywords without a value will be left empty.

Redirect Timeout For Redirect Page

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The redirect page now has a redirect timeout setting. The timeout is only used when the new window option is disabled and a design is applied to the redirect page. If set to a value great than 0, the redirect page will wait that number of seconds before redirecting. This allows you to display a 'redirecting you in 10 seconds...' type message using a paint layout.

Planned Development

Content Tagging

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 9th December 2005

A new system is being developed that allows editors to tag content with thesaurus terms. The content tagging system can examine the content of an asset and suggest thesaurus terms that may be relevant. You will also be able to cascade content tags (similar to permissions) and assign them weightings. Content tagging will occur on a new static screen applied to all assets.

Once content has been tagged correctly, you will be able to use a new related content listing to list content related to a specified asset.

Related Content Listing

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: 12th December 2005
Estimated end date : 23rd December 2005

A new listing asset will be developed to allow you to list assets that have similar content tags to a specified asset. You will be able to use the hierarchy of your content tagging thesaurus to find similar assets that are not directly related and to use weightings to reduce the list of assets.

This asset will be used most effectively when nested into a paint layout or design so it can show related content for the asset currently being displayed.

Bulk Email Management

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 1st December 2005

Upgrading

3.7.0 Development

Run step_02.php: yes
Run step_03.php: yes
Run compile_locale.php: yes

Additional queries: If you have the search package installed:

ALTER TABLE sq_sch_idx ALTER COLUMN assetid TYPE VARCHAR(255);

If you have the Lexicon package installed:

ALTER TABLE sq_lex_thes_term_linkid_seq RENAME TO sq_thes_term_linkid_seq;
ALTER TABLE sq_lex_thes_lnk_tree RENAME TO sq_thes_lnk_tree;
ALTER TABLE sq_lex_thes_term RENAME TO sq_thes_term;

Additional comments: Make sure you run this week's queries before running step_02.php

New Bugs Added To Bug Tracker

New Feature Requests Added To Bug Tracker

Bugs Fixed In The Bug Tracker

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