New versions: 19.6, 19.7 and 19.8

We are always working on improvements for our extensive product range. Therefore, we would like to briefly present you here with the highlights from our various modules in June, July and August:

PrintLayout

Graphics in the spotlight! Even more search options simplify working in alfa PrintLayout: there are now options to filter by categories and planned outputs for graphics. The selection list of the search field “Created” has been extended by the entry “Today”. This can be used to find all elements created on the current day (e.g. graphics). It is now possible to sort the graphics by “Name”, “Created” and “Last changed” within the context menu of the tile display. It can now be determined whether graphics in alfa PrintLayout have the fields “Main category” and “Subcategory” as before or whether they use the field “Category” from alfa DAM. For certain free text fields a list of values can now be stored and users may make a selection during the search. The search field “Topic” in the graphic search could easily be confused with “Topics” from the alfa EditorialOrganiser. But these two have a completely different function in terms of content (the content topic of the graphic, such as “Weather”). Therefore the search field was renamed into “Theme”.

In addition, they now have the option to extract a clipping path, not only for JPEG and PDF formats, but also for TIFF formats. It also gets easier with the page header creation: If a page header is saved, a page header macro is applied to the page header article and all embedded sub-articles. This macro automatically sets the appropriate labels for the text for all page header variables occurring in the text.

EditorialOrganiser

An article published via export to redFACT can now be revoked within the alfa EditorialOrganiser, so that the publication is no longer displayed on your homepage. The option “Undo export” is only displayed if the target channel also supports undoing an export.

The dashboard of the alfa EditorialOrganiser is now responsive and displays all tables in one column if the screen is too narrow. In order to use the space in the topic overview more sensibly, entries that each require their own row are now combined in one row. The lines “creator” and “editor” now become one line: “creator”/”editor”. In the same way, the lines “created on” and “updated on” become one line.

In the administration of the Twitter exporter you can now select a text area to be exported. If a text area is selected here, the contents of all other fields and text areas will be ignored when exporting to Twitter. For events there is now a new entry in the context menu: “Move event to topic copy”. Selecting this function causes the event to be converted into a topic and an event with the same metadata to be created in this topic. You now have all the contents of the event in one topic, but you don’t lose the original event.

Stylo

Not so long ago, we gave Stylo a function that made it possible to add an area to text. The colour of the area and the text could be determined and a gap could be defined. The assignment was a character formatting and thus applied to the selected text. Now it is possible to store this type of storage in the paragraph format and thus also in the stylesheets. The setting is done via the paragraph format tab “Create”. Here it can be determined whether a deposit is valid for a certain number of characters / words or should be assigned for up to a certain character.

Text frames can also be provided with a fixed height in Stylo. If too much text is entered, the text frame is provided with an overset line and the underlying objects do not move. This can be seen in interactive mode. However, if Stylo is only the tool that calculates a preview of the display in the background, such an overset is difficult to recognise. This problem can be avoided by evaluating Stylo’s extended statistical data. You’ll find a description here in which text frame an overset problem exists. This information can be resetted e.g. to the form entry.

Improvement of the image workflow: When the colour scheme in an advertisement is changed, the possible release of images is reversed. Under certain circumstances a release for the new colour space must be given.

If the option “Call by Stylo” is set to active in the new configuration of the administration, you also get access to the saying pool here.

Completely new: The design mode for free design. In the design mode the automatisms vertical adjustment, relative horizontal adjustment, relative vertical adjustment and height growing are not used. The design mode is activated via the document property “Design mode”.

ProductAdmin and ProductPlanner

In ProductAdmin as well as in the ProductPlanner there is now an option to define a “start/end date” for individual issues in price definitions.

AdSuite

AdSuite comes with an extension for alfa Stylo: Stylo ads can now be imported via the ImportXml server request and XML files in the AdSuiteOrders.xsd schema. In addition, the copying of documents between customer, order and motif folders has been added. Furthermore, we now ensure that ambiguous billing addresses are avoided. Also we ensure that a query is made before the price is calculated as to which contract is to be used for an order.

The WebStore admin interface of the formats was extended by the possibility to exclude the use of certain payment methods. In addition, the search filter categories of “Customer/Other” in AdSuite have been increased.

The AdSuite filter dialog has been extended with a checkbox filter “Different invoice”. This allows you to query for orders that have the “Alternative invoice” indicator on the “Payment” tab. This function has also been made available for AdSuite Market in a similar form. Better display of motive spec criteria records: You can define the form width in pixels for advertisement criteria sets and for online ad criteria sets. In order to also be able to access e-mails in AdSuite Market which were sent automatically as part of CRM contacts, the following extension is now available: To the right of the contact typing in “letter”, “visit”, “e-mail” etc., in the case of the “e-mail” type, an additional button is provided. That button opens the e-mail sent to the customer within ASM in the integrated e-mail client.

In the position tables, the tariff price of the position can now be changed manually via a drop-down list. The configuration of the commission classes relevant for the commission table evaluation has been extended by the possibility to optionally restrict a class to one or more customer types.

OpenMedia

In addition to the previous licensing via the Oracle database, AdJust, NewsSuite, ProductAdmin, ProductPlanner and ProductTracker from version 2019.7 support licensing now via the alfa license server.

WebStore

The payment methods offered in “Booking process” can be restricted according to templates. Also, the PayPal workflow has been redesigned: The payment process now opens in a pop-up browser window, while the WebStore application is set to inactive to prevent errors. In addition, a default setting for customer transactions has been added that takes into account creditworthiness and blocking. Only payment methods that have to be paid in advance are offered. Should your WebStore or Stylo not be available, a maintenance page will be opened – you can now customise it.

The WebStore adapts flexibly: The height of the Stylo browser window is now determined depending on the selected pattern to ensure that no function disappears behind a scroll bar. For an offer, you can specify whether a booking is to be made via a calendar display instead of the specification of a desired date. In addition, certain criteria entered in AdSuite can be automatically assigned to an offer in the WebStore.

Additional search functions in WebStore for better manageability of the administration were added: The data of only one offer is shown and there is a filter that can filter the list of displayed offers according to various criteria. The “My consultant” function can now be optionally switched on or off.

WebTracker

Many improvements can also be seen in the WebTracker: Sorting of the pages according to their closing times is now possible. And also changes to the closing time of entire partial pages. There is also access to a list of incomplete elements, including ads and images that are not marked “Done”. Last but not least the automatic exposure has been extended: For selected pages the automatic exposure can now be controlled individually – with the options “Start”, “Stop” or “Change start time”.

GlobalPurchase Administration

The maintenance of order data has been improved – with a keyword in registerPurchase different authorisations can be created simultaneously in a bundle with one call. This order data can be requested from the apps with a web service. In addition, there is an option to activate the ePaper centrally on the desktop and the app and to determine the details exactly.

Further and more detailed information about our releases can be found in our DokuWiki.

If you have any questions about the new functions or of a general nature, please do not hesitate to contact us – we will be happy to answer your questions!