In this release of BLOX CMS (version 1.93.0), we're adding Nextdoor as a Notifier outbound channel, expanding video monetization controls, modernizing email importer authentication, opening Apple News logs to admin users, and introducing a new MCP endpoint for AI-powered access to BLOX data. Several fixes also improve reliability across user management, dashboards, and asset uploads.
Features & Improvements
Nextdoor as a Notifier Outbound Channel
The Notifier now supports Nextdoor as an outbound publishing destination via Nextdoor's News Partner Initiative API. Publishers can authorize their Nextdoor account through OAuth 2.0 and configure outbound posting of articles — including title, summary, image, URL, and tags — directly from BLOX! Delivery metrics and errors appear in the standard Notifier logs. (TNCMS-556075)
Disable Pre-roll Advertising on Video Assets
Admins with editorial edit access can now disable pre-roll advertising on individual video assets directly from the asset editor. A new "Disable advertising" toggle suppresses ad calls for that asset, displays a confirmation modal warning of the revenue impact, surfaces visual indicators in both the asset view and search results, and logs every change for audit. Useful for sensitive content or promotional videos where ads are not appropriate. (TNCMS-554537)
OAuth Authentication for Mail Content Importers
BLOX now supports XOAUTH2 authentication for email-based content importers, restoring functionality for Google mailboxes following the deprecation of basic IMAP/POP authentication. A new "E-mail with OAuth" importer type uses securely stored OAuth credentials managed through linked mailbox profiles, allowing stringers and reporters to continue submitting content via email. Read our documentation if you need assistance with setup. (TNCMS-555751)
Apple News Log Access for Admin Users
Admin users with the General > Apple News > Full Access permission can now view Apple News logs directly in the admin UI, without requiring escalation to BLOX staff. A new email notification system can also be configured under Apple News settings to deliver batched alerts when log events occur, including article ID, error details, timestamp, and a link to the log entry. This enables faster self-service troubleshooting of Apple News syndication issues. Apple News is presently in beta. For more information on this feature, read our documentation here. (TNCMS-556135)
MCP Endpoint for BLOX Data
A new MCP (Model Context Protocol) endpoint allows administrators and AI tooling to programmatically access analytics, dashboards, and reporting data from BLOX NXT. The endpoint supports both Create and Search operations and enforces admin-only permissions. This enables AI-driven workflows — for example, using a tool like Claude to surface top-performing content, traffic insights, and KPIs without leaving your AI model. MCP is presently in beta and available exclusively with BLOX NXT. For more information on this tool, read our documentation here. (TNCMS-556181)
Sorting on Dashboard Widgets
Dashboard widgets in BLOX NXT now support sorting, making it easier to find and organize the widgets you use most. (TNCMS-556282)
Bugs
Fixed an issue where image assets on sites without print privileges could not be saved when an existing Print Notes value exceeded the field's character limit. (TNCMS-556263)
Fixed an issue where updating a user's screen name could fail if the screen name had any associated comment history, due to the uniqueness check incorrectly including comment records. (TNCMS-556273)
Fixed an issue where newly created dashboards returned an empty layout because widget access permissions were not applied during dashboard creation. The Custom Dashboards feature is exclusively available for BLOX NXT and is presently in beta. (TNCMS-556368)
Fixed an issue where uploaded images that were too large to be processed were not rejected at upload time, allowing them to fail later in asset libraries. (TNCMS-556389)
Fixed an issue where filenames containing spaces could produce invalid URLs after upload to S3 for VMS. (TNCMS-556409)
Fixed an issue where the editorial devices and asset devices dashboard modules did not display their bar charts in the correct horizontal orientation. (TNCMS-556418)
Fixed an issue where the reCAPTCHA annotation process used incorrect objects when handling invalid actions such as action or origin mismatches, and could log an additional error if the assessment was missing. (TNCMS-556433)
