In this exciting new release of BLOX NXT Admin (version 0.27.0), we are delivering a significant set of workflow, editorial, and audience‑management improvements — and promoting several previously beta features to general availability. Highlights include a redesigned Asset Library; an Article Creation modal that lets authors pick Story Templates, set workflow, schedule start times and lock slugs before the editor opens; Contacts Export and Multi‑Site Search for faster subscriber/CSR workflows; per‑article asset metadata overrides; Media Gallery quick‑edit and inline status indicators; Collections bulk status updates; a toggle to disable ads on videos; dashboard date‑range clarity; a Gift Subscriptions widget; and various set of user admin improvements.
There are a lot of exciting features and improvements available exclusively for beta as well!
Keep learning at BLOX University.
Dave Hantz | BLOX DigitalOut of Beta & Generally Available Now
Find Assets Faster in the Relationships Tab
The Asset Library just grew up. The narrow drawer is retired — its replacement is a full-screen modal, launched from the + button in the Relationships drawer, that gives editors a real workspace for browsing and attaching content. Sortable columns, type and draft-state filters, grid or list views, and richer metadata than the old panel could ever show. Graduated from beta and available to everyone now! (CMSADMIN-2237)
Start Articles Right: Workflow & now Story Templates
Set your intent before you start writing! The Article Creation modal — graduated from beta to GA — lets journalists pick a Story Template, set workflow, schedule a start time, and lock in a slug _before_ the editor opens. Fewer clicks after creation, more consistent metadata, available everywhere you start a story. With Story Templates released, the modal also includes a template selector so admins can quickly create new content from a template. (CMSADMIN-2273)
Contacts: Export and Multi‑Site Search — Generally Available!
The Contacts Export button and Multi‑Site Search link are now available to all users (out of Beta). This release gives teams immediate access to two important capabilities that improve subscriber and customer workflows:
Contacts Export: Quickly export contact lists for reporting, CRM imports, and bulk operations.
Multi‑Site Search: Search contacts across ALL your sites from one place to speed investigations and customer service.
These features should speed daily tasks for CSRs & audience managers. (CMSADMIN‑2229)
Features & Improvements
Tailor Asset Metadata Without Changing the Source
Stop duplicating an asset just to change its caption. Editors can now override an inline asset's title, byline, and caption at the article level — independently, with a single toggle per field — while the Asset Library version stays untouched. Reuse one canonical image, video, audio file, or PDF across as many stories as you want, each with its own context. (CMSADMIN-2081)
See & Edit Asset Status from Inline Assets
Placeholders now include inline status indicators (Draft, Published, Unpublished) and options to set or unset Draft & Publish status allowing editors access to update asset status without leaving the article or opening the asset in another tab. (CMSADMIN-1806)
See & Edit Asset Status from Media Gallery Assets
The status of all non-inline child assets is now displayed in the Media Gallery and Additional Content windows, giving newsrooms better visibility into asset state during article assembly. Access the new Quick Edit controls directly from the Media Gallery to update the Headlines, Bylines, and Status without having to open the asset in a new tab. (CMSADMIN-2244)
Collections: At‑a‑Glance Status & Bulk Edit
The Collections view now supports bulk status updates (e.g., Publish, Unpublish) for multiple selected assets, and includes a Status column for at-a-glance visibility. (CMSADMIN-1654)
Disable Ads on Videos
A toggle is now available on video assets to disable advertising for select uploads, giving media sites control over whether ads appear before sensitive video content. Associated template improvements will be necessary to ensure this setting truly disables advertising. Look for that in FLEX release notes soon. (CMSADMIN-1611)
Default Date Range Clarified on Dashboards
Dashboard experiences now correctly highlight the "Last 30 Days" button as the active default date range, eliminating confusion between the default and custom date range states. (CMSADMIN-2256)
Contacts: Gift Subscriptions Widget
The single customer view in Contacts now includes a Gift Subscriptions widget, clearly separating gift purchases and redemptions from regular subscriptions and improving visibility for customer service representatives. (CMSADMIN-1560)
Delimited Verification: Data Preview Columns Reset Correctly
The Data Preview panel in the Upload File step now correctly resets column headers when a new file is uploaded, rather than retaining columns from the previously uploaded file. We also resolved several issues in the Delimited Verification file upload wizard, improving reliability during the file upload and validation process (CMSADMIN-2338) (CMSADMIN-2187)
Direct Link to Admin Profile
A link to your admin profile is now available directly in the user menu (top-right), allowing you to navigate to your profile and make changes like tagline or bio without searching for your account. (CMSADMIN-2523)
Admin Management: Downgrade Admin to Standard User
Site administrators can now downgrade an admin account to a standard user, enabling more effective management of staff transitions without leaving unnecessary admin privileges in place. (CMSADMIN-1153)
BETA
All features and improvements below require participation in the beta program for BLOX NXT.
Simplified Asset Save and Publish Workflow
We redesigned the Save and Publish controls for assets to be clearer and more consistent. Actions are now consolidated into a single button (replacing Publish/Update plus the separate Save), and color-coded buttons show an asset’s status at a glance. BLOX Digital will test the change with select beta members before expanding availability to the wider beta group and all partners. (CMSADMIN-2180)
Custom Dashboards: Dashboard Creation & Editing
Dashboards now support an Edit Mode that allows users to create and customize their own views. Users can add, remove, and rearrange widgets, with access to dashboard creation available from both the Dashboard Search page and the "+" menu within the application. (CMSADMIN-722)
Custom Dashboards: Widget Library & Configuration
A new Widget Library is available within Edit Mode, allowing users to browse, search, and add widgets to their dashboards. Individual widgets can also be configured with filters, enabling users to tailor the data displayed to their specific goals and workflows. (CMSADMIN-721, CMSADMIN-723)
Custom Dashboards: Improved Dashboard Management
The dashboards search view now supports column sorting, making it easier to find and manage saved dashboards. (CMSADMIN-2279)
Service Management: Create New Service
A new "Create Service" button and page have been added to Service Management, allowing CSRs and administrators to create new services to accommodate new subscription packages or tiers. (CMSADMIN-1918)
Journeys: Add/Edit Access Criteria
Audience and circulation managers can now add and edit access criteria within Journeys in NXT Admin, with improved visibility into how the various pieces of a journey are interconnected. (CMSADMIN-1530)
Notifier Settings in NXT Admin
Notifier settings — including Social Accounts, Push Notifications, and Automatic Notification Settings — are now configurable directly within the NXT Admin, consolidating controls that were previously scattered across multiple locations in legacy BLOX. (CMSADMIN-1141)
Feeds: Channels UI Redesigned
The Channels section in the Feeds module has been redesigned to align with NXT design and UX guidelines, including a transition from modals to full-page views and an improved category mapping interface. (CMSADMIN-1554)
Feeds: Revision History Tab Removed from Syndicated Assets
The Revision History tab has been removed from asset types in Feeds/Syndication, where it was not applicable. (CMSADMIN-1275)
Email Reach: Enhanced Performance Visibility
Email Reach now includes improved visibility into campaign performance. A new performance ticker surfaces key metrics at the top of the Campaign Management page, and a dedicated dashboard provides a broader view of campaign and newsletter performance to help teams track and improve results over time. (CMSADMIN-1129, CMSADMIN-1414)
Email Reach: Improved Campaign & Audience Management
Campaign and audience management have been streamlined with enhancements to the search experience. Additional campaign columns make it easier to identify active and inactive campaigns at a glance, and a new subscription status filter allows admins to segment audiences by subscribed or unsubscribed users. (CMSADMIN-2044, CMSADMIN-2261)
Email Reach: Scheduling & Wizard Fixes
Campaign scheduling has been improved to correctly handle timezone conversions across all steps of the Email Reach wizard, along with several additional fixes to improve overall reliability. (CMSADMIN-2075)
Design: Block Library & Discovery
The Block Library has been enhanced for visibility, organization, and reuse — designers can now view both placed and unplaced blocks in a single list, duplicate existing blocks, filter by recently modified, and quickly access newly created blocks at the top of the list. Search and discovery within Edit Mode have also been improved: region search now filters by block ID, type, or tag, and query results display metadata such as keywords and flags, helping editors quickly locate and evaluate content without unnecessary navigation. (CMSADMIN-1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1756, 2299)
Design: Faster, More Flexible Editing
Editing workflows have been streamlined for speed and flexibility. The query builder now supports multiple rules per field — including both inclusion and exclusion conditions — for more precise content targeting. Designers can save blocks without closing them, see page preview updates immediately after layout changes, and experience faster drag scrolling when working across large layouts. New quick-access controls also reduce the steps to preview pages in multiple contexts — live view, anonymous view, logged-in user preview, and URL copy. (CMSADMIN-1754, 1759, 2297, 2298, 2300)
Design: Navigation Management in NXT
Designers can now manage all navigation regions within a single, consistent editor in NXT Admin, making it easier to create, reorder, hide, and autofill navigation items without editing regions individually. (CMSADMIN-1818)
Bugs
Fixed an issue where the in-story Find & Replace tool (Ctrl+F) could conflict with the browser's native search when pressing Ctrl+F a second time, and where pressing Return after entering a search term did not advance to the next result. (CMSADMIN-2198)
Fixed an issue where the Subscription Service filter in User Search was sending the service type value instead of the service name, causing incorrect filter behavior. (CMSADMIN-2304)
Fixed an issue where selecting Undo (Ctrl+Z) immediately after opening an article in the editor would remove the article's content, as the initial content load was being incorrectly tracked as an undoable action. (CMSADMIN-2367)
Fixed an issue in Print Publications where the date displayed on drawer items was not adjusted for the site's time zone, causing dates to appear one day behind the expected value. (CMSADMIN-2516)
In this release we are making infrastructure changes that should not be noticeable to admin or front-end users. If you experience any issues or have any questions, please contact customer support at (800) 293-9576 or BLOXDigital.com/support.
