BLOX content management users may have noticed some added functionality when logging into their administrative interface recently.
On Feb. 12, version 1.4 of the content management system was launched. This release, a culmination of months of hard work at TownNews.com by several different departments, includes many features based on customer feedback.
The most notable change that users will see is within the Asset Management area of BLOX. The previous keyword search panel and narrow results panels have been replaced with a single vertical search panel. This panel allows for greater levels of search filtering than ever before. In addition to the previous search options, filter by published versus unpublished or staff content versus user contributed content. The panel now provides the ability to search based on Asset Flags. The new search panel takes us in the direction of being able to have saved searches which we will make available in our 1.5 version of the software.
Within the 1.4 release we have added a new YouTube asset type. This allows you to search YouTube directly from the BLOX admin, find a video, and bring it into the system as an asset. Once it’s an asset, do what ever you want with it! Attach it to an article or maybe place it on your video section or on the front page of your site.
All asset types now have the ability to input location data for the asset. Writing an article about a recent crime in town? Input the address of the crime scene and have a map show up on the story page alongside the article.
Users and Comment Management have both been greatly improved with the new BLOX release. You now haveyou the ability to click on a comment within the admin to edit it, see the article it goes with and see the user that made the comment. Additional reasons for comment denial have also been added. On the front-end of the site, we now have the ability to display a list of Most Commented articles and can turn on Email Authentication for the user registration process.
Keep in mind that many of the features in BLOX 1.4 will need template changes made to your site before they are fully operational. For instance, YouTube assets and maps will not show up on your site until the templates are modified to display them. Customers wishing to add any of the functionality made available in the 1.4 release to their site should contact customer support at
