December 2009 Release

The last release of 2009 is here and we made it a big one!

First, the numbers.  This iteration introduces 10 new features and resolves about 100 minor issues.

Now, to the details.  We'll start with the most exciting updates.

User Generated Content

User Generated Content (UGC) is something that has been possible with Agility for a while, but we have greatly enhanced the capabilities in this release.  

UGC refers to any content that is created by the users of the website itself.  This can be anything from a “Contact Us” form submission to comments, ratings, photos and videos.

Agility now allows you to publish videos directly to your YouTube channel and photos directly to your Flickr gallery.  This saves an immense amount of time when you are managing a campaign across multiple channels.

Moderation

User Generated Content can be configured to run through a moderation queue before it is published.



New videos, photos, comments and other content is placed in the 'New' list where it can be reviewed by moderators.  When the moderators approve content, it is published to the site.  In the case of YouTube videos and Flickr photos, the content is also automatically published to these channels when it is approved.
 

Website Users & Facebook Connect

Website Users refer to the end users that can sign up and log on to your website.  This used to be done with custom code or third-party plug-ins.  Now, you can manage your website users directly within Agility, and apply custom moderation rules to your new users. 

User profiles can also be tied in with Facebook Connect.  This means users can log in with their Facebook credentials which provides access to Facebook profile data, including their news feed and friends list.
  

Enforce Image Attachment Size

You now have the capability of locking an image attachment to a given file size, height and width.  Now you can be assured that if a specific section of your site requires an image of a given size that it will be properly enforced by the CMS.

Publish Unpublished Items from List

Sometimes, you can get into a situation where someone has inadvertently unpublished all of the items in a content list.  Now you can quickly re-publish them from the “Publish List” button on the content list status panel.  Normally, only items that are “pending publish” (in the staging or approved state) are published on this action, but now you can override that to include unpublished items as well.

New Field Type: Copy Across All Languages

Sometimes, in a multilingual site, you need to have a field that is the same across all versions of a given item.  For instance, you might have a product that has a translated name, but the the product ID code might be the same. 

Now you can specify a field that persists across all languages.

Expand Zip Files in Attachment Lists

In an attachment list field, there is a new checkbox that will allow you to expand uploaded zip files.  This will add all of the files from the zip into the attachment list.  If you want to keep the zip file intact, simply leave the checkbox unchecked.

What’s Next?

Next year is looking to be a big year for Agility, so look for more features in the User Generated Content and Social Media areas, as well as improvements to the developer APIs.  We will also continue to crack issues with usability and speed.

Be sure to let us know if there is a specific feature that you would like to see.  Note that the Feature Request form is now accessible from the bottom of the screen.    You can also email feature requests at any time to support@agilitycms.com.

Thank you for making 2009 a record year for both the number of new Agility sites and the number of Agility upgrades.  We’re excited to carry that momentum into the new year!