ContentBase 7: Promotions, Releases, better Task support, and a new Tool Development API
The spring weather has finally arrived here in Cambridge. The unofficial start of spring in Massachusetts has come and gone with the completion of the 2019 Boston Marathon earlier this week.
To usher in spring, Wrycan is pleased to announce the release of ContentBase 7.0.0. Before going into the highlights, we want to take a moment to address current customers who are using version 1.6.x and are now wondering how you missed out on versions 2 through 6. Don’t worry; you didn’t.
1.6.x -> 7.0.0 (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
We changed our version numbering scheme and jumped from 1.6 to 7.0.0 to signal what types of changes will be in each new release. The following descriptions are part of the Semantic Versioning standard.
- MAJOR version # will increment when we make incompatible API changes,
- MINOR version # will increment when we add functionality in a backward-compatible manner, and
- PATCH version # will increment when we make backward-compatible bug fixes.
With version 7.0.0 we will start following the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH numbering scheme to better communicate with our customers.
Now, on to what is new and improved in ContentBase 7.
New Feature: Content Promotion
We are pleased to announce native support for promoting/moving content from one ContentBase server to another. Promotions give ContentBase users the ability to support several use-cases previously handled with manual processes in the previous versions of ContentBase.
Use case: A wall between conversion work and production content.
There are many scenarios where it makes sense to have a ContentBase instance where conversion and editorial vendors are free to convert, tag and proof content without worry of affecting production content. Once the content is ready to move to a production instance for enrichment, additional tagging/mapping and use in down-stream products, Promotion Management gives users control over how and when content moves to a production instance without manual processes.
Use case: Content-as-a-Service(CaaS) instance with product-ready content.
Set up ContentBase as a Content-as-a-Service instance and let partners, vendors, and developers have self-service access to production-ready content, either through packages or via a REST API. Promote specific versions of your content from production to a CaaS instance without any manual processes, scripts, or downloading and uploading. Preflight the promotion to ensure the content is correct. Retain an audit trail of the process to keep track of what content has moved.
Have another use-case? Let’s talk about it.
New Feature: Content Release Management
We are also happy to announce a new Release Management component. Releases allow you to create current and future content release events, like “Fall 2019 Book” release, or “Spring 2020 Back Catalog” release. Add any content in ContentBase to one or more Releases. Log notes against the Release and any content item included in a Release.
Release content gives users quick access to your content operations such as exports and links to custom dashboards.
A Release Manager dashboard allows users to manage Releases and an AddToRelease widget can be added to other tools so content can easily be added to open Releases.
Updated: Task infrastructure improvements
Task handling in ContentBase 7.0 has improved. ContentBase runs lengthy tasks in the background. Publishing thousand-page PDF documents, generating large reports and performing complex transformations of content are all examples of operations that can be set up to run as a background task.
In ContentBase 7 we have greatly improved our background task infrastructure to log more information about each task.
We also introduced a new task-type, ContentLoadTask, which is used by the Promotion Manager to handle the process of loading content to a ContentBase instance.
The Task Manager has been completely rewritten to provide better visibility of current, queued and completed tasks.
ContentBase Tools
ContentBase Release Manager 1.0.0
To support the Release functionality, Wrycan has released version 1 of the Release Manager tool. This tool allows users to create new content Releases, add content to the Release, set status and track notes against the Release and each content item in the Release.
ContentBase Promotion Manager 1.0.0
To support the Promotion functionality, Wrycan has released version 1 of the Promotion Manager tool. This tool allows users to perform all Promotion functions described earlier in this post, including initiating a new Promotion, validate content, Promotion pre-flight, and committing the Promotion to the destination server.
ContentBase Task Queue Manager 2.0.0
To support the new Task functionality, Wrycan has released version 2 of the Task Queue Manager tool. This tool lets users perform all Task-related described earlier in this post, including viewing active, completed, and failed tasks, canceling active or queued tasks, and viewing detailed task information.
ContentBase API
ContentBase Core UI API Library 2.0.0
A major update to our Core UI Javascript component. This component is used to build ContentBase web tools. Please note, the previous 1.x.x version of this component is still in place to ensure backward compatibility with previous ContentBase tools. Once all tools have been updated a deprecation schedule for 1.x.x will be announced.
ContentBase Core LCM API Library 2.0.0
A major update to our Core LCM (Logical Content Model) Javascript component. This component is used to access content stored in ContentBase from ContentBase web tools. Please note, the previous 1.x.x version of this component is still in place to ensure backward compatibility with previous ContentBase tools. Once all tools have been updated a deprecation schedule for 1.x.x will be announced.
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About Wrycan, Inc.
Founded in 2003, Wrycan is a Content Engineering company helping content production and product development work together successfully. Wrycan delivers Content Engineering services and technology to publishers and content producers, bridging the gap between content production and digital delivery products. Companies building digital content platforms leverage our ContentBase platform to deliver content to their end-user products and channel partners.
Wrycan headquarters is in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For direct inquiries: inquire@wrycan.com or visit http://www.wrycan.com/home/contact
