Introducing Superdesk 2.0

The biggest update to our open-source newsroom management software in years.

Superdesk, the media industry’s leading open-source newsroom software, is better than ever. Today, we rolled out Superdesk 2.0, the biggest update to our headless content management system (CMS) in years. With new features and an improved UI, 2.0 gives users an unparalleled CMS experience, and more power with which to control their own technological destiny.

Among the biggest improvements to Superdesk is upgrades to the editor tool. From 2.0 onward, the latest version of the content editor, the third generation (Editor 3), will be standard with every Superdesk instance, bringing a number of improvements to editorial collaboration. For instance, whether authors and editors are seated across a room from each other or on the other side of an ocean, Editor 3, which is written with Draft.js, makes it easy to tag and notify colleagues, leave comments in a document, and review changes. With enhanced user experience features for the most common publishing actions, the updated editor window also simplifies management of images, embeds, and multimedia files.

Improving newsroom productivity has been a primary objective since launching the first public beta version of Superdesk in late 2016. Version 2.0 continues that trend with the inclusion of efficiency improvements to frequently-used metadata tags, a new user activity widget for editors, and the ability to launch a fresh content window from the blue “Create New” button in the bottom right-hand corner of all workspaces. Previously, creating new content was only possible from select workspaces.

Readers, meanwhile, will benefit from a new annotations feature, giving authors the ability to add explanatory text directly into a published article or post. This feature will help keep readers on the page, reducing bounce rates and increasing opportunities to keep audiences engaged.

Developers will also find reason to celebrate. In addition to the current version of Elasticsearch, Superdesk 2.0 supports the newest version of Eve, the open-source Python REST API framework. Version 2.0 also includes a single sign-on option based on SAML and integration with Microsoft Azure.

Other features and enhancements include:

• The ability to create a customised knowledge database of frequently used terms and definitions. This upgrade aims to improve content consistency and workflow efficiency.
• A Production API to give third-party apps access to content still in production and not yet published. This will allow newsrooms to build mobile apps to streamline reporting and strengthen delivery of content to clients.

We’ve packed a lot into the latest version of our award-winning newsroom software, but that doesn’t mean we’re satisfied. In fact, we are already looking ahead to version 2.1, when we will roll out a new basic video editing tool to make it easy to trim, crop, or adjust video content from within Superdesk, among other improvements. We’ve also got lots more on our development roadmap, including an asset management system, a new Master Desk, and a mobile-friendly version of Superdesk.

What can Superdesk do for you? To schedule a demo, click here.