Summary of AssetNow NX Features
1. General
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards compliant
AssetNow NX complies and supports W3C standards including XHTML, CSS and WAI Accessibility (including Section 508 and CLF). Standards compliance means AssetNow NX sites are cross-browser compatible, easier to develop and maintain, and efficient to operate.
Language Support
AssetNow NX is Unicode (UTF-8) compliant and supports all languages in common use including English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc. and right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.
Internationalization (I18N)
AssetNow NX uses language bundle files for all interface text strings. To customize or translate interface text the associated text in the bundle file can be changed using a text editor with no need to change any software.
Easy to Use
Browser based tools provide familiar controls for publishing and managing site structure, permissions and content. Content can be previewed using the site layout and visual styles in the tools. Easily move between content management tools and the live site.
Simple URLs
AssetNow NX uses a short numeric URL format that is readily indexed by search engines (search engine friendly), compact and easy to cut/paste into documents and e-mails, easy to share verbally and across language barriers and is independent of the language used to publish the site.
Site Structure
AssetNow NX uses a familiar hierarchical tree structure comprising collapsible folders. Each tree folder is a site content category. Categories contain content pages.
Public, Member, and Private Content
Public content can be accessed by anyone with access to the site. Member content can be previewed by anyone with access to the site, the complete content item is only available after sign-in. Private content is only displayed after sign-in.
Templates
Templates determine the visual layout and design or delivery format of categories and content pages. Designers create can create as many templates as required by the site design. Templates are not lmiited to rednering content for web browsers and can be created to deliver content to specific devices.
Widgets
Widgets are reusable building blocks used in templates to provide functions such as search and navigation. Widgets make the site easy to maintain. Developers can create widgets to suit specific site requirements. Widgets can also be inserted directly in category and page content to deliver dynamic data or display forms etc.
Metadata
AssetNow NX provides extensive support for category and content metadata allowing for search optimization and next generation W3C semantic web implementations such as Dublin Core (DC) or other content tagging approaches. Designers and dvelopers can decide how to use metadata in their templates.
Automatic Caching
AssetNow NX can cache site pages for very fast rendering and significantly reduced server and database loading. Widgets can be excluded from caching to that even though a page is cached it can have items that change each time the page is loaded.
Validation and Accessibility Checking
Content can be submitted to W3C validators to check markup. Content may also be submitted to accessibility checking services such as Bobby and Cynthia. The integrated AssetNow NX XHTML editor ensures XHTML strict or 1.1 markup compliance and provides a screen reader accessibility preview function.
Windows or Linux Server
AssetNow NX can be deployed on dedicated or shared Microsoft Windows or Linux based servers as supported by Adobe Coldfusion. Multiple independent installations can be hosted on the same server.
2. Site Functions
Dynamic Assembly
AssetNow NX automatically assembles and caches pages. Intermediate pages are created from category content to form logical information flow as visitors navigate the site. This means non-technical publishers can simply add content to categories and AssetNow NX will ensure the content is presented within the site navigation structure.
Site Search
AssetNow NX has an integrated site search. The search uses Verity search technology provided with Adobe ColdFusion MX. Verity indexes content pages and files including Adobe Acrobat (PDF), Microsoft Word (DOC), Excel (XLS) and PowerPoint (PPT) etc. Search result account for user permissions so that private content is searchable once the user has signed-in. Search results can be partitioned based on site categories. For example in a multi-language site with English and French you can keep English results separate from French results. Search keywords are logged giving you insight into what visitors are searching for.
Site Map
AssetNow NX automatically generates a site map. The site map expands to include private categories based on signed in user permissions. The site map can be partitioned to separate specific categories.
Navigation
AssetNow NX provides a number of navigation widgets covering the majority of common navigation requirements. These include primary, secondary and utility navigation. Any other form of navigation including dynamic multi-level navigation can be supported.
Reverse Look-Up
It is common to move content in the site as the site grows and/or needs to be revised. Reverse look-up automatically finds a content item that has been moved since it was bookmarked by a visitor.
Feeds
AssetNow NX can support any output format and is supplied with content feed templates for RSS (2.0), ATOM (0.3) and RDF (RSS 1.0) formatted feeds. Feeds can deliver site-wide summary information, category specific information, for example "News", or be used to monitor a specific page.
Print Formatting
By using a print output style sheet for print formatting AssetNow NX does not require a separate page print option. Site elements such as navigation and search can be removed from the print version by the style sheet. AssetNow also creates a reference list of any links in the printed version so readers can see the URL associated with hyperlinked text in the printed version.
Comments
Comments can be enabled on any page. This allows visitors to provide feedback and can be used to create blogs. Comments can be moderated if required. AssetNow NX also provides a number of technical measures to defeat comment spam.
Mailing Lists / Newsletters
Integrated mailing lists tool with subscriber management. Simply add the subscribe widget to your site template to accept subscriptions. You can have multiple newsletters for different topics with supprt for both X/HTML and plain text versions. Subscribe/unsibscribe and subscriber preferences can all accessed via URLs provided in the newsletters.
3. Content Presentation
Separates Content from Presentation
Support for eXtensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) allowing semantic mark-up of content. Content presentation is controlled entirely by Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Content can be transformed to support virtually any device or delivery requirement including web browsers, screen readers, feeds, or other information systems.
Semantic Markup
AssetNow NX support semantic markup commonly referred to as "markup with meaning". Organizations can format content using a vocabulary designed to meet their information or industry needs. A product code can be identified in a page as a "product code". Instead of just being text with a specific visual format, in the above example the text has a specific meaning - a product code. This allows for better searching and reuse of the information and facilitates to use of information by other systems and is not limited to delivery via web browsers. Easily support microformats such as hcard.
Templates
Templates are created by site designers and use widgets and content to display the site pages. Any number of templates can be created as required by the design. Typically a site will have a home page, default category and default page templates. Additional templates could provide for multi-column layouts or slide-shows etc. The site search, site map, feeds, and newsletters all have associated templates.
Categories
AssetNow NX uses a site structure comprising categories. A site can contain an unlimited number of categories arranged in a tree (hierarchical) structure. Categories form the site structure and hold the site content pages. A category can be set for a specific language allowing you to have a multi-language site with different language specific sections. Categories and their associated content can be moved with the site structure as the site grows and needs change.
Pages
Pages contain the content published with AssetNow NX. A page can include text, images, files (attachments), rich media such as Adobe Flash movies, video, audio such as mp3, and dynamic elements typically added as widgets.
Virtual Pages
A page resides in a specific site category however virtual copies of the page can be placed in any category allowing you to publish/update a single page and have the changes applied to all copies simultaneously.
Subdocuments
You can also add a page inside another page directly in the editor. This allows you to reuse content and easily add form messages to pages. the subdocument is locked and connot be changed in the page it is added to.
Scheduling
Categories and Pages can be scheduled allowing automated control of when and for how long a category or page is available on the site.
Feeds
By subscribing to feeds users can have new headlines and article previews delivered in an feed reader or aggregator. Feeds offer a convenience because you can subscribe to feeds from several sources and automatically aggregate headlines from all the sources into one list. You can quickly browse the list of new content without visiting each site to search for new information of interest. AssetNow NX automatically creates feeds as new content is released or updated.
4. Permissions
Permissions
Permissions are applied via users, groups and roles.
Users
Users are access accounts authenticated by username and password and typically assigned to an individual.
Groups
Users may be assigned to groups making it easier to manage a number of users with common permission requirements.
Roles
Roles are used to allocate specific AssetNow tools and tool functions to a user. AssetNow NX provides default roles for Site Administrator (global permissions), Group Administrator (permissions limited to specific user group/s), Approvers (approve content subject to workflow), and Publishers (create content). These roles can be customized and additional roles added to suit organization needs. For example you could create different Publisher roles with an "Editor" role having broader permissions than the default "Publisher".
5. Publishing
Tree Permissions
Users/Groups can be assigned to specific categories and pages within the site tree allowing control of who can publish and manage content in different parts of the site.
Locking
AssetNow provides automated locking. If someone is editing any item (category, content etc.) it is locked and other users cannot access it. This prevents simultaneous updates from occurring and publishers overwriting each others changes. User can also lock a content item indefinitely if they need exclusive access for an extended period. Other users can see who is locking an item and contact them if they need the lock released. The Site Administrator can access items irrespective of lock status.
XHTML Strict/1.1 Editor
AssetNow NX has a cross-browser XHTML Strict/1.1 editor for content publishing. By ensuring that non-technical publishers always create XHTML compliant markup AssetNow NX can guarantee the complete separation of content from presentation formatting. By doing so content is available to more current and future systems since it is not locked into browser specific presentation formatting.
Editor Supported on all Major Browsers
The AssetNow NX uses the excellent XStandard XHTML WYSIWYG editor. This editor works in all mojor web browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome on computers running Microsoft Windows or OS X operating systems.
Drag/Drop Image and File Publishing
The AssetNow NX editor uses web services to automatically upload images and files the the web server. Publishers can drag/drop, cut/copy/paste images and files directly from their desktop into the editor and they will be uploaded to the server. Administrators can set file size and file type limits to restrict formats uploaded.
Cleans Microsoft Word Formatting
When content is copied/pasted into the editor from Microsoft Word the editor retains essential structural elements such as paragraphs, tables, bullet points, headings, images, hyperlinks, etc. However proprietary, non-compliant formatting is removed. Publishers replace formatting quickly and easily using the editor's styles menu.
Supports Semantic Markup
Semantic meaning can be applied by inserting custom tags. Custom tags can subsequently be used for indexing data, optimizing search results and dynamically sharing data with other systems. They can also serve as placeholders for dynamic content such as product prices, temperature etc. Publishers select and apply semantic formats like any other.
Configurable Editor Toolbar
The editor toolbar can be configured to suit specific roles. For example some publishers can have access to image and file toolbar options whilst others can not add images or files. The editor and toolbar can support customer specific options such as employee directory listings and other information sources common on intranet applications.
Accessibility Support
The editor supports accessibility by highlighting required attributes when inserting items such as images. A screen reader preview option allows publishers to see how content would be rendered by a screen reader and make necessary changes to improve accessibility.
Upload Applet for Large File Uploads
AssetNow NX also provides a java upload applet. The applet supports drag/drop and multiple file selection uploading of both images and files. The applet can easily upload very large files (up to 2GB supported) and provides an accurate progress bar showing transfer status.
Image Upload and Scaling Applet
AssetNow NX provides scaling filters when using the applet to upload jpg/jpeg and png format image files. 5 configurable scaling presets are provided. Publishers can upload images and have them resized and compressed automatically for immediate use in content pages. Image scaling is performed by the applet on the publisher's computer so the uploaded image files are already scaled and file size reduced before uploading. The applet makes it easy to use digital camera images in site content with no additional software required to resize and compress them to site layout/design requirements.
Page Outlines
You can add your own page outlines (document templates) which can be selected from the Editor toolbar and inserted into a document. Publishers then fill in the blanks and you have consistent information with consistent formatting since the outline can include markup.
Widgets and Dynamic Data
Web Developers can add code to query and assemble custom data which can then be placed on any page by selecting a data widget. This is a robust solution allow non-technical publishers to reliably incorporate data from other systems in documents. Web developers can provide as many widget a parameters as they need to allow publishers to configure/apply the widget.
Multiple Options to Handle Custom Applications and Data
AssetNow NX provides multiple ways to handle custom data and applications including in-page scripting (typically ColdFusion), including complete custom applications inside a page (for example a form), redirecting to a subdirectory containing a custom application, using widgets that encapsulate the custom functionality and are inserted in a page just like and image.
Recycle Bin
Categories and content that is deleted must also be emptied from the recycle bin before being removed from the system entirely. Delete and recycle empty functionality can be set on a per user basis providing protection against accidental deletion of content.
Preview
Content can be previewed directly in the publishing tools, using live site formatting.
6. Workflow
Simple yet Powerful
Complex workflows conflict with the requirement to update and manage content easily and quickly. AssetNow NX provides a pragmatic solution by supporting unlimited levels of workflow approval but only using AND or OR rules for progressing through workflow.
Any number of users or groups can be assigned to a workflow for a category or individual content page. The users and groups are then ordered in an approval chain. Users/groups with the same order value in the chain form an OR rule (eg: user 1 OR group 1 may approve), Users/groups with sequential order values form an AND rule (eg: user 1 AND then Group 1 etc.)
Approvers can lock items for exclusive approval access. For example a user from a group assigned to a workflow can lock an item to retain approval control for the item.
Collaboration Notes
AssetNow NX provides a notes system that allows tools users to attach notes to any content item. Notes are available to other users with permissions to access the content item and provide a centralized and efficient collaboration tool. Users can also create private notes to manage their own snippets of information and to-do lists etc.
Notifications
AssetNow NX sends notification e-mails to users when they are required to review and item in workflow. Authenticated RSS feeds are provided for workflow approval and notes allowing unattended monitoring of workflows and collaboration.
7. Revisions
Independent Revisions
Each content page has at least one revision. Based on publisher permissions the current revision may be updated or a new revision has to be created. Each revision is independent in that it does not share any images or files with any prior revisions.
By using independent revisions AssetNow NX ensures that live site content is independent of any new revisions that are being created. Content does not have to be removed from the site while being updated or while undergoing approval.
Automated Revision Switching on Approval
When a new revision of a live content item passed the final approval in a workflow it automatically replaces the live site version.
Roll-back
User with the appropriate permissions can switch the live site back to any content revisions.
Change History
AssetNow maintains a log of any changes made to a content item.
Review
When content is created a review date is set. The date is typically 6 months in advance, the actual default value can be set by the Site Administrator. When the review date arrives the item is added to the review list. This means the item should be checked to see if it is still valid and appropriate action taken if required. Periodic review of content helps avoid having outdated information appearing on the site.
8. System
Caching
Caching is automatic and can be enabled/disabled by the Site Administrator. Individual categories and pages can be excluded from caching as required. For example if a page is using dynamic data that needs to be gathered every time the page is viewed it can be excluded from the cache. Caching handles scheduled categories/content and access permissions automatically.
Logging
AssetNow provides a number of logs including search keywords, user sign-in activity, in-bound and out-bound links.
Configuration
A configuration form provides quick access and setting of site-wide parameters including output formats, allowed file types, maximum file sizes etc.
Search Indexing
AssetNow NX uses multiple search indexes for pages and files and for each language. These can be managed from the system tools and periodic indexing scheduled.
Staging Server Support
AssetNow NX sites can be staged/hosted on one server and moved to different server with no affect site and content links.
Integration
AssetNow NX provides numerous integration and extension interfaces when integrating with existing systems and deploying on company networks such as intranets.