censhare releases 2024.1

Git integration for the Admin Client

Git-based version control and workspace management is now available in the censhare Admin Client UI.

censhare 2024.1 introduces GitOps features to consistently manage and deploy configuration and customization changes for censhare Classic installations. This renders manual deployment via SSH access obsolete and enables robust deployment pipelines. Git integration for the Admin Client covers essential Git commands and provides a simple and intuitive interface for solution developers.

Full dockerized solution | censhare Box

For our partners and all solution developers, we finally provide the long requested support for censhare Docker images. But censhare Box is even more than that. It also includes a CLI for managing your local installations and solution workspaces. With the censhare Box, you can get all censhare components up and running locally in minutes and start developing immediately.

Robust session handling

For this release, we made censhare Web more robust and secure. We made user experience more smooth by implementing a mechanism to prevent unexpected interruptions which also reduces chances of malicious attacks. We also enabled admins to configure a single signout for users that want to end their session in all applications with only one click.

censhare Styleguide is back

Since censhare release 2021.2, the Styleguide was no longer available. We decided to revive this feature to provide clear guidelines and resources for developing and customizing the user interface of censhare Web. The Styleguide helps to ensure consistency and coherence in UI design and extensions.

Updating third-party libraries

We constantly keep an eye on any possible security issues, regularly run automated security checks, and immediately update any outdated third-party libraries that can expose any security holes. As an integral part of the release preparation, we updated major third-party libraries used on runtime.

Use HTTP proxy for censhare Client and censhare Admin Client

You can now configure the censhare Client and the censhare Admin Client to use HTTP proxy only. This can be set for each censhare Server individually on a local machine.

Alma Linux 9 replaces deprecated CentOS

We would like to announce Alma Linux 9 as a new officially recommended operating system for the censhare Server.
In anticipation of the forthcoming deprecation of CentOS, we extensively tested it with censhare 2023.1. and did not find any problems.

Extended CI HUB integration

CI HUB integration used to be limited to displaying only a few pre-defined properties of an asset. After a successful collaboration with censhare, the third-party provider adjusted their API to work with all value_key feature types in censhare. Now, upon request, this integration can be customized to display any of them. Available for all censhare versions.

Refined access control for Messages & Markers

We revised access to communication assets (namely, messages and markers) to make it a better fit for the workflows of their main user groups. We also created a comprehensive tutorial on how the access to communication assets is managed.

Markers in Java Client

Remembering how useful markers are, we decided to replicate this great feature in the Java Client. You will find the same basic functionality now available in your favorite desktop application, with a slight difference to censhare Web when it comes to the UI, and currently without the content comparison.

Notifications for communication on the asset

To communicate directly on assets, you can create messages, tasks, or markers. Previously, you had to check the asset page to see the latest updates, e.g., if there is a reply to your message. Now, you have a view that displays all notifications for all assets in which you are involved. A notification bell in the top right corner of the censhare Web UI shows the number of new entries, and a notification menu allows a quick access to them.

Improved performance for adding new keywords on assets

Adding new keywords on assets used to be a bit slow for censhare systems with vast amounts of keywords. We implemented a new mechanism to facilitate keyword loading in the “Edit properties” dialogue and made it as fast as modern standards require.

Media categories for quick access and easy structured search

The new workspace page and left navigation item addresses the needs of brand managers and allows for quick search of media assets. It is a lightweight, simpler version of the search page, and is much easier to use. It consists of a table widget with assets displayed hierarchically (similar to a search filter) and another widget that is nothing else as a search result page fitted into a widget.

Standalone Search results widget

Displaying results of a query comes in handy in many situations. That’s why we went further and enabled a standalone usage of the Search results widget from the Media categories workspace page. The widget can be placed anywhere in your workspace, on any asset page. You can define any query using an XSLT transformation. We also retained a possibility to connect it with a table widget, allowing you to create your own version of Media categories and/or embed it into any custom dashboard.

UX improvements

Since the release 2023.1, we successfully eliminated 15 UX bugs reported by our customers. But we went even further and designed and implemented even more enhancements, mainly for censhare Web.

List InDesign Server versions used by censhare Render Client

Previously, there was no straightforward way to find out which version of Adobe InDesign server is used by a Renderer Client. Now, this can be done by running a dedicated server action List Adobe InDesign Servers in the Admin Client. This feature is meant for customers whose installations run in our Data Center, and who have no direct access to Renderer Clients.

PDF export in the Flatplan editor for censhare Web

We added an ability to export a PDF of the current issue in censhare Web, using a special button. As in the Java Client, you can choose from any PDF options that have been configured by your admin to create a PDF of the issue.

Xeditor schema upgrade

Xpublisher recently introduced some breaking changes to its schema. For this reason, your existing schema need to be updated. In case of any already performed customizations, it will require a few additional steps.

HCMS 4.1.1

The Headless CMS also got some improvements. The recent patch release rolled out an important bug fix for using GraphQL functionality.