Third Light Ltd The Digital Asset Management Specialists [1]http://www.thirdlight.com/ IMS Newsletter - June 2010 Dear all, Welcome to the June 2010 newsletter, our bi-monthly update on developments at Third Light and news about changes and improvements made to the IMS product. The intended purpose of this newsletter is to keep existing and prospective Third Light clients informed about new features. Please follow the instructions at the end of this email if you prefer not to receive our newsletters. Features mentioned below are free of charge, and will be released to subscription sites on 10th June 2010, with an Appliance update to follow this summer. Apple Aperture Plug-in Third Light has launched a free plug-in for Apple Aperture 3.0, providing a way to upload files directly into your IMS site from Aperture. This plugin exports files via FTP to IMS, while also taking advantage of the built-in resizing tools in Apple Aperture to optimise the upload workflow. For example, using the plug-in it is possible to prepare and manage a selection of RAW files within Aperture, and then export them directly to IMS as JPEGs of a particular size. The conversion of the files from RAW to JPEG happens at the point of upload, saving bandwidth and time. [2]Click here for further details on the Apple Aperture plug-in. This plug-in will be available for download from the Tools -> Apple Aperture Plug-in menu in IMS on 10 June. Published File Browser (Appliances) (new) Third Light IMS Appliances include a feature for publishing files as URLs, suitable for linking outside IMS or for hosting video content directly from IMS. For an overview of this feature, [3]click here to view the documentation. One of the most useful applications for the Publishing feature is to embed images in newsletters or in intranet pages. To simplify collecting the files from IMS, we have developed a new Published File Browser, which is designed to be embedded in third party web sites (for example, in a Content Management System). The Published File Browser is a Javascript plugin which creates a pop-up window to select a published file interactively, and return the address for the file directly back to the originating application. This feature is designed to be used by web developers and integrators. For further details please see the [4]Integration Notes. Multi-Lingual Themes (new) From 10 June, new themes created in IMS will support multiple languages. A new Configuration -> Manage Languages menu will allow translations of the default English themes to be created, and themes may be configured to use any available language via a new option in the Configuration -> Manage Themes tool. Additionally, users and groups will have an option to select a language, allowing shared use of a single Theme in multiple languages. The Configuration -> Manage Languages menu removes the need to make template changes solely for translation purposes. If the new Manage Languages tool is used, future product updates to the templates will be applied automatically, rather than being blocked. Watermarking Options IMS now supports multiple watermarks per site, and allows you to assign different watermarks to different areas of your library. The Tools -> Watermarking menu provides an interface where you may upload additional watermarks and assign them to Albums, Smart Folders or Collections. There is a default watermark which is applied when no other choice is made (equivalent to the previous behaviour). Watermarking options can be edited directly for any Album, Smart Folder or Collection by clicking the 'Edit' button next to these items. There are options to apply watermarking "always", "never" or according to the settings of the user account viewing the page. These new options provide flexibility where variations in behaviour are needed to suit the user or album in use. HTTPS Certificates Manager (Appliances) (new) A new user interface to create and manage SSL certificates has been added to the System Administration menu on IMS Appliances. This feature allows certificates to be created and renewed, simplifying the administration of HTTPS features on secure IMS servers. For more details [5]click here. If you wish to run your IMS Appliance exclusively under an HTTPS site (with all traffic being securely encrypted) please contact support@thirdlight.com to discuss reconfiguring your server, and we will be pleased to help. HTML Email Templates For new Themes created on or after 10 June, IMS emails are now templated and delivered in HTML format by default. HTML emails allow messages to be presented in the style of your site, using the default Theme. As well as stylistic benefits, HTML emails allow information to be presented with more flexible layout options such as including image thumbnails in-line. All of the email templates also support plain text for compatibility. If required, plain text can be made the default format using the Tools -> Manage Notifications menu. Minor Changes And Bug Fixes We have made a number of small adjustments to IMS as follows. These changes will be activated on 10 June. * Automatic Copyright: It is now possible to apply a default copyright string to any upload (in the IPTC and XMP copyright fields). This is a new option on the Site Options -> Global Settings page. The checkbox is labelled "Set copyright text in metadata at upload". This option is off by default. * Themes and Groups: The Configuration -> Manage Themes page now allows Themes to be allocated to Groups, as well as Users and Albums. * Upload Approvals: To simplify processing multiple uploads requiring manual approval by an administrator, the Tools -> Approve Uploads menu now uses a revised layout which is simpler to navigate. * Picture Editor enhancements: To improve the speed that files can be tagged, the navigation buttons are now duplicated at the top and bottom of the page, and clicking the image thumbnail switches to the next file. The "Copy From Previous" button now populates the form without reloading the page, to avoid changing your position on the page. Finally, a "Discard Changes" button has been added. * Custom Metadata Panels: It is now possible to hide any metadata panel on the Configuration -> Metadata page. This avoids the need to individually remove all of the fields in a panel to achieve the same result. Other improvements to the flow of the forms on this page have also been introduced to improve usability. * "Dismiss" Button for downloads: Waiting downloads can now be cleared by clicking "Dismiss", without completing the download. * End-user feature updates: Non-administrator users with sufficient privileges for editing files may now also replace files or move files between albums. Users can now edit Collections they create. User options for changing the page layout from the toolbox have been introduced. Feedback And Referrals We operate a referral scheme to reward any existing IMS customer who directs a new client to us. If you know of a business that would benefit from using IMS, please make an introduction - we'll provide a period of free use on your account if they buy one of our products. Every feature of IMS is based on your ideas and feedback. We keep a thorough record of all feedback and aim to implement the features that are most requested as part of our development plans. Simply email [6]features@thirdlight.com to send us your comments. For support questions, please use the Help menu support tool, as this allows us to track your queries and answer questions more efficiently. Thank you for your custom! With regards, Third Light Ltd. The Digital Asset Management Specialists [7]http://www.thirdlight.com/ ® 'Third Light' is a registered trademark of Third Light Ltd. Adobe and Adobe Creative Suite are trademarks of Adobe Inc. © The contents of this newsletter are the copyright property of Third Light Ltd and may not be reproduced without written consent. References 1. http://www.thirdlight.com/ 2. http://documentation.thirdlight.com/html/appliance/index_CSH.html#APERTURE 3. http://documentation.thirdlight.com/html/appliance/index_CSH.html#PUBLISH 4. http://documentation.thirdlight.com/html/integration/index_CSH.html#PUBLISHING 5. http://documentation.thirdlight.com/html/appliance/index_CSH.html#SSL 6. mailto:features@thirdlight.com 7. http://www.thirdlight.com/