DW7 release notes

Release Notes DYNAMICWEB 7

Version: 1.0 2009.09.07

English

Release Notes, Dynamicweb 7

© 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). iii

LEGAL INFORMATION © Copyright 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). All rights reserved. Alteration or reproduction of this document or parts hereof is strictly prohibited, regardless of form or means, unless explicit permission has been acquired from Dynamicweb Software. Dynamicweb is a registered trademark of Dynamicweb Software. Company and product names mentioned in this document may be registered trademarks or trademarks of third parties.


© 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). iv

CONTENTS Introduction _____________________________________ vi

What this document is about .............................................................. vi Who this document is for .................................................................... vi Related documents ............................................................................. vi

1 Update overview _______________________________ 1

1.1 Software version ...................................................................... 1

1.2 System requirements ............................................................... 1

1.3 Installation ............................................................................... 1 1.4 Browser compatibility............................................................... 1

2 General improvements and new functionality _______ 2

2.1 Interface optimization .............................................................. 2 • 2.1.1 Accordion ..................................................................................... 2 • 2.1.2 Page sorting ................................................................................ 3 • 2.1.3 Frontend editing ........................................................................... 3 • 2.1.4 Improved template editor ............................................................. 4 • 2.1.5 XSLT support ............................................................................... 5 • 2.1.6 Template terminology management ............................................ 5

2.2 File Manager make-over .......................................................... 6

2.3 Image editor ............................................................................ 6

2.4 Upload manager ...................................................................... 7 2.5 Management Center ................................................................ 8

• 2.5.1 WebDAV ...................................................................................... 9 • 2.5.2 Host header management ........................................................... 9

2.6 Page validation ........................................................................ 9

2.7 Editor ....................................................................................... 9 • 2.7.1 Spell checker ............................................................................... 9 • 2.7.2 Google translate .......................................................................... 9

2.8 Page templates ..................................................................... 10 2.9 Draft functionality ................................................................... 10

2.10 Minor general improvements ................................................. 10

3 Dynamicweb modules _________________________ 12

3.1 Data Lists and Forms modules .............................................. 12 • 3.1.1 Connections ............................................................................... 12 • 3.1.2 Data lists .................................................................................... 12 • 3.1.3 Forms ........................................................................................ 13 • 3.1.4 XML publication ......................................................................... 13

3.2 User Management ................................................................. 14

• 3.2.1 Applying permissions ................................................................. 15

3.3 Minor module improvements ................................................. 16

4 Dynamicweb eCommerce ______________________ 17

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© 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). v

4.1 Frontend performance optimization ....................................... 17

4.2 Delocalization ........................................................................ 17

4.3 Payment gateway .................................................................. 17


© 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). vi

INTRODUCTION What this document is about This document gives a general description of the contents of the new Dynamicweb version called “Dynamicweb 7”.

Who this document is for This document is for partners and clients with Dynamicweb .NET update license.

Related documents • Technical Release Notes: Describes technical issues included in Dynamicweb 7. • System Requirements dotNET: Specifies the hardware and software requirements

when hosting Dynamicweb .NET.


Version 1.0 © 2009 Dynamicweb Software A/S (Ltd). 1

1 UPDATE OVERVIEW 1.1 Software version

Dynamicweb 7 is a completely new version of Dynamicweb CMS and offers significant interface changes, general functionality improvements and new modules.

Internal version number of Dynamicweb 7: 19.1.1.0.

1.2 System requirements This version introduces no changes to the system requirements (see 8011 System Requirements dotNET)

Since the initial release of Dynamicweb .NET, general changes have been made to the 8011 System requirements dotNET (including removal of the Module specific components section).

1.3 Installation To apply this update to your existing Dynamicweb .NET solution, you must have a valid update license. Installation of the update package varies, depending on whether your solution is hosted by Dynamicweb Software or yourself: • If your solution is hosted by Dynamicweb Software, the update will be applied

automatically. No action on your part is required. • If you are hosting your own solution, you must install the update manually. Please

contact your Dynamicweb Partner or Dynamicweb Software directly. You can also download the latest Dynamicweb build from the developer area: dwdn.dynamicweb.dk (requires login).

1.4 Browser compatibility The new interface is only compatible with Internet Explorer 7+ and Mozilla Firefox 3+.

Future versions of Dynamicweb CMS will only be optimized for Internet Explorer 8+ and Mozilla Firefox 3+.



2 GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW FUNCTIONALITY The following section describes improvements and new functionality added to the new version of Dynamicweb CMS.

2.1 Interface optimization The Dynamicweb interface has generally undergone a significant redesign which gives a more user friendly and consistent look-and-feel. The new interface also improves the way you work with pages and paragraphs in Dynamicweb.

Figure 1. New Dynamicweb user interface.

As shown above the navigation tree as well as the paragraph list has been redesigned. A ribbon containing basic functionality when working with pages and paragraphs have been added to the paragraph list. This will provide you with a better overview and easier access to essential functions and tools, which are used when working with content in Dynamicweb.

2.1.1 Accordion A new accordion has been added as a central part of the Dynamicweb interface, allowing you to quickly navigate to pages, the File Manager, eCommerce, the module list and the new Management Center.

Release Notes, Dynamicweb 7 General improvements and new functionality


Figure 2. Navigation to central parts of Dynamicweb.

2.1.2 Page sorting The sorting of pages in the page tree now support s drag-and-drop of the pages in the list, as well as the option the sort all items in the list by clicking the column headers. The sort functionality is accessed as before by clicking Sort in the page tree.

Figure 3. Page sorting.

2.1.3 Frontend editing Frontend editing in Dynamicweb has previously not been very flexible and has required that you switch between the webpage and paragraphs in the administration. From now on you will be able to work with the layout and content on the webpage through a new tab displaying how the actual webpage looks on the web. Content frames are automatically



applied to the sections on the webpage, where you can edit the content on the fly without having to edit paragraphs in the paragraph list.

2.1.4 Improved template editor A new template editor has been developed, which heavily improves the way you can work with templates in Dynamicweb. The editor now includes a ribbon containing various tools for editing files with code content.

Figure 4. Template editor.

Some of the prominent features in the new editor are the following: • Color coding

All code is colored in easy recognizable colors which allows you to easily distinguish the various code elements. This goes for code such as XML, HTML and JavaScript, all in all code you would normally input in the template editor.

• Fix HTML Broken or unstructured HTML can be fixed by the click of a single button. This can ease the debugging of code as well as compliance to web standards.

• Convert to XSLT Allows you to easily convert a template containing HTML code to a XSLT based template.

• Insert template tags from tag reference Lets you insert template tags directly from the tag reference (templates.dynamicweb.dk) in your template code. This allows you to quickly insert and manipulate with the tags from the template tags repository.



Figure 5. Viewing available template tags in editor.

2.1.5 XSLT support Previously (almost) all templates used in Dynamicweb had to be authored in HTML. A major downside to this approach was for example the missing opportunity to do various scripting in the templates. This has been improved with the introduction of XSLT based templates, which also includes a tool in the template editor for converting HTML code to XSLT (see 2.1.4 Improved template editor).

2.1.6 Template terminology management Another great new feature developed for the template system in Dynamicweb CMS is the management of labels, headings and all other texts from a central location. The template system now supports a Translate tag which should enclose all static texts in the template. In correspondence with a new translate icon which is available next to the template chooser under the paragraph settings, you can edit both local and global texts used on the Dynamicweb solution.

A detailed description of the translate functionality for templates is available in the document: “Working with template terminologies” which can be downloaded at dwdn.dynamicweb.dk under Documentation.



Figure 6. Translate icon under paragraph settings.

2.2 File Manager make-over The File Manager has been redesigned to comply with the general look-and-feel of Dynamicweb 7 and new minor functions have also been included such as the option to view files in thumbnail view.

Figure 7. Thumbnail view.

2.3 Image editor A new image editor has been added to the File Manager that allows you to perform common editing tasks such as crop, resize, rotate and color adjustment.



Figure 8. Image editor.

2.4 Upload manager The upload manager has been redesigned and new functionality has been added.

Figure 9. Upload Manager.

New improvements include: • Resize images on upload by setting a max height and/or width • Unzip files on upload



2.5 Management Center A new Management Center has been introduced containing advanced settings for the Dynamicweb solution. This area of Dynamicweb is a redevelopment of the Control Panel but also holds new functionality for the advanced user.

Figure 10. Management Center main page.

The Management Center holds the following setting categories: • System

Module configuration, action log and management of global settings.

• Editing Settings for editing pages and paragraphs including editor configuration, metadata and page validation.

• Web and http Host header management, WebDAV configuration and Customized URLs

• Database Information about the solution database as well as various database tools. A prominent tool in this category is the SQL Firehose, which can used for e.g. extracting and changing database content.

• Control Panel Advanced settings for Dynamicweb CMS and eCommerce modules.

• Designer Tools relevant for website designers such as template and stylesheet settings. Also



holds links to relevant documentation and template tag references.

• Developer Tools relevant for developers such as custom module registration and code generation. Also holds links to relevant documentation and downloads.

2.5.1 WebDAV A prominent improvement for Dynamicweb which is added to the Management Center is that you can access files in the File Manager e.g. templates through WebDAV. Previously you would have to go through the time-consuming process of uploading and editing files on the web server (or through FTP) but now you can connect to the files directly from e.g. Windows Explorer. In this way you can edit a template in your favorite template editor (such as Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, etc.) without having to download/upload the files from the server.

2.5.2 Host header management The option to add your own host headers from the Dynamicweb administration directly on the IIS has been added to the Management Center as another prominent feature.

Figure 11. Host header management.

After providing the required credentials you can add multiple host headers to the list and they will be accessible for your users immediately.

2.6 Page validation A page validation feature has been added allowing you to check the page content using the W3C validation service. Once activated a notification bar on the paragraph list will warn you that the page does not validate. Clicking the bar opens a new validation window with a list of the validation errors and warnings. Validation error messages can also be sent via e-mail to for instance to the responsible web designer.

2.7 Editor 2.7.1 Spell checker A spell checker is now available in the text editor allowing you to check inserted text for spelling errors.

2.7.2 Google translate New functionality has been added to the text editor that allows you to translate inserted text to a wide variety of languages using Google Translate. Clicking the translate button in the editor toolbar opens a new window where the text from the editor is automatically



inserted. To translate and insert the text in the editor, simply choose the target language, click Translate and save and close the window.

Figure 12. Google translate window.

2.8 Page templates A great new feature included in Dynamicweb 7 is that you can create your own page templates from an existing page in the navigation tree. This allows you to easily reuse content and configured modules. A collection of page templates is located at the bottom of the navigation tree providing you with a quick overview of the templates available for the particular language layer. Every time you create a new page you will have the choice either to create a blank page or from a template in the template library.

2.9 Draft functionality A very useful and much anticipated feature is the new draft functionality which has been added as a central tool when editing a page. Activating the draft mode allows you to work with preliminary texts and module functionality and tools are available for displaying the draft in a live environment as well as comparing the draft version with a previous version. Once the draft is ready for publication you can approve the changes for your visitors to see.

2.10 Minor general improvements • Global tag: The tag Global:Stylesheet.ID which returns the ID of the stylesheet

(used for the page view) has been added to the list of global template tags • Upload button (File Manager): A separate upload button has been added to the

file list in the File Manager. • Maximum file size (File Manager): The maximum file size for upload files can now

be determined in the Control Panel. • Preview XML output: A button has been added under the page menu settings that

allow you to see a preview of the generated XML output when using XML menus.



• Meta tag suggestions: Functionality has been added that can aid you in adding meta tags to pages. A setting in the Control Panel lets you choose whether the system should suggest meta tags or automatically insert relevant tags.

Release Notes, Dynamicweb 7 Dynamicweb modules


3 DYNAMICWEB MODULES 3.1 Data Lists and Forms modules

The Data Lists and Forms modules consist of a number of areas/elements that you can use to connect to data sources, create data lists and publish data on your website which all in all offers a powerful suite of tools to manage data on your website. All these tools are gathered in the same interface allowing you to work with your different data lists, forms and so on without having to shift between various modules.

The data management functionality is licensed through four modules: Data Lists, Data Lists, Extended , Forms and Forms, Extended. See the module descriptions and price lists for further information about licensing.

3.1.1 Connections The Connections area lets you connect to data sources such as SQL and Access databases for later use with the Views, Forms and Publishing functions.

Figure 13. Edit connection.

3.1.2 Data lists Data lists lets you create stored queries of extracted and filtered data from data sources which can be accessible for other parts of the system. Extract and filter data from the database which you have connected to in multiple data lists. Data lists can also be published on the website in a list view, allowing your visitors to navigate through the published data.



Figure 14. Edit data list.

3.1.3 Forms The Forms area allows you to create forms that can be inserted various places on your website for collection of data from the website visitors. Forms can be created either from an existing table or manually from scratch, i.e. manually creating the required form fields.

Figure 15. Edit form (manually created form).

3.1.4 XML publication Also included is the XML publication feature allowing you to generate an XML file containing data from a view and publish the XML on your website. Use this for example as RSS feeds containing recent news, calendar events or the like.



Figure 16. Edit XML publication.

3.2 User Management

The User Management module comes in four versions. Two for managing backend users which comes in a basic version (User Management) and a more advanced version (User Management, Extended); and two modules for managing frontend users which also comes in a basic (Extranet) and an extended version (Extranet, Extended).

A new user framework has been introduced with this update package which heavily improves the managing of users in Dynamicweb. First of all the managing interface is more user friendly than previous versions and allows you to get a quick overview of groups and users. For each user you can see default as well as custom information but also the permissions applied to the user both for pages and modules.



Figure 17. Edit user.

In each user group a search panel offers tools to quickly locate a particular or a group of users. A complete list of users in the user tree allows you to use the same search tools for all users in the database.

Figure 18. Searching for users in the complete user list.

3.2.1 Applying permissions User permissions can be applied to pages, modules and folders in the File Manager. For instance right-clicking a module in the module list displays the menu item Edit permissions. Choosing this option opens a new window displaying the user tree and double-clicking a user or group add them to a list from where you set permissions (allow/deny) for the selected users/groups.



Figure 19. Permission settings.

A similar window is available under the page properties where you also can choose the respectively the frontend and backend permission for a user/group.

3.3 Minor module improvements • Import/Export, Extended: Additional activities have been added allowing you to

import and export VAT groups from Dynamicweb eCommerce. The general performance of the module has also been improved for better import/export of data.

• Sitemap: A new setting has been added to the Control Panel that allows you to add all pages on the language layer to the sitemap.

• Survey: An option to display a custom text if the user has disabled cookies. This applies if you have configured the survey to check for cookies with the result that the user only can participate in the survey once.

Release Notes, Dynamicweb 7 Dynamicweb eCommerce


4 DYNAMICWEB ECOMMERCE 4.1 Frontend performance optimization

We have put a lot of work into improving the performance of eCommerce in the frontend, which have resulted in Dynamicweb eCommerce being almost twice as fast as before.

As the performance optimization has been made by performing a thorough code review we advise you to test any custom code using the eCommerce API to check whether the custom developed functionality works as intended.

The optimization effort has also encompassed the rendering of field groups which previously caused a slow response times when adding products to the cart containing a lot of field group information.

4.2 Delocalization The option to remove the localization of e.g. a product has been added to the toolbar. Clicking the Delocalize button removes the current language version of the product but keeps all other language versions.

Figure 20. Delocalizing a product.

4.3 Payment gateway Dynamicweb eCommerce now supports the Ogone, DocData and Netaxept (BBS) gateways.

DW7 release notes

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