Release schedule
The release of Pangea CMS 8.18 is scheduled for September 6th 2022 at the times specified below:
- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.: 06:00 - 07:30 Prague time / 00:00 - 01:30 DC time
- LibertyNet: 07:30 - 08:30 Prague time / 01:30 - 02:30 DC time
- Voice of America (VOA): 08:30 - 10:00 Prague time / 02:30 - 04:00 DC time
- Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB): 10:00 - 11:00 Prague time / 04:00 - 05:00 DC time
What's new?
- Features to CMS 8:
- Other improvements:
- Bug fixes:
- Feature removal:
Backgrounder edit screen to CMS 8
Pangea CMS 8.18 includes the new Backgrounder edit screen that uses the CMS 8 design and layout.
The new edit screen is available using either method below:
- Create a new Backgrounder via New > Content > Backgrounder.
- Edit an existing Backgrounder by clicking the relevant title on the search results page.
A Backgrounder is a simplified version of an article that contains background information on a specific topic. A Backgrounder can be embedded into another content item (such as an article).
For more information, see our dedicated support article.
'View / Restore' tool to CMS 8
Pangea CMS 8.18 includes the new View / Restore tool in CMS 8, which is available via the History dialog for the following content types:
- Article
- Backgrounder
- Blog
- FactCheck
- Feature
- Feature story
- Transcript
View / Restore lets you open and view the previous versions of a content item in read-only mode, then optionally restore a previous version. This applies for content items published in the last 30 days.
To use the View / Restore tool:
- Find the content item using the Pangea CMS Search tool.
- Click the History icon in the item box.
- Hover your cursor over the version you want to open, and click the View / Restore icon.
For detailed information, see our dedicated support article.
Manual stream preview improvements
The Manual stream screen includes the Preview window, which previews the content currently being streamed via the selected Source. Previously, Pangea CMS only displayed the Preview on desktop. This functionality is now also available on mobile devices.
We've also improved the reliability of the Preview window by adding a backup stream. If the primary stream fails, the Preview will still be generated from the backup stream.
For detailed information about Manual streaming, see our dedicated support articles:
Live Blog improvements
In Pangea CMS 8.18, we've made the following improvements on the Live Blog edit screen:
- Main image caption: The Main image caption can now be viewed and edited directly on the Editor screen.
- Summary: When you add a Summary, you now have the option to include a numbered or bulleted list in the text.
For information about creating a Live Blog, refer to the following article:
For information about adding a Summary to a Live Blog, refer to the following article:
FactCheck BETA improvements
In Pangea CMS 8.17, we introduced the new FactCheck BETA edit screen. Pangea CMS 8.18 includes the following improvements to FactCheck BETA:
- We've added an Upload button so you can conveniently perform the following actions while editing a FactCheck page:
- Add an Author
- Upload an Image
- Upload a Video
- Upload a Loop Video
- Upload an Audio Clip
- We've added Priority and Duration in the General settings. By setting a Priority and a Duration, you can ensure that the FactCheck page is displayed at the top of widgets and other lists for a specified time period.
For information about creating a FactCheck page, see our dedicated support article.
Automatic 'Website teaser' images on additional edit screens
To save you time, Pangea CMS may automatically add the Website teaser images for a content item. This process works as follows:
- The Main image is automatically added as both the Horizontal and Vertical image in the Website teaser settings.
- As long as you don't manually modify an automatic Website teaser image, it continues to update automatically to match further changes to the Main image.
- If you manually modify an automatic Website teaser image, it remains as configured. It will no longer update automatically if the Main image is changed.
For detailed information, see our dedicated support article.
Auto-fill logic for Website teaser images was already implemented on the following edit screens:
- Content: Article, Blog, FactCheck, Feature, Feature Story, News, Transcript
- Multimedia: Photo Gallery, Slider Gallery
- Interactive: Static infographics
In Pangea CMS 8.18, we are implementing this logic on the following additional edit screens:
- Content: FactCheck BETA, Live Blog
- Multimedia: Audio Clip, Document (previously Document BETA)
Document BETA to default
Document BETA will become the default tool for uploading and editing documents.
This means the following changes:
- Document BETA will be renamed to Document throughout the Pangea CMS user interface.
- The classic Document upload and edit tools will no longer be available.
- When you clone a Document that was created by another service, you will see the new CMS 8 Document edit screen.
For more information, see our dedicated support articles:
Bug fix: Duplicated streams and video files
Several users reported that the same video stream appeared twice in YouTube. After broadcast, the recorded video file was also duplicated in Pangea CMS. Our developers have now identified the cause of this issue, and it should be fixed with the release of Pangea CMS 8.18.
Bug fix: Audio Clips published before the scheduled publication time
Pangea CMS allows you to schedule the publication of a content item for a specific time in the future. However, we received reports of Audio Clips appearing on the public website before the scheduled publication time. This issue should be fixed with the release of Pangea CMS 8.18.
Bug fix: Issues saving a Photo Gallery
We received reports of the 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object' error message when saving a Photo Gallery. This issue was triggered when saving a Photo Gallery that included an image with no Description or Caption. This issue should be fixed with the release of Pangea CMS 8.18. Even if the Description and Caption settings are not filled for an image, you will still be able to save the Photo Gallery.
Removal of features linked to Pangea Comments
With Pangea CMS 8.16, we started rolling out the new Disqus commenting system. All sites that previously used Pangea Comments have now been migrated to Disqus. For this reason, we are making the following changes in the Pangea CMS 8.18 release:
Removal of 'Membership Users' screen
We will remove the Membership Users screen from Pangea CMS (available via Administration > User Management > Manage Membership Users). This screen lets you manage the list of vistors with an account for your website. The purpose of account creation was for visitors to more easily leave comments via Pangea Comments. With the move to Disqus, this functionality is now obsolete.
Removal of 'Moderate Comments' screen
We will remove the Moderate Comments screen from Pangea CMS (available via Settings > Moderate Comments). This screen lets you moderate comments left via Pangea Comments. With the move to Disqus, this functionality is now obsolete.
Removal of 'Experts' screen
The Experts page on the public website was not used by any services for several years. For this reason, we will remove the Experts screen from Pangea CMS with the 8.18 release (available via Settings > Experts).
