Release schedule:
The Pangea CMS 8.25 release is scheduled for August 1st 2023 at the times listed below:
- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.: 06:00 am - 07:30 am Prague time / 00:00 am - 01:30 am DC time
- Voice of America: 02:30 am - 04:00 am DC time / 08:30 am - 10:00 am Prague time
- Office of Cuba Broadcasting: 04:00 am - 05:00 am DC time / 10:00 am - 11:00 am Prague time
- LibertyNet: 07:30 am - 08:30 am Prague time / 01:30 am - 02:30 am DC time
What's new?
- Main updates:
- Features to CMS 8:
- CMS updates:
- SEO updates:
- Site updates:
- Bug fixes:
Personal notes for external media embeds
You can now include a personal note on any external media embed. The note is displayed on the placeholder in CKEditor and is visible only in CMS (not on the public site). This feature was implemented based on feedback from users that it is difficult to distinguish different embeds while working in CKEditor.
Optionally enter a note in the Personal note box when you embed external media.
You can add a note to an external media embed or edit the existing note by hitting the Edit icon on the placeholder.
For step-by-step instructions on embedding external media items, see the following article:
'Localize title' always visible on Sections and Infopages
After the 8.25 release, it will no longer be possible to hide the Localize title on Sections and Infopages. The following conditions will apply:
- On all Infopages, the Localize title will be visible in the page header.
- On all Sections (except the homepage), the Localize title will be visible in the page header.
- On the homepage, the Localize title will not be visible.
When you enter the Localize title in CMS, the checkbox will no longer be available to specify whether the title is visible on the site.
We implemented this change based on recommendations from an external SEO audit of Pangea sites. Visible <h1> titles make it easier for search engines to crawl your site and improve user experience by telling visitors exactly where they are.
Once this change is implemented, the title might be displayed twice on pages that include a title banner (as in the example below).
Because search engines don't recognize banners as titles, it is still important that the <h1> title is visible in these cases. Services can choose whether to keep any title banners that are currently displayed on Sections and Infopages.
'New posts' notification on Live blog pages
To improve user experience and engagement on Live blog pages, we've implemented notifications about new posts. After the 8.25 release:
- When a new post is published, visitors will see the 'New posts' notification on the Live blog page.
- Visitors will be able to click the notification to refresh the page and go straight to the latest post.
- The notification will disappear if the visitor continues to scroll down. It will reappear if the visitor starts scrolling up.
By default, the notification shows the text 'New posts'. Individual services can localize this text via the Site localization tool in CMS. Use the following configuration key:
- Responsive.LiveBlog.Update.Text
For detailed information about using Site localization, see the following article:
New post notifications only appear while the Live blog is active (when the LIVE badge is visible). For detailed information, see the following article:
The system checks for new posts every 30 seconds. This means the notification will appear at latest 30 seconds after the post is published.
URL redirection to CMS 8
The 8.25 release includes a new version of the URL redirection tool that uses the latest CMS 8 design. The basic functionality remains unchanged, but the new version offers improved user experience.
Access URL redirection via Administration > URL redirection.
URL redirection lets you create a redirect from an invalid URL to any valid URL. This is useful if the URL for a webpage is changed, or if a webpage is unpublished. For detailed information, see the following article:
Authors list to CMS 8
The 8.25 release includes a new version of the Authors list that uses the latest CMS 8 design. The look and feel matches other CMS 8 lists.
The following new options are available:
- (A): Quickly check the status of each author.
- (B): Use the drop-down menu to show only authors with a specific status (Active or Inactive).
- (C): Enable Show deleted to include deleted authors on the list.
We've also renamed English Name to Pen Name to better reflect the purpose of this setting.
Access the Authors list via Settings > Authors.
Longer descriptions permitted for video shows
The description for a Video show created via Scheduler & Template week can now contain up to 2000 characters on all sites and entities. Previously, the global default value was 1000 characters.
Improved workflow for bulk image edit
During image upload, you can edit multiple images at the same time using the bulk edit tool. In CMS 8.25, we've improved the bulk edit workflow to make this option more visible for users.
Bulk edit will work as follows:
- Tick multiple images or tick Select all.
- Use the Select action... drop-down menu to select Edit or Delete.
- Hit Apply.
For detailed information about uploading and editing images in CMS, see the following article:
Dateline is visible via Editor on the new Article edit screen
On the new Article edit screen, it's now possible to add, edit, and check the Dateline directly via the Editor screen. This applies only for sites where the Dateline feature is enabled.
This improvement was implemented based on feedback from services that already use the new Article edit screen.
New messages to explain processes that need more time
The following actions in CMS normally take a few seconds to complete:
- Uploading an external image
- Generating the preview of a Trends widget
A short wait can be expected because CMS needs to gather and process data from external sources. We received feedback that users are sometimes confused by the wait and wonder if the system has crashed. To improve user experience, we've added new messaging that explains the necessary wait.
Improved metadata for Broadcast information pages and TV / Radio schedules
We've improved how the meta title and meta description are defined for the following pages:
- Broadcast information
- TV schedule
- Radio schedule
Our focus was to ensure that each page has unique metadata, and that the metadata is always taken from the most appropriate source.
No new configuration keys were added in CMS as part of this update. The metadata is taken from existing configuration keys that should already be filled, so no action is required from services.
Removed metadata fields in Landing page settings
We've removed the metadata fields from the Landing page settings in CMS. These fields are redundant, as Landing page metadata is defined based on the Category where it is assigned. We're sorry for any confusion or frustration caused by these rogue settings.
Disqus comment counter
To improve engagement with comments, we've implemented a comment counter on content pages with Disqus comments enabled. After the 8.25 release, the number of comments will be visible in brackets next to the 'See comments' label.
Bug fix: Search is sometimes covered by the password manager on mobile devices
We noticed that in older versions of the Chrome browser on mobile devices, the search bar on Pangea sites is covered by the password manager. This issue is caused by a bug on Google's side. However, our developers have identified a workaround, so this will no longer be an issue for Pangea sites after the 8.25 release.
