Updates on the SiteApex CMS. http://www.siteapex.com 120 5_19 New Calendar Admin upgrades make event management much easier. Recurring events can now be split into separate events and edited individually. A huge time saver! If you have a weekly event with a different speaker or agenda, set up one recurring event and then split it and add your date specific details. Default admin list shows only events that are a year old or newer with an option to view older events. Quickly clean up your event listings with multi-select checkboxes. Your visitors will have an easier time finding events, too, thanks to the search feature being upgraded to display only events that have not yet happened. Get started with the calendar today >> Mon, 6 Dec 2010 16:01:07 -0500 5_18 We are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new page editor in SiteApex. The new editor is streamlined to take up less space, features new icons and includes a new YouTube button that makes it a piece of cake to embed a video on your web page. The editor has been built to work in all modern browsers, including Internet Explorer 9. NOTE: Users of Internet Explorer will now have to press Shift + Enter to do a single line break as Enter will create a paragraph break. In all other browsers, Enter will continue to do a single line break. To help you find your way around the first time, we have prepared a highlighted comparison of icons below. Inserting YouTube Videos All you have to do is go to the page of the video you want to embed in you page and copy the URL. While editing your page, click to place your cursor in the spot you want to insert the video in your page contents. Click the YouTube icon. Paste in the URL and set the size. Click [ok] to insert the video. Watch Our Editor Video Tutorials >> Mon, 6 Dec 2010 16:01:03 -0500 5_17 Have you experienced the upgraded Photo Album module yet? With sleek "lightbox" pop-ups and batch uploading, the photo album is well positioned to become your new favourite website tool. Grab numerous photos from a folder on your computer and get up to date graphs of how far along each file upload is. Once the upload is complete, choose to add titles and captions or use the drag and drop organization tool to sort your photos into the order you want them displayed. Keeping your website update with summer events and new product photos just got a whole lot easier! Take a look >> The Scoop in Short New batch upload feature allows you to select and upload multiple photos from a folder on your computer in two easy steps. 1. select photos from your computer 2. click the upload button to upload these photos to your album. Organize photos by dragging and dropping the thumbnails where you would like them to display. Edit and delete multiple photos at a time. Add/Update photo names and descriptions on individual photos and even add HTML descriptions with links and icons. Edit the photo album to control how many thumbnails appear on a page. Quickly identify which albums are on which pages of your website. New modal based image viewer has replaced the existing default popup window viewer, featuring a user-friendly interface with back and forward arrows that beautifully expands to the size of the photo and description. Set up a Photo Album on your website >> Mon, 6 Dec 2010 16:01:07 -0500 5_16 In a world of instant information, a stagnant website can really reflect poorly on your business. So how can you keep your website fresh when you don't have any time? Here are our tips: 1. Schedule it! Decide how much time you can spare for the website each week, month, or quarter. Weekly updates can be quite small, while quarterly updates should be more substantial. Put it in your calendar. Now. 2. Make it manageable. The most important part of any goal is making sure it can be attained. You might want to send an e-newsletter out every week, but if you don't have time, start with a goal of writing a News Article or Blog Post each week. 3. Use helpful tools. Do you have a twitter feed? Embed it on your website home page. Do you use Facebook? Connect your website News feed so that it updates your facebook wall. Use a Blog or News Manager to auto archive your posts. Get the Mini News or Mini Blog plugins which will pull content from your News feed or Blog onto your home page. Use an image rotator. Changing graphics on the website will make it feel more fresh. Plan to change the photos every few months. Use photo albums. The new batch uploader makes it a snap to upload your photos. Make sure hours and contact information are up to date! 4. It's more important to be consistent. If you don't feel that you can commit to a weekly update, don't start. Focus on doing one really good blog post, newsletter, etc. each month and your visitors will anticipate and look forward to your next update. 5. Call for help. If you really can't find time, it might be worth hiring someone to do the updates. Look into web maintenance plans with your website provider. Your website is one of the most inexpensive marketing tools you have. Don't take it for granted - use it to your advantage. Mon, 6 Dec 2010 16:01:03 -0500 5_15 Emily M loves the MiniNews plugin because it is a very practical and useful addition to a website and it can be a beautiful design element at the same time. "I love how the designers can customize this plugin to match the website it's on. Sometimes it doesn't even look like the same plugin - it's totally flexible…and it just works!" The MiniNews plugin can be added to a SiteApex template and automatically pulls the most recent news stories from one of your news feeds. Controls for the plugin can be found in the SiteApex admin under Modules > News Manager > Edit News Feed. These controls include how many stories to display and whether to open the full story in a pop-up window or news page. In addition, your web designer can create custom looks for your MiniNews plugin, giving you flexibility over how your information is displayed. Some sites that use it well: tweedelvisfestival.ca habitat.ca slacademy.ca Mon, 6 Dec 2010 16:01:03 -0500 5_14 Huge upgrades this month to the Listings Manager and Directory , most notably the inclusion of an optional map for each entry in the Directory. Check out habitat.ca to see it in action! The Directory, Listings Manager and News Manager all had upgrades done to lay the foundation for customizable module templates. This will allow SiteApex developers complete control in arranging and styling the content in these modules. In the coming months we will be releasing several news layouts to all SiteApex accounts. Mon, 6 Dec 2010 02:01:01 -0500 5_13 We are celebrating the launch of our brand new photo album module admin. New batch upload feature allows you to select and upload multiple photos from a folder on your computer in two easy steps. 1. select photos from your computer 2. click the upload button to upload these photos to your album. Organize photos by dragging and dropping the thumbnails where you would like them to display. Edit and delete multiple photos at a time. Add/Update photo names and descriptions on individual photos and even add HTML descriptions with links and icons. Edit the photo album to control how many thumbnails appear on a page. Quickly identify which albums are on which pages of your website. PLUS - Photo Album Front End Display Upgrades New modal based image viewer has replaced the existing default popup window viewer, featuring a user-friendly interface with back and forward arrows that beautifully expands to the size of the photo and description. Photo album description now displays underneath the photo album name. View Sample Photo Album >> Learn How to Set Up a Photo Album on your Website >> Thu, 2 Dec 2010 07:01:07 -0500 5_12 Season's Greetings from the SiteApex team. | December 24, 2010 Happy Holidays from All of Us at SiteApex! As 2010 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year that we have shared. We have been so blessed to have you as our clients. Your insights have helped to shape SiteApex into what it is today and we are looking forward to continuing to work with you and for you in 2011. Noteworthy Items from 2010 Media & Resource Library Module A brand new module was added to every SiteApex account this year. The Media & Resource Library allows for easy storage and display of files and includes a built in media player view for audio and video files! Choose from two different layouts and two different colours to get the look that is right for your site. Need help getting started? Visit our support site >> Form Builder The form builder has received constant attention throughout the year, resulting in numerous new field types to choose from when building your form. New on the list this year are: Limited Single Choice This option creates a Single Choice List (above) but allows you to limit the number of times each answer can be selected. For example if you entered "Pizza;5,Subs;3,Burgers;10" the option Pizza can only be selected 5 times until it will disappear as an option in the drop down. You control the answers they can pick by typing them in the box below the field type drop down. Separate options with a comma. Options will appear on the form as a drop down list. Title This option allows you to create a title within the form. Very useful for longer forms where sections should be clearly labeled. Use the "name" field to type your title. Separator This option will create a horizontal line on the form. Use with the Title field type to organize your forms. Comment/Notice Like the Title field (above), this field allows you to write notes or instructions throughout the form. Use the "name" field to type your comments. File Upload Allows users to upload a file that will be submitted with their form. This is perfect for contest submissions that require a photo or other accompanying file. This field has its own built in security feature that requires users to unlock the field before uploading. Displays on the form as a form field with "browse" button, along with a captcha security feature. Get details on forms >> Blog The Blog got a much needed overhaul this year, including the following features: Logged in users can leave comments on posts Comments can be rated Posts can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, or other Social Media sites with the click of a button Post URL's (the link that shows up when you share the post) now show the post name in the link. This makes it visually pleasing on sites like Facebook and also helps with Search Engine Optimization. Set up a blog >> Ad Manager The Ad Manager is an "add-on" module that can be installed on your SiteApex at any time. This year we increased the functionality of the Ad Manager to include an image rotation feature so you can easily create and manage slideshows with the option of having each photo click thru to a page on your website. This new feature creates a beautiful addition to your homepage. See details and examples >> Planning for 2011 From our SiteApex development team, we look forward to continuing some aggressive SiteApex development in 2011. You may have already noticed us ramping up in the last quarter of 2010 with several major releases and we look forward to bringing you more exciting features, enhancements to make SiteApex even easier to use and more interactivity with your social networks. Some of the many things we are investigating include: New SiteApex Editor - we are current researching the opportunity to upgrade the editor used throughout the SiteApex backend admin. Google Mapping - plot points of interest, driving directions for site visitors to find you, anywhere an address is collected or displayed we are expanding the system with our new google api ready mapping functionality Mobile Websites - iphone and pda friendly, new configurable options Template Manager - giving you more control over module skins and layouts Drag and Drop Photo Gallery sorting and multi-photo uploader Replace front end pop-ups with cool new modal faded background look and much more... If you have any questions about SiteApex, contact your website or hosting provider for details or visit www.siteapex.com. May you experience the joy of the season in all its fullness and come back refreshed and ready for 2011. SiteApex® Proudly built and powered by the team at OSM Networks www.siteapex.com Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:01:05 -0500 5_11 From all of us at SiteApex, we wish you a very happy holiday season. May your days be filled with happiness as you spend time with those closest to you. We have had an exciting year and we are busy making plans for new SiteApex features in 2011. See you next year! Mon, 2 Nov 2009 23:01:00 -0500 5_10 We have added two new field types to the SiteApex Form Builder. The new File Upload field will allow users to upload a file with their form submission. This is an excellent addition for those of you currently using the Form Builder to collect contest submissions. The new field also has its own mini spam blocker, which has its own set of configuration, to unlock the file upload field. We have also introduced the Limited Single Choice field, which is a drop down field type that has the ability to specify the maximum number of times each option can be selected. For example if you entered "Pizza;5,Subs;3,Burgers;10" the option Pizza can only be selected 5 times until it will disappear as an option in the drop down. The max number can be altered at any time. This feature when combined with the event maximum signups can make a powerful registration tool! We look forward to continuing to help you build a better website. Learn more about Form Builder >> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:01:00 -0500 5_9 A brand new module is now available on every SiteApex account - the Media & Resource Library. The Media & Resource Library is designed for online document and media sharing and collaboration, with the ability to create categories and files, to assign access and editing permissions. It's an easy way to share video and audio files and a built in podcast option allows your visitors to subscribe. For more details, visit the features page >> To get started using the new module, check out the step by step instructions in our support area >> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:00:09 -0500 5_8 Today we have added three new field types to the Form Builder module. Now, when creating custom questions, you can choose from the additional field types of: Title Separator Comment/Notice These new fields should help you create better organized, more advanced forms with the Form Builder Module. New to Form Builder? Get started with these tutorials >> Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:01:05 -0500 5_7 Here we go again. We are restructuring the SiteApex website again to serve our ever growing client base even more efficiently. Thank you for your support and patience as we work on the site. Wed, 9 Dec 2009 08:01:04 -0500 5_6 SiteApex version logs are now available here on the website. Check out what our programmers have been doing! Also, don't forget to start now to get your website ready for fall. Wed, 9 Dec 2009 08:01:03 -0500