WCM Release Enhancements

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The official documentation is at: http://docs.alfresco.com

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AVM
The following enhancements have been added to AVM. Please contact Alfresco Support (or access Alfresco Network) to download the latest Enterprise release.

Table of Contents

• 1 Enterprise 3.3.x


• 2 Enterprise 3.2.x
  
  
  
  • 2.1 Release 3.2.0 R
  
  
  • 2.2 Release 3.2.0
  
  


• 3 Enterprise 3.1.x
  
  
  
  • 3.1 Release 3.1.2
  
  
  • 3.2 Release 3.1.1
  
  
  • 3.3 Release 3.1.0
  
  


• 4 Enterprise 3.0.x (frozen)
  
  
  
  • 4.1 Release 3.0.1
  
  
  • 4.2 Release 3.0.0
  
  


• 5 Enterprise 2.2.x
  
  
  
  • 5.1 Release 2.2.6 (pending)
  
  
  • 5.2 Release 2.2.5
  
  
  • 5.3 Release 2.2.4
  
  
  • 5.4 Release 2.2.3
  
  
  • 5.5 Release 2.2.2
  
  
  • 5.6 Release 2.2.1
  
  
  • 5.7 Release 2.2.0
  
  


• 6 Enterprise 2.1.x (frozen)
  
  
  
  • 6.1 Release 2.1.7
  
  
  • 6.2 Release 2.1.6
  
  
  • 6.3 Release 2.1.3
  
  
  • 6.4 Release 2.1.0
  
  


• 7 Enterprise 2.0.x (frozen)
  
  
  
  • 7.1 Release 2.0.1
  
  
  • 7.2 Release 2.0.0
  
  


• 8 Enterprise 1.4.x (frozen)
  
  
  
  • 8.1 Preview Release 1.4.0
  
  

Enterprise 3.3.x

Transfer Service

Rendition Service

FDK

WCM Quick Start (Add on)

Enterprise 3.2.x

Release 3.2.0 R

Addition of DM Deployment Target which allows WCM deployment to alfresco.   The WCM content is then available via the CMIS intefaces.

Release 3.2.0

Reworked WCM deployment framework WCM_Deployment_Engine  

ASR has been replaced by the AVM Deployment Target

FSR has been replaced by the File System Deployment Target

WCM preview service

AVM DAO refactor (Hibernate removal)

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.2.0)

Enterprise 3.1.x

Release 3.1.2

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.1.2)

Release 3.1.1

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.1.1)

Release 3.1.0

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.1.0)

Web Studio - Labs 3d / BETA only

WCM Services Layer - new Java, Java Script and Web Script APIs (Web Project, Sandbox, Asset Services)

WCM Test Suite

WCM Deployment fixes (+ additional info in deployment report details)

Enterprise 3.0.x (frozen)

The 3.0.x codeline is frozen. For further changes, please refer to 3.1.x or higher.

Release 3.0.1

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.0.1)

Release 3.0.0

Enhancements to FSR Deployment

A benchmarking project on deployment to the file system receiver has resulted in significant performance improvements.

The transports are now pluggable so you can deploy over RMI, HTTP and/or build and plug in your own transport.

Payload content transformation is now pluggable so you can (for example) compress or encrypt data as it is sent over the network.   There is a new framework to which allows you to plug in your own content transformers.

Bug fixes

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 3.0.0)

Enterprise 2.2.x

Release 2.2.6 (pending)

Please see JIRA for status of propopsed WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.6)

Release 2.2.5

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.5)

Release 2.2.4

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.4)

Release 2.2.3

WCM submit re-factor and other significant improvements. Also show conflicts, if any, for modified items.

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes.

Please refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.3)

Release 2.2.2

WCM UI improvements

Several significant WCM UI performance enhancements and improvements to enable faster interface refresh, including addition of 'Show All Sandboxes' checkbox to website view - default is false to only show current user sandbox.

Please also refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.2)

Release 2.2.1

Grouping deployment servers

For those users with a large number of deployment servers the UI now allows servers to be grouped together and selected by select all functionaily.    For example you can define a group of 'production servers' and select them all with a single mouse click.

AVM Console

Additional commands added, refer to AVM Console.

Preview URI Service

Provides a way for developers to implement arbitrarily complex preview URI mapping rules - also provides a number of example implementations.

Please also refer to JIRA (WCM 2.2.1)

Release 2.2.0

Web Project Branching and Web Project Templates

In 2.2, Alfresco now provides the ability to baseline a new web project based on an existing site. In the Create Web Project Wizard, admins and content managers can select from a filtered list of those Web Projects marked as a template or a full list of all Web Projects within the server. Users can quickly bootstrap a new Web Project, including all Web Forms, workflow configurations, deployment configurations, and more. In the Staging sandbox, this new enhancement leverage AVM branching to branch the source Staging repository (sandbox) into the new created Staging repository (sandbox). Leveraging AVM branching, the newly created Web Project is initialized with a complete source tree of files and folders for the new Web Project in a disk-efficient manner, avoiding any data duplication to provision a virtual body of content to users for the new website.  

Asset Reuse across Web Projects via Layered Directories

In 2.2, Alfresco now supports transparent updates of content across Web Projects by exposing the ability to create AVM layered directories in the Web Client. Admins and content managers can now access a 'Create Layered Folder' action in a Staging sandbox and specify a source directory for any new directory they are creating in the Web Project. With this new layered directory support, Web Projects can be separated by functional teams with updates transparently shared with other various teams. Note: The target path should be specified starting with the webapp directory (ROOT by default), eg. ROOT/a/b/c

Web Client Search Support

Alfresco 2.2 now provides support for full-text search for assets in both Staging sandboxes and individual user sandboxes.  Search results are based on queries to the current index of assets based on the latest snapshot of Staging. For user sandbox searches, search results are filtered against any deletions that may or may not have been made by the user that have not yet been checked-in (that is, they are sitting in the user's Modified Items list), ensuring that are returned assets are available in the sandbox for modification.  

My Web Forms Browse Support

Alfresco 2.2 now simplifies the editing or deletion of XML assets created via Web Forms with a new saved search. Users can access their list of Web Forms in the sandbox and click a Browse action to return a list of all XMLs generated via a particular Web Form. This provides quick access to list items a user may wish to modify without having to navigate into the sandbox browse view and manually look for existing assets by browsing the web directory structure. 

Deployment Configuration Wizard

Alfresco 2.2 now adds a new Deployment Configuration Wizard in the Create Web Project Wizard. This new wizard allows Admins and content managers to add one or multiple Alfresco deployment targets or remote file-system deployment targets and configure various deployment options, such as source paths and exclude patterns. 

In-context Preview via Test Servers

Alfresco 2.2 now adds support for in-context preview of non-virtualizable sites (for example, PHP or .NET sites) using remote test servers. Admins and content managers can specify a pool of remote test servers, which become available for users to check-out and sync via deployment for purposes of preview. Upon completion of any preview, users can release a test server back to the pool, allowing other users to check-out for purposes of their own preview. 

Auto-Deploy

Alfresco 2.2 adds support for an auto-deploy option in its default workflow, allowing end-users at time of submit to enforce automatic deployment of approved changes directly to the live website without having to manually initiate deployment. 

Deployment History

Alfresco 2.2 now maintains a running history of deployment reports, allowing the content manager to access a rich audit trail of all deployment attempts over time. 

ACL Support for Web Projects, Web Project content

Alfresco 2.2 now adds support for ACLs, providing restricted access to both Web Projects and content within a sandbox based on a user's security rights. 

AVM/CIFS Configuration Support

Alfresco 2.2 now adds greater configurability for how stores and store versions are accessed via CIFS. Version 2.2 now supports filtering of available stores by store type, version, and user role. Now, business users can view only sandboxes they own and their associated, read-only staging stores, and content managers can view all sandboxes related to just their web projects. But with multiple views and filters now supported, read up on new 2.2 WCM CIFS possibilities.

AVM Console

Alfresco 2.2 includes a command console to provide low-level administrator/developer access to the AVM repository.

Enterprise 2.1.x (frozen)

The 2.1.x codeline is frozen. For further changes, please refer to 3.1.x or higher.

Release 2.1.7

Please see JIRA for current status of WCM changes JIRA (WCM 2.1.7)

Release 2.1.6

WCM UI improvements

Several significant WCM UI performance enhancements and improvements to enable faster interface refresh, including addition of 'Show All Sandboxes' checkbox to website view - default is false to only show current user sandbox.

Please also refer to JIRA (WCM 2.1.6)

Release 2.1.3

WCM UI unlock

UI action available to admin/content manager on locked assets to remove the lock. Also other locking fixes.

Please also refer to JIRA (WCM 2.1.3)

Release 2.1.0

The following enhancements have been added to WCM 2.1.0.

Search

Full indexing of AVM-based web projects, including all content and content metadata. Available for the run-time repository to enable search within any AVM-hosted\ web application / website for any current Staging snapshots. Asynchronous indexing update on the run-time repository for any new deployment snapshot via Alfresco's content deployment utility. 

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    WCM-411

XML Metadata Extraction

Enables individual XML elements to be indexed via Lucene for content-based queries. For more information, see | Metadata Extraction. 

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community Final | JIRA:   

Links Management

Complete indexing of imported and created web content for asset references. Ability to verify links within a user or Staging sandbox. Enforced links validation at time of content submission to identify and correct dependencies (particularly for deletes). 

Status:  COMPLETE; BETA Feature for 2.1 Community RC1; for testing purposes only | JIRA:    ---

Content Launch

Ability to specify a launch date on content submission for a change set. Post approval, ability to view pending list of site updates, preview, cancel, or immediately promote. 

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    WCM-456, WCM-457

Content Expiration

Ability to specify a global freshness date on all assets in a content submission or specific freshness date on an single item. Automatic daily task assignment to content contributors and publishers to review, update, or remove expired content. All content refreshes done in a user's workarea, fully previewable, and subject to normal workflow rules (and potential timed launch). 

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    WCM-454, WCM-455

Content Regeneration

Ability to rebuild the site upon changes to a template. 

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    WCM-413, WCM-326

Content Locking

Ability to enforce locking semantics in GUI upon creation or editing of an asset in the web client for content publishers and content contributors. Identification of locked assets in the GUI for both (a) general information and (b) to block any potential chance of simultaneous edits.

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    To be filed

Workflow Enhancements

Ability to add comments associated with task upon task transition, and ability to view history of completed tasks and task comments within workflow task dialog.

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    To be filed

Deployment Enhancements

Ability to deploy Staging snapshots to one or more remote file servers, in conjunction with or standalone from deployment to a remote Alfresco server. Designed to support deployment of static websites to front-end file servers delivering content via a standard HTTP server like Apache, for deploying websites to alternative run-time environments, and for deploying web application resources to separate file-system location for serving via any standard application server, with core content resources stored and accessed from a backing Alfresco repository for dynamic content delivery.

Status: COMPLETE

Usability Enhancements

Support for two new WCM dashlets - MyForms and MyModified - to allow content contributors to easily create, edit, and promote content to any website directly from their Alfresco Dashboard without having to navigate to and browse a Web Project.

Status:  COMPLETE | JIRA:    WCM-103, WCM-106

Web Form Enhancements

Support for defining custom appearance hints, including for different instances of TinyMCE to support different formatting options within a WYSIWYG field. Includes support for specifying different types of TinyMCE field instances within a single form, along with sizing options (configurable height on a field-by-field basis.

Status:  COMPLETE; released 2.1.0 Community RC1 | JIRA:    WCM-507, WCM-605

AVM Clustering

Support for clustering Alfresco's web content repository, the AVM, for use in run-time websites.

Status:  COMPLETE; to be released with 2.1.0 Enterprise and updated Community release | JIRA:

Enterprise 2.0.x (frozen)

The 2.0.x codeline is frozen. For further changes, please refer to 3.1.x or higher.

Release 2.0.1

The following enhancements have been added to WCM 2.0.1.

The following enhancements have been added as part of the Alfresco 2.0.1 maintenance release.  For additional details on the release, see the upcoming 2.0.1 release notes page on our wiki.

Content Deployment

The following capabilities are now available for setting up and managing web content deployments:

•   Target server configuration.  Support configuring content replication to one or multiple servers on a Web Project-by-Web Project basis.
  
•   GUI-driven content deployment.  Support for a new deployment action to allow content managers to replicate any given Staging snapshot to any or all configured target servers for a given Web Project.
  
•   Incremental, transactional replication.  Guaranteed persistance of a Staging snapshot on a remote Alfresco server.  Transactional guaranteed on a per server basis and not across multiple target servers.
  
•   Deployment reports.  Ability to see which Staging Snapshot is currently live and to view details of latest deployment to confirm assists created or removed from each target server.
  
•   Rollback.  Ability to redeploy older versions of the site (either after reverting Staging or simply deploying an older Staging snapshot) to recover any known, good state.
  

Alfresco 2.0.1's new deployment service closes the following JIRA feature requests:  WCM-388, WCM-387,WCM-386.

Rules-based Document Publishing

Alfresco 2.0.1 now supports a pre-built action to enable knowledge workers to automatically promote any document from an Alfresco collaboration space into one or multiple Web Projects. Using the standard Content Rules Wizard, users can choose the 'Copy an Item to a Folder in a Web Project' and browse a Web Project to specify where a given document will be promoted to (in a user's sandbox, for staging and submission). Capability can be used (and is recommended to be used) in conjunction with PDF transformation and metadata to trigger automatic publishes in a secure manner to multiple websites.

Alfresco 2.0.1's new pre-built promote action closes the following JIRA feature request:  WCM-390.

TinyMCE Web Project Asset File Browsing

Alfresco 2.0.1 now supports custom controls within TinyMCE for enabling the Web Forms file browser for in-line linking and image embedding. This new enhancement closes the following JIRA feature request:  WCM-266.

Alfresco Sample Website Framework

Alfresco 2.0.1 now provides an improved sample website, with out-of-the-box forms, templates, and site components for building a complete dynamic website.

Release 2.0.0

The following enhancements have been added to the set of capabilities available in the WCM Preview release.  For additional details on the release, please refer to the Alfresco 2.0 WCM Release Notes page on our wiki.

Web Form Management

The following capabilities are now available for creating and managing Web Forms:

•   XSD validation.  Support for validating XSDs upon upload to ensure working Web Forms are provisioned to end-users.
  
•   Multiple rendering engine support.  Support for creating templates using either Freemarker, XSL, or XSL-FO (for PDF generation).
  
•   Default content generation rules.  Ability to specify default rules for a form for naming and foldering generated XML assets using an output path expression.  Also support for setting default content generation rules for output files generated by different templates.
  
•   Default workflow rules.  Ability to specify default rules for workflow initiation upon completion of a Web Form.
  
•   Edit Web Form.  Ability to edit a Web Form to modify name, title, description, output path pattern, template associations, and default workflow.
  

Web Project Management

The following capabilities are now available for creating and managing Web Projects:

•   Support for multiple web apps.  Ability to create and manage multiple web apps within a single Web Project.
  
•   DNS name configuration.  Ability to set DNS name to be used for previewing any website or web application managed within a Web Project.
  
•   Web Form configuration.  Ability to select from a list of Web Forms those forms to be used in the context of a given Web Project.  Ability to accept default title and description, along with default output path pattern, templates, and workflow.  In addition, ability to override defaults to set specific output path pattern unique to a Web Project, select specific templates or no templates at all for content generation, and changes workflow settings including identifying specific lists of reviewers for content posted to the site managed within the Web Project.
  
•   Workflow configuration.  Ability to configure specific workflows for any non-form generated assets.  Ability to add multiple workflow rules that execute on different assets based on a regex expression.
  
•   Edit Web Project.  Ability to edit a Web Project to modify name, description, Web Form and workflow configurations.
  
•   Add | Remove Users.  Ability to add or remove users to an existing Web Projects.  Support for automatically creating new sandboxes for newly added users.
  
•   Delete Sandbox.  Ability to remove sandboxes from a Web Project.
  
•   Snapshot Rollback.  Ability to revert the Staging sandbox (and, by consequence, the context for all user edits and previews in their own sandboxes) to any previous version.  Reverts create new versions of Staging that are based on the older version to allow for a complete audit trails of all modifications over time, whether updates or rollbacks.
  
•   Bulk import.  Ability to import a WAR, ZIP, or TAR file in any directory to support bulk import of an entire directory tree of content into a sandbox.
  

Workflow

The 2.0 Preview nows adds support for task-based review and promotion of changes sets.  Default workflows are set-up and configured for content generated via a Web Form using the Create Web Form Wizard.  Specific workflows for form-generated data and non-form-generated assets are also configured on a Web Project-by-Web Project basis.  New workflow support includes:

•   Out-of-the-box serial and / parallel review workflow.  Default editorial review workflow provided that can be used by multiple Web Forms across multiple Web Projects.  For each association, the default workflow can be flexibly configured for either serial or parallel review and support n-number of reviewers in the review chain.  Also support email notification of task assignment and approval / rejection.
  
•   In-context review and approval.  Support for isolating a change set forwarded for review and approval from ongoing changes in a user's sandbox.  Content Contributors and Publisher can continue adding, editing, and deleting content without altering the reviewer's preview context.  Reviewers are guaranteed to be seeing a user's changes as they looked at the time of promotion, and user's are provided the capability of making ongoing changes without being blocked from making continuing edits while waiting for a given set of changes to be approved and published.
  
•   Change set support.  Ability to package an entire change set as a single task, including support for directories and deleted assets (both files and directories).
  
•   Generated asset change set support.  Ability to automatically include in a workflow task all assets generated via a form even if only a single asset is selected for promotion.  Guarantees a consistent website by ensuring that all output files as well as the source file (XML) are always promoted as a single unit.
  
•   Submit Wizard.  New Submit Wizard to allow a user to confirm the assets to be promoted for review.  Also provides ability to user to provide a name and description for the snapshot that will be creating when the change set is approved and integrated into Staging.  Lastly supports the ability of an end-user to view / modify the list of reviewers in the review chain.
  

Web Content Creation

The following capabilities have been added to the Create Web Content Wizard:

•   File browser support.  New AJAX control to allow an end-user to browse a sandbox to create a reference to another web asset (image, document, etc.).
  
•   File upload support.  New AJAX control to allow an end-user to browse their local desktop and upload a new asset in a sandbox.  Enables end-user to specify location in sandbox where the asset is to be stored and creates a reference to that asset within a form.
  
•   Auto-submit.  Support for auto-submitting via workflow output generated from a Web form upon completion of the wizard.
  
•   Preview.  Support for previewing generated assets prior to completing wizard. 
  
•   Complex Forms.  Support for nested elements, including compound elements and repeating elements.
  
•   Element Re-ordering.  Support for moving elements up and down.
  
•   Enforced Elements.  Support for mandatory, non-mandatory fields.
  

Virtualization Server

•   Auto Unload/Re-load.  Support for automatically unloading or reloading context for major operations, including adding and removing sandboxes and modifying applications resources in WEB-INF.
  

CIFS

•   Sandbox CIFS projection.  Ability to mount a sandbox via CIFS.  Support for tracking all changes in the web client via the Modified Items list.
  
•   Snapshot CIFS projection.  Support for special VERSIONS directory to provide access to provide read only access to all historical versions of the website or web applications.  Includes special read / write version, -1, which is the current working version of the site accessible in the sandbox view (a different entry point via the VERSIONS directory for convenience).
  
•   Virtual View projection.  Ability to mount a view of all sandboxes in the server via CIFS.
  

Additional Capabilities

The following additional capabilities have been added to the 2.0 Preview release:

•   File version history and revert support.  Ability to view  version history of a file and revert to any prior version.
  

Enterprise 1.4.x (frozen)

The 1.x codeline is frozen. For further changes, please refer to 3.1.x or higher.

Preview Release 1.4.0

The WCM Preview Release adds new support for XML content authoring, sandboxed development, and in-context preview and virtualization of both static and dynamic web pages.  The foundation of the Preview Release is a new set of repository enhancements to advanced versioning and staging services for web content and web applications.  Please see the list of repository enhancements below and read Release Notes here.

Sandboxed Development and Staging Model

Ability to enable parallel content development for web-based assets (and documents).  This will be achieved using private sandboxes, content propagation via workflow-driven approval processes through virtual test and staging environments, transparent layers, with integrated support creating virtual domain for in-context preview of website changes. 

Versioned Directories

Ability to support time-travel across an entire website.  For example, if you're looking at a file as it appeared one week ago, and you click on a hyperlink that it contains, the target of this hyperlink will also appear as it did one week ago.  Alfresco's versioned directories will have semantics that are similar to those offered by Subversion.

Transparent Layers

Ability to make directories and files act like transparent overlays;  similar to a sheet of glass, an overlay can be written upon, but protects the underlying object from modification.  Unionfs offers a similar feature, but transparent layers are more portable, are integrated with a more powerful versioning system, and work on individual files, as well as directories.

The WCM Technology Preview Release provides enhancements to the Alfresco web client to expose the basic capabilities of these new repository services to support content updates and preview for a mixed static and dynamic website.  Additional support via the web client for these new repository services will be added in subsequent Preview release updates.  The Technology Preview Release supports that following new capabilities in the web client:

Forms Management

Content Forms Library

A new default space, Company Forms, within the Data Dictionary to store and manage XSDs and associated XSLs used for output generation.  Uploaded schemas are used to generate browser-based forms for XML content authoring.

Create Form Wizard

Provides ability for Web Developers to upload an XMLSchema and associate with one or more XSL templates.  Associated templates are assigned a default file extension for the output they generate.  All uploaded and registered forms are available to users to create content in the context of a sandbox.  Associated templates are used to automatically generate output any time an asset is created or editing using a form.

Website Development and Staging

Create Website Wizard

Provides ability to create a Staging sandbox and a private sandbox for individual end-users invited to publish to the website.  Users' sandbox are configured to reflect all current files and folders in Staging using transparent layers.  

Sandboxed Development

Provides support isolating and tracking changes to files and folders (including deletions) within a user's sandbox for in-context preview and test against all current and approved assets in Staging.  Individual changes or entire change sets can be promoted from a user's sandbox to Staging.  Any changes to Staging are automatically reflected in each user's sandbox for ongoing preview and test.

XML Content Authoring

Create New Content Wizard

Provides support for accessing a list of available forms registered within the Data Dictionary to author XML content.  Supported form capabilities include:

•   Textboxes
  
•   WYSIWYG textareas (using the TinyMCE editor)
  
•   Radio buttons, single- and multi-select list
  
•   Callouts for dynamic list generation (radio buttons, single- and multi-select values)
  
•   Repeating element (for both single and compound elements)
  
•   Mandatory and non-mandatory fields
  
•   Calendar pickers
  
•   Client-side data validation
  

Multi-channel Output

Provides support for automatically generating content from XML created via a form.  Output generation enforced via the Create New Content wizard by applying all registered XSLs against captured content.

Virtualization and In-context Preview

Provides support for previewing both static and dynamic content in the context of a user's sandbox or Staging.  In-context preview includes support for properly sourced images and functioning hyperlinks.  In-context preview also provides support for virtualizing JSP pages and associated application code (class files, jar files) within a sandbox.