Introducing Roxen Editorial Portal 5.5

Roxen has released a new version of its web-based editorial productivity tool Roxen Editorial Portal. Through improvements and new functionality in a number of areas from user interface to back-end architecture, version 5.5 puts the most modern and efficient tools in the hands of editors and journalists around the world.

In the new release Roxen has re-united with our fellow internet-pioneers, the founders of MySQL and MariaDB by incorporating the MariaDB database.

Major additions to article templating

Version 5.5 expands the already powerful article template functionality to allow creation of reusable article submodules. This greatly simplifies the work required to assemble a large-scale template library using combinations of pull quotes, fact boxes and other recurring elements.

We also introduce a style extraction capability where paragraph and character styles associated to a particular article template can be picked up directly from the Adobe InDesign template document. Web-based story editors get direct access to richer typography while relieving the administrator from tedious configuration work.

User interface improvements

Several customer requests have been implemented in the web-based interface. This includes more search fields in various panels, sorting tables on different columns, customizable text size in the story editor panel, and a quick way to preview feed images before selection. The update also features personalized bookmarks for convenient access to favorite issues as well as improved status reporting for stories published online. These are all time-saving improvements that users will benefit from every day.

Workflow enhancements

With version 5.5 we premiere a new notification system that informs users of events such as story assignments, completed background tasks or unexpected errors. As an example, after initiating the compilation of an issue PDF, the system will announce its completion prominently – but carefully as to not interrupt the user’s current task – and present the appropriate download link directly in the message.

Another workflow-related addition is the new text compare command that highlights differences between versions or parts of a story. This report can also be printed for further annotations on paper.

Product architecture updates

The new release incorporates the latest MariaDB database engine, replacing MySQL from earlier versions. This is fully transparent to customers but highlights our commitment to best-of-breed components for delivering maximum stability and performance.

The new version of Roxen Editorial Portal has also been validated against the most recent Adobe InDesign CC and CC 2014 releases on Mac and Windows platforms.

– Particularly in view of our history together in the early days of the Internet, we welcome Roxen’s recognition of our open innovation, scalability and performance improvements as they join companies like Google, Wikipedia and RedHat in their choice of MariaDB, says Michael “Monty” Widenius, founder of MySQL and MariaDB.

– I would also like to make use of this opportunity to congratulate the Internet-pioneer Roxen on their 20th anniversary, Monty Widenius concludes.

Roxen Editorial Portal 5.5 is currently shipping and existing customers can upgrade their installations at no additional cost.

For more information, contact:

Per Östlund, CEO, Roxen
Phone: +46 732 30 30 13
E-mail: per.ostlund@roxen.com

Pasi Vuorela, MariaDB Corporation
Phone: +46 72 217 88 99
E-mail: pasi.vuorela@mariadb.com

About MariaDB

MariaDB strives to be the logical choice for database professionals looking for a robust, scalable, and reliable SQL server. To accomplish this, the MariaDB Foundation work closely and cooperatively with the larger community of users and developers in the true spirit of Free and open source software, and release software in a manner that balances predictability with reliability. MariaDB is named “Leader” in the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems and is the winner of the 2014 IDG BOSSIE (Best of Open Source Software) Award.

About Roxen

Roxen develops web-based editorial and content management tools for multi-channel publishing, i.e. online and in print. Customers include Grupo Empresas Publimetro Chile, Shaw Media, Metro France, Metro Sweden, TC Transcontinental Media, Princeton University, RTL Nederland and Verizon.

Roxen was established in 1994. The head office and development center is located in Linköping, Sweden. Roxen also has offices in Stockholm, The Netherlands and the U.S. For more information, visit www.roxen.com.

In 2012 Roxen was awarded the Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award and was 2014 nominated to the Red Herring Top 100 Global as one of the world’s most innovative technology ventures.