April 3, 2019 at 13:28Umbraco 8 large-scale CMS update: what's new
At the end of February, Umbraco was updated to version 8.0. We love this CMS, since it is possible to create an intuitive structure for any site in it, so we could not get past this news.
In the eighth version of CMS, new features have appeared, the interface has also been redesigned - it has become more pleasant and friendlier. What is only a reminder of saving changes that has moved from the bottom of the screen to the center! Just kidding, of course, this is not the main innovation, but purely visual CMS has become much nicer.
Waiting for updates for almost 5 years, and a month ago it finally appeared in the release. Let's look at what has changed.
In each version of Umbraco, the creators' desire for simplification was clearly visible: it is easier to expand, easier to edit, easier to publish, easier to use. In general, it seems that their motto is to make both the developers and the content editors working on Umbraco feel most comfortable and steam up as little as possible.
This trend continued in version 8.0.
In the eighth version of Umbraco introduced three new features:
In addition to this, we cleared the code base, as well as improved the performance and stability of the CMS. All this makes significant differences between the new version and the previous - the seventh.
Thanks to this feature, you can freely navigate your tasks in Umbraco backoffice. This feature is useful for content editors and developers, as it simplifies the editing process and makes it intuitive.
For example, if you need to add an image, there is no need to go to a separate multimedia section to download it or edit it - everything happens right on the same page.
So we opened the content of the page and added a photo:
Then we decided to look at the photo settings and adjust it. We click on the photo, and the editor window opens directly on top of the current page. No need to go anywhere, open the folder with the image in a separate tab. Everything is done right here:
Then they saved the changes and continued to work on the same page, without losing context and not being distracted by unnecessary manipulations. And so with everything.
Also, all tabs were moved to one page. If earlier the fields for the title, content, seo and other parameters were separate, then now all this is displayed on one page.
In Umbraco 8, you can say goodbye to crutches, workarounds and complex synchronization with external packages - constant companions of developers who make sites with two or more interface and content languages. In the new version, language option management has become part of the CMS.
New built-in features:
So, for example, you can create pages in two languages at once:
This greatly simplifies the creation and updating of multilingual content.
In previous versions of Umbraco, for this it was necessary to search for each element and manually create a separate tree for the second language. Now this can be done right away and not pile up a complex structure.
Umbraco 8 introduced potential tools for collecting, measuring and analyzing content: how popular the publication is, how many people have downloaded the instructions or the price list, how readable the articles on the site, whether the keywords, title and description are correct. Now all this information can be seen in backoffice.
It’s like a personal assistant who is always ready to provide relevant statistics and give practical advice on improving the content.
Previously, each field could be a separate application. In the 8th version, they made a small application that relates exclusively to specific content.
There is also the opportunity to connect applications developed by the community. For example, they have already made an application that adds instructions for content managers to the page. In the future, for sure, the list of such applications will expand. An application that loads seo and analytics data right on the page will definitely be in demand.
In general, Content Apps is a great reserve for further development of applications by developers themselves.
Umbraco 8 has been developed for five years. One of the reasons for this was the need to thoroughly clean the code base. In principle, the developers of Umbraco 8 succeeded - here is now a less complex source code that is convenient to work with.
Removed obsolete things that are already harmful to use. Some built-in functionality began to require less attention, the syntax became more elegant. For example, “get property value” has become simply “value”, and so on.
Grid Layout is not a new feature, it has been preserved from previous versions. This is a convenient and flexible editor that allows you to insert different types of content in a predefined layout: headers, quotes, images, videos, etc.
Work with images . At the CMS level, you can program to use one image in different formats, depending on the media and situations where it is displayed. This removes the burden from the content manager - he does not need to manually crop photos for different formats each time. Also set up automatic placement of watermarks and automatic image optimization.
Rights. Setting rights is very flexible and at the same time strict. You can set for a specific user the right to edit only a specific page or even a specific field. You can direct the content editor: for example, when choosing images for the cover, immediately open the folder with the allowed images and do not let them into other folders to avoid errors.
In general, the new version of Umbraco 8 has become more convenient and easier to use. Now we are actively testing it, looking for bugs and inaccuracies that cannot be avoided in such a massive update. As soon as all the little things are found and fixed, we will begin to develop new projects already at the G8.
If you want details about Umbraco, you are welcome to comment: tell us what interests you, and we will write about it in the following posts. Umbraco is a really convenient CMS, which is undeservedly bypassed by Russian developers. And I would like to talk more about its features and capabilities to all who are interested.
In the eighth version of CMS, new features have appeared, the interface has also been redesigned - it has become more pleasant and friendlier. What is only a reminder of saving changes that has moved from the bottom of the screen to the center! Just kidding, of course, this is not the main innovation, but purely visual CMS has become much nicer.
Waiting for updates for almost 5 years, and a month ago it finally appeared in the release. Let's look at what has changed.
In each version of Umbraco, the creators' desire for simplification was clearly visible: it is easier to expand, easier to edit, easier to publish, easier to use. In general, it seems that their motto is to make both the developers and the content editors working on Umbraco feel most comfortable and steam up as little as possible.
This trend continued in version 8.0.
Three new features
In the eighth version of Umbraco introduced three new features:
- Infinity Editing - unlimited editing.
- Language Variants - language options.
- Content Apps - content applications.
In addition to this, we cleared the code base, as well as improved the performance and stability of the CMS. All this makes significant differences between the new version and the previous - the seventh.
1. Unlimited editing
Thanks to this feature, you can freely navigate your tasks in Umbraco backoffice. This feature is useful for content editors and developers, as it simplifies the editing process and makes it intuitive.
For example, if you need to add an image, there is no need to go to a separate multimedia section to download it or edit it - everything happens right on the same page.
So we opened the content of the page and added a photo:
Then we decided to look at the photo settings and adjust it. We click on the photo, and the editor window opens directly on top of the current page. No need to go anywhere, open the folder with the image in a separate tab. Everything is done right here:
Then they saved the changes and continued to work on the same page, without losing context and not being distracted by unnecessary manipulations. And so with everything.
Also, all tabs were moved to one page. If earlier the fields for the title, content, seo and other parameters were separate, then now all this is displayed on one page.
Editing has become one-page.
2. Language Variants - multilingual content management
In Umbraco 8, you can say goodbye to crutches, workarounds and complex synchronization with external packages - constant companions of developers who make sites with two or more interface and content languages. In the new version, language option management has become part of the CMS.
New built-in features:
- row editing blocks;
- the ability to switch between languages in preview mode for ease of comparison;
- ability to configure required languages, select the default primary language;
- the ability to create multilingual content not even on individual pages. and to individual fields;
- no need to specify additional pages in other languages for seo manually in meta tags, now this happens automatically.
So, for example, you can create pages in two languages at once:
This greatly simplifies the creation and updating of multilingual content.
In previous versions of Umbraco, for this it was necessary to search for each element and manually create a separate tree for the second language. Now this can be done right away and not pile up a complex structure.
3. Content Apps - the ability to improve content with deep data
Umbraco 8 introduced potential tools for collecting, measuring and analyzing content: how popular the publication is, how many people have downloaded the instructions or the price list, how readable the articles on the site, whether the keywords, title and description are correct. Now all this information can be seen in backoffice.
It’s like a personal assistant who is always ready to provide relevant statistics and give practical advice on improving the content.
Previously, each field could be a separate application. In the 8th version, they made a small application that relates exclusively to specific content.
There is also the opportunity to connect applications developed by the community. For example, they have already made an application that adds instructions for content managers to the page. In the future, for sure, the list of such applications will expand. An application that loads seo and analytics data right on the page will definitely be in demand.
In general, Content Apps is a great reserve for further development of applications by developers themselves.
Clearing the source code base
Umbraco 8 has been developed for five years. One of the reasons for this was the need to thoroughly clean the code base. In principle, the developers of Umbraco 8 succeeded - here is now a less complex source code that is convenient to work with.
Removed obsolete things that are already harmful to use. Some built-in functionality began to require less attention, the syntax became more elegant. For example, “get property value” has become simply “value”, and so on.
A couple more chips we like about Umbraco
Grid Layout is not a new feature, it has been preserved from previous versions. This is a convenient and flexible editor that allows you to insert different types of content in a predefined layout: headers, quotes, images, videos, etc.
Work with images . At the CMS level, you can program to use one image in different formats, depending on the media and situations where it is displayed. This removes the burden from the content manager - he does not need to manually crop photos for different formats each time. Also set up automatic placement of watermarks and automatic image optimization.
Rights. Setting rights is very flexible and at the same time strict. You can set for a specific user the right to edit only a specific page or even a specific field. You can direct the content editor: for example, when choosing images for the cover, immediately open the folder with the allowed images and do not let them into other folders to avoid errors.
In general, the new version of Umbraco 8 has become more convenient and easier to use. Now we are actively testing it, looking for bugs and inaccuracies that cannot be avoided in such a massive update. As soon as all the little things are found and fixed, we will begin to develop new projects already at the G8.
If you want details about Umbraco, you are welcome to comment: tell us what interests you, and we will write about it in the following posts. Umbraco is a really convenient CMS, which is undeservedly bypassed by Russian developers. And I would like to talk more about its features and capabilities to all who are interested.