Release Notes

New features:

Image file size cap introduced system wide

We have introduced a 2.5MB file size limit on photos. This has been implemented across every Sitefinity site. There is no impact on image files that have already been uploaded. One of the easiest way to improve the performance of a website is to make sure that its media is optimized for use on mobile devices, especially those devices using a metered data plan. In general, we recommend a target of 200KB or less. Our cap now is 2500KB per file to allow for some leeway. The new file size cap will help the site builders to recognize when any of their photos is too large.

Hero Carousel/Slide show widget

The new Hero Carousel widget is ready! It was developed at the request of several clients: the School of Medicine, Student Affairs, and the School of Education and Human Development. The widget allows up to six slides and was built with accessibility in mind. We will continue to work on the keyboard navigation capabilities of this widget in subsequent sprints. It is important to remember to optimize your photos when using this widget thus https://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb/learnsitefinity/content/image-optimization

Formstack themes to match Sitefinity

OIT is releasing new Formstack themes to match Sitefinity. The new themes feature “embed” themes which allow a "Formstack form" to be embedded within a Sitefinity page to match our brand. Additionally, full page themes are also being launched. This allows standalone forms to match the Sitefinity pages and maintains our brand experience.

Improvements:

Flexbox card template for Events widget

The events “Event Tile” templates have been heavily revised to improve their responsive behavior by leveraging CSS flexbox. This allows for an improved display and flow of multiple side by side cards.

Flexbox card template for News Article widget

The news article “Simple Tile” template has been heavily revised to improve its responsive behavior by leveraging CSS flexbox. This allows for an improved display and flow of multiple side by side cards.

RSS Reader widget updated

We worked closely with our colleagues at the CU Denver Communications Team to improve the RSS Feed Reader widget significantly. RSS feeds following a standard format works well with our widget formatting now.

Mobile display of Link Group/Address in footer

The local footer has been revised to leverage CSS flexbox instead of older CSS float properties. The footer will center itself on the page when certain elements are omitted. In addition, the display of the local footer has been improved for mobile screen sizes.

Font Awesome updated and old version removed

We have updated the professional version of Font Awesome and removed the old free version that we've been using. This allows more iconography that may be used by our site builders. Here’s how it can be used in site build out: https://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb/learnsitefinity/content/font-awesome, https://fontawesome.com/cheatsheet/pro

Accessibility updates

Website accessibility helper content

We are adding content to @Web resource site (https://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb) each month. We have recently added content to help site builders make their websites more accessible here: https://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb/improve-your-site/web-accessibility

Bug fixes:

The following bugs have been addressed in this release:

• Global Header breaks onto two lines in Edge
• CTA style adjustments for consistency - added styling to support the “Call to Action” widget width option “Width of Text” inFireFox
• Safari display issue with the person accordion view and testimonials
• Local/Out of box description metatag not rendering in HTML source of pages
• In content blocks, ordered, and bulleted lists don't wrap around floated images
• Horizontal navigation sub sections not flying out or supporting keyboard navigation in Edge and Internet Explorer 11 browsers
• Enhanced Card - Images smaller than full width not centered

What’s coming up next in July:

Partnership Content Type and widget

Our senior product owner and the design team have been working with the School of Education and Human Development team to plan a Partnership content type. This content type will allow site builders to organize and display partner entities by leveraging a custom content type and widget.

Hero Video Theater Mode

We received a request for a “theater mode” for the Hero Video widget. Our design team is working on defining how the widget improvement will work. This will be included in the future developments.

Chatbot Proof of Concept

We participated in a proof of concept to implement a Chabot for the Registrar’s Office. The chatbot will be going live later this year and will help address students frequently asked questions.  Please note that the functionality of a human chat client and an automated chatbot are not the same.

Image Gallery for research and Creative Projects

The Web Advisory Committee expressed a collective interest in adding an image gallery to the Research and Creative Project content type and widget. We are researching ways to allow a folder of images to be associated with a single research/creative project or other expedient ways to associate several images with a project at once.

New window icon for links

The practice of opening links in a new window or tab has accessibility implications that are often overlooked. In an effort to allow site builders to open links in a new window or tab while still maintaining a high quality user experience for all visitors, we are looking at an icon to denote when a link is open in a new window/tab. Discovery for this feature is underway.

Discovery work for upcoming features and improvements:

Academic Program Finder

The Academic Program Finder is in progress for use with the new CU Online website.  We are meeting with the Registrar and the Data Infrastructure and Analysis group in the Office of Information technology to gather authoritative academic program data for use on the website.

Starter pages for offices

Our design team is working on producing a “starter pack” of common pages that administrative units can use to start their Sitefinity build out. This effort includes a sample homepage using best practices for widgets and layout.

Research Administration and the Research Lifecycle Content type

We are actively working with the research Admin team and a third party partner to plan a special content type that will be used to guide researchers through the lifecycle of a research project.  We anticipate that the build out phase will begin this summer.

A/B testing

The Student Affairs and CU Online groups have requested that we explore A/B testing. Our design team and product analysts are working on gathering requirements.

Infographics, statistical data and third party solutions

We are working to identify common requirements to build a tool for the university community. Many requests for “infographics” are unique. In some cases, third party tools may best serve our community. We are working to vet the accessibility and feasibility of third party tools such as h5p.org.

Salesforce, the Digital Experience Cloud and Personalization in Sitefinity

We have hired an employee to explore these Sitefinity product features and work with the community to discover how we can leverage these features in the future.

Robust Newsroom and News Articles

We currently have basic newsroom/ news article functionality in Sitefinity. Our senior product owner and the design team will be working with the University community to determine what is needed to provide a robust feature or a rich newsroom for Sitefinity.

Multilingual functionality

We have received a request to enable multilingual functionality in Sitefinity. We will be working with the community to determine the need and use cases.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Progress has added the capability to use AMP pages for certain content types. An ongoing effort to explore how we may best leverage this technology to our advantage is underway.

Type-in filter

We are exploring a type in filter that can be used with the Academic Program content type. We have not determined the best method of delivery but we are actively working on a proof of concept.

Back to Top feature

The Office of Equity has requested a “back to Top” feature as seen here https://www.uccs.edu/equity/. This idea has been positively received and we have started our discovery process on planning this feature for future development.

Multiple Horizontal Rule Styles

We received a request for multi style options for horizontal rules from the School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. This idea was positively received and planning is underway for future development.

Squared/checker box template for Enhanced Card

An interest has been expressed in a new card template for the Enhanced Card Content Type/Widget. The template will allow for an even number of cards to appear in a tightly formatted grid pattern. Discovery has begun on this template concept to gauge interest from the community.

Performance Improvements Planning

The Development and Operations team will be reviewing the last suggestions from our third party performance audit and creating a plan to finish implementing accepted suggestions.

Known Issues

Image editor/crop tool not working

This has been reported to Progress. We require a fix from the vendor to resolve this issue. The people widget loads too slow and it loses settings if an editor hits edit too soon. We are looking at the entire architecture of the people widget and content type to address this issue. Be sure to check out ttps://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb/support/current-workarounds for the latest on known issues.

CTA, Testimonial, and Enhanced Card changing title of the page

If a single item of content is specifically selected, it will change the title of the page. There is a work around to avoid this issue. Please see  ttps://www.ucdenver.edu/atweb/support/current-workarounds/reusable-content-type-bug

June 2019 site launches

CU Online launched on June 4th
https://www.ucdenver.edu/online

Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center launched on June 19th
https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/sickle-cell-center/

Webb-Waring Center launched on June 19th
https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/webb-waring-center/

Division of Rheumatology launched on June 19th
https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/rheumatology/