New secure hosting offering

Enmore now offers a low cost additional security option to allow clients to use an HTTPS 256 bit encrypted connection to their on-line system, where each web system deployment utilises a dedicated 1024 bit industry standard SSL certificate that is trusted by all popular browsers.

HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the World Wide Web and for sensitive transactions in corporate information systems (see this Wikipedia link for more details).

HTTPS provides three additional security capabilities:

• Server authentication: allows the browser and the user to have additional confidence that they are connected to the correct web system and have not been redirected without their knowledge to another site
• Data confidentiality: is ensured since the data flow from the browser to the web system is encrypted so that anyone trying to 'eavesdrop' on the connection will not be able to understand the data
• Data integrity: means that a network attacker cannot damage or alter the content of data uploaded or downloaded from the web system because the communication is validated with a cryptographic message authentication code

An HTTPS connection is signified in most browsers by the showing of a icon somewhere on the screen (the position varies depending upon the browser being used), and the url field in the browser will have https://name_of_site, instead on the non-encrypted option signified by http://name_of_site.

This is shown in the screen shot below of the url field for the Enmore demonstration site which has had https deployed to illustrate this new Enmore packaged offering.

If you would like to learn more about this new HTTPS packaged offering then please contact us

Tiki 6.0 LTS new release enables Enmore Newsletter launch

The latest version of the Tiki wiki cms groupware software has now been released which has prompted us to launch an Enmore general Newsletter.

The new Newsletter takes advantage of developments that we undertook for version 6 that allow the subscription lists for Newsletters to be more effectively managed, and the first edition of the Newsletter is illustrated in the screen shot below:

If you would like to learn more about the new system software release then please contact us and you can subscribe to the Newsletter here

New wysiwyg editor coming with Tiki 6.0LTS

Over the last few months we have been very busy supporting the development of the latest version of the Tiki software version 6.0LTS. This is a significant development since this version will be the new Long Term Support version (LTS) and therefore we will be upgrading all existing clients to this version in due course, and all new clients will start with this version.

We are particularly involved with this new software version since we have been supporting the introduction of a new wysiwyg editor, by co-funding its development and carrying out extensive testing.

The screen shot above shows that the editor has a nice new 'clean' look and feel, but more importantly:

• the basic formatting options are all much improved, and
• extensive development has been carried out to integrate the use of the wide range of Tiki plugins into the editor in such a way that most of them are wysiwyg in the edit screen, albeit shown in a grey shaded box area, as illustrated above,
• however when the plugin shaded box area is double clicked within the wysiwyg edit screen, the separate plugin editor screen is opened allowing all the various plugin parameters to be easily applied/changed, as is illustrated in the screen shot below.

This combination of standard wysiwyg functionality with the added breadth and depth of the Tiki plugin library provides a powerful, but flexible way of creating and managing complex content.

The final production release of Tiki6.0LTS is expected in early November; if you would like to learn more about the new release or the new wysiwyg editor then please contact us.

Simple Export method for Tracker data

The Tiki CMS Groupware Tracker function is used extensively within Enmore packaged solutions to create customised data structures that manage the data associated with the individual system.

Being able to export this data either for archive/backup purposes, or additional off-line analysis, is a key requirement and Enmore has now developed a simple set of "Select & Click" tools that allow customised exports to be deployed within a customised system.

The screen shot above illustrates how an individual dataset (Tracker) can be selected and with a simple click, the data exported in a defined Excel CSV format.

If you would like to learn more about the Export Tracker capabilities and the wider set of "Select and Click" tools then please contact us.

The Googlemaps functions and new automation tools.

The Googlemaps functions within Tiki CMS Groupware are now available for clients and allow them to add geo-location data, with the associated display of maps, to Wiki pages, Trackers etc.

Integrated with the new "Select & Click" automation tools these new facilities, for example, allow the creation of a Tracker which manages the details for a series of locations, and then any of these details including the map information can be easily inserted into a Wiki page.

The screen shots above illustrate how a series of Tracker records can be established and a special Google Map Locator function can be used to capture the appropriate geographic parameters for your particular location.

If you would like to learn more about the Gogglemaps functions and its use with the new "Select and Click" tools then please contact us.

The Webmail function and new automation tools.

The Webmail function within Tiki CMS Groupware is now available for clients and allows them to create as many Webmail accounts as needed on a per user basis using the "Settings" screen as illustrated below. At any particular time one of the accounts is designated the 'active' account which will receive and send mail and the "Compose" screen allows an individual mail to be drafted as also illustrated below:

This is a very convenient way of checking a range of email addresses when you are perhaps travelling or you cannot use your main email client for some reason.

More importantly however, and as briefly mentioned in a previous post, Enmore have developed new "Select and Click" tools which allow the automation of a sequence of actions. A key component of this capability is to be able to automatically generate a webmail which is pre-populated either from fixed templates or by extracting data from Tracker records.

The screen shot below illustrates an Action button that generates a Webmail and also pre-populates:

• the TO: address with the email address of the 'applicant' that created the selected application record in a Tracker
• the SUBJECT: of email with an extracted title text from the selected application record, and
• the Webmail BODY with a pre-formatted layout and specific information extracted from the selected application record.

{IMG(src="img/wiki_up/webmail003_500c.jpg",alt="Webmail Select and Click tools",title="Webmail Select and Click tools", align=center")}{IMG}

This approach provides a very flexible way of dealing with routine processes since it is not completely 'rigid' i.e. the resultant Webmail can be edited and fine-tuned to the actual requirement before it is sent.

If you would like to learn more about how the Webmail function and its use with the new "Select and Click" tools then please contact us.

New tools to manage Newsletter distribution lists.

Building upon the Tiki CMS Groupware software's extensive Newsletter management capabilities, a new facility for managing distribution lists using Wiki pages and Trackers has now been developed by Enmore.

In addition to being able to, on a per Newsletter basis:

• manage dedicated lists of email addresses,
• use lists generated from defined Groups of users within the system,
• import lists from .txt files or from other Newsletters

You can now 'subscribe' a Wiki page so that its contents, whatever it is at the time, can be used to define emails to which an individual Newsletter Edition is sent.

This now provides a much more flexible way of managing Newsletter distribution lists since, in addition to the existing methods which can be used on a mix and match basis, the defined Wiki page can be updated in a number of ways, including dynamically generating its content from a Tracker database.

Designed to work in conjunction with the Contact Management 'packaged solution' - this new set of tools allows you to simplify and further automate your management of the distribution of multiple Newsletters to multiple, dynamic distribution lists.

If you would like to learn more about how you could use this new facility then please contact us.

Tools to allow automation for Packaged Solutions.

To further develop our capabilities for Packaged Solutions we have now started to develop a range of tools that allow the automation of a sequence of actions.

Dubbed the "Select and Click" tools these will allow us to deploy customised Control Panels as simple web pages, that are mapped to a specific set of business processes, which allow with a single click a series of defined actions to be executed automatically.

An example of how this works is shown in the screen shot below of a prototype Event Management system. A Control Panel is shown which allows a specific proposal for a new event to be selected and then the first of a series of standardised actions is shown where each action can be executed with a single click of a button.

We are at the early stages of developing this potentially very powerful and flexible set of capabilities and if you would like to learn more about how they could help you automate your routine business processes then please contact us.

New Contact Management solution available.

Using a combination of Trackers and associated Tracker Plugins, a packaged solution for basic Contact Management has been developed as illustrated below:

This approach allows:

• The details of various Organisations to be tracked, along with
• Individuals who are in each Organisation
• A standard list of the company individuals making the contact can also be maintained, and then
• The various Contacts made between the company individuals and the tracked contact individuals can be logged and various reports generated

This basic system can be used as the core for a more extensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Sales Force Automation (SFA) system which can be highly customised to individual requirements.

If you would like to learn more about how Enmore can help you develop a customised CRM or SFA system to meet your individual needs then please contact us.

New Press Management solution available.

Using a combination of Article, Wiki Plugin, Tracker and Newsletter features, a packaged solution for Press Management has been developed as illustrated below:

The approach allows:

• Individual Press Releases to be drafted as they arise, using a standard layout/format - where each Release can be categorised as 'immediately available' or 'available on an embargoed basis'
• Press Coverage summaries can also be captured as they are 'found'
• Automated summary web pages are compiled for Press Releases and Coverage
• A database of 'accredited' media individuals can be compiled with an on-line application process
• Routine Newsletters can then be sent to the database of individuals, providing a short summary of a Press Release + a link to the full item, or providing updates on other relevant activities
• All 'contacts' with individual media types can also be 'logged' so that there is a audit trail of all such communications.

If you would like to learn more about how Enmore can help you develop a customised Press management system to meet your individual needs then please contact us.

Enmore develops additional Plugin options for Articles and Blogs.

The ARTICLES and BLOGLIST Plugins are very useful capabilities that allow specific Articles and Blog posts to be 'extracted' from the system and displayed in individual web pages. Typically they allow individual Articles and Blog posts to be aggregated for reporting purposes in a very simplified and automated manner.

To enhance this capability, a number of new developments have now been completed by Enmore to provide more selection and formatting options.

These include:

• selection of Articles and Blog posts within a specified date 'window'
• the option to extract the full Blog post as well as the header/title, and
• the ability to apply a customised set of styling/formatting of the resultant web page via css.

The specific usage example that instigated the development is illustrated below

The new facilities allowed individual 'structured' Articles for News, Events, etc., as well as individual Blog posts, to be captured as they arose and then the production of individual summary web pages and a weekly Newsletter to be completely automated.

If you would like to learn more about how Enmore can help you use Articles and Blogs and compile customised web pages from their contents then please contact us.

Customised multiple themes.

The Enmore Managed Web Support service allows the on-line web site to be highly customised to reflect clients' brand/web presence designs - for example:

There are a number of situations however when for a single web site the web style or theme should look different depending upon the content or the user. To achieve this, the underpinning Tiki CMS Groupware software does allow an individual web site to utilise multiple themes where theme selection can be controlled via the following logic:

1. If a theme is assigned to the individual content object that theme is used.
2. If not, then if a theme is assigned to the object's category that theme is used
3. If not, then a theme for the Feature type (section) is used
4. If none of the above was selected, the user theme is used
5. Finally if the user does not have an individually assigned theme, the default web site theme is used

During a recent implementation however a number of deficiencies with the current software were uncovered which Enmore has now redressed with updated software so that:

• when a content object is assigned to multiple categories and those categories have different themes assigned to them i.e. there is a conflict - the theme selection logic has now been amended so that all category themes are ignored and the selection logic moves to the next level.
• when a user logs out from the site a designated exit landing page can be specified - which has the appropriate theme assigned to it.

These software enhancements allow more robust theme selection control and if you would like to learn more about how Enmore can create a highly customised style/theme for your Managed Web Support service then please contact us