I am very happy to announce another Alfresco Community release is planned for next week! This will be the Alfresco Community 4.2.d release and is based on the very latest 4.2 community code-line.
Here are some of the exciting new features and improvements that you will find in 4.2.d. This release builds on the features added to Community 4.2.c which you can also read about.
LightTheme and Share Header
The latest iteration of the new Share user interface theme. This theme is progress towards a lighter looking, more modern UI experience.
This release includes an improved and redesigned Share header component - built on the enhanced Surf UI framework that is part of 4.2. The header includes access to the new application areas such as My Files which is described below, and improved Site favourite management. LightTheme is the default for new installations. It is also the default theme in the very latest MyAlfresco cloud update. If you haven't tried MyAlfresco for a while, now is a good time to do just that - as the interface is now snappier and more responsive.
Simplified Document Library Toolbar
A collapsed and simplified user experience for the Document Library toolbar area. Multiple toolbar areas and multiple menus have been collapsed into single toolbars and menus giving much more vertical screen estate. With a simplified Create menu making for a less cluttering view and easier to find places to put customised menu options. The addition of Create Document From Template option is also a new feature.
The document library also has improved performance due to performance related bug fixes from our 4.1 Enterprise branches.
Filmstrip and Full Screen View
Since 4.2.c the Gallery View has also been improved with the addition of a Filmstrip view that enables rapid viewing of large thumbnails for media files directly from the Gallery View. File Drag and Drop and multi-select actions are still supported from this new view. It also features Full Window and Full Screen options for distraction free viewing of large media files.
Table View and Configurable Document Library Views
A brand new Table or 'spreadsheet' like view has been added to the document library. The Table View is an excellent example of the new configurable document library view framework that is part of 4.2. A basic document table view plus Audio and Media focused table views are configured and available by default. See the <view-renderers> section in share-config.xml for examples of how these views are configured, including example Email and Dublin Core views.
It is also worth pointing out that you can now set a view as a 'default' for a folder you own so Share will remember when you next visit it, other users who visit the folder will be presented with that persisted view preference as the default also.
Icon Refresh
Share has had a new set of icons rendered for it, in keeping with the flat styling of most modern web-sites and applications.
My Files and Shared Files
The return of user home directories to Alfresco! A very popular feature in Alfresco Explorer, users now have their home folder exposed in Alfresco Share, accessible from the 'My Files' option in the header.
Shared Files is a common Contributor location accessible to all users (by default) - this maps to a new folder under the 'Company Home'. An Administrator can set-up appropriate company permissions to use this as a central location for shared documents.
User Trashcan
Now all users can retrieve accidently deleted files and folders without contacting an Adminstrator. Accessible under the My Profile area, a user Trashcan is a searchable location where files can be restored or purged with multi-select actions. It is also possible to restore entire deleted Share sites with document library content and all components and permissions still intact. Users can also view the content of deleted documents without restoring them completely, as a quick way of retrieving or validating accidently deleted content.
Updated CMIS API
Including support for CMIS 1.1 features such as the Browser Binding.
Alfresco Public REST API
Including access to Sites, People, Favorites, Tags and more
Refresh of installed 3rd party components
Java 7u25, Tomcat 7.0.42, PostgresQL 9.2.4, ImageMagick 6.8.6
Translations
As usual the Share translations have been improved and there are more languages available than ever. Translations include: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, Norwegian, Simplified Chinese.
Metadata Query
A subset of CMIS queries may be automatically executed against the database if they do not contain OR, CONTAINS(), SCORE() or IN_TREE(); nor refer to decimal, boolean or URI CMIS data types.
https://issues.alfresco.com/jira/browse/ALF-19126
Bugs!
Lots of bugs have been fixed as usual. You should also again find the performance of 4.2 is much better than Community 4.0. See the full list of fixed bugs since the 4.2.c release.
In Summary
We hope you enjoy this Alfresco Community release!
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