YACS 6.2 has been released, supports S5, Freemind, Matroska multimedia formats, and enhances web space management
YACS now integrates the famous S5 library from Eric Meyer, and lets you create interactive on-line presentations out of ordinary web pages.
YACS supports mind maps and the related Freemind open-source software. Not only can you post a map to a YACS server to share it throughout a community. You can also view it directly from within the browser window through the provided Freemind Java applet. This architecture allows for a rich graphical interface to any complex topic or web content.
YACS also supports the Matroska format for video and audio files. Do you know that Matroska files may contain several streams, including video, audio, text sub-titles, and even front-end menus? Actually this specification allows for very sophisticated interface management similar to what is provided by DVD. Combine YACS and VLC to achieve a powerful video-on-demand system, that will let you change the sound track or sub-titles at any time during the streaming session.
YACS enables full-size play-back of Flash files in the browser window. Use your usual tools to create interactive and attractive Flash objects. Or download Wink and create interactive tutorials for free. And benefit from the fact that most browsers have some Flash plugin readily available.
It is well-known that YACS has no group to manage permissions. But complex delegation schemes can be achieved anyway, by explicitly assign members to web spaces. A member assigned to a section becomes a managing editor of it, and is empowered to the point where he can do almost what he wants there. Editors can create, modify or delete sub-sections, create, publish, modify or delete articles and comments, etc. A section may have several editors to support collaborative work. Also, access to a section may be restricted to editors to make it a private web space.
Moreover, any member can create its own personal section (providing that this has been granted in configuration files), meaning that YACS may become a platform of choice for communities of bloggers, where each person has his own web space. This feature, combined with teasing capabilities of YACS, should help to make your communities grow faster than ever.
The configuration of sections has been streamlined to further ease the handling of sophisticated options supported by YACS. For example, changing the skin used throughout a section is now almost obvious...
YACS supports mind maps and the related Freemind open-source software. Not only can you post a map to a YACS server to share it throughout a community. You can also view it directly from within the browser window through the provided Freemind Java applet. This architecture allows for a rich graphical interface to any complex topic or web content.
YACS also supports the Matroska format for video and audio files. Do you know that Matroska files may contain several streams, including video, audio, text sub-titles, and even front-end menus? Actually this specification allows for very sophisticated interface management similar to what is provided by DVD. Combine YACS and VLC to achieve a powerful video-on-demand system, that will let you change the sound track or sub-titles at any time during the streaming session.
YACS enables full-size play-back of Flash files in the browser window. Use your usual tools to create interactive and attractive Flash objects. Or download Wink and create interactive tutorials for free. And benefit from the fact that most browsers have some Flash plugin readily available.
It is well-known that YACS has no group to manage permissions. But complex delegation schemes can be achieved anyway, by explicitly assign members to web spaces. A member assigned to a section becomes a managing editor of it, and is empowered to the point where he can do almost what he wants there. Editors can create, modify or delete sub-sections, create, publish, modify or delete articles and comments, etc. A section may have several editors to support collaborative work. Also, access to a section may be restricted to editors to make it a private web space.
Moreover, any member can create its own personal section (providing that this has been granted in configuration files), meaning that YACS may become a platform of choice for communities of bloggers, where each person has his own web space. This feature, combined with teasing capabilities of YACS, should help to make your communities grow faster than ever.
The configuration of sections has been streamlined to further ease the handling of sophisticated options supported by YACS. For example, changing the skin used throughout a section is now almost obvious...
359 files have been modified or created since the previous release.
The new release is available for immediate download, at [article=download]. If you are already running a YACS server we highly recommend you to smoothly upgrade your server. For further information check How to achieve incremental upgrades of a YACS server?.
Here is a list of new or updated features coming with this release:
When a section has been flagged has being a slideshow (through options), its index page is completed with a button to explicitly start the play. See sections/view.php.
The S5 library has been integrated into the YACS archive, and several scripts have been created or modified to display articles of one section as a set of interactive slides. Presentation content is shaped in sections/slideshow.php and in articles/layout_articles_as_slides.php.
Final rendering of a S5 slideshow is delegated to a dedicated skin template, and therefore may be adjusted through CSS, etc. This is why the S5 package has been copied several times in reference skins. You can expect more customizations on this in next releases.
YACS accepts mind maps (with extension
YACS now accepts Matroska files (with extension
YACS now allows for full-size rendering of uploaded Flash files. See files/view.php.
Any member can now become a managing editor of some section in three clicks. See sections/select.php. The list of managed sections appears on user profiles, at users/view.php.
Any member can create one or more personal sections (i.e., section he managed) up to a limit defined by associates. See sections/new.php.
Managing editors of a yabb-like discussion board are listed as moderators. See sections/layout_sections_as_yabb.php.
Managing editors now have full access to files attached to content they manage. See files/files.php.
YACS now distinguishes options for section index pages (e.g.,
A new option has been made available in sections to prevent commenting in related articles. See articles/view.php.
Locking of sections has been made a specific indexed attribute in the database to allow for improved response times.
YACS now allows authenticated members to use some HTML in their posts (shared/surfer.php). The list of allowed tags may be changed from the new configuration panel for user settings (users/configure.php). Also, this string is displayed in web forms to remind people what they are allowed to do (articles/edit.php, comments/edit.php).
In Wiki mode, some changes now require to be authenticated to the YACS server, including: setting a nick name to the page, changing page visibility, page options, page ranking, etc. Anonymous surfers may change main content, but are prevented to kill everything... See articles/edit.php and articles/view.php.
Even anonymous surfers are now warned when some article has not been published yet (articles/view.php). Still, only associates and editors can publish a page.
The list of versions of one article has more details about current version. See versions/list.php.
In discussion boards icons representative of comment's mood are also links to individual comment permalinks. See comments/layout_comments_as_yabb.php.
Most of the commented article is now displayed in the form used to post a comment. Previously only the introduction was listed. This is aiming to better support quoting in comments. See comments/edit.php and articles/article.php.
Links added to articles may now have a hovering title, and poster can select to open this in a separate window or not. See images/images.php and links/edit.php.
Heartbit has been added to the switch script (control/switch.php) to prevent session time-outs during long maintenance operations.
The history of visited pages has been transferred from the browser (based on cookies) to the server (based on session data). This means lighter HTTP requests and better network performance. See articles/view.php
A version number has been integrated into the YACS archive for further reference and troubleshooting. See
The engine for YACS codes now properly generates UL bulleted lists out of a series of dotted-items. Also, escaped areas are preserved from implicit formatting. Long lines of codes are wrapped after 75 chars, and long links are shortened. See codes/codes.php.
The setup (setup.php) has been enhanced based on user feed-back. Content of the switch file (
A new configuration panel has been created to change parameters related to users, at users/configure.php. A number of parameters related to security have been transferred there from the system configuration panel (control/configure.php).
Labels used in the control panel to link to configuration panels have been made more straightforward and easy to understand. See control/index.php.
YACS now allows for manual update of configuration files, where permissions settings prevent it to write directly to files. Content of the configuration file is displayed on screen, and the user can copy and paste this material on his own. All configuration panels have been modified, including agents/configure.php
In the Control Panel, text that states that the server is closed is now blinking to ensure maximum visibility of unaware webmaster (control/index.php).
'Home page' has been changed to 'front page' everywhere, to stay closer to actual usage of such a page. Similarly, 'home directory ' has been changed to 'installation directory' into the
'Usager' has been changed to 'utilisateur' on French speakers requirement.
Default settings for integer fields in the database has been changed to '0', to better support MySQL5.
Strong validator (aka,
Filtering of urls potentially provided by hackers has been moved from external scripts to internal core libraries like categories/categories.php
DOCTYPE of most reference template has been changed to pure XHTML 1.1. Not kidding.
A number of scripts have been updated because the attribute 'target' has been obsoleted in XHTML standard. These include: about.php and skins/skin_skeleton.php.
Neighbours links (to previous and next articles within a section) have been fixed in articles/view.php.
A buggy link has been fixed in articles/stamp.php.
Protection from spammers has been extended to mail addresses contained in script. Also, anonymous surfers have no direct links to fetch scripts. See scripts/browse.php and scripts/view.php.
A version string can now be added during the (re)build of the reference store (scripts/build.php). This is inserted into the file
YACS enforces teasing of anonymous surfers, and the registration process now allows for moving forward. See users/login.php and users/edit.php
11 smileys have been added to YACS.
Rendering bug has been fixed in polls, that prevented correct alignment on long labels. See overlays/poll.php.
Default images used to build poll bars now have a 3-D colorful aspect. These replace the outdated slashdot scheme used so far.
YACS makes no use of database name in mySQL statements, since this seems to be necessary for some web servers. See shared/global.php.
The internal XHTML validator used in forms now properly processes characters < and >
CDF and slashdot feeds have been obsoleted, and related scripts (feeds/cdf.php, feeds/slashdot.php) have been removed from YACS core distribution. These are not listed in the index page for feeds anymore (feeds/index.php).
The new release is available for immediate download, at [article=download]. If you are already running a YACS server we highly recommend you to smoothly upgrade your server. For further information check How to achieve incremental upgrades of a YACS server?.
Here is a list of new or updated features coming with this release:
When a section has been flagged has being a slideshow (through options), its index page is completed with a button to explicitly start the play. See sections/view.php. The S5 library has been integrated into the YACS archive, and several scripts have been created or modified to display articles of one section as a set of interactive slides. Presentation content is shaped in sections/slideshow.php and in articles/layout_articles_as_slides.php. Final rendering of a S5 slideshow is delegated to a dedicated skin template, and therefore may be adjusted through CSS, etc. This is why the S5 package has been copied several times in reference skins. You can expect more customizations on this in next releases. YACS accepts mind maps (with extension .mm) to be interactively shared on a web site. Use the provided Java applet to display and use the map from within the browser (cf. files/stream.php). Also, YACS triggers Freemind on download without Apache additional configuration (files/fetch.php). YACS now accepts Matroska files (with extension .mka or .mkv) and offers to stream these files. Use a powerful media player such as VLC to benefit from all features enabled by the open-source Matroska format. This is available in module for collections (for shared directories containing Matroska files) and in module for files (for videos attached to a page). See collections/browse.php and files/stream.php. YACS now allows for full-size rendering of uploaded Flash files. See files/view.php. Any member can now become a managing editor of some section in three clicks. See sections/select.php. The list of managed sections appears on user profiles, at users/view.php. Any member can create one or more personal sections (i.e., section he managed) up to a limit defined by associates. See sections/new.php. Managing editors of a yabb-like discussion board are listed as moderators. See sections/layout_sections_as_yabb.php. Managing editors now have full access to files attached to content they manage. See files/files.php. YACS now distinguishes options for section index pages (e.g., articles_by_title) from options for section content (e.g., with_rating, files_by_title). This allows for simpler configuration of sections. See sections/edit.php, sections/section.php, etc. A new option has been made available in sections to prevent commenting in related articles. See articles/view.php. Locking of sections has been made a specific indexed attribute in the database to allow for improved response times. YACS now allows authenticated members to use some HTML in their posts (shared/surfer.php). The list of allowed tags may be changed from the new configuration panel for user settings (users/configure.php). Also, this string is displayed in web forms to remind people what they are allowed to do (articles/edit.php, comments/edit.php). In Wiki mode, some changes now require to be authenticated to the YACS server, including: setting a nick name to the page, changing page visibility, page options, page ranking, etc. Anonymous surfers may change main content, but are prevented to kill everything... See articles/edit.php and articles/view.php. Even anonymous surfers are now warned when some article has not been published yet (articles/view.php). Still, only associates and editors can publish a page. The list of versions of one article has more details about current version. See versions/list.php. In discussion boards icons representative of comment's mood are also links to individual comment permalinks. See comments/layout_comments_as_yabb.php. Most of the commented article is now displayed in the form used to post a comment. Previously only the introduction was listed. This is aiming to better support quoting in comments. See comments/edit.php and articles/article.php. Links added to articles may now have a hovering title, and poster can select to open this in a separate window or not. See images/images.php and links/edit.php. Heartbit has been added to the switch script (control/switch.php) to prevent session time-outs during long maintenance operations. The history of visited pages has been transferred from the browser (based on cookies) to the server (based on session data). This means lighter HTTP requests and better network performance. See articles/view.php A version number has been integrated into the YACS archive for further reference and troubleshooting. See footprints.php. The engine for YACS codes now properly generates UL bulleted lists out of a series of dotted-items. Also, escaped areas are preserved from implicit formatting. Long lines of codes are wrapped after 75 chars, and long links are shortened. See codes/codes.php. The setup (setup.php) has been enhanced based on user feed-back. Content of the switch file (switch.on) is self-explanatory about its usage. A new configuration panel has been created to change parameters related to users, at users/configure.php. A number of parameters related to security have been transferred there from the system configuration panel (control/configure.php). Labels used in the control panel to link to configuration panels have been made more straightforward and easy to understand. See control/index.php. YACS now allows for manual update of configuration files, where permissions settings prevent it to write directly to files. Content of the configuration file is displayed on screen, and the user can copy and paste this material on his own. All configuration panels have been modified, including agents/configure.php In the Control Panel, text that states that the server is closed is now blinking to ensure maximum visibility of unaware webmaster (control/index.php). 'Home page' has been changed to 'front page' everywhere, to stay closer to actual usage of such a page. Similarly, 'home directory ' has been changed to 'installation directory' into the readme.txt. 'Usager' has been changed to 'utilisateur' on French speakers requirement. Default settings for integer fields in the database has been changed to '0', to better support MySQL5. Strong validator (aka, ETag attribute) is now generated after other HTTP attributes, to further comply with the standard RFC. All RSS feeds have been updated. Filtering of urls potentially provided by hackers has been moved from external scripts to internal core libraries like categories/categories.php DOCTYPE of most reference template has been changed to pure XHTML 1.1. Not kidding. A number of scripts have been updated because the attribute 'target' has been obsoleted in XHTML standard. These include: about.php and skins/skin_skeleton.php. Neighbours links (to previous and next articles within a section) have been fixed in articles/view.php. A buggy link has been fixed in articles/stamp.php. Protection from spammers has been extended to mail addresses contained in script. Also, anonymous surfers have no direct links to fetch scripts. See scripts/browse.php and scripts/view.php. A version string can now be added during the (re)build of the reference store (scripts/build.php). This is inserted into the file footprints.php that has MD5 signatures of all YACS core scripts, and this file is now put into the final archive. YACS enforces teasing of anonymous surfers, and the registration process now allows for moving forward. See users/login.php and users/edit.php 11 smileys have been added to YACS. Rendering bug has been fixed in polls, that prevented correct alignment on long labels. See overlays/poll.php. Default images used to build poll bars now have a 3-D colorful aspect. These replace the outdated slashdot scheme used so far. YACS makes no use of database name in mySQL statements, since this seems to be necessary for some web servers. See shared/global.php. The internal XHTML validator used in forms now properly processes characters < and > CDF and slashdot feeds have been obsoleted, and related scripts (feeds/cdf.php, feeds/slashdot.php) have been removed from YACS core distribution. These are not listed in the index page for feeds anymore (feeds/index.php).Rate this page
Posted by Bernard on Feb. 27 2006, (popular)
