Topic: Kete 1.2 Features
Topic type:
A summary of the major features in Kete 1.2.
Originally written by Walter McGinnis, Kete Project Lead for Katipo Communications, Ltd.
Kete 1.2 is packed with new features. If you would like to get a sense of the full breadth of the work done check out the 1.2 Milestone for the gory details.
Note: Follow "guide" links to find out to use, enable, or configure the feature in question.
Overview of Features in 1.2:
- Accessibility
- Several accessibility enhancements to comply with the New Zealand Government Web Standard and Recommendations, generalized and customizable for sites from varying countries.
- Extended Fields
- More Ftype Options: this is a BIG ONE. Extended fields in forms are no longer limited to text, check boxes, or text area. Site administrators can set selections (controlled vocabulary, including hierarchical choices e.g. categories and subcategories, guide), Google Maps for location fields (guide), and choices that are links to specific topics on the site (guide) as fields.
- Results by Extended Field Value: depending on extended field ftype, click on an extended field value will take you to a results page where all items have the same extended field value. Handy for categorization.
- Users Accounts
- User Portraits and/or Gravatar Support: a selected portrait or gravatar will appear next to the user's name when they are mentioned on the site. A user may have more than one portrait, all portraits shown for a user from any image detail page that is one of their portraits (guide).
- User Profile: display of user portraits or gravatar (if enabled), contact link which will email user without exposing their email address (if user so decides, guide), and shows a user's basket memberships.
- Navigation: a "V" menu that makes it easy for a user to get to any basket they are a member of from any page.
- Baskets
- Expanded Basket Creation Policy: sites may elect to allow their normal users to be able to create a new basket or request that one be made (guide).
- Basket Profiles: site administrators can simplify the basket add/appearance/homepage options forms for basket administrators according to what is appropriate to their site (guide).
- More Options for Basket Administrators: set a join policy, whether to provide a basket specific contact link to non-members, include external RSS feed entries on basket homepage, and much more (example guide for changing footer template).
- Basket Directory: a sortable list of all baskets on the site which displays appropriate options for the basket relative to the view user such as whether may join the basket or contact it. Includes RSS feed.
- Improved Members Directory: can be set on a basket by basket basis to be available to public or different roles of members. Sortable and speed improvements. RSS feed available if public.
- Tagging
- Faster Tagging: quickly add new tags from item's detail page rather than having to add tags via more general edit form only. Autocomplete of existing tags as predefined choices for user added to quick tagging and item add/edit forms.
- Tags Directory: listing all tags on site or in a given basket, sortable by random, popularity, alphabetical, or latest/oldest. Includes RSS feed.
- Tag Names: support for tags with special characters, like apostrophes, has been reinstated.
- Interface
- More Use of Thumbnails: related image thumbnails added to latest topics and topic results page when available. Support for resizing of more file image file types (TIFF, BMG, etc.).
- Number of Related Items: now shown on result pages per result.
- Unified Add Item Form: allows users to add items to whatever basket they are a member of without having to navigate there first. Interface improved to speed up process for the user.
- Related Items on Topic Pages: unified interface for adding, linking, removing, and importing sets of related items (expect more improvements in 1.3!).
- Content License: moved to side bar to not interrupt flow of page (guide to how to add content licenses)
- Image and Other Media Content
- Better Image Resizing Support: for image file types other than JPEG, GIF, and PNG (e.g. TIFF)
- Embedded Metadata in Uploaded File Harvesting: matching metadata loaded into Kete attributes (title, short summary, description, tags, and extended fields) via EXIFTool processing for formats like EXIF, XMP, IPTC, and ID3, including Geotagging (embed harvesting guide, geotagging guide).
- Podcasting Hosting Support: (audio and video), by adding enclosures to RSS feeds (guide).
- Media RSS Support: (e.g. http://cooliris.com/) by adding media content elements to RSS feeds for audio, video, documents, and images (guide).
- Privacy
- Private Related Items: users can now link items that are completely private to each other or to public items and they will be displayed to users with correct permissions.
- Private Topics in Latest Topics on Basket Homepage: if a user is a member of basket, they will also see the latest private topics in the basket, not just public topics.
- Private Version of Homepage Topic: basket administrators may have a public facing version of the basket homepage and one only for basket members.
- Totals for Private Contents by Type on Basket Homepage: see number of private items and jump right to results for private topics, images, documents, etc.
- and a lot more!
In addition, Kete 1.2 now works with latest versions of Zebra and YAZ (supporting required software) rather than being stuck at a specific earlier version of each.
Security:
Beyond the new features added, we have put in a number of security improvements. All existing Kete sites should upgrade for improved security.
Whew! That's pretty chunky feature list. Work on 1.3 is already underway and is focused on having a faster turnaround time.
