I would like to create a suggestion mechanism for the Content Exchange. If we produce something that has broad appeal, that we can highlight it for other news organizations. For example, we are starting a op-ed-column on national issues and it can be helpful to organizations outside my area (CT). With so much of the Content Exchange being sports and celebrity stuff, this can be something that would be lost in that group. 

Is there a way to have a story that has been syndicated to stop being automatically revised once it is brought into our system? I.e. is there a way to "disconnect" from a syndication channel?

Other methods we used in the past are not reliable since the new update. This is important since sometimes a story in another market will focus on one municipality, while we want to move up content about our local market.

But in the new system, simply creating a copy of the original asset can result in assets appearing as duplicates on the site. And we cannot reliably remove the original asset without breaking an original link that's already been shared OR reliably "hide" it from our homepage because if it gets revised again then our edits will be undone.

Many publications now have a splash page from Instagram and I feel like this could be an easy addition in BLOX. We have interns run our Instagram and sometimes a post may be a story from a day or two before. If a reader uses the link in the Istagram bio, it takes them to our front page, however, the story may now be buried and readers may not take the time to find the related article.

What I would like is a splash page. When a reader uses the link it would take them to a BLOX page that just has the images from Instagram. These images would then act as a link to the corresponding story. This would be useful for all aging content and help to get more eyes on stories and less frustration.

I talked to TownNews and there's nothing available like this yet. Have any users built something like this or have any suggestions?

I'd love to set up a way to limit access to articles by whether they have signed up for our newsletter. Kind of like a paywall or how Google Surveys worked where you can't access the article unless you have subscribed. Any chance for something like this?

In the editorial section of Blox or TCMS, I can add columns, shuffle them around and just generally set things up in a way that's efficient for me. (Sort by start date, for example, or mark which stories have a site tag or which stories are marked "do not publish.") The next time I log in, the page will be set up the same way. That's great.

But when I'm in an asset and want to add child or sibling assets, the search results don't have the same functionality — I can show or hide columns that are or aren't relevant, move columns around to find what I want, but the next time I go to add a child or sibling asset, I have to do to the same thing again. It's time-consuming and, well, annoying. Any chance of being able to save those search result formats on a user basis?

Hello!

We are going to start using AdOwl as our primary manager for both web and print classifieds,

I understand we will be able to export files for our print edition, but will need to find a developer to write a script so we can import the file into InDesign. (We use InDesign 5.5 on a Mac system).

Does anyone have any experience with this or know of script developers to recommend for such a project?

Thanks in advance! :)

Webinar recording now available

At our May customer webinar, Bridget Sibthorp-Moecker, Director of Audience, and Allie Peters, product manager, for TownNews shared even more expert tips and tricks to help you generate audience revenue.

Topics included:

• Using our built-in promotional tools to reach potential subscribers with your membership offers.
• Best practices for structuring your emails to boost open rates and engagement.
• How to use popup reminders and promo boxes to grow email newsletter signups.
• Simple ideas for reducing friction on your signup forms for more registrations.
• The revenue impact of ads in your newsletters.
• . . . and much more!

Ready to get started? Watch it today!

Webinar recording now available

At our April 2021 customer webinar, Susan Bell, senior product manager at TownNews, highlighted new and exciting updates for the BLOX Now mobile app, including:

• Our new video player enables you to display live streams directly in your home topic feed, making it easier than ever to engage your mobile audience with live video.
• An all-new in-app weather experience keeps users coming back with location-based weather reports and user-customizable location lists.
• Get the latest updates on how TownNews has prepared for IDFA in Apple’s next software release.
• Learn how we are improving GA4/Firebase Analytics so you can better monitor your app’s performance.
• . . . and much more.

Ready to get started? Watch it today!

Webinar recording now available.

Topics included:

• Building a meter strategy to achieve your business goals.
• Increasing conversions with targeted offers.
• Creating effective promotional campaigns.
• . . . and much more!

Ready to get started? Watch it now.

While the "swipe to next article" feature in NowApp is a great way for users to easily swipe to a new article, the swipe (or slide) feature can be a hindrance when interactive content is included in the app. For example, traffic maps, games, and 360 video or photo elements. When a user tries to interact with these elements, we've found that the app's swipe feature overrides these interactions, providing for a poor user experience.

It would be helpful to have the option to disable the "swipe to next article" feature based on section.

I'm looking for a site that uses WSI for weather data that feeds the TownNews weather blocks. Our meteorologist has a concern about how the high/low temps are showing, and I am trying to find another example to see if the behavior is the same. Most of the sites I know are in the Meredith group and use custom stuff for weather.