A couple of minutes ago, we released version 7 of FontoXML. We are very excited, and with this post we want to inform you about the new features and the impact of upgrading to FontoXML 7.0
New features
FontoXML 7 contains a large number of new features. Among these are:
- Improved collaboration. Users get near-real-time feedback on the activity of other users working on the same collection of documents.
- A new structure view. The new structure view, now an optional add-on, allows collapsing and expanding groups of items.
- Renewed browse modals. The new modals will help you find what you are looking for more quickly.
- Better user experience. We’ve moved many bits of standard UI from the base platform to separate add-ons to enable you to more easily customize the user’s experience.
- Support for new standards. New add-ons provide official support for tables using various standard models: CALS, XHTML and DITA Simpletable.
- Redesigned reference API’s. The redesigned references API offers fine-grained control over reference transformation.
- Fonto Design System. An entirely new approach to Fonto’s UI, based on React, making it easier to write more flexible components that continue to perform well. More low level parts and better examples enable you to quickly construct the UI your application needs.
- FontoXML Connector App. Connecting to your CMS has just become a lot easier.
- And many more.The number of changed lines across our code base runs into the tens, if not hundreds of thousands.
For a complete overview please read our release notes.
An entirely new documentation platform
FontoXML 7.0 also introduces an entirely new documentation platform with improved search functionality and a refined content structure. We’ve worked hard to improve almost all parts of the FontoXML documentation. Our new API docs are always in sync because they are now generated directly from the actual code. We’ve also written more guides to help you get started quickly and solve common problems easily.
FontoXML is made with a level of precision you’d expect from a finely crafted watch — not an XML editor.
Our SDK. Everything you need.
The codebase of FontoXML has changed tremendously in version 7. So much so, we can’t even begin to list every individual change we’ve made. Instead, here are some metrics to give you an idea.
FontoXML 6.11 consisted of 153 packages, including add-ons. For FontoXML 7, every one of these packages has received tens to hundreds of individual commits.
FontoXML 7 has reduced the number of packages by almost 40%. At the same time, packages are more structured than ever, more configurable, and standard configurations are introduced. All UI packages are now part of the Fonto Design System (FDS) and better examples enable you quickly to construct the UI your application needs.
On top of that, we are introducing a massive amount of add-ons which allows you to enable (or disable) a feature within seconds. Packages now focus on features instead of technical components.
The number of changed lines across our code base runs into the tens, if not hundreds of thousands. We have ensured you can still do the same with FontoXML 7 as you could with 6.x.
FontoXML 7 is more configurable than ever.
Upgrading to FontoXML 7
Upgrading your FontoXML instance from 6.11 to 7.0 will require changes to the configuration, the extensions and the integrations with your CMS.
FontoXML 6.11 will be supported and serviced until the release of FontoXML 8, approximately 1 year from now. Upgrading your current 6.x editor to 6.11 will not have any greater impact than the minor upgrades you have already made. This means that you can plan your upgrade to FontoXML 7 at your convenience. Please contact us or your implementation partner for assistance.
We will continue our mission
We really enjoy our mission to make it easy for everyone to create structured and intelligent content by providing the most intuitive XML editor in the world. In 2018 we will continue this mission.
We appreciate your feedback so feel free to drop us a line. Enjoy the holidays!