Friday, October 12, 2007  

EditMe released an upgrade today that changes how Layouts and Style Sheets are managed. Layouts previously used XSL, which was limiting and difficult to use. The new layout technology offers a simpler method of creating custom designs for EditMe sites, and includes a programmable API for accessing site content in a more dynamic way than was possible before. Several other updates were bundled along with this release, including:

• Style Sheets and Layouts are now managed as EditMe pages, complete with versioning and attachments.
• Individual pages can over-ride the site-level Layout and/or Style Sheet. This allows, for example, the home page of a site to use a different layout from all of the other pages. 
• A JavaScript API that can be used to access data in an EditMe site for dynamic display in Layouts and Scripted Pages.
• A Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut has been added to the editing screen. In combination with a new "Keep Editing" check box, a long editing session can enjoy frequent saves without leaving the editing screen.
• All skins have been updated to use the new Layout system and also now toggle the EditMe tools menu on and off without reloading the page.
• A page named "404" was created for any site that did not already have one. This page is displayed when a visitor comes to a non-EditMe page address that doesn't exist. Also, the 404 page now returns a correct 404 HTTP status. These changes can improve search engine optimization when moving a site to EditMe from another hosting provider.
• As part of the Style Sheets upgrade, a page named "UpgradedStylesheet" was also created for every site. This page contains the current style sheet for the site and can be managed using the Styles tool in Site Settings.
• Temporary cookies are now used to remember a login for a given browser session, even if you don't remember to check "Remember Me" when logging in. This means you can now edit a page indefinitely and save without worrying about your login session expiring.

Upgrading to the New Layouts

If you have customized your site's XSL Layout or Style Sheet and do not want to lose those customizations, please read the Layouts Upgrade guide for further information and instructions.

If you have not customized your site's XSL Layout or Stylesheet, you can upgrade to a new layout by simply applying a new Skin, or reapplying your site's current Skin. See the Skins page in the online help for instructions.

Customizing the New Layouts 

Check out EditMe's Online Help for tutorials and documentation of the new layout features:

• Layout Development Tutorial
• The new Layouts Screen
• The new Styles Screen
• Layout Development Reference

As mentioned in previous posts, this is the first release in a series that will allow full site customization. Future releases of the JavaScript API will allow read/write access to EditMe's internal site data, allowing applications to be built on the platform and installed into sites
with a single click.

What's Next?

This was a significant release and it has taken up much of our time lately. We will be focusing now on getting smaller releases and updates out with higher frequency. At the front of the list is a sleek new set of Skins that is almost ready to be released. We hope to make them available by the end of this week. Keep your eyes on this blog for updates!