MySource Mini CMS appliance launched

Previewed in October at our international users conference, the MySource Mini was launched this month in Sydney.

The ‘Mini’ is a packaged hardware and software web content management system (CMS) appliance, designed to make it really easy to create and operate basic websites and intranets.

Developed by Squiz, the MySource Mini appliance combines easy-install custom web server hardware, with ground-breaking new CMS software. The system includes context-sensitive help, and keeps itself current with updates and new functionality via the worry-free automatic update service. For more information and short feature list see our MySource Mini page. To make an enquiry, email sales@squiz.co.nz, or call us on (04) 805 0098.

ALGIM Awards for council sites

Congratulations to Far North District Council and Dunedin City Council on their ALGIM Web Awards, presented at the ALGIM Web Symposium at Wellington on Monday, May 4.

Far North District Council won the ‘Best Redevelopment Website’ award, for the Council's main Internet site at www.fndc.govt.nz. The website was built on the MySource Matrix CMS along with the Council’s intranet, and was launched in November 2008. Staff from the Council’s web team and Squiz New Zealand worked together to implement the sites, which are now managed by the Council, supported by Squiz.

Dunedin City Council won the ‘Best New Feature’ award, for their Job Vacancy system. The system was implemented in MySource Matrix by the Council’s own web team.

“Innovation through Citizen Centric Governing” seminar

Squiz and the Chair of E-Government at Victoria University of Wellington are running a seminar on “Innovation through taking a citizen centric approach in government and governing”.

To tackle the complex problems we face as a society, governments are increasingly aware of the need to collaborate with other organisations and individuals. By focusing on shared outcomes and dealing with the citizen as a ‘begin-user’, rather than an ‘end-user’ in designing policy solutions, collaborations between government and citizens can lead to innovative, empowering solutions.

Date: 14 May 2009
Time: 5.00 - 7.30pm
Location: Victoria University of Wellington, Pipitea Campus, RWW 501 (Railway Station)
Cost: FREE
Enquiries and registrations: Are by invitation only and space is limited. To attend contact Fran Denton, by email fdenton@squiz.co.nz or phone 04 805 0098 extn 862

MySource Matrix release update

MySource Matrix versions 3.20.4 and 3.22.0 were released on Monday May 4.

New feature: video file asset

A new Video File asset, contributed by Nic Hubbard, has been added to the Matrix core (versions 3.23.0 development, 3.22.0 stable, 3.20.4 stable). Like the MP3 File asset, this asset uses the getID3 third-party application. The supported video extensions are: .mov, .avi, .wmv, .asf, .flv, .mp4, .m4v, .mpg, .mpeg . Video metadata is extracted by getID3 upon upload and these can be overridden and extracted again from the 'Details' screen.

The Bulk File Import Tool has also been amended to automatically create Video File assets when uploading files manually or from the server which match any of the supported file extensions.

To keep up to date with new releases and features of MySource Matrix, you can subscribe for the developer newsletter in RSS or email versions at: http://matrix.squiz.net/developer/dev-newsletters.

New sites running on MySource Matrix

• Science showcase: NIWA (New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research) has launched its redesigned website showcasing its leading environmental science. The site was designed by Wellington’s Shift, and implemented by Squiz and NIWA.
• Social networking: For 250 years, the UK’s RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) has “been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress”. Now the 27,000 fellows of the RSA are extending social networking online to find innovative practical solutions to the most pressing social issues affecting our communities today. Site implemented by Squiz UK.

Website accessibility training

Version 2.0 of the New Zealand Government Web Standards 2.0 was released in March. A major change is adoption of the W3C's WCAG2.0 standards.

Accessibility specialist Bruce Aylward of W 3 A will run a series of training courses at Squiz’s training lab in Wellington. Each course is a practical, hands-on guide to complying with one of the three WCAG 2.0 priority levels.

Course dates

• Thursday 14th May – WCAG v2.0 Priority 2 Checkpoints
• Thursday 28th May – WCAG v2.0 Priority 3 Checkpoints
• Thursday 4th June – WCAG v2.0 Priority 1 Checkpoints
• Thursday 11th June – WCAG v2.0 Priority 2 Checkpoints
• Thursday 18th June – WCAG v2.0 Priority 3 Checkpoints

Course cost: $500 + gst per day.

For enquiries and registrations, email info@w3a.co.nz.

Squiz signs up for eMission

The Enviro-Mark certification programme is managed in New Zealand by Landcare Research. The programme helps organisations develop and implement an environmental management system (EMS), and then certifies the organisation after an independent audit.

Upcoming Courses

• Squiz CMS 101

  
  
  This course teaches users the basics of how to use the Administration Interface of Squiz CMS, including day-to-day tasks such as creating pages and basic content, and more complex features such as workflow.

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• EES 101 - Easy Edit Suite Fundamentals

  
  
  This course teaches users the basics of how to use the Easy Edit Suite, including day-to-day tasks such as creating pages and basic content, and more complex features such as workflow.

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• CSS 101

  
  
  This course teaches the use of cascading stylesheets to control page layouts using DIV containers.

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• STATS 103 - Website Statistics

  
  
  This course seeks to demystify web statistics for website owners. Allowing site owners to collect and interpret information on how users are interacting with their website using reports produced by two popular statistical packages, AWStats and Google Analytics. June 2

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• MATR 210 - Matrix Packages - CMS

  
  
  This course teaches you how to use the assets that are available in the Matrix package, and includes how to set up member registration pages, image libraries, staff directories, etc. May 11 - 12

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• MATR 201 - Matrix Content Administration

  
  
  This course teaches basic administration tasks on assets in a web site. This is for people who will need to administer site permissions and manage user access. June 9 - 10

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• MATR 202 - Matrix CMS Administrator

  
  
  This course extends the topics covered in MATR 201 to include all administrative principles in Matrix. This is for people who need to administer all aspects of Matrix. June 9 - 10

  Course Calendar   Course Details

• MATR 101 - Matrix Fundamentals

  
  
  This course teaches users the basics of how to use the Administration Interface of Matrix, including day-to-day tasks such as creating pages and basic content, and more complex features such as workflow. May 27

  Course Calendar   Course Details

View Squiz New Zealand Training Courses / Training Schedule / Training Registration Form

Enquiries, email training@squiz.co.nz, or contact: Fran Denton, phone (04) 801 0098.

Please be aware that our training sessions do get rescheduled from time to time, check our website for our up to date training schedule when booking training for yourself or your company.

DIY: MySource Matrix resources

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