Northplains’ Xinet version 19 introduced several new features that you may have missed and you might want to have another look at because some of them are pretty cool.

Apple put the handwriting on the wall a while ago that they were phasing out their own protocol (AFP) and Northplains has embraced that long coming change by providing a path to Apple’s implementation of the SMB protocol (SMB2/SMBX). Northplains has reworked their licensing packages by creating larger total logins of AFP users, (until end of life by Apple) and doubling that number for concurrent SMB logins.

So if your older version license has 32 AFP users, your version 19 license will have 50 AFP users and 100 SMB users. So they’re rounding the AFP numbers up and then doubling that new number for SMB users. That’s a pretty clean resolution.

The new version 19 license will work with Samba 4 and higher. Samba 4 out of the box is a much more secure, overall better version of the stack for connections to these servers.

Northplains has also addressed one of the most common client requests that I've gotten and it’s about upload reporting. With version 19 we can now create an aggregate upload email action. Gone are the days of getting an email for every-single-asset-uploaded. Now when a user uploads several assets it’s aggregated as one journaled report/email notification. Whether it’s several assets or a hundred, the report is based on the upload session, not each individual asset.

Business Rules Filters were introduced in version 18 but administrators had to create and edit a JSON file to control how they worked. I’m not a code writer so I found it effective but a bit tedious.

With Xinet19 Northplains put the task into the GUI. I’m finding it very intuitive and easy to use and it gives you some very powerful controls to hide assets and even folders without having to pay as much attention to siloing protected data.  

We’d be happy to show you all of this! If you're not already on 19, we can get you scheduled for an upgrade to Xinet19 ASAP. Please reach out and lets keep your productivity improvements always on the rise.  

For more information on Xinet and DAM.

THIS is the Xinet User Interface you've been asking for!

Create visually stunning, mobile friendly, and state of the art interfaces for each of your customers and end-users with E6 from NAPC. We've spent years developing for and extending the underlying toolset to meet the needs of our hundreds of customers in order to bring you a fully customizable UI with tools that you could only dream of.

We've built this interface from the ground-up based upon our years of experience with Digital Cybrarians, Studio Managers, Retouchers, Video Production departments, Brand Managers, and Printers. We've done our best to add all of the tools and UI enhancements that our customers and their customers have asked for. And we're adding features everyday. Here are a few screenshots showing just a touch of what you can get from Xinet when you use E6 from NAPC:

A Zoomable, pinchable, dragable viewer!

Mouse-over large previews!

A swipe-able, side-scroller Gallery View with popup metadata!

A Drag-N-Drop Lightbox for basket integration, side-by-side compare tool, emailing and file management!

Call NAPC today to schedule a full demo of our product suite. This is something you should really get excited about. We are!

    Welcome back from the holidays! To start your year off right, here's a list of some really cool improvements we've made over the last 2 months or so in E6, our Xinet interface. We're focusing on usability, performance, and generally easing the adoption of using a DAM system, both for casual and power users.

In no particular order, here's what we've been up to-

We released a new theme- 'Air'. It allows a single background image across all pages, custom volume and folder icons, and lots of other neat features. Check it out:

New 'uploader' plugin- a really nice interface for editing metadata on lots of files. It does drag and drop, and drag and select to choose the files you want some metadata applied to, etc... We'll port the code to Batch Keyword Apply in the next couple weeks, so your cybrarians will have a *much* easier time of setting and correcting metadata on groups of files. And of course, we kept the best bits from the original version- individual progress bars, feedback to the users.

'Steal a Link' in SuperMail- both when browsing in E6 and from the Mac desktop. You can now get a SM link copied to your clipboard to add into a personal email. We had lots of folks who didn't want to send a SM to themselves, then copy the link from there into their email client.

New versions comparison function- you can compare 2 files side by side and zoom in on them. Choose different versions of the same file, (even if the filetpes are different!) and compare them.

You can now export and Import E6 sites- Host to host, or on the same host. We had someone build a site on a Dev server in Cali, export it, and import it into the Prod server in Chicago. Cool stuff!

Gallery view- who doesn't love themselves a Gallery? We then added drag&drop to it, because well, drag&drop.

E6 AFR with SuperMail- with fine grained permission rights. It's awesome - reusing the SuperMail interface, it's 100% reliable (a marked improvement over the OOB experience). Check out Sully's video here: bit.ly/E6_AFR

True SSO- we built a SAML plugin for E6 that will work with any idP out there that 'speaks' SAML 2. It just works, as I like to say. 

Better Navigation- We're always looking for how to bump productivity and ease of use. We added in the ability to navigate up through higher levels using the breadcrumbs along the top. Little triangles of joy I call them. The developers try and tell me stuff like "it's built with AJAX, so no page load hit", but I just nod my head and enjoy the experience.

Internationalization- It's a global world, and people want a familiar touch. We fully support any and all date formats automatically, based on your browser's settings. If you're in the US, you see month/day/year. If you're in Europe, day/month/year. Text is easily customised too, everything can be translated usng a simple text file.

InPress plugins compatibilty- We wrote E6 with an eye towards openness and ease of integration. All InPress plugins are fully compatible with E6, as are all WebNative Basket plugins. 

Documentation- We're documenting everything on our online docs, usually the same day a new feature get's released. Click the help button on any page, and you go right to the correct help page for that subject.

    So, start the new year off right, and push that 'update' button in Elegant6.  Or,  jump the E6 install  line by dropping us a line - helpdesk@napc.com . Make the subject "E6 install" or "I need me some E6" (fastest response for that one), and the installation elves will get cracking.

              Make your users happy. Make your work life better. E6.

I’m incredibly excited to report the release of Elegant 6. It’s been a long, strange trip from it’s origin over 10 years ago as ‘Green’ - a simple, intuitive DAM interface for casual users.

Many of you have seen previews from the last couple webinars we’ve held, and some of you have been Beta testers (huge props to the Beta team!). For the rest of you, here’s what you can expect:

Performance- It’s fast. Really fast. Our Engineering, Performance and Metrics team have said it’s waaaay faster than Elegant 5, Exhibit, or anything else Xinet out there. That’s a technical term, of course.

Ease of use- we stripped out as many doodads as possible, removing buttons and confusing options for the user all over the place. Everything you see on the screen that is text is customizable, so you can make the buttons say what YOU want. Makes internationalization a breeze too.

Mobile friendly- Out of box we’re multitouch compliant. Pinch and spread away, the interface will zoom in and out, just as you’d expect. Sweet for quick reviews from the road.

Ease of use also translates into more feedback. We’re providing feedback all the time- from adding files to baskets, to browsing into empty folders, you always know what’s going on. And the new interface for uploading files is “light years ahead” (another technical term) of the current. No more users cancelling big uploads, or closing windows before their time.

Send supermail from the finder! Yep, a user can be browsing from the mac desktop, highlight some files, and send links to them without having to go to portal and repeat the operations. “Amazingly useful” is the least flattering comment we’ve gotten on this one.

12000% improvement in file management. OK, that’s an approximation. But real, robust file management through Elegant’s web interface is here. And it’s awesome.

Easy color theming- using online tools like Painstrap, it’s simple to create a color scheme to die for, and then slide it into Elegant 6. See previews of the new look  in the interface as you are applying and fine tuning. We got more than a little applause from the community for this one.

There’s dozens and dozens more, of course. Since we started from scratch it’s built with modern tools, making support a breeze. There’s a self updater, so you can see what’s new in the latest and upgrade yourself to get the latest feature set. We also built it so anyone with CSS skills can change the look and feel without having to pore over a Portal manual, and climb the steep learning curve of legacy software.

We’ll be in touch over the coming days and weeks, working with you on getting you into the future right now. Feel free to drop a line to helpdesk@napc.com with “Elegant 6 install” in the subject, and we’ll move you up the list (you deserve it for getting this far in a blog post!).

Here’s some common questions:

Any downtime for the install?

No, ‘course not.

Do all my users need to switch over right away?

Nope. Elegant 6 and Elegant 5 live next to each other.  E6 doesn’t even need portal to run, believe it or not. It’s that different!

Will my Elegant plugins/ custom CSS/ custom javascript port over?

Sadly, no. Given the vast difference in the code base, these kinds of things need to be recreated from scratch. That being said, we’ve included in E6 a ton of the plugins we’ve built over the years.

Is there a video I can watch?

Yep- right here: http://bit.ly/elegant6release

How much does this cost?

If you’re currently under support, Zilch. Zip. Nada. This is what support should go to- modernization and better code. We hate fixing bugs and retrofitting code too. So upgrade, and make your life better, already!

It is time for Henry Stewart Events: DAM NY this week (May 7-8) in New York City. Henry Stewart DAM Conferences take place several times per year, in a number of major cities. Like it, or not New York City is however the capital of DAM. Follow all the updates with #DAMNY.

Hundreds of DAM professionals (#IsThisYou) will gather to discuss, review, connect and participate in case study presentations, collaborative work sessions and techlabs. The growth of the digital assets business sector has been phenomenal and the importance of storing, accessing, distributing, repurposing and monetizing those assets increases every day. This convention will deliver what it promises: the latest thinking on how to store, access, distribute, and monetize your digital assets, illustrated with learnings from multiple case studies.

With a great line up of speakers, and a full agenda over the course of two days, this is certain to be an important conference to attend. Several members of the NAPC team will be on hand, and keep a look out for teams from Bynder and DALIM SOFTWARE GmbH, both of whom will both be exhibiting. This is a treat for us, having two of our primary partners in one place. 

Attendees can expect a great deal of topics including:

• "A look at how to build a DAM foundation that is not only effective for the creative needs of now, but one that will stand the test of time" with speaker, Theresa Regli, Managing Partner & Principal Analyst, Real Story Group.
• Where is DAM Heading? A panel discussing content contextualization and brand management, on-premise vs. cloud hosted or SaaS, and who will be buying DAM? This panel will include among others representatives from 3M Company, Sterling Publishing and Hallmark.
• Identifying the Needs. Satisfying the Wants. This panel will focus on where vendors are taking their products and the ways they seek to facilitate marketing innovation, as well as how the needs of global companies and their creative, branding and marketing teams are to be fully satisfied (#IsThisYou)

In preparation for Henry Stewart, here are some helpful tips for getting the most out of this or any conference. Enjoy the largest Digital Asset Management Conference of 2015 and keep an eye on the NAPC Twitter and Facebook feeds for updates, and save the hashtag #DAMNY to follow the convention.

Not attending? You can always keep up with news, the state of the DAM industry, branding content and digital asset management tips and tricks, and much more by subscribing to the NAPC Blog.

Certain content from within the post comes from original sources including HubSpot, Henrik de Gyor and The Henry Stewart Conferences. 

The survey was conducted by Theresa Regli, Principal Analyst and Managing Partner, Real Story Group. In the course of the survey, Regli found that "A lot of people aren't particularly happy with their systems." Further, the survey found "how unsophisticated a lot of the DAM use was with most organizations using DAM because they need a place to put pictures."

Kenny Kirsch, Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer of NAPC notes "It’s often not the technology alone, it’s the driver, as change management is the key requirement for a successful DAM implementation. If the DAM does not make people’s work lives better it will fail, and if the software does’t live up to the promise there are no benefits."

Please read full article here, where you will find a link to the survey, additional insights and suggestions for succesful DAM implimentations. Login may be required to read full article.

To learn more about digital asset management solutions, click the icon below.

All videos in our 5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In DALiM TWiST series are now live on a dedicated channel on Flathead U. This series of videos produced and presented by NAPC Solutions Architect, Scott Tully educates and enlightens users and administrators of DALiM TWiST by illustrating the capabilities of the software as pertains to workflow engineering and graphic arts production.

Each video in the series is a run time of less than three minutes, and is sure to enlighten or remind users that there is always more than one way to get things done. Covering workflows with multiple branches, the PDF concatenation feature, conditional pauses, and the features allowing for translation of a spreadsheet into a run list, this is the ultimate in DALiM TWiST schooling.

WATCH Episode One - "Stick a FORK in it" contrasts the methodolgy of building TWiST workflows with multiple branches versus a linear workflow featuring the TWiST Basic Tool: Fork.

WATCH Episode Two - "Hidden in Plain Sight" illuminates the documented, yet overlooked PDF concatenation feature of the FilterGroup tool, providing the fundamentals of the tool's configuration and demonstrating its unique feature.

WATCH Episode Three - "All Good Things" introduces TWiST's capability of providing for 'conditional pauses' based on logic as expressed within the WaitOn tool.

WATCH Episode Four - "Six Ways To Sunday" moves away from the tool-based example and conclusion model, revealing a unconventional approach to TWiST's input methodology.

WATCH Episode Five - "X Marks The Start" turns conventional usage of TWiST on it's head, introducing SetParamFromXML's ability to translate a spreadsheet into a "run list" as well as some additional, helpful programmatic "X's".

Visit our dedicated DALiM TWiST Channel at Flathead U anytime to review and share this video series.

School is in session with our very own Solutions Architect and TWiST Expert, Scott Tully. It is time to get out of Spring Break mode and get ready to learn 5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In DALiM TWiST. 

This is 5-part video series, aims to educate and enlighten users and administrators of Dalim TWiST by illustrating the capabilities of the TWiST software as pertains to workflow engineering and graphic arts production. As the theme implies, the TWiST toolbox is so intuitive, users quickly achieve their workflow objectives and stop, never realizing all the workflow automation and intelligence that TWiST has to offer.

Episode One: "Stick a FORK in it" contrasts the methodolgy of building TWiST workflows with multiple branches versus a linear workflow featuring the TWiST Basic Tool: Fork.

Episode Two: "Hidden in Plain Sight" illuminates the documented, yet overlooked PDF concatenation feature of the FilterGroup tool, providing the fundamentals of the tool's configuration and demonstrating its unique feature.

Episode Three: "All Good Things" introduces TWiST's capability of providing for 'conditional pauses' based on logic as expressed within the WaitOn tool.

Episode Four: "Six Ways To Sunday" : "Six ways to Sunday" moves away from the tool-based example and conclusion model, revealing a unconventional approach to TWiST's input methodology.

Episode Five: "X Marks The Start": Turns conventional usage of TWiST on it's head, introducing SetParamFromXML's ability to translate a spreadsheet into a "run list" as well as some additional, helpful programmatic "X's".

Tully has produced this video blog series to share both his passion for, and intimate knowledge of, all things TWiST, knowing you would appreciate the timely tips or insightful reminders about this specific tool or a underlying feature.

We are confident that the 5 Things series will ignite your imagination and fuel your pursuit of ever more efficient, effective TWiST workflows.

Each video in the 5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In DALiM TWiST series is a run time of less than three minutes, and each episode is sure to enlighten or remind users that there is always more than one way to get things done.

Watch Video 1: Stick a FORK in it RIGHT HERE

Watch Video 2: Hidden in Plain Sight RIGHT HERE

Watch Video 3: All Good Things RIGHT HERE

Watch Video 4: Six Ways To Sunday RIGHT HERE

Watch Video 5: X Marks The Start RIGHT HERE

You can see all episodes on the DALiM TWiST Channel at Flathead U