[New-imc] dadaIMC .95 released!

[a.h.s.boy]

The latest version of dadaIMC, software for maintaining an IMC site, is 
now available for download from http://www.dadaimc.org/download.php!

dadaIMC was written from the ground up to manage IMC sites, and offers 
an array of features unavailable elsewhere. It was also designed for 
ease-of-use, allowing site administrators and editors to work in an 
entirely web-based interface. It runs on Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP 
systems, and uses a simple web-based form for installation and 
configuration. See the Baltimore IMC at http://baltimore.indymedia.org/ 
for an example. Questions? Email support (at) dadaimc.org.

Changes for this version include numerous bug fixes, integration of 
remote IMC RSS feeds, fewer SQL queries per page, adjustable timezone 
display, removal of the register_globals requirement, an improved 
caching system, interface enhancements and more. A full listing is 
available at http://www.dadaimc.org/changelog.php.

BASIC FEATURES
- Totally object-oriented and highly structured, for clean code
- Fully internationalized, ready for translators to plug in language 
files to offer a complete interface translation. Uses UTF-8 encoding, 
so characters from multiple languages can be displayed properly on a 
single page.
- Generic support for distributed content servers (like LoudEye)
- Modular design, allowing new features to be implemented and plugged 
in easily
- Module: Features. These are center-column articles, usually penned by 
the Editorial collective, and they allow accompanying media file 
uploads and links to related articles. User can designate "Section" 
(news, commentary,interview,etc) as well as "Category" (Civil Rights, 
Media, Legislation, etc)
- Module: Articles. These are standard newswire articles, as with other 
IMCs. Users can designate both "Section" and "Category" as above, and 
can indicate whether or not the article is of "Local Interest to this 
IMC"
- Module: Media Gallery. Other IMCs, given their architecture, require 
users who simply want to upload photos to create an "article" 
containing nothing but images. The dadaIMC code created the media 
gallery to allow users to upload various media with captions and 
attributions without having to create a bogus "article" to wrap around 
the media. All media uploaded to accompany articles and features are 
also placed in the Media Gallery.
- Module: The Otherpress. Too often, IMC "articles" are merely reposts 
of articles published elsewhere on the web. Recognizing the worthiness 
of other journalists' work, the Otherpress allows IMCs to have a 
section with pointers to articles published by other media outlets, 
reducing the clutter on the newswire while still allowing the 
information to be disseminated.
- Module: Razorwire. The razorwire is a short-lived "Alert Box" that 
appears at the top of the center column. It is used to cover urgent 
events unfolding in real time, allowing for by-the-minute updates of 
the situation. Razorwires can then be hidden and archived when no 
longer timely.
- Module: Links. A simple link database, which verifies links daily and 
tracks link hits.
- Module: Help. A system for adding icons (or link text) that creates a 
small JavaScript popup window with help or instructions for various 
aspects of the IMC site.
- Module: Picturebooks. The picturebook is a cross between the media 
gallery and the newswire, allowing an individual to post a 
page-navigated "photo essay," combining photos and text into a 
book-like format for browsing.
- Module: InfoDoc. The InfoDoc library allows for the easy creation of 
informational text pages, such as the Mission Statement, Contact Info, 
or Donation information. No more need to FTP file uploads and adding 
links manually! It works from right in your browser, and automatically 
builds a table of contents.
- Module: Assignments. Assign and track reporters, events, and 
supervising editors...for the really organized IMC.
- Calendar integration. Seamless integration with the Radicalendar for 
iCalendar-compliant event announcements, including complex recurring 
events.
- User accounts. Users can set their own preferences, and can re-edit 
their own articles.

Cosmetics:
- Web-based interface for page themes and color schemes (PageConfigs)
- Separation of output display and code logic, so appearance changes 
don't require extensive PHP knowledge
- Built-in stylesheet support
- Two-level categorization of newswire and media entries, and user 
filtering based on category
- Built-in help system
- Really clean HTML 4.01 output
- Automatic generation of ALT tags for images in articles
- Automatic generation of "printable" version for articles, suitable 
for quick printing and readability
- Search-engine friendly URLs (e.g. "/newswire/display/132/index.php" 
instead of"/newswire/index.php?function=display&ID=132"). This, 
however, means that it only works properly on Linux and perhaps some 
other non-BSD servers (it's an Apache hack that doesn't work as 
expected under *BSD unless you have access to httpd.conf).
- Previews of articles before final submission
- Cleanup of text before submission, stripping out potentially 
dangerous HTML/JavaScript code

Administration:
- Administrative web interface to high-level, site configuration 
options like available modules, page configuration preferences, etc
- Editorial web interface for content management, including the ability 
to edit, view, delete, hide, completely purge, or relate articles and 
media to one another. Articles may also be easily rethreaded as 
comments, or moved to the OtherPress module in the case of reprints.
- Debugging features with logging and optional email notification, 
admin-configurable
- Admin-configurable voting system for approving Feature pieces, 
including the ability to halt approval with a "Dissent" vote (our 
approval policy is currently 3 "Yes" votes with NO "Dissent")
- Cronmaster system for managing dadaIMC-related cron jobs
- Custom error logging, and the ability to view error logs through the 
administration interface

General benefits:
- Admin-configurable rating system for newswire Articles, including 
optional thresholds for Feature consideration
- Full search capabilities, using MySQL fulltext searching with 
relevancy scores. Can be restricted to media, date, category, and/or 
search text.
- Automatic text-file caching of article pages for quick display 
(automatically refreshed after edits)
- "Email this article to..." support
- RTF/RSS Features syndication
- Integrated display of remote IMC headlines and syndication feeds, 
like the global newswire on steroids!
- Ability to block posting by IP address for extreme cases of newswire 
Spam
- Media uploads are divided by generic MIME type (image/audio/video) 
and the directory structure can easily be modified to support 
sub-directories when things get full
- Features and Newswire Articles are designed in such a way that 
highly-rated Articles are automatically submitted to the Editorial 
collective for consideration as a front-page Feature.
- User-configurable image alignment for uploads
- Built-in "Breaking News" box for web-based administration of frequent 
updates

Cheers,
spud.

-------------------------------------------------------------
a.h.s. boy
support at dadaimc.org
dadaIMC support
http://www.dadaimc.org/
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