July 12 Release Notes

Virtual Publisher & SendMyAd

• Added several new fields to the issue details area and changed the edit issue interface to support more sectioned data.
• Added Issue Theme Text Field
• Added Issue Circulation Text Field
• Added Printer Drop down. Allows selection of who is printing the issue.
• New Task and Notes drawing tool speeds up drawing notes on ads and editorials by allowing the user to draw the shapes directly on to the ad or page.
• See video tutorial here: http://screencast.com/t/v6cz1DUhl
• 3 New Reports Added
• New VP "Ads and Editorials Run List" report shows all ads and editorials. This new report can be found in the reports download area.
• New VP "Ads Only Run List" report shows all ads and inserts. This new report can be found in the reports download area.
• New advertiser by publication report available in Virtual Publisher and SendMyAd. This new report allows publishers to see a list of advertiser companies by publication and an active ad count.
• New VP feature to save a plan as a version. You can now save each vp plan up to 2 times. Each saved version creates a new set of editorials for each version.
• New Dialog Softproof HTML 5 based version.
• New option in force form fill item in publisher approvals allows the forcing of a format to be phone number or url.
• New Virtual Publisher feature to plan editorials before they are created. This new system also manages editorial deadlines and editorial budget. 

June 1st Release Notes

Virtual Publisher

• New ad category merge action allows users to merge ad categories together and update them automatically on all connected ads.
• Video Tutorial 
• Added new option for VP production users to see editorial pages which are removed. 
• Video Tutorial

SendMyAd

• Moved media profiles to left menu for digital ad. This makes the list easy to download and search.
• New ability to auto split multi page spreads with more than 2 pages.
• Video Tutorial
• Digital ad url enhancement allows for click and product url validation.
• Print ad upload url validation added and placement holder text to better guide users.
• New option to choose "No Product Url" in print ad upload forms. This can be found in the "print ad upload form settings" of your company profile.
• New DFT PDF feature allows publishers to upload and preflight RGB PDFs designed for tablet and mobile applications. For more information please inquire at sales@blansys.com 
• New option to bypass split file approvals added to the company profile.
• New multi-page spread splitting system allows for ads to be split across multiple pages.

April 26 Release Notes

Virtual Publisher

• New option for sorting issues by open and closed: This option can be setup in the publisher company profile under virtual publisher settings. It will sort issues in the plan view by open and then closed, showing the closed items in gray.
• New option on plan creation to not use a cover signature: This is good for publications or issues which do not use a cover signature. This option can be changed at any time in the plan details view.
• Advanced file viewer is now visible on all plan views: You can now view spreads and all plan view pages in the advanced file view system. This allows better visual control of your pages and ads.
• New editorial clipboard filters: There are 2 new options in the editorial clipboard which allow you to see both placed and unplaced editorials in the plan.
• New option to see inserts less than 8 pages on plans: There is a new setting in the plan display options which allows users to see all pages of the insert in the plan as long as it is 8 pages or less. This option makes it easier to see the content of your insert. Please note the insert is read only in the plan view and cannot be dragged to or from.
• Coupon enhancement: Coupon issues are now scanned real time and will show a red bar over the pages of concern. 
• New help videos added! VP Quickstart, adding a publication and adding an issue.
• Change in plan editorial details view: The editorial details view now shows only the pages with the editorial on it. Before it would show all pages in between the start and end of the editorial.  
• New enhancements to book shifter functions: Book shifter now includes ability to shift content forward and backward will auto fixing signatures.
• New option to remove pages and decrease book plan size: This can be seen on any page menu.

Editorial Manager Plugin

•  We now support syncing notes down to the active document in the page manager plugin. This allows users to see notes entered in VP pages, directly on their documents as a layer.

SendMyAd

• New brand list in advertiser customer detail view: You can now see your customer's brand details by clicking customers -> companies -> company details and on the right there will be a list of brands and products your customers have entered in past ads.
• New option to force a form fill on publisher approvals: You can now setup publisher approvals and force users to fill any form item before they are allowed to approve the cycle. This can be setup in Publication or publisher details -> approval cycles -> the approval cycle details form -> Fill Form Action
• Advanced file viewer is now visible on all ads: This new viewer allows finer control of the visual ad display than the previous viewer. This viewer included zoom in, zoom out, fit and more.
• New option to create CT/Vector file in ad size form: This option allows greater control in the ad size detail form so that CT/Vectors are only created when you need them.
• New enhanced spread view: The new spread details view allows you to see all of your spread details including splits in one single view.
• New approvals and rejections report: This new report can be found on the dashboard and shows all approvals and rejections for a publication.

SendMyAd Tablet Ads

• New option to turn off EFT Tablet ads: This is helpful if you do not wish to receive EFT tablet ads.

SendMyAd Digital Ads

•  New ability to create ad reservations for Digital Ads: If you have the digital ad portal option, you can now create digital ad reservations.

Minor Features/Updates

• Google DFP API updated to v201502
• New field, "Has Reservation" in VP Ad Clipboard list view
• We increased the requirement for Internet Explorer to be 9 or above, from 8.

March 8 2015 Upgrade Release Notes

Virtual Publisher

• New split spread option added: Spread ads can now be automatically split when the advertiser approves the file. This both reduces unnecessary splits and allows publishers greater control over when spread advertisements are split.
• New custom insert system: Allows for creation of inserts which can have custom sized pages. Each page can be a different dimension in the insert.
• New feature allows archival of editorials: You can now archive and unarchive editorials from the editorials list view. This is helpful if you do not wish to remove an editorial but no longer wish to see it. 
• New option to approve whole editorial: We've added a new option which allows publishers to approve the whole editorial for a specific approval cycle.
• New spreads detail view: This view allows publishers to view and make notes while viewing spreads in the VP plan view. Please note this is the first version of this feature and more features surrounding it are coming soon.
• Now supporting Adobe Indesign CC plugins: All 3 new plugins are now available for download in the site download area.    
• New option to invite non-users to view VP Magazine viewer: This option now allows non-users to view the actively planned VP magazine through a private email link invite. 
• New Page Menu option to Swap Pages: This new VP feature allows publishers to "swap" all of the content on one page with another page. This includes all notes and details on the pages.
• Users can now see and make comments on the whole plan: This feature can be turned on in the user's plan display settings view. 
• New action to remove placed ads: This new action can be seen in the VP plan items list. This allows you to select and remove items directly from the plan and place them back in the clipboard. 
• New advanced action to copy plan editorial data to different publications. You can now copy editorials from one plan to another in the advanced actions menu.
• Notes can now be seen in the editorial details view.
• New option to force unlock read only plans. You must have "Only one user can edit the plan at a time" turned on for this to be visible.

SendMyAd

• New split spread option added: Spread ads can now be automatically split when the advertiser approves the file. This both reduces unnecessary splits and allows publishers greater control over when spread advertisements are split.
• New gridded laser PDF proof feature: The new gridded laser proof system allows you to create customized gridded laser proofs directly from SendMyAd. The gridded laser can include any variable of your required marks and image files, and can be automatically renamed and sent to your destination of choice. To learn more about our gridded laser feature please contact your sales rep for a demo today.
• New CT/Vector PDF feature: The new CT/Vector PDF feature can automatically create CT/Vector PDF versions of your ads for tablet workflows.  These files can be can be automatically renamed and sent to your destination of choice. To learn more about our CT/Vector PDF feature please contact your sales rep for a demo today.
• Custom Revision Limits for advertisers: If you have some advertisers who send multiple file revisions and you are ok with them sending more but do not want them to hit the imposed revision limit, you can now browse to your advertiser's details and increase their revision limit permanently. This can reduce frustration by some advertisers who send many revisions on a monthly basis.
• New additions to the customers list view: You can now see both advertiser users and the companies they work for. The new company details view also allows you to see exactly how many print ads the company has sent to you and which publications they are sending to.
• Languages & Units can now be associated with a branded domain: Publishers who have multiple branded domains in SMA can now associate a specific language with that domain.
• New bulk ad reservation creation system: This new option allows publishers to import multiple ad reservations to SMA through a CSV import. If you are interested in this feature please contact us as it must be first turned on.
• New data items available in the ad invitation and request email templates: We've added 4 new data variables in the email templates "Full Ad Size Label","Short Ad Size Label","Ad Size Trim","Ad Size Bleed" and "Ad Size Safety".
• New data items available in zip downloader: Several new variables added to the zipbundler downloader system. You can manage the downloaded name in your company profile settings area.

SendMyAd Tablet Ads

• New option to turn off EFT Tablet ads: This is helpful if you do not wish to receive EFT tablet ads.
• New option to set a different materials contact for tablet ads: You can see this new option in the publication setup if you have the tablet ads feature.
• Tablet ad sizes can now be custom sorted just as print ad sizes could be.

SendMyAd Digital Ads

•  New ability to create ad reservations for Digital Ads: If you have the digital ad portal option, you can now create digital ad reservations.

Minor Features/Updates

• Ad creator digital receipt added ad size field.
• "Has Reservations", "Ad Instructions", "Short Description" and "Publisher Info" fields added to custom ad view options.
• All add form fields now auto focus on the first form item in the list. This saves the user from clicking as much.
• SMA and VP reports views look the same and are available from the dashboard.

Upcoming new features in January

We're upgrading SendMyAd and Virtual Publisher on Sunday, January 18th with a redesigned interface and many new features and fixes.

Read our newsletter for details.

Virtual Publisher Niche Media Webinar

This week Niche Media and Blanchard Systems came together to show users how they use Virtual Publisher to plan and produce their magazines.

October 27 2014 Upgrade

Virtual Publisher

• Official Editorial Page Manager Plugin Release 1.0
• Redesigned clipboard to make more visual space.
• New highly customizable clipboard tables, including custom field widths and sticky field headers.
• New option to default to "All Pages" in book plan view user preferences.  
• "Inserts in wrong position" message improved to simplify the process of finding problematic inserts.
• Revision number can now be seen in the editorial thumb list view.
• When last publisher approval is done to the last page of an editorial file, the parent editorial will automatically be set to complete.
• When dragging editorials which are less than one page on top of one another, the option to swap editorials will now appear.
• Added option to bulk lock and unlock multiple editorials coverage at one time. This can be seen in the editorials list action menu.
• Better color pickers in many areas of the site. New color picker makes use of a smaller specific set of colors. This makes colors easier to assign and remember.
• New footer in book plan view make information easier to read.
• Book plan pagination system moved into new footer at bottom for better screen use.
• New pdf/jpg icon on page revisions helps users see if their revision is a jpg or pdf.
• New book plan filters added to see Editorials Only or Ads Only.
• Position tag placement rules can now be setup to warn the user instead of rejecting. Previously only rejecting the move was an option.
• Ladder view now supports adding plan comments for manual tracking of plan changes.
• New option in publisher settings added to auto highlight swapped ads. This can be useful for seeing which ads have been recently swapped.

SendMyAd

• New Ad creator feature. Added ability for publisher to control frame stroke width and background color of uploaded ad creator templates.
• New option allows publishers to change the default recommended action for files which failed trim. Previously the only suggested action for advertisers was to trim the file using the online trim tool. It is now possible to set the recommendation to "Auto Center", "Trim" or "Make No Suggestion".

BUG FIXES

• Snapshot plan now accounts for inserts and gatefolds, this was causing some snapshots to be clipped off at the bottom.
• Fixed Virtual Publisher display bug when section runs to left page of signature split in plan view.
• An ad's running issues can no longer be edited after an ad is complete.
• Fixed plan snapshot bugs.