Community Version 3 Launch

January 11th, 2012, Toronto- The latest release of the Media Community application includes major upgrades and changes to both the underlying code and feature set.

The most significant changes were re-architecting the application using Media Factory groups, porting the application to JQuery, and implementing the latest Facebook functionality.

Groups

Using Media Factory Groups is a very powerful and flexible way to manage media and users in your community. For the first time, groups are now fully integrated into the architecture of the Media Community application.

• Groups have both searchable standard metadata such as name, address and description, as well unlimited custom metadata. This is very useful in creating group pages – home pages for sections of your community.
• Media can be placed in multiple groups, allowing your content to span multiple categories without duplicating files

Groups was a major part of Media Factory 3 and this is the first product to fully exploit the feature.

The best way to experience the application of groups is to take the Media Community demo for a test drive!

JavaScript

All JavaScript in the Media Community has been rewritten to make use of the jQuery JS library. Here are the main benefits of using jQuery, among many others:

• Fewer conflicts with other libraries that our clients may wish to use
• Much more lightweight than other libraries, leading to faster load times
• Broad adoption means lots of plugins, tutorials and support available

This project allowed us to move away from our Prototype-based and Scriptaculous libraries to a library that will enable our clients to further customize and extend the Media Community application.

Facebook

The Media Community application has been updated to support the latest developments of the Facebook Platform. Some highlights include:

• Meeting the requirement to use OAuth 2.0 for Facebook authentication and authorization for added security and better support for older browsers
• Re-write of all Facebook interactions with the JS SDK for consistency, efficiency and better session management
• Enable frictionless sharing for uploading, commenting and voting

This project creates a solid foundation for us to build out new social features that make use of the Facebook Timeline in 2012.

Google Maps API

Maps are a big part of the Media Community and we now use Google Maps API V3.

• We are using Google maps v3 plugin for jQuery with great example code, allows us (and you) to much more easily create custom mapping features
• The Google Maps API key is no longer required

Other Features

With over 170 new features and improvements, Media Community 3 continues to build on the most powerful user-generated content application:

• New customizable MRSS feed
• Pending gallery on Dashboard allows users to see their content on the site before it is moderated
• Next / Previous buttons added to media page
• Group category link list added to media detail
• Unified gallery and search page for improved content discovery
• All new form validation library
• Improved date picker for register page
• Gallery breadcrumb
• Media description moved below media
• Improved layout of media detail page, including meta data and member info block
• Upgraded to JW 5.8 Flash / HTML5 video player
• Related videos plugin for video player
• Improved map filter check boxes on community page
• Added ability to display text uploads on map
• Added group list page
• Added group detail page
• Modified comments to upload into groups (allow filtering comments by group)
• Update upload page to support uploading into multiple groups
• Added group membership ability for members
• Added ability for users to batch upload
• Implement new <fm:UserAvatar> component across the application
• Twitter account added to default registration fields
• Added ability to change email address on edit profile page
• Simplify like button alt text as to not require translation
• Anonymous commenter name is now being captured
• Added Stumbleupon sharing
• Improved defaults for image embed options
• Improved uploader handling of files that are larger than the allowed size
• Removed toggles from sidebar galleries on Media Details page
• Configurable North American or Global forms
• Audio and text uploads now support geo-tagging
• Re-captcha added to tell-a-friend pop-up
• Improved layouts for video comments on Dashboard and Profile
• Better handling of like/favorite button ninja-clicking
• Much cleaner includes of sub_templates and consolidation of redundant templates
• Fixed the multimedia comments browse button in Chrome
• Fixed issue where Login with Facebook wipes out query string in URL

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Major Release of Media Factory Live

Video Embed codes offer HTML5 video playback and
our latest video player

December 12th, 2011, Toronto - The release of Media Factory 3.0.8 includes some major enhancements in all areas of the Media Factory platform. Check out some of the major updates below and refer to the full release for all information.

Dedicated transcoders

Don't ever want to wait in line for your files to transcode again? Ask your Filemobile sales representative about a dedicated, scalable cloud-based transcoder!

Security

Projects can now be configured to have services return https URLs. For example, using the {$assetbase} variable will automatically return an https:// path to the templates. Also, some components such as <fm:UserAvatar> will automatically request secure URLs from 3rd party services and return the appropriate avatar path. With this configuration, any application can immediately be used in secure environments. Most notably Facebook!

Password security options can now be configured for projects. Features include requiring up to 10-character alphanumerical passwords, and lock-out after multiple failed login attempts.

External Storage

External storage options have been added to media transcoder settings. You can now specify external storage on a transcoder profile basis. For example, you might send video files to a secure streaming server while keeping image thumbnails on our storage servers.

Embed Options

The Embed Options page has received a makeover. Now all stock and custom transcoder profiles can be previewed, and the embed code generator provides a video player that automatically renders in HTML5.

Check out the full release notes at Filemobile's Developer Portal.

Cheers,

The Filemobile Development Team

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New FP blogger: Tech startup’s advice to get you past year five

December 8th, 2011 - Toronto. It’s no secret that starting and operating a business is a complex, expensive and emotionally draining task.

But for technology entrepreneurs, some of the most common entrepreneurial challenges are amplified. Not only are you competing with other firms, but if you’re a B-to-C company, you have to navigate the rapidly evolving and highly fickle consumer tech market. On the B-to-B side, which our Toronto-based interactive online software development firm Filemobile Inc. serves, customers demand constant innovation, but are also highly price sensitive, especially in a tough economy.

When we founded Filemobile in 2006, it wasn’t our first tech startup, but it was by far the most challenging. Needless to say, there were days when — like so many entrepreneurs — we could have easily thrown in the towel. Instead, we hung on and managed to carve out a solid niche supplying our rich media platform to the likes of Fox News, the World Bank, Condé Nast, Disney, Molson Coors, Deloitte and more than 150 other clients.

As we enter our sixth year in business, we decided to share some of our mistakes, lucky breaks and a few wise moves we’ve made along the way to help other tech entrepreneurs start, manage and grow their businesses. We have the luxury of drawing from three partners’ diverse backgrounds and operational specialties, so we’ll be sure to include tech sector insights that reflect our individual experiences building Filemobile. We hope the expertise we provide in this blog will help you avoid some of the mistakes we made — or at least understand when you’ve made them.

So, to kick off this blog series — and because this tends to be a particularly reflective time of year where tech entrepreneurs look back on the year that was and plan for the one ahead — we came up with the five reasons why we almost didn’t make it to our fifth anniversary:

Find out what the five reasons are at Financial Post.com

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