Blogs - Ixxus http://www.ixxus.com Blogs - Ixxus en-gb http://www.ixxus.com/i/logo-feed.png Ixxus http://www.ixxus.com Copyright 2010 Ixxus Limited, London, England, United Kingdom. All Rights Reserved. Easily Edit Content with Alfresco and the Ixxus Web Framework http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/easily-edit-content-with-alfresco-and-the-ixxus-web-framework/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/easily-edit-content-with-alfresco-and-the-ixxus-web-framework/ One of the difficulties when editing content with Alfresco is locating the document within the Alfresco web interface to begin your edit. Often, content is placed into deep, complex structures that can take time to learn and navigate. This is not only frustrating for the content editor, but wastes unnecessary time.

]]> framework php alfresco Matt Dunn Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:43:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/easily-edit-content-with-alfresco-and-the-ixxus-web-framework/ Creating a Twitter Component with the Ixxus Web Framework http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/creating-a-twitter-component-with-the-ixxus-web-framework/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/creating-a-twitter-component-with-the-ixxus-web-framework/ Creating components with the Ixxus Web Framework is easy. Here I explains the steps involved in creating a custom component and explore some ideas for additional functionality.

]]> framework php components twitter Matt Dunn Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:01:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/creating-a-twitter-component-with-the-ixxus-web-framework/ Adding aspects to Share http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/adding-aspects-to-share/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/adding-aspects-to-share/ I was look at adding an aspect to Alfresco today. I have done that many times before but today I am using 3.2 and I want to see it in the Share interface.

]]> share alfresco aspects Chris Davidson Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:47:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2010/02/adding-aspects-to-share/ Alfresco Share Customisation – The Ixxus Application http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/11/share-customisation-application/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/11/share-customisation-application/ One requirement often asked in relation to Alfresco Share is “can we make it look a bit more like this….”

]]> alfresco share customisation Diane Loizou Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:46:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/11/share-customisation-application/ Replacing Open Text with Alfresco http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/10/open-text-blog/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/10/open-text-blog/ Open Text clients are migrating to Alfresco, to avoid large Annual Support and Maintenance costs.

]]> open text alfresco Steve Odart Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:07:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/10/open-text-blog/ Alfresco Records Management – certification and beyond! http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/08/alfresco-records-management/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/08/alfresco-records-management/ I have been having a look at Alfresco’s new records management functionality that will be available in Alfresco v3.2. They are heading towards testing against the DoD 5015.2 (Department of Defense) specification in September. Here I look at the issues raised.

]]> alfresco records management Chris Davidson Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:34:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/08/alfresco-records-management/ Including Common XML Schemas Across Alfresco WCM Web-Forms and Web-Projects http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/xml-schema-inclusion/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/xml-schema-inclusion/ Fancy a bit of schema re-use when designing your alfresco web-forms? Following on from a previous article, this tip might prove useful to those unused to XML Schemas, but would still like a well-modelled WCM data model.

]]> alfresco xsd schema webforms Tom Morris Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:20:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/xml-schema-inclusion/ Debugging Alfresco in Eclipse http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/debugging-alfresco-in-eclipse/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/debugging-alfresco-in-eclipse/ I recently needed to setup a new development environment for myself, to setup the ability to debug the code I had to workout how to setup Eclipse to remotely connect to Tomcat. This is a question I had been asked before so thought I would document the process.

]]> alfresco debugging eclipse tomcat Chris Davidson Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:18:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/07/debugging-alfresco-in-eclipse/ Inline Callouts in Alfresco WCM http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/06/inline-callouts-in-alfresco-wcm/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/06/inline-callouts-in-alfresco-wcm/ A common requirement in metadata capture is for the user to choose values from a list. In Alfresco WCM these lists are supplied via the XSD definition, an enumeration is included in the XSD of the Web Form with the values required. Sometimes we want this list to be dynamic and pulled in from another source.

]]> alfresco wcm Chris Davidson Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:40:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/06/inline-callouts-in-alfresco-wcm/ Lucene – the de-facto OEM search engine http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/lucene---the-de-facto-oem-search-engine/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/lucene---the-de-facto-oem-search-engine/ This article looks at an open-source product that’s rapidly infiltrating all parts of the content management market – Lucene.

]]> lucene search alfresco cms Brian Remmington Tue, 19 May 2009 14:40:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/lucene---the-de-facto-oem-search-engine/ Creating and publishing customized content with MarkLogic http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/publishing-custom-content-marklogic/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/publishing-custom-content-marklogic/ Ixxus recently worked on a project for a client utilising MarkLogic Server’s capabilities for content aggregation and custom publishing of XML content. Using a combination of standard XQuery and MarkLogic built-in and module extensions we built an application that takes structured XML content, allows the user to browse or search the content and pull out relevant snippets of information to create their own documents tailored to their needs.

]]> marklogic xquery xml Dave Gafford Tue, 19 May 2009 14:23:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/publishing-custom-content-marklogic/ Creating event driven JavaScript objects http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/creating-event-driven-javascript-objects/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/creating-event-driven-javascript-objects/ Creating your own event driven JavaScript objects can be very simple. The important thing is to ensure you are not reinventing the standard DOM event model. Here I show an approach that provides a quick and powerful mechanism for creating event driven objects.

]]> javascript event driven Matt Dunn Mon, 18 May 2009 09:54:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/creating-event-driven-javascript-objects/ Privacy Issues Associated with Web Tracking http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/privacy-issues-associated-with-web-tracking/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/privacy-issues-associated-with-web-tracking/ These days most web savvy organisations use some form of web tracking and/or analytics tool to monitor site traffic, statistics and visitor behaviour.

Recently there has been a lot of press about potential breach of privacy issues in Britain arising from the use of tracking tools such as Phorm, which can track a user's web browsing behaviour, and then use this information to deliver targeted advertisements back to the user which are categorised as being relevant or of potential interest.

]]> privacy tracking form personalisation Diane Loizou Thu, 14 May 2009 14:05:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/05/privacy-issues-associated-with-web-tracking/ Ixxus release a Todo-list dashlet for the Alfresco Share application http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-todo-list/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-todo-list/ Alfresco Share is a new collaborative content management tool utilizing the Alfresco Surf. It expands on Alfresco’s enterprise-class document repository with a wide range of collaborative web content management features such as blogs, RSS, shared document library, Calendars and Wikis.

]]> dashlet alfresco share dashboard surf Dave Gafford Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:39:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-todo-list/ Alfresco Share Dashlet development tips and hints http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-tips/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-tips/ Through this post I hope to provide a useful insight into key aspects of creating a custom dashlet for Alfresco’s Share web application, using the Surf framework and communicating with Alfresco’s content repository.

]]> dashlet tips dashboard surf javascript json Dave Gafford Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:34:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/04/dashlet-tips/ UK Government says YES! to open source http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/uk-government-says-yes/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/uk-government-says-yes/ Tom Watson MP – Minister for Digital Engagement, has released a detailed and forward thinking plan that should radically impact the procurement processes within the UK Public Sector.

]]> ukgovoss open source government uk Steve Odart Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:03:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/uk-government-says-yes/ Alfresco grows by over 100% in 2008 http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/alfresco-grows/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/alfresco-grows/ I read with interest the following press release from Alfresco.

I think John Powell sums it up nicely : “Alfresco has been able to grow and evolve the ECM market in this economy by not only continuously investing in our products and services, but by filling a critical need for companies that are shifting away from costly proprietary systems, recognizing the value of the open source business model and looking to make multi-year commitments to Alfresco technologies.

]]> open source alfresco Steve Odart Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:24:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/alfresco-grows/ Mapping server side resources with Shale Remoting http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/mapping-server-side-resources-with-shale-remoting/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/mapping-server-side-resources-with-shale-remoting/ This article is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of the Apache Shale web application framework but rather to show a method for increased modularisation of your JSF components.

]]> alfresco apache jsf shale Simon Hutchinson Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:25:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/mapping-server-side-resources-with-shale-remoting/ The Future of Percussion in the UK - Event Review http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/future-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/future-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ Yesterday Ixxus held an event to explore: The Future of Percussion in the UK.

]]> event percussion alfresco uk Diane Loizou Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:53:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/future-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ Accessibility '2.0' http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/accessibility-2-0/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/accessibility-2-0/ When most people think about web accessibility they think about providing access to screen readers. While this is certainly an important part of accessibility is it not the whole story. Accessibility is also about providing access to devices or technologies or even search engines. As more people start to use mobile and other technologies to browse websites it is becoming ever more important and can be the difference between you and a competitor winning a new customer or client.

]]> accessibility usability Matt Dunn Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:21:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/accessibility-2-0/ Optimise Me http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/optimise-me/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/optimise-me/ What are the fundamentals of promoting yourself on the World Wide Web? For a long time now I have been having lengthy discussion with some of my colleagues as to what search engines really want. With the new IXXUS site being launched I believe it’s the perfect opportunity to exercise our theories in a meaningful way.

]]> seo optimisation web site optimisation apache .htaccess web server Jonathan Alemayehu Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:51:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/optimise-me/ The Negotiator http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-negotiator/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-negotiator/ “Can you reduce this by 10%, no? Ok then”

When managing a project, some form of negotiation is always required. It could be, asking someone to work late, obtaining sign-off on a deliverable or prioritizing someone’s work-load.

]]> negotiation project management Rob Edge Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:37:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-negotiator/ Who’s reading your documents? http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/whos-reading-your-documents/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/whos-reading-your-documents/ For compliance purposes it can be very useful to produce a list of people who have read a document. Now whilst it may not be possible to actually prove someone has read a document using an audit trail you can prove they have opened the file, thus implying they know of its existence.

]]> alfresco xml config auditing Chris Davidson Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:05:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/whos-reading-your-documents/ Agility at what price? http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/agility-at-what-price/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/agility-at-what-price/ “We want this thing to be built. It should look something like this, and we need it in three months time. What will that cost us?”

]]> agile cost Brian Remmington Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:27:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/agility-at-what-price/ The changing rhythm of Percussion in the UK http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-changing-rhythm-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-changing-rhythm-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ January delivered an interesting distraction to my normal day to day existence. I found myself suddenly knee deep in conversations and discussions with a whole host of Percussion folk that I had got to know over the years.

]]> percussion Steve Odart Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:23:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/the-changing-rhythm-of-percussion-in-the-uk/ Open source is years behind commercial products http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/open-source-behind-commercial-products/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/open-source-behind-commercial-products/ Well that got my attention as a viewpoint! Especially as it was a Computerweekly.com article quoting the Socitm president Richard Steel.

I had been perusing the net to see what the reaction was to the recently announced government's policy on open source software , and came across this fascinating debate. I guess it struck a chord with me as it tends to be the common theme in my daily grind, working with organizations and companies that are considering whether or not to pursue an open source content management route.

]]> open source alfresco microsoft commercial Steve Odart Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:49:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/03/open-source-behind-commercial-products/ Why I joined Ixxus - the journey from the Percussion Professional Services Organisation http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/why-ixxus/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/why-ixxus/ When Percussion - a leading vendor in Content Management solutions and services, announced its new European Partner Strategy in January 2009, along with the majority of the staff in the Percussion UK office, I was forced to seriously consider the next step in the path of my career.

]]> ixxus consultancy Diane Loizou Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:21:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/why-ixxus/ Ixxus Surf Code Camp http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/surf-code-camp/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/surf-code-camp/ Surf is Alfresco’s new web application framework for building custom applications on top of Alfresco and indeed on top of anything else as well.

]]> wcm alfresco code-camp surf Chris Davidson Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:04:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/surf-code-camp/ Creating Robust Validating Forms with the Ixxus Web Framework http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/creating-robust-validating-forms/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/creating-robust-validating-forms/ The framework provides an easy mechanism for creating robust web forms with client and server side validation. Forms become components in their own right and can therefore be reused throughout the entire website if required.

]]> forms validation framework controller javascript xsl php Matt Dunn Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:12:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/creating-robust-validating-forms/ Ixxus Web Framework http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/ixxus-web-framework/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/ixxus-web-framework/ The Ixxus Web Framework provides a robust starting point for creating rich, dynamic websites. The framework is designed using an easy to maintain MVC style architecture that is flexible enough to integrate many different technologies depending on the required solution.

]]> framework php xsl solr mvc alfresco marklogic database apache javascript jquery Matt Dunn Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:03:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/02/ixxus-web-framework/ Evolutionary ECM starting with CIFS http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/evolutionary-ecm-starting-with-cifs/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/evolutionary-ecm-starting-with-cifs/ One of the barriers to successfully rolling out ECM systems is the steep learning curve for users.

]]> cifs alfresco ecm Chris Davidson Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:33:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/evolutionary-ecm-starting-with-cifs/ Would I choose Alfresco? http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/why-alfresco/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/why-alfresco/ I’ve worked with content management systems for eleven years. Over that time the market for this particular part of an organisation’s IT infrastructure has exploded, encompassing every price level from free to hundreds-of-thousands of pounds. The choice for someone looking to buy a content management solution is now vast and immensely confusing.

]]> alfresco cms Brian Remmington Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:14:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/why-alfresco/ Aspects and some advantages of parenthood http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/aspects/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/aspects/ Aspects are useful building blocks in Alfresco’s content modelling arsenal. Here, we take a quick look at one of their useful but often-overlooked features.

]]> xml alfresco model Brian Remmington Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:07:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2009/01/aspects/ Scheduled tasks and authenticated transactions http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/scheduled-tasks-and-authenticated-transactions/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/scheduled-tasks-and-authenticated-transactions/ A simple approach to ensuring that transactions started from a Cron job are authenticated.

]]> authentication transactions cron Simon Hutchinson Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:03:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/scheduled-tasks-and-authenticated-transactions/ The Importance of Being Earnest http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/the-importance-of-being-earnest/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/the-importance-of-being-earnest/ The importance of comprehensive bug writing. Coping with feelings of low self-esteem and rejection when bugs mysteriously appear to have fixed themselves.

]]> testing bug development Fran Firth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:17:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/the-importance-of-being-earnest/ Profiling Your PHP Code http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/profiling-your-php-code/ http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/profiling-your-php-code/ A brief introduction to profiling your php code using Xdebug.

]]> php profiling xdebug cachegrind debugging Matt Dunn Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:12:00 GMT http://www.ixxus.com/blog/2008/12/profiling-your-php-code/