Roadmap

Improved freelancer workflow

Collaborate more easily with external contributors thanks to more granular controls that will decouple desks and personal assignments by defining rules for freelancers to access only items assigned to them.

Enhancements to the Planning component

• Ability to manage/configure the Event, Planning, and Coverage Content Profiles (available on the Planning workspace/page)
• Ability to use Editor3 for text fields in Event, Planning, and/or Coverage items (configurable via the new Content Profiles for Events, Planning, and Coverages)
• New privileges to show Events Only, Planning Only, or a combination of the both (for designed for Freelancers)
• New privilege to restrict users to only the Events, Planning, and Coverages that they create (designed for Freelancers)
• Include an ICS attachment to Assignment emails so the assignee can add the Event to their own calendar

Content profiles for additional news items

Superdesk offers content profiles for content types other than standard articles, such as events and planning items as well as media items such as videos and images. Previously, these profiles had to be manually configured for each client, but this new functionality will be built into the standard version of Superdesk.

Automated updates for Masterdesk views

With this update, content changes and recent content activity will be automatically updated, eliminating the need to manually refresh the page.

Improved Desk management

Users with appropriate permissions will be able to reorder stages easily within a desk by using a simple drag-and-drop tool.

Better UX for Gmail Ingests

Gmail is among Superdesk’s most popular ingest options, enabling journalists and freelancers to submit their content via an email address, where the inbox is configured to upload text and multimedia automatically to the CMS. This update will improve the set-up process for Gmail ingests.

Previews/thumbnails for images in SAMS

The Superdesk Management System (SAMS), created to enhance the storage of PDF files for reuse, has been expanded to include images and videos. With this update, SAMS will facilitate the display of image thumbnails and previews in the Superdesk list view.

Improved handling of low bandwidth

By applying additional loading indicators to various views, the Superdesk UX will be improved with a system to keep users updated when bandwidth dips.

Though these features aren’t currently on our roadmap for Superdesk, they would add useful functions to the system. If you might be interested in co-developing them with us, please get in touch.

Offline editing

This feature will allow editors and journalists to continue writing articles without any internet connection. Once the internet connection is restored, content will automatically be updated and saved.

Mobile-friendly Superdesk

A lighter-weight, simplified version of the Superdesk editorial interface, this is aimed at facilitating collaboration among freelancers working with news organisations as well as staff reporters who are physically outside the newsroom and filing their stories from a mobile device.

Publishing quick check

Monitor your output more easily with improvements to the Publish queue in Superdesk. See at a glance whether a content item was published successfully or get notified right away if action needs to be taken in the event of a publishing error.

Knowledge base

Create a custom database of the terms used most often in your organisation. Whether it’s a glossary of specialised words, or consists of references to certain people or places, having your own knowledge base in Superdesk will improve the consistency of your content and the efficiency of your workflows.

Enhancing the packaging feature

As part of improving image handling in Superdesk more broadly, this would be a specific enhancement for packages containing image galleries and specific media items. The workflow for creating and publishing a package would be redesigned around specific newsroom requirements.

Infographic management

Based on metadata, this would enable media items containing infographics to be indexed independent of the particular file or media type (png, jpg, JS, embeds, ai).

Rights management

This functionality would help publishers and news agencies manage both rights-based limitations to the geographical usage of news items as well as time-based restrictions for the usage of images and videos.

Photo desk

This would improve the handling of pictures in Superdesk with regard to type of media and publishing needs.

Enhancements to the Planning component

To make editorial planning more flexible, there will be a new option for assignments based on news items other than text. Other planned enhancements include resource planning capabilities such as an overview into which reporters are available, and/or are currently working on other assignments.

Print plugin

For those news organisations that publish to print, this plugin would integrate Superdesk output with Adobe InDesign, the industry standard software for print layout. Content published to digital channels from Superdesk would also be simultaneously passed to InDesign for parallel publication in print.