Our Top 10 Stories of 2017
1. Integrating Live Blog with more editorial tools and collaboration platforms (January)
As part of our Live Coverage Ecosystem (LCE) project, aimed at creating a new syndication network for live blog-based news coverage, an important integration component was developed with our partner dpa-newslab. Called Livebridge, this is an open-source module that connects Live Blog to any other content management system, such as Scribble Live, or the messaging app Slack.
2. NTB goes live with Superdesk (February)
Norwegian national news agency Norsk Telegrambyrå (NTB) launched Sourcefabric’s Superdesk editorial system across its entire news operation. With a staff of 80 journalists, NTB produces 200-300 stories per day while continuously adding to an image database of 80 million-plus photos and videos via its NTB scanpix division.
3. Live Blog version 3.1 release (March)
Key features of Live Blog 3.1 included scorecards, slideshows, analytics and native and remote ad options. This same release came with a new subscription-based cloud pro service for Live Blog.
4. Development of the Superdesk Publisher-WordPress plugin (April)
As part of our digital-first publishing project with The Source, we created a plugin for news outlets to publish from Superdesk to their WordPress sites. Some of the key benefits of this for The Source included their content being automatically packaged in an industry-standard digital distribution format. This sets the foundation for future syndication deals and the ability to increase the volume of publishing as well as automatically distribute content to platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and others.
Trainees at The Source
The advantage of the plugin for other publishers is that it gives them an enhanced authoring environment in WordPress.
5. Public debut of our open-source payment portal project with taz.de (May)
Co-financed by the Google Digital News Initiative Innovation Fund, the project was presented at the re:publica digital media and cultural festival in Berlin. The project has two main goals: first, to create an open-source payment hub that can be integrated with the front end of any news website, in order to facilitate the payment process for subscribers and donors. The second goal is to connect an open-source CRM system to the subscriber database, in order to help taz manage its customer relationships more effectively.
6. Retirement of Newscoop (June)
In a bittersweet farewell, we announced that we would be sunsetting our very first CMS, Newscoop, as of September, in order to devote more resources to Superdesk Publisher and other next-generation publishing and distribution tools.
7. Superdesk Publisher 1.2 release (September)
This update of our all-digital publishing tool included several features that publishers have been asking for, including an easier way to install themes, manage content and change front-end display options on the fly.
8. Closing conferences for microwav.fm in Yerevan and Tblisi (October)
Today there are about 20 stations on the Airtime Pro-powered microwav.fm network, broadcasting from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as conflict zones in the South Caucasus such as Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. One common thread among them all has been the use of radio to bridge the worlds of old and new media, just as the microwav.fm network itself has built relationships across borders in a troubled region.
Radio Expo, Tblisi
9. Welcoming ANSA to the Superdesk family of news agencies (November)
We were proud to announce that Italy's number one news agency and one of the world's leading media organisations became the third national news agency development partner for Superdesk.
10. Live Blog 3.3 release (December)
The key feature of this release is the inclusion of new technology in Live Blog to give publishers' content a significant boost in search results.
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