Over the past few months we have been preparing for the next version of Cedar. With suggestions and trends from usage of current users we have tailored Cedar for a more beneficial experience.
In this article we will take a look at some of the new aspects of Cedar 4 and how they can benefit your website and business.
1. A new menu system
With the expending features of Cedar we have designed a new menu system that simplifies tasks and allows room for expanding addons.
The menu is now less obtrusive and allows you to edit and maintain your site without interference overlaying your website.
The menu system inside your website, for example; adding new elements on the page, has also had a modification. Now you can add elements straight to the page with a simple drop down menu. This eliminates two steps in adding elements.
2. New page types
You can now create page types for your website. We are all famiiar with the static content page type where you simply add elements on the screen such as text and images. Now there are a few more page types to choose from:
- Static page type
- Blog list page type
- Grid list page type
- User Profile page type
3. Plugin System
Mainly for web developers, the introduction of a Plugin system will let the developer change the way certain editable areas function within Cedar and your website. For example, the developer can easily override the way the menu system is displayed and add custom functions to that area.
The custom plugins can be installed by the Administrator and will only affect your Cedar application and your website.
4. Content Areas
There will now be content areas where elements can be sorted and inserted. This gives you more flexabilty with your website as you can choose, for example; where you want your menu links to appear. There are several content areas such as:
- Sidepanel 1
- Sidepanel 2
- Main menu
- Main Content
- Footer
For example, you will be able to add menu links in either of these content areas depending on what theme / custom theme you have installed.
5. Custom Theme Installations
Custom themes were difficult to install as you needed to contact us directly and we would install it for your particular Cedar application.
Now in the themes area you can download the default theme as an example and upload your custom theme. This gives you greater control over how your website looks as you can re-upload multiple designs and maintainence versions.
6. Google Cart Integration
This will be another page type like point two however it will enable you to start your own simple shop selling items online to your users and recieve payments via credit card to your bank account. It uses the secure features of Google Checkout and will seemlessly integrate with Cedar.
This page type will not replace a full E-Commerce system but can handle a small commerce business type where you want to sell a few products online.
Conclusion
There are a few more updates in Cedar 4 as I don't want to spoil all the surprises. In the end, Cedar 4 offers a faster, more efficient and a friendlier user experience. We are working on giving you more power over your website while keeping these processes nice, easy and simple.
We look forward to receiving your comments on the new system.
Cedar 4 will be released at the end of Januaray 2010.
