Is there any documentation available on how Weblink 9 will be different from previous versions? If a customer has performed customizations on Weblink 8.2 will they be preserved when upgrading?
Thanks,
Jen
Hi Jen,
Like Rob said, WebLink 9 will feature a more modernized look and feel, as well as WCAG compliance. Changes also include the ability to stream media, improved search using LFBasic search, and bug fixes.
The WebLink Settings Bundler utility (<Install Directory>\Laserfiche\WebLink\Utilities\ WebLinkSettingsBundler.exe), included in WL 8, is a really easy way to preserve most (if not all) of a customer’s settings and customizations. It will save all of the UI customizations configured through the Designer, as well as changes the user may have made to the ‘Custom’ section of the WebLinkStyles.css file. It also saves custom search forms, bookmarks, graphics, and the repository info set up in the admin utility. A customer can simply run the program, choose a folder to export the settings to (making sure not to save them to the directory WebLink is installed in, since that will be replaced on install), and then run the program again after upgrading to import their settings. See this Tech Tip for more details.
The vast majority of the customizations set in the Designer will remain applicable in WL9.
Even though the WebLink Settings Bundler should cover most of most customers’ needs, I recommend that all customers document their customizations and back up all of their files, just to be safe. As Rob said, the .aspx and .css files (in <Install Directory>\Laserfiche\Weblink\Web Files) will be overwritten on install, as will the .vb (code) files in the same directory. If a customer has made changes directly to these files, they will need to make those changes again manually (aside from the custom styling in WebLinkStyles.css; see above). Even if a customer hasn’t made changes to the files, it might be a good idea to back them up just in case they decide that they would like a particular part of the page to look how it used to. That said, most of the UI changes are fairly small.
The short answer to the question is: Customers should make sure to back up their customizations, but the upgrade should be quick and painless, especially with use of the WebLink Settings Bundler. Of course, the more changes a customer has made to the web files directly, the more work may be involved in getting those changes back in place.
I have finally tested this. The settings bundler did not save the custom searches and bookmarks as stated. Also, the Tech Tip link in the answer above is incorrect. I get a page that says the page you are looking for cannot be found.
Also is there a white paper available for Weblink 9 Basic Customizations?
Thanks,
Jen
Hey Jen,
We are currently in the process of putting together the documentation for WebLink 9, but you can find a preliminary summary of WebLink 9 on the Laserfiche Product Roadmap!
Laserfiche WebLink 9- Laserfiche WebLink is a user-friendly public portal to Laserfiche, allowing organizations to publish documents through a customizable and secure web portal. WebLink 9 provides a more modern user interface and visual style. It also adds full support for WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards.
I spoke with a WebLink developer who informed me that the .aspx files and css will be overwritten, so you'll want to make sure that your customizations are backed up in order to reapply them to WebLink 9. It may be tough to confirm with certainty that all customizations will be applicable to WebLink 9 as the UI has been updated and components have been improved for the new version, but the developers may have more information regarding the differences between the versions to give you a better understanding of whether previous customizations should carry over.
Thanks Rob and Melanie for all of the information. It's very helpful. Do you any better release estimate other than Q1 for Weblink 9?
Thanks again,
Jen