CloudCannon Documentation

Documentation

Change Log

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DNS Improvements and Plugin Fixes

June 22, 2016 minor

This release further streamlines our domain and DNS workflow, particularly with apex domains and External DNS. Issues with Jekyll Plugins have been fixed from feedback from users in the private beta - contact support to join if you haven’t already.

Features:

  • Clearer workflow for DNS and configuring domains
  • Support for multiple TXT records with CloudCannon DNS
  • Instructions and interface for configuring an apex domain on External DNS
  • CloudCannon interface support for Jekyll versions >= 3.1.4

Fixes:

  • FTP syncing issue
  • Dropbox to CloudCannon syncing issues
  • Solved plugin issues related to latest nokogiri version
  • Files and folders starting with an underscore are now hidden when browsing files in front matter _path selector
  • Improved error handling for creating a new files from Collection Defaults with invalid front matter
  • Improved error handling for SSL

General Fixes and Speed Improvements

June 07, 2016 minor

This release increases the speed of all file operations (saving, syncing and serving etc.) and resolves issues discovered via support.

Features:

  • Improved speed on all file operations
  • Storage provider icon replaces file browser icon when connected

Fixes:

  • HTML code within tilde code blocks are no longer escaped
  • Unauthorised GitHub accounts handled more gracefully
  • Updating the title or date on a post within a category folder will no longer remove the post from the category folder
  • i18n rewriting mailto and data URIs
  • Additional DNS empty form fields
  • Uploads are tagged with the correct author in GitHub
  • Consistent capitalisation on context menus
  • “Move to a new folder” replaces spaces with hyphens
  • File browser ordering broken when a folder starts with a -
  • File drag styles fixed
  • YAML editor with array as base child has “Add <singular>” instead of “Add Detail”
  • Hidden folders no longer appear after creating a new folder

Plugins Fixes

May 13, 2016 minor

This release fixes a few early bugs found in the plugins private beta.

Features:

  • Added --drafts to compiler error if Output Draft Posts is enabled
  • Better compiler output from plugin builds

Fixes:

  • Gemfiles can be created in the File Browser
  • Titles missing from Page Selector
  • Gemfiles can be synced with storage providers
  • Storage providers were unable to connect for some cases
  • Layout select in front matter editor now works with subfolders

Plugins Beta

May 10, 2016 major

This release marks our first official support for custom plugins. Get in touch if you want to be part of the beta. Read on for the full list of features and bug fixes included.

Features:

  • Private beta for Jekyll plugin support
  • Update filename for blog posts when the title and date are changed in the Settings Panel
  • Prettify index.html in editor breadcrumbs
  • Code editing for .coffee, .scss, .sass, .rb and .json in Source Editor greatly improved
  • Output path shown in Collections / Pages section
  • Improved UI for JSON and YAML files with array as only child
  • YAML/JSON editor uses prettified filename if no title exists

Fixes:

  • Prevent items in Collections to be moved above their base path
  • Fixed comments added by keyboard shortcut in Source Editor for .scss files
  • Fixed issue when navigating to a page displayed scrolled down
  • Prevent naming issues with non-documented, Jekyll-supported named posts

Improved YAML editor and better empty site state

April 25, 2016 major

This release improves the user experience for editing YAML files and adding files to an empty site. 

Features:

  • Improved YAML editor with redesigned breadcrumb and layout
  • Added hide_content setting to enable a full screen YAML editor for front matter
  • Added non-output items to the page selector and enabled the control on all pages
  • Status navigation item now displays what is happening during a sync, build or compression
  • After creating a new collection item the new view will be scrolled into view
  • Improved SSL security
  • Validation on SSL certs when uploaded

Fixes:

  • Collection tab displaying at incorrect times
  • Layout select box now populates correctly
  • Prevented internal classes from leaking into saved content
  • Better handling on invalid YAML and front matter

Inline Editing on Markdown Pages

April 13, 2016 major

This release adds inline editing of Markdown content. This feature means that posts, collection items or pages written in Markdown are editable in the Visual Editor automatically. View the related blog post or the Editable Region documentation for more information.

Markdown content region editable in the Visual Editor

Features:

  • Inline editing on Markdown pages
  • Object and array support for Contact Forms

Fixes:

  • Span tag edge case issue fixed in Content Editor
  • GitHub syncing no longer missing files on some large commits
  • Underscores are now allowed in CNAMEs
  • Unsubscribe link updated in Contact Forms
  • Fixed some cases of bad pluralisation in Settings Panel

SSL Private Beta and General Improvements

April 01, 2016 major

This release announces the start of our SSL private beta, new file types, better pasting from Microsoft Word, a new collection configure interface and general improvements/fixes. Contact support to join the SSL private beta.

Features:

  • Custom SSL support released
  • Better Microsoft Word pasting
  • Configuring collection metadata is now edited in a sidebar consistent with the editor views
  • Added webp and cur file types
  • Added support for empty arrays in front matter (defaults to string entries)
  • Improved documentation

Fixes:

  • Collections section visible when Collection Defaults are the only entries
  • Empty strong, em and u tags removed from Markdown output on save
  • DNS configuration preventing invalid spacing
  • Fixed issues with windows line endings
  • Entities not escaped when displaying breadcrumb in editor
  • Spacing around images in Markdown editor adjusted to represent position relative to text
  • Dragging an image onto an image editable region no longer errors
  • Potential memory leaks fixed
  • Empty strings or nulls in the front matter now result in no value in YAML
  • Issues with pages without front matter fixed
  • Multiselect input fixes, including object support, and spacing
  • Safari style on DNS settings

YAML Multiselect/Tagger

March 08, 2016 minor

This release adds a multiselect/tagger to the range of interfaces for Jekyll front matter and YAML. This is perfect for categories, tags or country code selectors.

Features:

Fixes:

  • Fixed empty front matter and editables causing odd behaviour.
  • DNS interface layout fixes for Safari.

General Fixes

March 02, 2016 minor

This release contains minor fixes and improvements.

Features:

  • th elements added to supported inline editable regions
  • Collection Defaults added to progress items in Site Status

Fixes:

  • Fixed support for syncing empty repositories.
  • Fixed an issue with DNS interface for non-apex domains.
  • Header context buttons now display correctly mobile sized screens
  • DOM elements now cleaned up properly for colour and date pickers
  • Site icons displayed consistently across app
  • Remove Rows context button no longer shows for CSV files in code view
  • Front matter editor no longer outputs empty quotes for blank values

Jekyll Versions and Expanded DNS

February 17, 2016 major

This release allows users to select the version of Jekyll used to build each site (including Jekyll 2.4.0, 2.5.3 and 3.0.3). DNS has been expanded with CNAME and A record support.

Features:

  • Jekyll 3.0.3 and 2.5.3 support.
  • Jekyll versions configurable per site.
  • CNAME and A record support in Site Settings / DNS.
  • URLs in the srcset attribute support CloudCannon optimisations.
  • Jekyll build error output accessible from sidebar.

Fixes:

  • Fixed an issue with unsupported filenames.
  • Fixed an issue with conflicting paths when syncing with Dropbox.

Colour Picker

February 11, 2016 minor

This release adds a colour picker to the range of interfaces for Jekyll front matter and YAML.

CloudCannon front matter interface including new colour picker

Features:

  • Check for changes call on Status page for Dropbox connected sites.
  • Colour picker added to front matter interfaces.
  • Improved performance when syncing from storage provider webhooks.
  • Switch to Bitbucket webhooks from Bitbucket services (deprecated).
  • Branch connected shown on storager provider settings for GitHub and Bitbucket sites.

Fixes:

  • Fixed error appearing the first time image button was activated in the content editor.
  • Fixed an issue where site icons were not displayed correctly on the base domain section.
  • Fixed an issue when HTML was escaped in Liquid highlight tags.

Dropbox delete fix

February 10, 2016 minor

This release is a hot fix for some users experiencing problems when deleting files in CloudCannon when the site is connected to dropbox. Github syncing previously allowed syncing of unsupported files, this has also been patched. A larger feature release will be online later this week.

New sites list and syncing fixes

February 01, 2016 minor

This week’s deployment focuses on usability changes to the sites list. Site names are no longer required to be unique with the exception of Dropbox connected sites. Storage provider details are displayed on the sites list to help distinguish between environments. If a site icon contains transparency it will be displayed with a padding around it. Alternatively if the site icon has no transparency the image will be shown to the edge its wrapper.

Empty blogging interface

Syncing improvements ensure that sites stay synchronised when reconnected. When connecting a Git repository, all files on CloudCannon are reset to the state on the selected branch.

Features:

  • New sites list design.
  • Site icon pixel reading to optimise viewing.
  • Videos and audio files are served from a CDN.

Fixes:

  • Resetting a connection will delete files in CloudCannon. This often left sites in an intermediate state.
  • Syncing with GitHub or Bitbucket no longer syncs the _site and node_modules directories.

SAML configuration and syncing fix

January 28, 2016 minor

This release contains additional configuration for SAML users. This allows a custom issuer for grouping sites into authentication groups. Additionally, a fix for initial BitBucket syncs getting stuck for long periods of time.

Editor links, Markdown attributes and general improvements

January 25, 2016 minor

Features:

  • Editor links have been added to the visual editor to allow customisation of your interfaces.
  • Commit hashes are available on each site activity from GitHub and Bitbucket.

Fixes:

  • srcset and sizes attributes are now valid attributes within the Markdown editor. These were previously filtered out on save.
  • Renaming folders to the same name with different cases was causing odd behaviour.
  • Prevented multiple error messages on upload failure.
  • Removing i18n from a site would cause the site to get stuck with the previous i18n.
  • Bitbucket initial syncing got stuck in a particular state.

Syncer Fixes

January 08, 2016 minor

This release includes minor bug fixes, focused around storage provider syncing.

Fixes:

  • Fixed some assets not loading in the editor due to inconsistently escaped unicode characters
  • Prevent issues with folder names containing “.”s
  • Consistent loading symbol contrast on all backgrounds
  • Fixed a race condition issue when syncing
  • Renaming a collection item will now correctly identify the extension

Syncer Overhaul

December 22, 2015 major

This release features major changes when interacting with storage providers. Sync operations between GitHub, Bitbucket, Dropbox and FTP are now faster, more reliable and have greater visibility in CloudCannon.

Features:

  • Better syncing process for storage providers
  • Check Changes button for storage providers in Status section
  • Sync step added to Status section
  • Improved interface for adding domain names and managing DNS
  • Save button more prominent

Fixes:

  • Loading animation fixed for Firefox and Safari
  • Sidebar display for users with no first name or surname
  • Date parsing issue preventing Status section loading in Firefox and Safari
  • Hide asset files in Page Selector for non Jekyll sites
  • Fixed Bitbucket sync sometimes writing errors to file

Drafts and Collection Defaults

December 16, 2015 minor

This release gives developers the option to set the Jekyll --drafts flag, and provide defaults for new collection items and blog posts.

Features:

  • Output draft posts option in Site Settings
  • Collection Defaults for pre-populating new collection items and blog posts
  • More output for Jekyll build errors

Fixes:

  • Fixed incorrect styles on some error detail pages

Site Status and New User Flow

December 10, 2015 major

This release includes consolidated interface changes and the site status feature. You can find more details on the release the associated blog post.

Features:

  • Status section for site state, errors, suggestions and activity
  • Improved empty interfaces detailing next steps
  • New file creation menu with option to create folders
  • Collections section behaviour matched with File Browser
  • Onboarding when sharing to team members without accounts has improved
  • Folders in Collections view now prettified

Fixes:

  • Potential flickering in share UI resolved
  • Fixed pages collection showing when no pages exist
  • Fixed pages collection hiding some valid files
  • Fixed navigation issues with collection item breadcrumbs within folders
  • Inconsistencies between pages shown in Editor section and Collections section

User experience improvements

November 27, 2015 minor

This release includes various user experience improvements and fixes.

Features:

  • GST displayed on New Zealand invoices
  • White labelled email when creating adding users with user account authentication
  • HTML formatted, white labelled emails for password reset with user account authentication
  • HTML formatted, white labelled emails with the form submission feature
  • Open collection items for editing when created
  • Serve ico and pdf files from CDN

Fixes:

  • Prevent plain single and quotes from being turned into entities in our editors
  • Fixed a flickering issue when sharing site to team members
  • Use user input for title of new collection items rather than formatted filename
  • Hide image files in collections interface
  • Remove problematic control characters from filenames on create or upload
  • Fix issue running UglifyJS on very large files

Performance and Reliability

November 17, 2015 minor

This release includes performance and reliability improvements to our back end processing.

Other features include:

  • @import in plain .css files now supported
  • Disconnect storage provider when given a not found from GitHub/Bitbucket

Bug fixes:

  • Create site visual flicker removed
  • Markdown conversion maximum run time

Compiler Overhaul

November 03, 2015 major

Since the last release, we’ve focused on back end performance and infrastructure. Performance and stability has increased across most of our services, including an improved system for processing sites. Sites are now processed, compiled and compressed faster and more reliably.

Other features include:

  • Native browser spellcheck support
  • Improved style on payment detail emails

Bug fixes:

  • Issue with repeatables on non Jekyll sites

Link editor improvements

September 28, 2015 major

This release includes a redesign of the link pop out in the Visual Editor. The design is more consistent and streamlined for users. The preview mode is no longer required.

Other features include:

  • Client interface preview, support and documentation URL options
  • Button for adding new array item improved
  • Kramdown for Markdown parsing to match Jekyll
  • Support for .ejs files
  • Move up a folder action for files in browser
  • Date support in CSV editor
  • Improved file actions in Collections / Pages section

Bug fixes:

  • Disable output and permalink editing for a collection in the Collections section
  • Prevent browser find overscrolling editor content
  • Start with template option removed
  • Ensure Jekyll indicator hidden in some cases for static sites
  • Prevent multiple applications of a coupon
  • Login screen users update correctly when email changed
  • New collection items with dates now formatted with ISO8601 format
  • Markdown pages displayed in Collections / Pages section

Site Speed, Highlight tags in markdown editor and pages list

September 21, 2015 major

A DOS attack early last week forced us to review page performance. The improvements made are:

  • Improved caching of the sites to get a ~5 times improvement in load speeds.
  • Applied rate limiting to a site to prevent malicious attacks on all sites.
  • Blocked common attack vectors for a Wordpress/php site to reduce load on servers.
  • Blocked pinging services that clog your google analytics. These flooded referrer stats to gain backlinks.
  • Compression on sites are now performed immediately after a Jekyll compile.

Additionally we added new features:

  • Added support for highlight tag in markdown editor. This retains the content like a pre tag.
  • Users will need to downgrade before deleting their account to stop accidental deletions
  • New pages list in the Collections section. This allows clients to navigate and clone pages
  • Added support for category posts folders. Each category is listed in the Collections section. For example, posts in /cats/_posts are separated from those inside /_posts. All drafts remain in /_drafts/, upon publishing the category decides where they should go. No change will occur if you have all posts in /_posts.

As always, bug fixes include:

  • Safari client editor failed to login on first use
  • Client editor move/delete files were not working for some users
  • WebSocket connection fixed for firefox windows
  • Auth routes broke in some cases
  • General bug fixes and tweeks

Performance Improvements and Bug Fixes

September 11, 2015 minor

  • (Feature) base_path is reset to “” on every site so that it does not break interface
  • (Improvement) Better icons on git repository lists
  • (Bug) Paste as plain text fixed if pasting from Microsoft Office
  • (Bug) Browser list icon will now show when in a grid view rather than showing current state
  • (Bug) Improved parsing with mixed liquid and html. This will ensure a closer mapping to native Jekyll
  • (Bug) Ctrl/Cmd + S will trigger a save in all editors
  • (Bug) Unbolding broke in some cases
  • General bug fixes and UI tweaks

Minor UI and Bug Fixes

September 04, 2015 minor

  • Editor navigation menu now splits Posts, Pages and collection items into their own category
  • Bitbucket syncing fixed for branches including a slash (/)
  • A new calming blue login background
  • Background images removed from client login screen
  • Removed sidebar background flicker when changing between views
  • Less scripts loaded to improve performance
  • Client uploads to the /upload directory get spaces stripped from filename
  • Extra spacing to improve input boxes
  • (Bug) Markdown editor produced data uri for loading images when saved
  • (Bug) Browser icons overflowing onto file list when in a dialog
  • (Bug) CSV editor fixes
  • Minor bug fixes

Extra credit card details

September 01, 2015 minor

This release contains a fix preventing some users from making payments.

  • Added extra credit card fields that some banks require
  • Disabled linter for unsupported file types
  • Fixed issue cancelling while creating collection item
  • Fixed Safari 9 issues on El Capitan preview
  • Fixed an issue with plan migration
  • Fixed spacing on sidebar header
  • General bug fixes

Improved UI and Better Team Pricing

August 28, 2015 major

Today we introduce a new pricing model. This creates a better agency flow with less upgrade steps and whitelabelling. You can read more about it in our pricing change announcement.

CloudCannon will look very different. Everything from the login screens to the app layout has changed. Here is a complete list of the UI Changes

  • User navigation has its own routes and is available in a single sidebar. This gives you access to all settings in a single place and frees up the header for contextual controls.
  • Site navigations merged into a single sidebar. Labels are always visible which removes the need to remember which icon is which.
  • New icons site wide from Google Material Design.
  • New UI added to allow easier navigation to other pages within the visual editor.
  • Uploads have a new encoding without spaces or brackets. This solves some encoding issues when outputting to a page.
  • A new plans page within account settings which gives better visibility to your payment details
  • Currently shared to users show up in site sharing for easy resharing
  • Sharing interface tidied to allow faster updates to existing shares
  • Background images added to login and sidebar header
  • Better mobile styles in all sections of the app
  • Markdown editor handles files starting with an hr or an empty yaml header
  • Font changed from Roboto to Open Sans
  • General bug fixes

Bitbucket Improvements and Liquid in Markdown

August 19, 2015 minor

  • Liquid is no longer mangled by the markdown editor.
  • Seamless Bitbucket Connect login process.
  • Better Bitbucket disconnect behaviour.

Markdown Improvements

August 14, 2015 minor

  • Improved Markdown output
  • Posts now sorted by dates correctly
  • Table output support in Markdown editor

Internationalisation and Performance improvements

July 30, 2015 major

Internationalisation needed an overhaul. The new Internationalisation uses 302 redirects instead of the transparent internal redirect that occured. The new implementation uses redirects and different paths for each language. If https://example.com/ is requested in NZ a 302 redirect will occur to https://example.com/en_nz/ and it will served the NZ locale. If https://example.com/es/ is requested the ES version will be served with no redirect as the locale is already defined in the path. Due to this change a default locale setting has been added which is available once a locale has been added to the _locale folder.

On top of Internationalisation are the following fixes:

  • Link selector in the visual editor got a slight tidy up
  • Better mobile response for context buttons
  • Bug preventing share permissions changes when at full shares
  • The file browser retains your current folder allowing better use of the back button
  • Additional cache headers on optimised CDN assets
  • Better permalink detection for HTML visual editing
  • General bug fixes

Build Settings

July 24, 2015 minor

This release provides options to control your site build:

Authentication Overhaul

July 20, 2015 major

This release has a complete overhaul of the site authentication. This includes:

  • User accounts allowing you to limit access to your site based on an email address
  • Authenticated routes allows you to have private sections of a site
  • Date/time front matter interfaces
  • Prototyping sites no longer require a password. Instead viewers will be presented with a splash screen before viewing the site.
  • Internationalisation language detection incorporates the country more effectively.
  • Disabled HTTP access on app.cloudcannon.com
  • Better date handling on draft posts. If a date is already defined when published it will maintain that date
  • Syncing with GitHub handles force pushes
  • General bug fixes
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