We are beyond excited to announce EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor!
Interactive Editor is a new, modern and efficient application for users who want to be able to use our WYSIWYG communication editing solution, which was previously only available to Internet Explorer users, on any browser.
A bit of history
Some time ago, we decided to create for you a unique for those times, capability to edit content through a website. We were pioneers in this field, and the web browsers of the time did not have enough functionality to implement a graphical rich content editor, that contained all the required elements. The answer to our needs turned out to be the ActiveX technology, which enabled us to embed the controls on the website, which in fact was a Windows® application.
Such controls were then supported by all major web browsers. In this way, we managed to reconcile two key features: the ability to create and fill breathtaking templates and the use of a web-based editor on any major web browser.
Unfortunately, the biggest advantage of this technology turned out to be also its biggest disadvantage. Since ActiveX controls are Windows applications with extended operating system privileges, they can be used in the wrong hands to compromise the end user's machine, which may be a security issue. Therefore, most web browsers have opted out of ActiveX controls, and now only Internet Explorer users can use its functionalities.
EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor key features
You've asked and we've listened!
The most important requirement for the interactive editor was to abandon the strict interrelatedness with the Internet Explorer browser and to allow it to be used by any modern web browsers and We are happy to announce that starting with the EngageOne® Compose v4.4.8, this key feature has finally been delivered.
Does this mean that I can now use it natively on Linux?
Unfortunately no.
Nowadays, web browsers have many new and exciting features that we are constantly exploring, but in order to use all of them, we would have to rewrite the entire ActiveX editor. It's a too complex product to be transferred to completely new technology in such a short time. To make sure you don't have to wait for it, we decided to extract it to a separate Windows desktop application, which can be run and constantly controlled from any website. Of course, we also created TypeScript libraries to make the whole process as smooth as possible.
So the new Interactive Editor can be run and controlled by any modern web browser, run on the Windows® operating system only.
This is still a Windows® application, so is it really secure?
Yes, it is!
The new EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor is a Windows® application, just like the ActiveX editor, but the way it is delivered to the end user's computer has changed completely.
So far, when you visited a website for the first time, it was the end user who decided whether to allow the web browser to install the ActiveX control or not.
This is not possible with the new Interactive Editor. Only an administrator or someone with administrator privileges can install it on the end user's computer and must do so before the user can try to use it via the website. In this way, the rights of the ordinary user to install anything from the web browser can be completely revoked.
What about ActiveX editor functionality, do we need to conduct new training for our users?
You don't have to worry about that.
The new EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor is fully compatible with the ActiveX editor, so if you are already using it, you shouldn't have any problems with switching to the new one.
We do not use your user interface. Instead, we wrote our own but integrated it with the ActiveX Editor. Can we do the same with the new Interactive Editor?
Of course, you can!
From the very beginning, our goal was to provide you a high quality product in the way you would like to use it. The new EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor continues this tradition by giving you a full set of TypeScript/JavaScript libraries that can be used from any website to run and communicate with it. In fact, if you've already integrated with the ActiveX Editor and implemented its data sources, you can also use them with the new Interactive Editor.
More details about integrating custom applications with the new EngageOne® Compose Interactive Editor will be described in my next post.
If you don't want to wait, you can also read the formal documentation that has been posted on:
https://www.pitneybowes.com/content/dam/support/software/product-documentation/public/engageone-server/v4-4-9/en-us/engageone-server-v4-4-9-editor-custom-integration-guide.pdf
It is also available in the EngageOne® Compose distribution ZIP file:
EngageOne_Server-4.4.9.xxx.zip/docs/EngageOne_4.4_Editor_Custom_Integration_Guide.pdf
You can also analyze a sample application that shows how to implement such integration. You can find it in:
EngageOne_Server-4.4.9.xxx.zip/samples/deliver-document