ProtoShare

ProtoShare 5 is a major release for Site9. While we love ProtoShare 3.9, we realized that there were a few key improvements that would vastly speed the creation of prototypes, encourage the reuse of work, and make our customers' lives easier. In ProtoShare 5, we significantly upgraded the user interface, supported additional workflows and simplified others.

Below are descriptions and mini videos of the major changes for this release.

Things that are different

• Editing and Reviewing are now separate modes
• Right-click menu in the Editor (super handy!)
• Drag & drop Library items onto the Editor canvas
• Multiple Document Interface
• Drag & drop settings for Navigation components
• New Import Dialog
• Properties pane is now a pop-up
• More straightforward Export
• Asset storage has been improved
• Changes to Rich Text defaults
• Double-click Rich Text to open the properties
• In Review, the filmstrip is ordered alphabetically

Things that are new

• Project Dashboard
• New Welcome screen
• Multi-select in the Site Map
• Manual Save option
• Drag & drop designs between pages
• Annotations can now be created in the Editor

Things that have been removed

• Discussion search

  We're still deciding where search should fit in the new user interface.

• New Comp, New Live View

  In ProtoShare 5, Assets can be dragged from the Library to the canvas. We felt this was a faster workflow than the New Comp design workflow, especially when you are creating clickable-comps by overlaying hyperlinks on the comp. With Live Views, you just place an iFrame component and type in the url you want, like before, but since you are in the Editor already, you can size the iFrame component to whatever size you need.

• Share Tab

  The Share tab's functions have been moved to the Project Dashboard. We replaced the Send Email function with a mailto link so that emails sent from ProtoShare will appear in your mail application's sent mail folder. We found it problematic that there was no record of these emails sent from ProtoShare.

• Project chat

Editing and Reviewing are now separate modes

Previous versions of ProtoShare had three modes: Editing, Prototype, and Review. ProtoShare 5 only has Editing and Review. The Prototype was slow because it loaded too much content at once. We found that when we were building prototypes, we wanted more flexibility in the Editor and when we were participating in discussions, we wanted the stripped down interface that Review offered.

Right-click menu in the Editor (super handy!)

This is one of those features that once you have it, you wonder how you went so long without it. ProtoShare has had a right-click menu in some areas, but ProtoShare 5 is the first time it is available in the Editor. It's context sensitive, so the options change depending on what you click on. We use it all the time. It's a huge timesaver.

Drag & drop Library items onto the Editor canvas

The Library is now visible alongside the Editor canvas, which means you can drag and drop Library items onto the canvas. Dragging a Template will assign that Template to the Design. Dragging a Master (Clipping) will place it on the canvas. Dragging an image from the Assets folder will place the image on the canvas. This functionality replaces the Clipping and Image Gallery sections that were in the Component Palette.

Multiple Document Interface

ProtoShare 5 now has a multi-document interface which means you have a tabbed set of Editor canvases to work with. This makes working on separate designs much faster. You can even open multiple Designs at once by selecting them all and then selecting Open from the main or right-click menus. We're very excited we were finally able to deliver this feature!

Drag & drop settings for Navigation components

We believe drag and drop interfaces are fast and intuitive, so we have tried to use them whenever we can. Now with Navigation Components, you can drag pages from the Site Map to the Starting Pages setting. Similarly, you drag image Assets to the Image and Rollover Image settings of the Image Component.

New Import dialog

Importing from other Projects is much easier now. Open the source project and drag and drop items directly into your Library.

Properties pane is now a pop-up

The Properties inspector is now a pop-up instead of being locked to the right side of the screen. This dialog can be opened through the menu, menubar button, right-click or keyboard shortcut.

More straightforward Export

Export used to be in its own mode, but now you just select the pages you want in the Site Map and select Export from the File menu or right-click menu.

Asset and Page links in Rich Text won't break

Asset and Page references in a Rich Text will no longer break if they are moved or renamed. When placing a link in a Rich Text, first find the source in the Library or Site Map and select File > Get URL. Then paste this reference in the Rich Text editor image or link dialog.

Changes to Rich Text defaults

The Rich Text component default settings are now: no border, no padding and short placeholder text. It's often better to place the Rich Text inside a Container component and use the Container's border settings instead. The placeholder text was added to make quick text mock-ups faster, and to give an indication of where a Rich Text component was after it was dropped on the canvas. With no placeholder text and no border, it tended to disappear.

Double-click Rich Text to open the properties

In previous versions of ProtoShare, double-clicking a Rich Text component would open the content editor. Now double-clicking opens the properties inspector. The first item in the inspector is a button to open the content editor. The content editor can also be opened through the right-click menu.

In Review, the filmstrip is ordered alphabetically

In Review mode the Designs in the filmstrip are now ordered alphabetically, except for the Active Design, which is always in the leftmost position.

New Project Dashboard

The first tab in the new multi-document interface in the Editor is always the Project Dashboard. This view contains the project description, project members, and discussion topics created by and assigned to you. You can invite or remove project members from the Dashboard as well.

New Account Welcome screen

The first screen in previous versions contained just the Project list. Now we have a Welcome screen with helpful ProtoShare information, in addition to your most recent Projects.

Multi-select in the Site Map

You can now select more than one page at a time in the Site Map using shift+click, control+click or command+click.

Manual Save option

ProtoShare continually saves your work—and that is our recommended way to work—but there may be times when you want to control saving yourself. Now you can turn off auto saving from File > Save Automatically in the Editor.

Drag & drop Designs between pages

It is now possible to drag and drop designs between pages.

Annotations can be created in the Editor

Annotations are extra information about a prototype. We found we wanted to create them at the same time we were working on the prototype instead of having to go out to Review mode. However, you can still create Annotations in Review mode if you wish.