Release comparison

This page offers a list of the functionality from standard WCMS 2 "FDSU" sites that is and isn't available with the current release of WCMS 3. This list is subject to change without notice, and is not guaranteed to cover all available functionality, even for things identified as shipped. For additional reference, see "changes coming with the next WCMS".

Document index

In this document:

Site types
Site type In current release? Notes
FDSU (a.k.a. "responsive") standard yes  
FDSU (a.k.a. "responsive") generic yes  
Authentication-required sites (all types) yes  
French and Chinese sites no site may choose to migrate anyway, but all WCMS-provided text would be in English
"Custom module" sites no (unless the custom modules are no longer required)
Publications no  
Single page no* *depending on functionality used, some single page sites may be able to manually migrate
Conference no* *depending on functionality used, some conference sites may be able to manually migrate
Forms yes* *forms sites will no longer have a dedicated server, and are otherwise standard sites
UWaterloo Scholar n/a Scholar is a separate product, for which the future is being determined
University home no  

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Content types
Name In current release? Notes
Award no sites using this content type should consider delaying migration until it is available
Bibliography yes Bibliographies are called Publication references in WCMS 3. Although Publications references are available, they do not migrate using the migration script. Sites using this content type will have to manually import the bibliographies from the WCMS 2 site to the WCMS 3 site.
Blog post yes the current release does not include the ability to customize the title or the introduction of the blog listing page, or support providing a link for the blog post author; the "podcast" field and the ability to have blog comments has been permanently removed
Catalog item yes  
Contact yes  
Custom listing page yes* *this functionality has been implemented using blocks on a standard web page
Embedded call to action yes* *this functionality has been implemented using blocks on a standard web page
Embedded facts and figures yes* *this functionality has been implemented using blocks on a standard web page
Embedded timeline yes* *this functionality has been implemented using blocks on a standard web page; the current release only supports vertical timelines, and horizontal timelines will be migrated as "vertical by month"
Event yes the current release does not have a calendar view of events
Home page banner yes*

Home page banners are now called Banner images in WCMS 3.

*this functionality is now supported on all pages, and can now work two ways:
First, using blocks on a standard web page, they can be positioned anywhere below the page title.
Secondly, as a setting on the content, they can be positioned above the page title
For the current release, single and multiple banner images are supported; all other options are unsupported, but provided for future use
Image gallery yes* *this functionality has been implemented using blocks on a standard web page
Titles are currently not available in WCMS 3.
News item yes  
Opportunity yes  
People profile yes the content type is now named "Profile"
Project yes  
Promotional item never *the content type will not be coming to WCMS 3; existing promo items will be migrated as blocks placed on the sidebar(s) of the page(s) they are configured to appear on
Service yes  
Site footer yes  
Special alert yes placement rules will no longer support a mix of pages to appear on and pages not to appear on; only one or the other will be possible
Web form yes the "University-approved" prebuilt country list is not currently included, though a "generic" country list is available
Web page yes  

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Visual editor (CKEditor) functionality
Functionality In current release? Notes
Source view yes  
Undo/redo yes  
Find/replace yes  
Select all yes  
Spell checker yes  
Accessibility checker yes  
Bold yes  
Italic yes  
Block quote yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Strikethrough yes  
Subscript/superscript yes  
Remove format yes  
Ordered/unordered lists yes  
Decrease/increase indent yes  
Image alignment yes *this functionality moved from a toolbar button to a configuration option for embedded media items; the current release does not support inline images inside text
Image resizing yes *this functionality is currently only available as a configuration option for embedded media items; note that images are currently served at the original size and scaled by the browser, so it is better to use correctly-sized original images
Insert float clear never  
Link/unlink yes using a simplified link dialog
Add anchor yes  
Teaser break never teaser text is now explicitly defined in a "summary" field for content types that use it
Styles: paragraph yes now in a "paragraph format" dropdown
Styles: heading 2 - 6 yes now in a "paragraph format" dropdown
Styles: preformatted text yes now in a "paragraph format" dropdown
Styles: org chart no  
Styles: address yes  
Styles: highlight yes  
Styles: caption yes  
Styles: inserted text yes  
Styles: deleted text yes  
Templates: assorted column options yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using sections
Templates: expandable/collapsable content yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented differently
Templates: block quotes yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Tables yes  
Horizontal line yes  
Facebook embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Twitter embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Livestream embed never Livestream no longer exists as a separate product; new Livestream is part of Vimeo
Youtube embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Vimeo embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Mailman subscription form embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Tableau visualization embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Tint wall embed never Tint will no longer be supported as the University no longer has a paid subscription
MailChimp embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Hootsuite Campaign embed never Hootsuite Campaign will no longer be supported as the University no longer has a paid subscription
Power BI embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
CodePen embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Social Intents embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Timeline embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks (see the content type section for more information)
Image gallery embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks (see the content type section for more information)
Facts and figures embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks (see the content type section for more information)
Call to action embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks (see the content type section for more information)
Google maps embed yes* *this functionality moved outside of the editor, and is implemented using blocks
Show blocks yes  
Maximize no  

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Site management (excluding content-type-specific functionality)
Functionality In current release? Notes
Broken links (a.k.a. linkchecker) no 3rd-party link checkers can be used, e.g. SiteImprove
Content report (CSV) yes Access to this functionality is restricted to site owners
Google Universal Analytics yes Access to this functionality is restricted to site owners
Menu report (CSV) yes Access to this functionality is restricted to site owners
Menus yes  
Microsoft Teams options no  
Open authentication yes* * all WCMS 3 sites effectively have open authentication enabled
Path review report no  
Redirects yes Access to this functionality is restricted to site managers
Shortcuts yes Access to this functionality is restricted to site owners
Slack/Mattermost options never as the University has standardized on Teams, this functionality is completely removed
Submit request yes Called Submit a ticket in WCMS 3
WCMS how-to documents yes  

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General and/or system-wide functionality
Functionality In current release? Notes
Scheduled publishing/unpublishing yes  
Cloning content yes  
Customizable meta tags yes  
Wide web pages yes various widths within a single page will be supported
Content moderation yes  
Writing for the web tips never Permanently removed
Page breadcrumbs no  
Who's online list (dashboard) yes the current release lists all users in one list, not sorted into "privileged" and "other" users
Site manager role yes the site administration functionality has moved to a new role, "site owner"
Other roles yes "generic" content roles and "form-related" content roles will remain; other content-type-specific roles and "University status" roles (e.g. faculty, staff, student) are removed
Role assignment yes site owners will be able to assign all content-related roles, including form-related content roles
Role expiry yes site owners will be able to set an automatic expiry date for all content-related roles, including form-related content roles
Image uploading from a URL yes* *the current release requires that these be added via media management; to add "on the fly" during content authoring, images be manually downloaded to your computer, then uploaded to the site
Image uploading from Waterloo Photos no the current release requires that these images be manually downloaded to your computer, then uploaded to the site

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