New Features


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Dynamic content overview - Card Layout

News and Agenda items are usually displayed in what is called a Dynamic Content Overview. The news / agenda feed on your page is one as well. There are several overview templates available, but there was great demand for a template that displayed the search results in a card layout. This has now been introduced, an example can be seen on the right.

Also, check out more Card Layout display options!

Styling is determined by the available content of the result pages, as well as custom settings in the overview element. All card variations (normal, half height, horizontal, and horizontal half height) are available to choose from, as well as the number of results per row.

Because the overviews are difficult to set up properly, changing from your current template to this new template is not done by editors. Please contact your local content manager to apply for this overview template.

New foundation strengthens Dutch Computational Science

Addressing major societal challenges such as clean energy, sustainable food systems, and improved water management increasingly depends on computational science. To strengthen Dutch expertise and innovation in this field, the Computational Science NL Foundation was established on October 15, 2024. The establishment of the Stichting marks a significant milestone for computational science in the Netherlands. This newly established foundation will drive the activities of the Computational Science NL platform , The aim is to strengthen the Dutch computational science knowledge and innovation ecosystem and drive future strategic investments in research, infrastructure, and human capital. The founding members of the board are Johan Mentink (Radboud University), Bianca Giovanardi (TU Delft) , and Linn Leppert (University of Twente), who will be chairman, secretary, and treasurer of the foundation board of directors, respectively. Together with Alfons Hoekstra (University of Amsterdam), Mark Roest (VORTech), and Wil Schilders (TU Eindhoven) they are also part of the Computational Science NL Strategy Board, established earlier this year. CWI, the NWO institute for research in theoretical computer science and mathematics, will serve as the foundation’s seat. National agenda Computational Science The Computational Science NL platform is built on and implements a roadmap outlined in the National Agenda for Computational Science , created by a coalition of Dutch scientists and industry representatives chaired by Kees Vuik, scientific director of the TU Delft Institute for Computational Science and Engineering . The National Agenda was presented to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK) in 2022. This agenda highlights the critical role of computational models and simulations in addressing societal challenges and creating a sustainable future. Arriving at the most sustainable solution with computational power "The problems of our time, such as the transition to a sustainable future, are so complex that it is impossible to solve them with only theory or experiments," professor of Numerical Mathematics Kees Vuik explains. "Indeed: to arrive at a solution in this complex matter, you have to work through countless predictions, and that can only be done with (super-)computers. Take the course of our rivers under a changing climate, for example; you can't test or theorize that. You need models and simulations for that. In other words, Computational Science." Supercomputers The connected computing infrastructure for research and education of the Delft High Performance Computing Centre (DHPC) and supercomputer DelftBlue is available to Delft researchers and students. In addition, there’s of course SURF’s ICT infrastructure, which is vital for computational science professionals to conduct cutting-edge work.

Barrières doorbreken voor geothermische energie

Als Europa de doelstellingen op het gebied van duurzame energie wil halen, is het van belang om het gebruik van aardwarmte op te schalen. Het nieuwe EU gefinancierde consortium FindHeat zal onder leiding van Sebastian Geiger van de TU Delft een innovatieve toolkit ontwikkelen om geothermie efficiënter en duurzamer te exploiteren. Deze ontwikkeling beoogt technische en economische risico’s te verminderen en de steun van burgers te vergroten. TBM onderzoekers Gerdien de Vries en Fabiën Dekker brengen hun expertise in op het gebied van de sociale wetenschap. Momenteel houden technische en economische risico’s grote investeringen in geothermie tegen en ondermijnen het vertrouwen van burgers in deze duurzame energiebron. Het FindHeat consortium gaat een flexibele toolkit ontwikkelen om de drempels voor geothermie te verlagen. De focus van de toolkit is een nieuwe workflow voor de exploratie van aardwarmte waarin innovatieve softwareoplossingen, goedkope geofysische en geologische exploratietechnieken, training op maat en publieke betrokkenheid gecombineerd worden. Validatie op acht geothermie-locaties De nieuwe toolkit zal worden gevalideerd op acht verschillende geothermie-locaties die geologisch gezien van elkaar verschillen. Hier wil het consortium de economische en technische voordelen aantonen bij het verkennen en beoordelen van geothermische bronnen. Door eindgebruikers uit de industrie direct te betrekken kunnen zij helpen bij de ontwikkeling van de toolkit en deze tegelijkertijd toepassen in hun dagelijkse werkzaamheden. Dit geeft betere garantie voor de technische en economische haalbaarheid. Vertrouwen FindHeat omvat uitgebreid sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek waarin gezamenlijk gewerkt wordt aan nieuwe communicatiestrategieën die de betrokkenheid van burgers verbeteren en helpen om meer vertrouwen te creëren. De combinatie van maatschappelijke steun en verlaagde technische en economische risico's zal leiden tot een efficiëntere en duurzamere exploitatie van geothermie. Daarmee draagt het bij aan het behalen van de Europese doelen voor duurzame energie uit aardwarmte. Binnen het consortium onderzoekt TBM hoe lokale culturen de percepties van geothermische energie beïnvloeden en hoe deze kennis kan worden gebruikt om de publieke communicatie te verbeteren. Dit onderzoek moet leiden tot een openbaar beschikbare handleiding voor belanghebbenden (zoals energiebedrijven) die in contact staan met lokale gemeenschappen. Psycholoog Gerdien de Vries: "Met dit cross-culturele onderzoek in acht landen willen we de relatie tussen lokaal sentiment en de publieke communicatie over geothermische energie beter begrijpen." Gerdien de Vries FindHeat consortium In het FindHeat-consortium komen expertise en innovatie uit de industrie en de academische wereld samen op het gebied van geologie, geofysica, techniek, sociale wetenschappen, economie, communicatie en technische training. Het consortium bestaat uit de academische partners ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, Charles University Prague, University of Cologne, Czech Geological Survey en TU Delft. Industriële partners zijn Reykjavik Energy (Orkuveitan), Electricite de Strasbourg, Repsol, Delft Inversion, en TRACS International Ltd. FindHeat is grotendeels gesubsidieerd door de Europese Uni een ontvangt ook subsidies van UK Research and Innovation, Swiss National Foundation, en TU Delft Excellence Foundation.

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Tabs as Grid Elements

What changed?

Tabs were difficult to manage, especially when you wanted to re-use and swap content from other pages. Therefore, the tab element has been redesigned for a more user-friendly interface, a better overview of the embedded content, and the added possibility to cut/paste and reference elements in it.

The old Tab element still exists and is not automatically replaced, but will be phased out. For this purpose, the old version has been disabled for editing. In the following weeks, we'll be changing all existing Tab Elements to Tabs Grids. Should you however come across an old Tab Element and you find yourself unable to edit it, please contact your local content manager.

How can I create a new Tabs Grid?

Tabs Grids are created like all other grids. When creating a new element, under Grid Elements, select Tabs grid. This will place a grid on your page with 5 rows, each row representing one of the tabs.

  • The Header in the first element of each tab will also be the title of that tab. So for instance, in this case, the Header of this text element ('How can I create ...') is adapted as Tab title.
  • You can select a colour theme by editing the Tabs Grid properties; under Appearance, select a theme (see fig.)
  • If you don't put any content in a tab, it will be invisible.

 

Any tips and tricks?

When you don't want to start a tab with a header (for instance, when it's an image), you still need to tell Typo3 which title to use for this tab. You can do so by creating a 'Header Only' element, and under Type, select 'Hidden'. This will not show the header inside your tab, but it will be adopted as Tab title.

 

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Youtube video in Header Slider

It is now possible to put a video in the Header Slider on top of any page. 

If you want to add a Youtube video to your header-slider, just paste the youtube URL in the link field of a slide; a play button will be shown on your slide, and a pop-up style video will play when the button is pushed.

Like all slides, this feature also requires you to upload an image.

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Full Width page template

This page combines the regular Content page with the Homepage. Its features are identical to the Homepage format in many ways, but it adds the bread crumb on top, so visitors can easily find their way back.

This layout was frequently created with a workaround (Content Page with Left Column, combined with specific element settings), which is why an official option has been included instead. 

To create this layout, go to the page properties, under Appearance, select the Backend Layout 'Content page that is full width'.
(feature renaming can hopefully be included in our next release)

This page is actually an example of this layout. Click 'To Top' to view the breadcrumb.

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Special Page template

This is another new page template (see: Full Width page template). This layout is designed for a long-read format, by dividing the screen in two halves; the left one is designated for images, the right one for all content. There is also a special connection between picture and content, enabling a nice scrolling experience.
Try it out!

This layout is particularly useful for magazine-style pages.

To create this layout:

  • go to the page properties; under Appearance, select the Backend Layout 'Special Page' (see fig.).

  • On this new page, create a new element; under Grid Elements, select Special Container (see fig.). This grid consists of two columns.

  • In the left column, you place a 'Special Image' element.
    This is the image that is displayed stationary alongside the scrolling content on the right; when the visitor is at the end of the content in this Special Container, the image will scroll up, and display the next Special Container.

  • In the right column, you place a normal 100% Grid element.

  • In the element properties of this Grid Element, under Appearance, select 'Used for content on special pages..' (see fig.).

  • Inside this 100% grid, you can place all elements to your liking.

The last steps, creating a 100% grid, are necessary to create the Special layout as it was designed. This element layout compresses the width of the elements within - otherwise, the text would run the entire width of the column.

 

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Facts and Figures element

This is a new element to display, for instance, facts and figures.

To create this, add a new Fact element inside a grid. Under Theme, select the header colour.
Then, edit the grid properties, go to the tab Appearance, and choose a background colour under 'Theme'.

Please note: the fact element only properly works in combination with this coloured grid background.

What is the coolest new feature?
Fact Element
How many features are in this new release?
40
Number of new features
11

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Coloured grid background

The background colour feature for grids can also be used without a fact element. It may for instance be useful for magazine-type pages, to highlight a specific text.

Two layout guidelines:

  • Dont overdo it! These coloured grids are very dominant. Don't create an abstract piece of art.
  • See if you should add top and bottom margins (under Appearance), to prevent the grid from overlapping with other elements. 

To create this, edit the grid properties, go to the tab Appearance, and choose a background colour under 'Theme':

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Notification element

This element can be used to draw attention to a certain part of your website, or a call-to-action (for instance, when an application deadline is approaching). You can add one or two buttons. The element is available in all TU Delft theme colours.

To create this, add a new Notification element. Enter a header, text, and theme, and, optionally, one or two buttons. The buttons can either be white or transparent.

Notification element

These are not the only release notes; they are only the new elements. Check out our improvements and bug fixes!

Improvements Bug fixes

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Read More-toggle

This option allows you, in a Text element, to hide paragraphs under a 'read more'-line (as seen below).

To create this, in the Rich Text Editor (RTF) of the Text element, stand in the text on the desired location. Click on 'Insert Custom Element', then 'Tudelft', then 'Insert Readmore'. An orange marker will appear in your text.

To demonstrate this, a piece of literary history:

Alice

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. ‘Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,’ thought Alice; ‘only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.’Read more

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: ‘No room! No room!’ they cried out when they saw Alice coming. ‘There’s plenty of room!’ said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

‘Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. ‘I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.

‘There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

‘Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,’ said Alice angrily.

‘It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,’ said the March Hare.

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Image side caption

An option has been added to display a caption next to an image. This was a feature in the original design, and works well in storytelling articles.

To create this, go the the element properties, under Appearance, and choose 'Image fullwidth with caption'.
On the General tab, under Description, fill in the caption text.

The caption can now be placed next to the image.

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