Hamburg/Germany - vjoon GmbH today released Version 7 of its cross-media publishing platform vjoon K4®. Featuring two new browser-based approval management modules, it affords brands, agencies and publishers the opportunity to produce content in a remarkably intuitive way. Version 7 also offers an added measure of convenience when working with templates. Now automated routines can extract frequently reused content such as corporate design elements or even the structure of entire articles out of the template and embed this content in the workflow.

Simplified decision-making, faster feedback with approval management
Decisions have to be made at key junctures in publishing workflows, for example, to grant approvals at short notice or make minor corrections. In many enterprises, such decisions are often made by people who otherwise rarely work with the publishing system. K4 Approval Manager and K4 Web Editor ICML Advanced were developed specifically to expedite this process. These modules enable executives, marketing directors, purchasers and the like to review layouts and content to determine if they meet specifications and their expectations. They can make their verdict known in a flash—a simple mouse-click is all it takes to give their go or no-go. This makes it so much easier to coordinate with agencies and service providers and handle content across departmental and company lines. It accelerates approvals and gets feedback that much faster, thereby saving time and cutting costs.

K4 Approval Manager enables designated decision-makers to approve individual layouts and even entire layout sequences using an intuitive, browser-based interface. K4 Web Editor ICML Advanced adds another layer of simplified approval management on top of K4 Approval Manager. This separate and independent entity was designed specifically for approving individual text objects and images. However, the two modules interact. For example, a product manager can update prices and edit descriptions in K4 Web Editor ICML Advanced and then request approval from the given line manager, who then receives an email with a clickable URL that automatically opens this layout in the browser-based K4 Approval Manager. The line manager can view the entire layout at a glance and make the decision without further ado.

„Marketing and product managers often have to make quick decisions to determine if their promotional and marketing materials comply with specifications and contain the right product information, pictures or prices,” says vjoon GmbH CEO Andreas Schrader. “With the new approval management in vjoon K4, they can get the picture at a moment’s notice and make that decision with a single click.

Lightening the workload with the automated use of template elements
Maintaining a consistent look and complying with the given corporate design rules across all media is imperative for every brand. This is why enterprises frequently reuse logos, images and even entire layout grids in printed publications and digital channels, especially for public relations and promotional purposes. For example, if an agency wishes to format an offer to match its corporate style guide, it can simply launch the workflow with a stored template. This also triggers the appropriate workflows for recurring objects such as logos, dummy texts and sample images. Links to recurring objects are retained. All this takes place automatically to lighten the day-to-day workload and save considerable time. Users enjoy the same benefits for all recurring sections of financial reports, employee newspapers and any business collateral that provides information on products.

The latest version of vjoon K4 is available now.