Ready for an online future with vjoon’s Content Editor and WordPress Integration

Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd., established in 1997, is a publisher of two leading logistics publications in Thailand – Logistics Manager (LM) and Airfreight Logistics (AFL). The company further developed an online presence through their websites www.logistics-manager.com and www.airfreight-logistics.com. These websites cover all news, events, and features relating to the logistics and cargo industry in ASEAN and the rest of the world.

Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd. is not only a well-known publisher in the airfreight and logistics field but also offers services geared to logistics companies that want to market themselves. This is possible with their large team of writers and graphic designers producing specialized content for both the magazines as well as their customers. In 2011, a layout-driven K4 workflow was implemented to streamline the work of both layout designers and editors. Along with this integral part of their print workflow, K4 Overview was deployed to offer the Head of Content the necessary insights to keep the entire process on track. To this day, vjoon K4 has provided such means to increase efficiency and minimize errors and bottlenecks in content production.

With the increasing demand for online content, the importance of fast and reliable content production has increased. Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd. turned to our regional partner, EvioTech, to help retool their workflow. EvioTech rolled out vjoon K4’s Content Editor and Universal Seats, along with our WordPress module, to provide quick and simple delivery of content to their WordPress websites.

Moving towards an online-first publishing process

With the increasing growth and demand for online content, the importance of creating fast and relevant content has also increased. Like many other publications, Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd.‘s production was siloed in two separate workflows, one for print and one for web publishing. While they had previously streamlined their print workflow, content production for the web hadn’t been upgraded, and lacked an efficient web workflow with tools for assignments and management reviews. They also lacked a centralized overview of articles published on the two WordPress websites.

Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd. and our integration partner EvioTech have enjoyed a long-term business relationship based on vjoon K4 for many years. When the publisher wanted to improve their web-based workflow, they turned to EvioTech to upgrade the existing vjoon K4 installation, and to help implement online-first workflows across the company.

Supported by an experienced partner

Our partner EvioTech has been responsible for maintenance and support at Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd. for over a decade. So it came as no surprise that they would be the first choice to help implement an online-first approach.

The new version of vjoon K4 includes Content Editor and K4 integration with WordPress. Content Editor allows publishers to create channel-neutral stories, which can then be used for web, print or other forms of publications. The integration with WordPress offers live-previews of articles, and it allows users to publish text and pictures in the intended format to WordPress websites.

Based on all these benefits, vjoon K4 proved to be the best option, allowing the content team to build on their existing knowledge and expertise. EvioTech ensured that the right steps and appropriate configurations were made within the K4 system to allow for the introduction of new workflows. To ensure a smooth transition, all team members were involved and able to voice their suggestions  in the process of creating new and efficient workflows for both web and print. The team received training to work with Content Editor and the integration with WordPress and each step in the new workflows was then carefully tested by specific users before going live. Small adjustments and some fine-tuning were implemented in this process to ensure optimal functionality.

Optimized workflows and efficient publishing processes for web and print

In the past, print articles created in K4 were shared via e-mail to be published online, and assignments were handed out in the same manner. This created a lot of extra work and confusion about the current status of tasks. “By switching to an online-first approach, and including our web publications in the vjoon K4 workflow, we are now able to create and manage our content far more efficiently while the number of communication errors has dropped significantly”, says Phubet Boonrasri, Head of Content at Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd.

Within the new workflow, online editors and layout designers can now use Content Editor to create a content story. While creating the content story, vjoon K4 separates itself from other applications by using WordPress to render the preview, so you know exactly how the story will look when published.

Also, Content Editor provides enhanced communication features allowing users to leave comments and track changes directly in the story, which makes it easier for content teams to concentrate on their most important task, the creation of meaningful content. Editors can edit, comment, track changes, and/or review a content story and publish it via K4 integration with WordPress to the desired website through an automated step in the workflow.

Subsequently, the content story can be re-used in either another web workflow to create a translated version (Thai or English) or transferred to a print workflow to prepare, adjust, and/or add to the article to be used in one of the print magazines.

Full control and easy review for managers

Not only the workflows of the editors and creatives but also the workflow of the Head of Content is streamlined. With the integration of both print and web publications, they are now able to see the status of all content production taking place throughout the team. Accepting changes in articles or giving the final go for a publication, all this can now be managed on one single platform. Additionally, according to Dwight Chiavetta at Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd., ”This makes it a lot easier and faster to detect, troubleshoot and solve any problems or issues that may occur within the publishing process.”

Ready for the future

Many, if not even all, publishers had to adjust their content production to recent developments within the industry. Readers and customers demand content to be accessible anywhere and anytime they want to consume it. Moreover, the content needs to be well-written, entertaining and especially, up-to-speed with current trends. This requires online content that is continuously updated, short production cycles, and effective team collaboration, which is provided and supported by state-of-the-art software including vjoon K4.

“The major goal for the system upgrade was to simplify the publishing process by bringing all tasks together into a single, unified system. We created the new workflow together with the customer and implemented all necessary steps and configurations in the vjoon K4 system. As the team was already used to working with vjoon K4, minimal training time was required from our side. With the new version of vjoon K4, the team of Trade & Logistics Siam Ltd. is now able to take advantage of the new features and is ready for the online future,” says David Sjogelid at EvioTech.

Further extension of the use of vjoon K4 in the future is currently under consideration for social media postings and more.