What’s new and changed in Funnelback DXP and Funnelback 16?
Learn about the new features and important changes released in Funnelback DXP and Funnelback 16 and how they are different from the previous Funnelback 15.24 version. This document is updated frequently as a tool for users to compare features between the latest release of Funnelback DXP/Funnelback 16 and Funnelback 15.24.
A change log that provides detailed information on all the changes in Funnelback since v15.24 is also available.
New and enhanced features
Squiz DXP
Funnelback is now available as an integrated product in the Squiz DXP. The Squiz DXP provides an integrated solution to one or more Squiz applications via a single interface.
This is the first step to provide much closer integration with other products within the Squiz product suite such as Squiz Matrix.
Redesigned administration dashboard
Funnelback DXP/Funnelback 16 includes a completely reimagined administration dashboard which focuses on simplifying the user experience of managing Funnelback and interacting with the analytics and reporting features.
The search dashboard includes a completely redesigned process for the creation and management of new searches.
Simplification of the collection concept
In Funnelback 15 and earlier the concept of collections and profiles was highly confusing for users as it encapsulated a number of different concepts and had a different meaning in different contexts.
In Funnelback DXP/Funnelback 16 these have been replaced with:
- Data sources
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A data source is used to define a single content source such as a website (or set of websites); a YouTube channel or a database. These are roughly equivalent to a non-meta collection in v15 and earlier terminology.
- Search packages
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A search package is used to package together one or more data sources into a combined data set that can be searched. These are roughly equivalent to a meta collection in v15 and earlier terminology. In v16 you can’t query a data source directly - the search interface must be set up by creating a results page which can only be defined on the search package.
- Results pages
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A results page is used to define a search that a user will interact with. The results page includes the search templates, configuration and reporting associated with a search that is provided to an end user. These are roughly equivalent to a service enabled profile in v15.24 and earlier terminology.
Plugins for reusable custom code
Plugins provide Funnelback developers with a way of safely extending the functionality within Funnelback to provide reusable and upgradeable plugins that can be mixed and matched on search implementations.
Approved Funnelback plugins are available via the plugins screen in the DXP or Funnelback 16.
The features superseded by plugins - Groovy document and Jsoup filters, hook scripts, custom workflow and custom gatherers are no longer available to be used in Funnelback DXP and are deprecated in Funnelback 16. Any existing implementations that are upgraded to Funnelback 16 should rewrite custom code using the plugin framework and make use of available plugins or product functionality where available.
Additional curator triggers and actions
Several new curator triggers and actions have been added allowing configurable rules that previously required the implementation of a hook script.
New update scheduler
The update scheduler, responsible for updating data sources and analytics has been greatly enhanced.
It enabled administrators to schedule an update to occur at a fixed time, or on a schedule and incorporates features that were previously only available when subscribing to hosted Funnelback SaaS offering.
Clients
Funnelback 16 introduces a new concept of a client, which groups together all the search packages, data sources and results pages that belong to a specific customer or organization.
This enables better management of these as well as the administration roles and users associated with that client.
Upgrade utility
Funnelback 16 now includes an upgrade utility that assists that automates many of the tasks required to upgrade a set of collections from Funnelback 15.
New Funnelback APIs
Many new administration APIs have been added to Funnelback DXP/Funnelback 16, including:
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Management (creation, deletion) of results pages and search packages
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Management (reading, editing) of gscopes and external metadata
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Determining upgrade progress and status of data source updates
Client API access tokens
User independent API access tokens (associated with a client) are now supported. User-based access tokens should be updated to client tokens in most cases so that API integrations do not break when the user account that owns a token that is being used in the integration is removed.
Important changes
Funnelback hosting options
We are moving towards our primary search offering being the DXP version of Funnelback. This has resulted in changes to our current options for hosting Funnelback:
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From version 16, Funnelback is no longer available as a downloadable installer that can be installed onto self-hosted servers. This also means that there will no longer be a Microsoft Windows server compatible version. If you are a user of these versions of Funnelback and wish to upgrade to Funnelback 16, you should contact your account manager to discuss your options.
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At this time Funnelback is only offered as:
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part of Squiz DXP;
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multi-tenanted and dedicated offerings in Funnelback Cloud; and
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a dedicated offering in Squiz Cloud.
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To assist with transitional arrangements, support for Funnelback 15.24 has been extended until October 2024.
Data model breaking changes
The data model has been streamlined in v16 reducing the overall size of the JSON response. As a result some elements have been removed or merged. The upgrade tool attempts to fix existing references within configuration, but it may be necessary to make additional manual changes to imported configuration.
What features have been retired?
Groovy hook scripts, filters, custom gatherer and workflow scripts
The addition of plugins in Funnelback DXP/non-DXP Funnelback 16 enables the functionality provided by Groovy hook scripts, filters and custom gatherers; as well as workflow scripting to be performed in a safe and controlled manner.
As a result these are now considered deprecated, and they should be replaced with plugins that perform the same functions.
Existing scripts cannot be used with the DXP. On non-DXP Funnelback 16 instances the scripts can be used (but may require adjustment to be compatible). However, they can no longer be edited or accessed via the search dashboard.