Go to publish.magplus.com and click the APPS tab.

Introduction

This is where you customize your app, create the binary that you then upload to Itunes Connect or Android Market and generate app updates.

There are 3 tabs: iPad, Android and Live Settings. Under 'Ipad' you will have all the options and settings for creating for Ipad, under 'Android' the options for an Android app. Under 'Live Settings' you will find settings mosty for the iPad. Where options exist for Android that is specified.  

The app is ready to be built when all the settings are labeled 'Complete'.

This document describes all the options available in this Publish page.

iPad

Build Options

These settings are built into your application. If you make changes here, you need to create a new application build and submit an update to Itunes Connect.

• Disable Store - Only planning to have free issues, then check this option. When you create your app you won't have the 'Store' button in your app menu, and all content will automatically be available in the Library. Note: if you want to have a Newsstand app, then you need to provide a subscription. All subscriptions (free or not) appear in the Store. So free content + Newsstand = 'Disable Store' should NOT be checked!
• Tint color - An RGB color for setting the color of bookmarks and the navigation scrollbar. Default is orange.
• Enable Newsstand - If you want your app to appear in Newsstand this option has to be checked.- If you plan to only publish free issues in your app but want to be on Newsstand you must leave the Store enabled (see above). Read How to Create a Newsstand App on the steps needed to set up the newsstand option in iTunes Connect.
• Custom Buttons - Check this button if you want to use create your own buttons for the navigation menu. Read more about creating custom buttons <here>.
• Disable Push Notification Dialog - Check this if you want to Disable the standard iPad dialog message “Do you want to allow this App to send push notifications”. This means you will not be able to send push notifications to your users.
• Logo Justification - If you choose to add the Logo menu to the Store and the Library, you have the option of having your logo to the right, centered or to the left. (available for Mag+ Grow! and Mag+ Lead!)
• Logo Menu - Check this to show the banner with the logo in the store and library. (available for Mag+ Grow! and Mag+ Lead!)
• Disable Live Menu - Check this to remove the “Live” menu item. The live menu item takes the user to a live window which is a web view to a URL of your choice (i.e. your home page). This space can also be used for advertising (as in sponsored messages) or any other creative way you can think of. According to Apple guidelines this site can't promote purchases outside of App Store.
• Single Issue Application - This option is checked and not editable for all Mag+ Go! apps. This means your app will only be a single issue, e.g. a book. When users open the app for the first time, that issue will automatically download. If you update your issue, your users will be asked automatically if they want to download the new content.

Upload help issue MIB file

This is where you upload the 'Help Issue' for your app.

Just Click Browse, select the file you wish to be embedded in the app and then click Upload. When you download our Tools, you get a Help template. You'll find it under Applications / Mag+ / Mag+ Templates.

This is the issue that will appear when users first open the app (except for Mag+ Go!, where the single issue is downloaded and shown first). The purpose of the Help issue is to explain how the app works, how to navigate in the app and can also contain a short FAQ. Users will be taken to this issue when they tap the Help icon in the menu. It's mandatory that the filenames of the MIB files are the ones that the Production Tool generated and that you do not change them. 

Note: Help issue MIBs can only contain one vertical and can't include links or media. When the issue is tapped on it will close. 

App Store settings

Here you enter Apple specific information needed to identify your app in  the App Store.

• App bundle name - Here you enter the name you want your app to have on the iPad launch screen (below the icon).
• Application Bundle ID - Refers to the Bundle ID your app gets when you create it. It is found in iTunes Connect by clicking on the app under the Manage Your Apps menu. Or in the iOS Provisioning Portal by clicking App IDs and then selecting your App ID for the app.
• Application Apple ID - Referes to a number generated by apple when you create it in iTunes Connect. It is also found in iTunes Connect by clicking on the app under the Manage Your Apps menu. If you are creating an Enterprise app this is not needed. If are building an Enterprise app, please enter "123456789" in this field as you won't have access to an Application Apple ID.

Image files

This is a set of images that need to be uploaded in order to customize a part of your app.

• Application icon - This is the icon that appears on the iPad home screen (png 72x72 px and 144x144 px, make sure that the image is not transparent, publish will generate rounded corners.)

• Default Newsstand icon - The icon showed in Apple Newsstand. This image will show if Newsstand can't download the latest issue cover. (png, min width or height 512 px, max ratio 1:2 or 2:1)

• Splash landscape image - This is the image that shows when starting the app in landscape mode. (png, 1024x768 px and 2046x1536 px)

• Splash portrait image - This is the image that shows when starting the app in portrait mode. (png, 768x1024 px and 1536x2048 px)

• Tile image - This pattern will be shown in the background behind the verticals. If the reader for example swipes up when at the bottom of a vertical the tile image will be shown behind the vertical. It also shown when an issue is downloaded to an single issue application. (png, any dimension)

Navigation Icons

Here you can upload images for the app menu bar. For each menu item the choice is given to upload two images, one for active mode (on) and one for inactive mode (off). In this section you upload your icons, the text is editable under APPS > Application texts. If you wish to design your own buttons or use your own font you must activate Customizable buttons under APPS > Build options. Then a Customizable buttons section will show under APPS.

Please bare in mind that depending on your build options some of these icons will not be shown in your application, and don't need to be updated.

You can create entirely new icons, just follow the sizes specified in Publish and look at the examples. For a light customization, you can download the Selected icons and change the color so it matches the tint color you have chosen in the 'Build Options'.

• Bookmarks overlay image file - If the user hasn't made any bookmarks and you haven't added sections in the MIB, this image will appear instead of the bookmarks when the user taps the Bookmarks icon. It can be an image with text explaining how to use the bookmarks.

• Table of contents icon
• Bookmarks icon
• Store icon
• Library icon
• Live icon
• Help icon
• Playlist icon
• Sharing icon

• My account icon
• Logo image
• Logo background
• Now reading button
• Restore all button
• Config icon
• Main menu background image
• Secondary background image

Certificate and Provisioning Files

Before doing these steps you have to set up an App ID in the iOS Provisioning Portal and and create an app in iTunes Connect. See <link to articles> for step-by -step.

• Distribution Certificate - The .p12 file saves your certificate and private key information. Creating the .p12 certificate requires you to use the Apple Developer site to create and download a certificate and then use the Keychain Access utility to export the certificate and private key of that certificate as a .p12 certificate. If you have already created your p12 as explained in “Distribution Provisioning Profiles and the .p12 file.”, download it from the iOS Provisioning Profile and upload it here.
• App Store Distribution Provisioning Profile - Used for building the app for the App Store. If you already created your App Store Distribution Provisioning Profile as explained in  “Distribution Provisioning Profiles and the .p12 file.”, download it from the iOS Provisioning Profile and upload it here.
• Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile - This determines which iPads can install and test your app. The provision file for ad hoc includes a list of iPad IDs called UDIDs which should be added to the profile on iOS Provisioning Portal. If you already created your Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile as explained in  “Distribution Provisioning Profiles and the .p12 file.”, download it from the iOS Provisioning Profile and upload it here.

Application texts

Here you can translate texts or even change the text associated with certain messages to the customer within the application. You will need to upload texts for all texts that are highlighted in red. If you need an additional language, please contact support.

Apple Push Notifications

This link takes you to the Admin / General Settings tab and the Notifications setting. This is needed when you choose to have a Newsstand app.

iPad Builds

Each time you generate a build you will create a .tgz file. This is a zipped file that contains 3 files: an .ipa file and two zip files.

The .ipa file, also known as the “Ad Hoc”, is your test app. See 'How to Install Your Test App on Your iPad' to learn how to test your app.

Of the two zip files, one is the binary that you upload to Apple when you submi your app. That one always has _AppStore_ in the file name. the other zip file, with dSYM in the file name, is used by Mag+ for debugging.

You can iterate this process many times in order to get the app exactly how you want it. Note: in order to fully test the app you need to, in addition to generating a build, add issues and/or subscriptions.

If you want to create an entirely different app you have to get another Publish brand. Contact Mag+ sales to get a new Publish site for that app. Also remember, the app is just the shell through which you deliver issues. You don't need to create or rebuild the app every time you want to publish a new issue. There are certain things about your app that can only be changed with an app rebuild and update: app name, icon, loading screen, devices that can run the test app, iTunes category and iTunes keywords.

Android

Upload Help Issue MIB

This is where you upload the 'Help Issue' for your app.

Just Click Browse, select the file you wish to be embedded in the app and then click Upload. When you download our Tools, you get a Help template. You'll find it under Applications / Mag+ / Mag+ Templates.

This is the issue that will appear when users first open the app (except for Mag+ Go!, where the single issue is downloaded and shown first). The purpose of the Help issue is to explain how the app works, how to navigate in the app and can also contain a short FAQ. Users will be taken to this issue when they tap the Help icon in the menu. It's mandatory that the filenames of the MIB files are the ones that the Production Tool generated and that you do not change them. 

Application Texts

Here you can translate texts or even change the text associated with certain messages to the customer within the application. You will need to upload texts for all texts that are highlighted in red. If you need an additional language, please contact support.

Android Settings

• Store enabled - Select this option if you want the Store menu to be active in your App.

The KeyStore can be seen as a folder of signing certificates. It can contain several different keys, called key aliases. When you create your Android app it needs to have a specific certificate name, the key alias, and a password for that, the Key alias password. The keystore has it's own password, but you can choose to have the same password for both.

• Keystore password - password of your choice for when you create your keystore file
• Key alias - name for the certificate for this app 
• Key alias password - password for this app certificate
• Package name - is the name for your Android package file. A full Java-language-style package name for the application. The name should be unique. The name may contain uppercase or lowercase letters ('A' through 'Z'), numbers, and underscores ('_'). However, individual package name parts may only start with letters. For example, applications published by Google start with com.google. Caution: Once you publish your application, you cannot change the package name. The package name defines your application's identity, so if you change it, then it is considered to be a different application and users of the previous version cannot update to the new version.
• Version - The user-friendly version name of the application using the naming convention x.y.z, for example 1.0.0
• Keystore file - Here you upload the .keystore file. Read here to know how to create it.
• Icon image file - this is the icon the app will have on the tablet. Should be a png 72x72px.
• Action bar logo image file - If you want to add a logo to the left of the action bar, upload it here. It has to be a png, 220x48px.

Android Builds

 

Each time you generate a build you will create a .apk file. The file name consists of <brand name>_<user friendly version text>-<unique build identifier>-release.apk.

The file can be downloaded by clicking on it. It's used for testing on your own device and for submission to Android Market.

If you want to create an entirely different app you have to get another Publish brand. Contact Mag+ sales to get a new Publish site for that app. Also remember, the app is just the shell through which you deliver issues. You don't need to create or rebuild the app every time you want to publish a new issue. 

 

Live Settings

In this tab you have options that can be changed anytime after the application has been built and is live.

Applications Options

• AdMob - Enter your AdMob Key to enable AdMob reporting. For more information on AdMob, go to admob.com.
• Omniture tracking server - Enter the DNS Address for private Omniture tracking server. For more information on Omniture, go to omniture.com.
• Forgotten Password URL (only for Android) - The URL to the forgot password page
• Live Window show external browser button - Check to enable an icon to open external browser from the live window (see Live icon image options above).
• Live URL - If you have live window enabled, this is where you enter your desired URL.
• Live window height/width - If you have live window enabled, enter preferred height/width of the live window (px).
• Sharing enabled (iPad only) - Check to enable twitter and e-mail sharing in your app, if the reader decides to share in the app a screenshot will be taken and the Sharing URL will be included in the message.
• Sharing URL (iPad only) - Enter the URL you wish to be inlcuded in the twitter/e-mail message when a reader shares a screenshot from your app. If this field is empty the URL will go to the app’s AppStore URL. It is also possible to enter a specific sharing URL for a specific vertical in the InDesign plugin. If none is entered in the plugin it will default to the URL entered here or the app’s AppStore URL.
• Android Store URL (Android only) - The Url to the Web Store.
• TapJoy key - Enter your TapJoy key to enable TapJoy reporting. For more information about TapJoy, go to tapjoy.com.
• TapJoy secret - Enter your TapJoy secret to enable TapJoy reporting
• TapJoy Pay-Per-Action ID - Enter your TapJoy Pay-Per-Action ID to enable TapJoy Pay-Per-Action reporting on first issue download.

Banners

In the Store, you have the possibility to add a banner (984x300 pixels landscape. 728x300 pixels in portrait). It will be located under the menu and above the content to purchase. You can have up to 5 different banners that will roll in the Store window.

A banner is composed of an image 948x300 pixels and a link. Note that in portrait mode 256 pixels will be cropped from the right of the image. If you do not wish to have a clickable banner, just leave the Link field empty. 

Upload banners to view in the store menu and where you want them to link to. The banners will then roll at the top in the store if there are multiple banners. You can build your app without using this option.

If you want to link to MyAccount view using the banner, the url is: <Application URL Schema>://MyAccount

For linking to an issue, specify the link as <Application URL Schema>://issue/<GUID> where <GUID> is replaced with the GUID of the issue

The Application URL Schema is found under Admin > General Settings.

You can see an example of the usage of banners in the app TNW Magazine.