Fresco Platform Update – Version 1.5.4 (29 June 2026)

This release gives editors more options for managing content, design and measurement. It introduces the Embed component for approved third-party content, adds Google Analytics functionality where enabled for a site, and brings in Fresco’s new design system, including new site categories. 

• Embed component now available
  • Editors can now add supported third-party embeds to pages where the Embed service has been enabled for the site
  • Site Owners and Site Administrators can manage which approved embed services are available on their site
  • Supported embed services in this release include SharePoint, Shiny / Interactive Data Networks, Panopto, Oxford Maps / MazeMaps and Google Maps
  • Embed code is checked before it can be saved, helping editors use approved services without needing to manage the underlying technical configuration
  • If an embed service is later disabled, affected content displays a fallback message rather than breaking the page layout

  • Cookie-statement information is now generated from the embed services enabled for the site, helping Site Owners keep visitor-facing cookie information accurate

     

• New design system and site types
  • A new design system has been introduced, intended to balance consistency in Oxford branding and styling with the flexibility needed by different types of University websites
  • Fresco sites are assigned to one of three categories
    • Oxford Identity sites are intended for departments, divisions and research units that need a clear connection to the Oxford University brand
    • Branded websites support a more distinctive visual identity, including curated colour choices and a selection of fonts, while still fitting within the wider Oxford digital family
    • Specialist websites are intended for areas such as museums and libraries with more specialised content needs, including richer layouts, more complex journeys and, where appropriate, custom components
  • Site Administrators can see the category assigned to their site
  • All Fresco sites continue to use the same platform and component library, but the design options available depend on the site category
  • Theme colour settings include accessibility contrast checks, helping editors avoid colour combinations that do not meet required contrast standards

  • Header and footer colours can be configured separately, giving sites more control while keeping colours within the design system

     

• Google Analytics
  • Site Owners and Site Administrators can now add, update or remove a Google Analytics ID in site settings
  • Google Analytics is included in the generated cookie statement where it is enabled for a site

  • Analytics only runs after a visitor has accepted analytics cookies, and stops if that consent is withdrawn

     

• More reliable migration and search support
  • The migration process has been updated to handle larger Mosaic sites more reliably
  • Additional migration capacity has been added so testing activity does not block planned migration work
  • Symplectic publication listings migrated from Mosaic person profiles now retain the expected person-specific publication information where it was previously inferred from the profile page
  • Site search has been fixed where some searches were returning no results despite matching content being present

• Editing and preview reliability
  • Images added to Cards and Banners now appear in the editor after “Save and insert”, rather than only appearing after the whole page is saved
  • Text, image, Card and Banner edits now save and display more promptly, reducing the need for repeated saves
  • Pages containing Video components can now be edited normally
  • Component items can now be rearranged without an error and will save successfully: 
    • Tabs can be re-ordered when editing an existing Tab component
    • Accordion items can be re-ordered when editing an existing Accordion component

• Lists, images, headers and buttons
  • Numbered lists now display correctly at second level and below
  • Images in column layouts now align to the top of the column without unexpected padding, and corner rounding is preserved where it should be applied
  • Microsite headers that use a logo without a text-based site title now keep the intended spacing at tablet and desktop widths

  • Button icon behaviour has been corrected where the icon position setting was not being applied as expected

     

• Migration content
  • A migrated sub-heading that was missing from an affected page now comes across as expected during migration

• Additional items can't be added to some Accordion components
  • The button to 'Add Accordion Item' is missing when hovering over an Accordion component that shares a page with a Tab component. 
    • Workaround is (a) Keep tab and accordion sections on separate pages, (b) Add all accordion items needed before adding a Tab component, (c) Add multiple Accordion components with 2 items each

• Platform maintenance and supporting work
  • This release includes security hardening and platform maintenance work. Technical detail relating to security updates has intentionally been omitted.
  • It also includes internal work to support migration, deployment stability, test environments, site categorisation, embed configuration and site-management exports

Sprint: W5 - Sprint 4

Product Backlog Items: 125274, 124221, 115071, 115429, 115631, 125430, 124920, 124222, 126794, 124158, 126292, 126547, 126090, 126666, 126548, 115562, 115866, 126674, 126662, 126869, 126220, 126790, 127016

Bugs: 126870, 125360, 126140, 126784, 126149, 124495, 116813, 95910, 126301, 121988, 126675, 126025, 123030

Known issues: 126970