Méthode developer EidosMedia has extended its Swing mobile workspace with multichannel capabilities.

The browser based platform - launched last year to complement Méthode - gains features to make it more closely resemble its Windows-based 'elder brother'. With it, writers, editors and coordinators are able to take part in the newsroom workflow from any location.

The new release allows authors to directly introduce channel variants into their story, inserting alternative headlines, text and media for different publication destinations. When released, the story is already ready for multichannel publication to web, print or mobile, reducing editorial workload and speeding publication.

The upgraded Swing version supports multi-document editing, with each document opened in a browser tab, with the dashboard kept active to monitor events such as incoming news feeds.

Another new feature is 'alert queries' within the dashboard, continuously monitoring the editorial environment, informing a journalist, for example, that a newswire or picture on a subject she or he is following has entered the resource base, or flagging a coordinator that there is an article to be approved. Once set up, these queries allow staff in the field to keep a constant watch on developments in the newsroom.

Chief marketing officer Massimo Barsotti says these are just some of a range of new extensions: "Swing is now an extremely sophisticated platform for creating and managing digital content in the field.

"Méthode users are taking it up enthusiastically because they love its combination of powerful functionality with a simple, easy-to-use interface."

As well as bringing new freedom to journalists and coordinators working outside the newsroom, Swing also allows external contributors and freelancers to take part in the workflow, while maintaining full control over their access and actions. "Outside contributors can log in to Swing to receive assignments and deliver their work without the usual emailing and telephoning involved," says Barsotti.

"At the same time, what they can access and what they can do is strictly limited by the permissions that have been configured for them."