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What's new in CF238

The following features and updates are available to customers installing HCL Digital Experience (DX) Container Update CF238 on supported platforms:

All Digital Experience Versions (8.5, 9.0, 9.5)

  • Blueprint updates
  • Core Editor - New rich text editor option
  • Java 8 required for future CF upgrades
  • My HCLSoftware delivery portal
  • New How-to articles now available

Digital Experience 8.5 and 9.0 Versions

  • Extended Support option now available for DX versions 8.5 and 9.0
  • Automatically apply 9.5 from a later CF installation

Digital Experience 9.5 Version

  • Practitioner Studio Dashboard - New widgets
  • Presentation Designer - Feature updates

Digital Experience 9.5 Container Version

  • DAM - Enhanced staging to handle secret rotation
  • DAM - New parameters for setting the initial collections view
  • Helm values updates
  • WAS, JDK, UBI, and iFix versions

Notices of deprecation

  • Advanced Rich Text Editor (8.5, 9.0, and 9.5)
  • Removal of automated Pod restart on ConfigMap updates (9.5)
  • Woodburn Studio demo site (9.5)

Go to the HCL Software Support Site/HCL DX Software Fix list for the list of software fixes, including Container Update releases.

All Digital Experience Versions (8.5, 9.0, 9.5)

Blueprint updates

The HCL DX Blueprint design system has been updated for CF238. For more information on the changes, improvements, and bugfixes, refer to the Blueprint changelog.

The HCL DX Blueprint design system has been updated for CF238. For more information on the changes, improvements, and bugfixes, refer to the Blueprint changelog.

Core Editor - New rich text editor option

Core Editor is now available as an optional rich text editor for HCL Web Content Manager. You can use this editor as an alternative to the Enhanced (TinyMCE) and Advanced (CKEditor) rich tech editors in both the WCM Authoring Portlet and Site Manager in-place editing. For more information about the Core Editor, including a list of features supported and limitations, refer to Configuring Core Editor.

Core Editor is now available as an optional rich text editor for HCL Web Content Manager. You can use this editor as an alternative to the Enhanced (TinyMCE) and Advanced (CKEditor) rich tech editors in both the WCM Authoring Portlet and Site Manager in-place editing. For more information about the Core Editor, including a list of features supported and limitations, refer to Configuring Core Editor.

Java 8 required for future CF upgrades

If you are upgrading older or unchanged HCL DX 8.5 environments on WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 8.5.5, you must verify that the active WAS SDK and target profile use Java 8 before applying CF238 or higher cumulative fixes. These CF packages include Java 8 binaries. Upgrades will fail if the environment uses Java 7.

Important

This is a permanent baseline requirement for future CF upgrades. There is no fallback path for Java 7 environments.

For older WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5 environments, refer to How to avoid Java Runtime failures during CF Upgrade on older DX systems. If your environment is on an upgrade path prior to CF14 and requires upgrade planning or hands-on assistance, contact HCL Support.

My HCLSoftware delivery portal

HCL DX software is available through the My HCLSoftware portal for customers licensed for the HCL Digital Experience v9.5 offering. For more information, refer to the following knowledge article and help center topics:

HCL DX software is available through the My HCLSoftware portal for customers licensed for the HCL Digital Experience v9.5 offering. For more information, refer to the following knowledge article and help center topics:

New How-to articles now available

A new batch of How-to articles has been migrated from the knowledge base to the HCL DX Help Center. For more information, refer to the New and migrated articles section.

A new batch of How-to articles has been migrated from the knowledge base to the HCL DX Help Center. For more information, refer to the New and migrated articles section.

Digital Experience 8.5 and 9.0 Versions

Extended Support option now available for DX versions 8.5 and 9.0

HCLSoftware announced End of Support for HCL Digital Experience versions 8.5 and 9, effective June 30, 2025. Customers are encouraged to upgrade to HCL Digital Experience version 9.5, released in a continuous delivery model. Refer to the Deprecated features page for more information.

To accommodate the customers who might be unable to update from DX versions 8.5 and 9.0 to DX version 9.5 by that date, customers can sign up for Extended Support. For more information, see the article Starting on August 30, 2024, Extended Support will be available for HCL Digital Experience V8.5.x and 9.

Automatically apply 9.5 from a later CF installation

In CF219, a feature was introduced where DX version 9.5 is automatically applied to an 8.5 or 9.0 installation if the configuration setting install_95=true is set. Note that a later CF might apply 9.5 by default unless you set install_95=false. This statement is not a guarantee of future releases or their features.

Digital Experience 9.5 Version

Practitioner Studio Dashboard - New widgets

The Practitioner Studio Dashboard introduces two new widgets to streamline site navigation and content management:

  • My Sites: Displays your managed sites as visual cards with thumbnails, status indicators, and direct access links.
  • Recently Modified Pages: Displays an expandable tree structure and search tool to quickly locate and open recent modified pages.

For more information, refer to My Sites and Recently Modified Pages.

The Practitioner Studio Dashboard introduces two new widgets to streamline site navigation and content management:

  • My Sites: Displays your managed sites as visual cards with thumbnails, status indicators, and direct access links.
  • Recently Modified Pages: Displays an expandable tree structure and search tool to quickly locate and open recent modified pages.

For more information, refer to My Sites and Recently Modified Pages.

Presentation Designer - Feature updates

The following features are now available in Presentation Designer:

  • You can use the Custom HTML static element to embed raw HTML markup directly into a presentation template using a resizable, syntax-highlighted code editor. The element renders inside a shadow DOM host so custom <style> rules do not leak into the document layout. Scripts and event handlers are also disabled during authoring but run normally in saved output. For more information, refer to Custom HTML.
  • You can resize the Container and Grid static elements directly on the canvas by dragging the handles (top, right, bottom, or left) that appear around its edges. This provides a more interactive alternative to resizing these elements from the Style items panel. For more information, refer to Static elements.
  • You can use the Save as draft option to save your presentation template as a Draft override stylesheet. This stylesheet saves your in-progress style edits into a separate file, ensuring that the CSS of the live or published presentation template is not accidentally overwritten or partially broken while you are actively staging layout or style changes. For more information, refer to Saving a presentation template as a draft and Draft override stylesheet.

The following features are now available in Presentation Designer:

  • You can use the Custom HTML static element to embed raw HTML markup directly into a presentation template using a resizable, syntax-highlighted code editor. The element renders inside a shadow DOM host so custom <style> rules do not leak into the document layout. Scripts and event handlers are also disabled during authoring but run normally in saved output. For more information, refer to Custom HTML.
  • You can resize the Container and Grid static elements directly on the canvas by dragging the handles (top, right, bottom, or left) that appear around its edges. This provides a more interactive alternative to resizing these elements from the Style items panel. For more information, refer to Static elements.
  • You can use the Save as draft option to save your presentation template as a Draft override stylesheet. This stylesheet saves your in-progress style edits into a separate file, ensuring that the CSS of the live or published presentation template is not accidentally overwritten or partially broken while you are actively staging layout or style changes. For more information, refer to Saving a presentation template as a draft and Draft override stylesheet.

Digital Experience 9.5 Container Version

DAM - Enhanced staging to handle secret rotation

DAM staging in HCL DX now supports periodic heartbeat verification to manage subscriber connections during secret rotation. The system uses the SubscriberInterfaceController API endpoint to detect connectivity issues and automatically disable or re-enable subscribers when authentication credentials change.

Configure the verification frequency by using the verifySubscribersIntervalInMinutes Helm parameter in values.yaml. For more information, refer to Verifying subscriber connectivity during secret rotation.

DAM - New parameters for setting the initial collections view

You can now configure the initial view for Digital Asset Management (DAM) collections using the configuration.digitalAssetManagement.defaultView Helm value. Supported values are grid and list. For more information, refer to Step 3 of Browsing and searching for media assets in a collection.

Helm values updates

Helm value properties in HCL DX that were added, removed, deprecated, or changed for this release are documented in DX Helm values updates.

WAS, JDK, UBI, and iFix versions

HCL DX 9.5 CF238 contains the following:

For more information, refer to WAS, JDK, UBI, and iFix versions.

Notices of deprecation

Advanced rich text editor (8.5, 9.0, and 9.5)

The Advanced rich text editor (CKEditor) component in HCL DX was deprecated on August 05, 2025 and reached End of Support (EOS) on August 04, 2026. For more information, refer to Deprecated features.

The Advanced rich text editor (CKEditor) component in HCL DX was deprecated on August 05, 2025 and reached End of Support (EOS) on August 04, 2026. For more information, refer to Deprecated features.

Removal of automated Pod restart on ConfigMap updates (9.5)

Runtime Controller triggering Pod restarts for direct configuration changes in ConfigMaps is removed. You must restart the appropriate Pods manually to apply the changes made to the ConfigMaps for testing configurations. For more information, see Deprecated features.

Woodburn Studio demo site (9.5)

The Woodburn Studio demo site in HCL DX has been deprecated on August 05, 2025 and will reach End of Support (EOS) on August 04, 2026. For more information, refer to Deprecated features. It has been replaced by Nex Haven.

The Woodburn Studio demo site in HCL DX has been deprecated on August 05, 2025 and will reach End of Support (EOS) on August 04, 2026. For more information, refer to Deprecated features. It has been replaced by Nex Haven.

Access the latest HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Education Materials on HCLSoftware U

The HCLSoftware U offers technical education for the HCL Software portfolio of products, organized by practitioner role. See the HCL Digital Experience section of HCLSoftware U and the What’s New for Digital Experience section for more information.