Author-it 2026.R3 Release Webinar - What's New

Summary

Author-it 2026.R3 is our biggest New Word release yet, getting New Word solid ahead of Legacy Word being retired from Author-it Cloud in R4. Alongside New Word, R3 brings richer AION output, smarter translation handling, faster and safer variants, and a long list of fixes. Watch the full webinar recording below, then find the complete release notes and the go-live dates at the end of this page.

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2026.R3 - Watch the recording

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Meet the team

We also introduced two new faces. Osmar Silva has joined as Chief Technology Officer, bringing 18 years in technology and a track record of modernising enterprise software for large customer bases. James Chang has joined as Head of Product, focused on knowledge management and customer engagement as AI reshapes how content is used. Both are close to the R3 and R4 work.

What's new in 2026.R3

New Word: the biggest update yet

R3 delivers the largest set of New Word improvements in a single release. The goal is simple: what you see in the topic editor is what you publish.

• Complex tables now publish correctly. Merged cells and embedded table rows no longer produce unexpected layouts, so even complicated tables come out as designed.
• Indexes are sorted and grouped by the publishing language, so a translated index reads the way a native speaker expects. Updated indexes keep their tab and dot leaders, and entries pointing to topics without a print heading no longer create blank index entries.
• Release State filtering now applies to topics only, bringing New Word in line with other publishing formats.
• Publishing logs are cleaner. Messages that don't affect your output are no longer shown as false-flag errors, so the log only surfaces what matters.
• Character-style background shading in Word templates is now respected, so shading you set up appears in the published document.

Legacy Word is leaving Cloud in R4

Legacy Word is already out of support and will be removed from Author-it Cloud in R4, expected November 2026. Any Legacy Word publishing profiles in Cloud will switch to New Word automatically. Legacy Word remains available for on-premises users until a separate announcement. The R3 New Word work is the groundwork for that move.

Richer AION output

AION output now records variable values for books and topics, not just publishing jobs, so downstream systems get more of the context they need. Content behind expanding inline and expanding block hyperlinks is now included in the output too, so the JSON is more complete. Structured content with resolved values is exactly what LLMs and RAG pipelines need to answer accurately.

Translations: bulk upload and safer locales

You can now upload multiple translation jobs at once. The Localize module matches each uploaded file to the correct job by its filename, so a job covering many languages is one upload instead of many. Locales that are still in use can no longer be deleted, which prevents orphaned locale assignments and keeps translation data clean.

Faster, safer variants

Edited variant values now update immediately across the Author interface, with no need to close and reopen. The Assign Variant Values window also loads significantly faster, especially in libraries with many variant criteria and values, so publishing large books that use variants is much quicker.

More fixes and improvements

• Large publishing-job downloads in Author-it Cloud are more reliable.
• DOCX import supports a broader range of Word files.
• On-premises deployments get a dedicated Contribute role, so administrators can grant Contribute access without granting access to other modules.
• Plus a long list of smaller fixes and improvements across the product.

A first look at what's next

We also shared an early preview of where we're heading with MCP and AI in a future release, and invited attendees to help shape the roadmap. Watch the recording for that section, and get in touch if you'd like to feed into it.

When 2026.R3 goes live

Author-it 2026.R3 releases on Sunday 6 September 2026. There's nothing to install: the update is applied automatically during your maintenance window.

• GX2 (US-primary): Sunday 6 September 2026, 06:00 to 10:00 UTC.
• GX1 (Europe-primary): Tuesday 8 September 2026, 20:00 to 24:00 UTC.

Release notes

• Author-it Cloud: Author-it Cloud Release Notes
• Author-it on-premises: Author-it On-Premises Release Notes

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About this webinar

Hosted by: Jamie Simmonds

Dates: 20 August 2026 (US) / 26 August 2026 (EU)

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Release Webinar FAQ

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Q: Can I watch the Author-it 2026.R3 webinar recording?

A: Yes. The full recording of the release webinar is on this page. It runs about 33 minutes and covers every new feature and fix, plus a look at what's coming next.

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Q: What's new in Author-it 2026.R3?

A: The headline is New Word: the biggest set of improvements yet, including complex table handling, language-specific index sorting, release-state filtering on topics, cleaner publishing logs and character-style shading. R3 also brings richer AION output, bulk upload for translation jobs, faster and safer variant handling, more reliable large-job downloads, broader DOCX import, and an on-premises Contribute role.

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Q: What's happening to Legacy Word?

A: Legacy Word is already out of support and will be removed from Author-it Cloud in R4, expected November 2026. Existing Legacy Word publishing profiles in Cloud will switch to New Word automatically. Legacy Word stays available for on-premises users until a separate announcement. The R3 New Word improvements are the preparation for that change.

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Q: What is AION?

A: AION is Author-it's structured JSON publishing output. It turns your content into clean, machine-readable JSON that LLMs, RAG pipelines and internal AI agents can use to answer accurately. In 2026.R3, AION output records variable values for books and topics, not just publishing jobs, and includes content behind expanding inline and block hyperlinks.

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Q: When does Author-it 2026.R3 go live?

A: Sunday 6 September 2026. Customers on GX2 receive the update during the Sunday 06:00 to 10:00 UTC maintenance window, and customers on GX1 during the following Tuesday 20:00 to 24:00 UTC window. There's nothing to install.

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Q: Do I need to do anything to get the update?

A: No. The update is applied automatically during your maintenance window. You don't need to install anything.