YUDU Express has Closed Down

Date: Tuesday, 31 August 2021

It is with much sadness and regret that we announce the YUDU Express platform has now shut down. For the team here at YUDU, this marks the end of an era. Express is the platform with which we began our journey in the digital publishing space.

After careful consideration and much debate, we've sunsetted the platform. Below is everything you need to know about the shutdown as a Publisher, or User.

When is the YUDU Express platform closing down?

The YUDU Express platform is shutting down on Tuesday, 31 August 2021, at 12:00pm BST.

At this point, whether you’re a user or publisher, you will no longer be able to access your account.

Back to Questions

What will happen to my content?

Content published using YUDU Express will remain live and accessible, as normal, up until it is switched off on Tuesday, 31 August 2021, at 12:00pm BST.

What happens next will depend on the content type:

Free-to-access content

Any content published through YUDU Express that is free-to-access will remain live for the foreseeable future.

These digital publications are on our separate content hosting platform. They have the potential to continue appearing in search engines and attracting traffic. As they remain accessible to web crawlers.

Users can also navigate to any free-to-access digital publication if they know the direct link.

The YUDU Express website itself and content library listings will be taken offline on Tuesday, 31 August 2021, at 12:00pm BST.

Pay-to-access content

Any published pay-to-access content that is gated and requires user authentication will cease to function once YUDU Express shuts down.

This content will subsequently be deleted after Tuesday, 31 August 2021, at 12:00pm BST.

Back to Questions

Can I download my YUDU Express publications?

Unfortunately, the answer is no for users and publishers alike. More detail as to why outlined below.

Publisher

You will not be able to recover a copy of the original PDF files and assets used to produce you digital publication. These files are automatically deleted 30 days after your initial upload.

This process is what has allowed YUDU Express to remain a low-cost publishing platform. We were able to control hosting costs by removing these files, which serve no purpose in delivering your digital publications.

User

The ability to download a digital publication has never been a feature of the YUDU Express platform. As a result, you will not be able to download any digital publications from the platform ahead of it being taken offline.

Back to Questions

How else can I keep my publications live?

As a publisher, you have two options if you wish to keep your content live:

Upgrade to the YUDU Publisher Platform

YUDU Publisher is our next generation premium publishing platform.

It is a significant step up from YUDU Express in every way imaginable. It’s faster, more powerful, packed full of features, and more secure. As a premium product, it is also significantly more expensive.

To enquire about setting up a YUDU Publisher account you can email enquiries@yudu.com

Choose an Alternative Publishing Platform

We understand upgrading to YUDU Publisher might not be the right choice for you.

If you’re looking for a similar low cost solution to publsihing PDFs, we suggest:

  • ISSUU
  • FlippingBook

Back to Questions

Why is YUDU Express closing down?

In short, the web-framework on which Express was built is outdated and presents a potential security threat. It is not commercially viable for us to modernise, patch and continue supporting the platform.

So, it is with the deepest regrets that Express will be shutting down Tuesday, 31 August 2021 at 12:00pm BST.

The YUDU Express platform was built in 2008, using an application framework which at the time was very innovative Today, that web-framework is outdated and support has diminished.

Continuing to run on this web-framework creates a potential security risk, which will only grow with time. To patch existing and future security vulnerabilities, update the framework, and continue to maintain the platform is not an option

It would require significant financial investment and time to make the fundamental changes the web-framework requires. Sadly, this is not financially viable. We have therefore made the difficult decision to retire the YUDU Express platform.

Back to Questions

My FAQ isn’t covered, who can I speak to?

If we haven’t covered your burning question in this FAQ, you can email the YUDU Express support team on yuduquery@yudu.com

Back to Questions

s