Managing Assets

Methods for Importing Assets

Ektron provides several ways to import assets. The sections below explain how to use each option.

• New > DMS Document (All browsers) from View Contents of Folders screen; Adding an Asset
  • Can enter Summary, Metadata, and so on for each asset
  • Can create unique title for each asset
  • Can check in or submit for approval
  • Uploads one asset at a time
• New > Multiple DMS Documents (Internet Explorer with MS Office) from View Contents of Folders screen; Adding Multiple DMS Documents
  • Uploads several files at once
  • Can apply same summary, metadata, and so on to all files
  • Can check in or submit for approval
  • Asset title taken from Windows file name
• Add Asset button on the View Contents of Folder screen ()
  • File Upload tab (all browsers)
  • Drag and Drop tab (FireFox)
    • Can upload several files at once
    • Can drag/drop folder structure; Ektron recreates it in Workarea
    • Can apply same metadata and taxonomy category to all uploaded files
    • Asset title taken from Windows file name
    • No check-in or save option
  • Multiple DMS Documents tab (Internet Explorer with MS Office)
    • Same as Adding Multiple DMS Documents except there is no check-in option
    • Can upload several files at once
    • Asset title taken from Windows file name
• Drag and drop to mapped network folder; Adding Assets to a Mapped Network Folder
  • User doesn’t need to install or learn Ektron software
  • Can drag/drop folder structure; Ektron recreates it in Workarea
  • Title taken from Windows file name
  • Content status is checked in; submitting for publishing is separate step
  • Cannot assign language to content
  • Cannot work with content in language other than default

Restrictions and Warnings about Importing Assets

• You can only import assets using one of the methods listed in the previous section. You cannot simply drop files in the siteroot/assets or siteroot/PrivateAssets folder then manage them using Ektron.
• Only users with Add folder permission can import files to it. See Also: Managing Folder Permissions.
• You cannot import to a folder for which XML Smart Forms are required. See Also: Assigning a Smart Form to a Folder.
• If you are using the Firefox browser, you may not be able to upload a large file. To resolve this, go to Firefox >Tools > Options > Advanced > Network and increase the Offline Store to a size larger than the file being uploaded.
• With MS Office 2010, you cannot upload more than 100 files at a time.
• With MS Office 2010, files greater than 100 megabytes may fail if your computer's memory is insufficient. In general, do not upload larges file via the Multiple DMS Documents option.

Adding an Asset

To add an asset via the New > DMS Document menu option:

NOTE: For a comparison of file upload options, see Methods for Importing Assets.

1. From the Workarea, select the Content tab.
2. Select the folder in which you want to place the document.
3. The default language icon appears next to the screen title. To create a document for a different language, click View > Language and select the language.
4. Click New > DMS Document. The following screen appears.
    

   

   Or, from the View Contents of Folder screen toolbar, click Add Assets(). This screen appears.

    

   

5. Click Browse and navigate to the file you want to import.
6. Enter a Title. It cannot include these characters: \ / *> <|

   NOTE: If you want to retain the original document name, insert the full filename into the Title field. For example, you could enter mydocument.doc.

7. Use the Content Searchable checkbox to determine if the content should be searchable.See Also: Ensuring Your Content is Searchable
8. If desired, add a summary, metadata, a schedule, and comments. See Also:
   • Writing a Summary for Content
   • Working with Metadata
   • Scheduling Content
9. Check in or submit the content for publishing as you would HTML content.

Adding Multiple DMS Documents

This option requires Internet Explorer and Office 2003 or higher on your computer. Also, you must enable ActiveX controls in your browser settings. To do this, open Internet Explorer and go to Tools > Internet Options > Security Tab > Custom Level button. Within that screen, under ActiveX controls and plugins, find Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting* and click Enable.

IMPORTANT: If you will apply the same information (Summary, Metadata, Categories, and so on) to several files, place them in the same Windows folder before starting this procedure.

See Also: Managing Microsoft Office Assets.

To add assets toEktron via the New > Multiple DMS Documents menu option:

1. From the Workarea, select the Content tab.
2. Select the folder in which you want to place the documents.
3. Click New > Multiple DMS Documents.
4. Select your version of MS Office and click OK. If Office 2003 or 2007 is installed as well as Office 2010, choose Office 2010. The Multiple Document Upload option uses MS Office to perform the upload. The upload screen appears.

   NOTE: If you later change your computer's Office version, update this setting from the Add Assets button > Multiple DMS Document option > Switch Office version option.
   

5. Open Windows Explorer in a separate window, then drag and drop files onto the screen. Or, you can Browse for files instead. You can only import files from one folder at a time.
6. If Ektron requires you to apply metadata or a taxonomy category to the content, complete all required information.
7. To check in the files, click Check In. To submit the files into the approval chain, click Submit or Publish.

NOTE: If your Web site uses an https secure site setting, you may see errors after uploading assets. If this occurs, open your site’s web.config file and change the value of the add key="ek_UseSSL" setting to true.

Managing Multimedia Assets

Multimedia files contain audio, video, or both. File types include .wav, .mpeg., .swf, .avi, and .wma.

Ektron supports multimedia files that run on one of these players.

• WindowsMedia®
• Quicktime®
• Realplayer®
• Flash®

If you import a multimedia file that does not play on a supported player, it is treated like any other asset but cannot be played within Ektron. If you try to play a file in the Workarea, or a site visitor tries to play a file but no supporting media player exists on the user’s computer, you are prompted to download and install the player.

Every multimedia file type has a corresponding MIME type. For example, an mp3 file's MIME type is audio/mpeg. Supported MIME types are defined within the mediasettings element of the web.config file as follows:

To determine if a multimedia file type is supported, go to http://www.w3schools.com/media/media_mimeref.asp, then go to the web.config file section to see if the MIME type exists and insert the player name within the value element. For example:

<add key="audio/mpeg" value="WindowsMedia"/>

In this example, WindowsMedia is the only supported player for mp3 files. If you know that other players can run mp3 files, insert additional players after WindowsMedia. To get the exact name of the player, review the value elements in web.config file section.

If you want Ektron to support additional MIME types, add them within the <mediaSettings> element using the following syntax:

<add key="MIME type/subtype" value="supported media player(s)"/>

For example:

<add key="video/x-ms-asf" value="WindowsMedia"/>

To identify a player as the default for a MIME type, use the following syntax within web.config.

<add key="MIME Type/subtype" value="default player"/>

For example:

<add key="video/x-msvideo-default" value="WindowsMedia"/>

You must also add new file types to the supported file list in the assetmanagement.config file. See Also: Allowing File Types.

After a multimedia file is imported into Ektron, you can view supported media players’ properties on the Edit Content screen's Content tab. Players defined for the file’s MIME type are checked. You may uncheck any media players that you do not want to operate a particular file.

• If a default media player is defined for a MIME type in web.config, you cannot uncheck its checkbox.
• If the file is supported by several players, first check the player whose properties you want to modify, then edit its properties.

The Width and Height fields determine the size (in pixels) of the media player when it appears in the Workarea and on your Web site. The remaining properties are determined by the media player (QuickTime in the example above).

When you visit a page that hosts a multimedia file, Ektron tries to match media players on the user’s computer with those defined in the web.config file for the file’s MIME type. Ektron then displays a list of choices for every supported media player for the file.

You can change the multimedia player’s style properties by modifying the EKTTabs.css style sheet. This file is installed to sitefolder/Workarea/csslib.

For example, you can change the color of the text that selects a player to red by changing the property highlighted below.

Here is the result.

Adding Assets to a Mapped Network Folder

You can set up a mapped network folder then drag and drop folders or assets into it. You can also delete and move assets using the mapped network folder. The advantage of this method is that you can upload documents without installing or learning how to use Ektron.

When using drag and drop, you can choose individual assets or a folder. Only supported file types may be uploaded. If you choose a folder, Ektron recreates that folder structure, even if it is several levels deep.

NOTE: You cannot choose a language for assets in a mapped network folder-- they are automatically assigned the Ektron default language (set in the siteroot/web.config file at the ek_DefaultContent Language element). Also, you can only work with assets in the default language.

Prerequisites: 

• the path to your Ektron Web site
  
• an Ektron user name and password
• if your server has Windows 7

1. Access Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features On or Off > Internet Information Services > World Wide Web Services > Common HTTP Features, and make sure that the WebDAV publishing option is unchecked. Then, restart Windows.
    

   

2. Open your site root/web.config file. If you find the following key, remove it.

   <add name="WebDAV" path="*" verb="PROPFIND,PROPPATCH,
   MKCOL,PUT,COPY,DELETE,MOVE,LOCK,UNLOCK" modules="WebDAVModule" 
   resourceType="Unspecified" requireAccess="None" />

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. For Windows 7, click Tools > Map Network Drive.

   For Windows 2008 server, click Start > Computer > Map Network Drive.

   The Map Network Drive screen appears.

3. Click Connect to a Web site that you can use to store documents and pictures. A wizard screen appears.
4. Click Next. Another wizard screen appears.
5. Click Choose a custom network location and click Next. A third wizard screen appears.
6. Enter the path to your Ektron site, followed by the ekdavroot folder. For example, http://server23/CMS400/ekdavroot and click Next. An Ektron login screen appears.
7. Enter your username and password and click OK. Another wizard screen appears.
8. Name the network drive and click Next. You use this name to identify the folder when dropping assets into it. The Finish screen appears.
9. In Windows Explorer, open the new network folder (it appears under Computer > Local Disk (C:)). Notice that its structure mirrors your Ektron Workarea folders.
10. Navigate to the folder to which you want to drop files, and drag and drop them.

    NOTE: Your access to folders and ability to drop files into them are determined by your Ektron folder permissions (collected in Step 7). See Also: Managing Folder Permissions

11. If an asset is not supported, an error message appears: An error occurred copying some or all of the selected files. However, all supported assets are uploaded.