Ektron Reference |
Metadata is information about a content item, such as its title and language. Ektron provides extensive and flexible support for metadata, which it uses in both standard and innovative ways.
You can define metadata in the Workarea at Settings > Configuration > Metadata Definitions but you assign metadata in the Content area.
Prerequisite: Only members of the Administrator user group and those defined in the Manage Members for Role: Metadata-Admin screen can view, add, or edit metadata definitions. See Also: Using the Roles Screens
Best Practices When anyone creates a new Metadata definition, it is assigned the next available ID number. The ID numbers determine the order in which metadata definitions are arranged on the Folder Properties screen’s Metadata tab. By planning ahead, you can enter metadata definitions in logical groupings, which makes it more intuitive for the person assigning the metadata to pick the correct ones. You can use metadata as a search criterion to find content on your Web site, but the metadata definition name cannot include a space. Eliminate spaces from metadata definition names. |
Use the Add Metadata Definition screen to define metadata (such as keywords and title). You can define as many instances of metadata as you wish. If your site supports multiple languages, you create metadata definitions for each supported language.
To add a metadata definition, follow these steps.
IMPORTANT: After creating a definition, you must assign it to folders whose content should use the definition through the folder’s properties.
If you create a metadata definition, assign it to a folder, then users insert metadata information into their content, the collected information takes on the characteristics of the metadata definition. For example, if the metadata is title and its type is HTML tag, this is how it appears in the Web page’s source code.
<title>CMS Developer</title>
If you later change its type to Meta, the following effects occur:
<title>CMS Developer</title>
.<meta name="title" content="CMS developer">
.NOTE: For background information about metadata, see http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/global.html#edef-META.
Copied from www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_5.html:
The META element is an extensible container for use in identifying specialized document meta-information. Meta-information has two main functions:
Copied from www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_5.html.
The title should identify the contents of the document in a global context. A browser may display the title of a document in a history list or as a label for the window displaying the document.
Title
as the metadata name. (Do not include spaces.) content="document management web content management content management cms"
Searchable metadata allows content to be found by a search phrase that you add to the content’s metadata. The content is typically found by either a Web site search or a Workarea search. For example, each document stored in the Document Management functionality has a unique part number.
NOTE: When metadata is set up, the system administrator determines whether it is “publicly viewable.” If it is, the search field appears on the search screen that site visitors use along with the search screen in the Ektron Workarea. If the data is not publicly viewable, it can be found only through a Workarea search.
Field | Description |
If you check the box, site visitors can find the metadata value when searching your Web site. Otherwise, site visitors cannot find the metadata value. NOTE: Regardless of whether this is checked, this metadata value can be found using the Workarea’s Search Content Folder screen. Only logged-in users can access the Workarea. | |
Select the style of the response field from these choices (available in a dropdown list). You are specifying the kind of information that a user adding searchable properties to content will enter to describe the data. Later, anyone using the search can search on that information.
| |
Default | If desired, enter the most common response to this definition. The default value is automatically applied to all existing content within folders to which this definition is assigned. While editing content that uses this definition, a user can accept the default value or change it. |
You can set up a Web page so that whenever the source content item appears, the related information appears next to it by associating the following types of content with a content item.
For example, your Web site sells motorcycle helmets. On a page that shows a particular helmet, the left column lists a collection of motorcycle drivers who wear that helmet. Another example might show the profile of a user when a certain content item is displayed.
Related content lets you connect a content item with several types of related content (see list above), and is associated with a content item, not a Web form. For example, you can display a library image of the company logo on a page whenever content in a certain folder appears. For content in a different folder, a different logo could appear.
NOTE: This capability is similar to the MetadataList Server control except that MetadataList shows a link to every content item with a selected term in the keywords or title. Also, a MetadataList is associated with a Web form (.aspx page), not a content item.
For more information, go to http://localhost/cms400developer/developer/default.aspx and read the Metadata > Meta Associations description.
IMPORTANT: If you are using Collection Selector type, only users with permission to work with collections can select a collection. Also, if you are using Image, Hyperlink or File Selector type, only users with permission at least read-only Library permissions can select a library item. See Also: Managing Folder Permissions.
You can change the style of a searchable property type of metadata. For example, you create a definition to collect Part Number. Originally, the style is text, but you later decide its style should be number.
When you change the style of searchable property type metadata, Ektron attempts to maintain any data stored in content blocks that use the definition. For example, if the data style was number and you change it to text, the number stored for that metadata definition is converted to text and maintained in all content that uses it. However, sometimes Ektron cannot maintain the data when you change the style. For example, if you change a metadata definition style from number to date, Ektron cannot convert those styles, in which case any data stored in metadata definitions is lost.
The following table shows the conversion scenarios and how Ektron handles each one. It indicates whether data is maintained after you convert from a data style in the left column to a style to its right.
|
Text |
Number |
Date |
Boolean |
Single Select |
Multiple Select |
Text |
- |
OK |
OK |
NO |
NO |
NO |
Number |
OK |
- |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
Date |
OK |
NO |
- |
NO |
NO |
NO |
Boolean |
OK |
NO |
NO |
- |
NO |
NO |
Single Select |
OK |
NO |
NO |
NO |
- |
OK |
Multiple Select |
OK |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
- |
When you change the style of a metadata definition, the screen lets you either use existing data if possible or use the default value. Following these choices is a field that lets you define a default value. If you want to simply replace any existing data, select Use default value and enter the new value in the Default field. If the data is convertible and you want to maintain existing data if possible, select Use existing data if possible, else default. Then, enter a default value below. If the existing data cannot be maintained, the default value replaces it.
After you create a metadata definition, assign it to folders whose content will use it. On each folder’s properties screen, you determine which metadata definitions can be used. The section of the folder properties screen used to assign metadata appears below. Only metadata definitions whose Assigned box is checked can be completed by users working with content in the folder.
You can determine that a metadata value must be inserted before content can be saved (see the Required checkboxes in the illustration above). This occurs both when new content is added and existing content is edited. If you set a kind of metadata to be required, its label is red and includes an asterisk (*) on the Metadata tab of the Edit Content screen.
NOTE: If a default value is defined for a required metadata field, the default value is used when the user saves the content. In this case, the user is not prompted to enter a value because the default value is sufficient.
Each folder can inherit metadata fields from its parent folder or have a unique set of them. The information includes the kinds of metadata that are assigned and which of those are required. For example, you could assign the top folder (Content) all metadata definitions, while you assign the Contacts folder (directly below it) none. On every folder property’s Metadata tab, use the Inherit Parent Configuration check box to determine if metadata definitions are the same as the parent folder or unique. By default, Inherit Parent Configuration is checked, meaning that the folders inherits its metadata definition from the parent folder. When you uncheck Inherit Parent Configuration, you can change the settings as desired. All inherited values appear by default (that is, Assigned and Required boxes are either checked or unchecked).
When a user creates or updates content, he can define its metadata within the assignments specified for its folder. Default metadata values are applied without user intervention. To enter or edit content’s metadata, follow these steps.
NOTE: You may only edit metadata of content that is published, checked in, or checked out by you.
Content tags apply terms by which you want users to find content when the terms are not actually contained in the content.The search can then find content using those tags.
Default content tags appear on the Metadata tab of every content item. Check any tag that you want to apply to a content item and save. You can also create a new tag and apply it to a content item. You cannot reapply that tag to other content. The following example shows Farm, Silo, and Combine added to the content tags.
You can assign an image to any content item’s metadata from a standard field that is available to every content item; it is not a definition in the Metadata fields. Use the Image field to identify an image that can be retrieved by Ektron Markup Language’s (EKML) [$Image] and [$ImageThumbnail] variables. See Also: Controlling Output with Ektron Markup Language.
An example of using Image data is a list summary that includes a photo of every item on the list. For example, your site promotes a soccer team and the list summary shows every player on the team. To the left of each player’s name is a thumbnail of his image.
The Metadata server control lets you add the metadata from content blocks to a Web page. This lets developers add metadata quickly without having to type it in. You can add metadata from a single content block, multiple content blocks, or dynamically pass a content ID from a URL.
With the MetaData server control, you add metadata from content blocks to your Web page. By comparison, the MetaDataList server control lets you create a list of content blocks to display on your site, based on the Metadata in each content block.See Also: Adding Content to a Web Page with the MetadataList Server Control.
NOTE: The following table only lists Ektron-specific properties. It does not describe native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style. For documentation of these properties, see Visual Studio help.
Property (Data Type) |
Value |
Authenticated |
Indicates if you are logged in to the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to Content, Collections, etc. See Also: Using CMS Explorer to Browse Your Ektron Site |
CacheInterval |
Sets the amount of time the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). This is the amount of time, in seconds, a control’s data is cached. For example, if you want to cache the data for five minutes, set this property to 300 (three hundred). See Also: Caching with Server Controls |
DefaultContentID |
Enter the ID of the content block whose metadata is added to the page. If you don’t know the ID number of the content block, use the CMS Explorer to browse to it. See Also: Using CMS Explorer to Browse Your Ektron Site. If you want to add metadata from several content blocks, set this property to 0 (zero) and use the DefaultItemList property to identify them. |
DefaultItemList |
A bracket-separated list of content block IDs whose metadata added to the page. This list is used only if the In the ID list, you can specify metadata definitions to exclude for each content block. To exclude a metadata definition, insert a semicolon after the ID and enter the metadata definition. For example, In the above example, the control will
Note the following criteria for metadata definitions that may be excluded:
|
DoInitFill |
By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown. |
DynamicParameter |
Gets or sets the QueryString parameter to read a content ID dynamically. |
GenerateDublinCore |
When enabled, this property automatically creates seven of the Simple Dublin Core metadata fields from standard Ektron system properties. The default is false. True—Generate Simple Dublin Core metadata fields The 7 fields and how they are associated with the Ektron properties is explained in Applying Simple Dublin Core Metadata |
Hide |
Used to hide a Metadata server control in design time and run time. True—Hide Metadata server control |
Language |
Set a language for viewing form content. This property shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser). |
SuppressWrapperTags |
Suppresses the output of the span/div tags around the control. The default is False. True—Suppress wrap tags. |
WrapTag |
Allows a developer to specify a server control’s tag. The default is Span. Span—The <span> tag is used to designate an in-line portion of an HTML document as a span element. |
<cms:MetaData id="MetaData1" runat="server" DefaultContentID="12"></cms:MetaData>
Or, if you are using multiple content block IDs in the DefaultItemList, the following HTML is created.
<cms:metadata id="MetaData1" runat="server" DefaultItemList="[12,7,4]"></cms:metadata>
Use the MetadataList server control to create lists based on Keyword Names and Keyword Values contained within the metadata of content. The list can display the information as a list of hyperlinks. You can choose, based on properties you set, to display the summary and how to order the display. For general information Metadata, see Working with Metadata.
NOTE: On a PageBuilder page, you can insert a metadata list using the MetaDataList widget. See Also: Widget Reference
NOTE: The following table only lists Ektron-specific properties. It does not describe native .NET properties such as font, height, width and border style. For documentation of these properties, see Visual Studio help.
Property |
Value |
Authenticated |
Indicates if you are logged in to the CMS Explorer and can use it to browse to Content, Collections, and so on. See Also: Using CMS Explorer to Browse Your Ektron Site |
CacheInterval |
Sets the amount of time the server control’s data is cached. The default is 0 (zero). This is the amount of time, in seconds, a control’s data is cached. For example, if you want to cache the data for five minutes, set this property to 300 (three hundred). See Also: Caching with Server Controls WARNING! If the EnablePaging property is set to True, the CacheInterval property is disabled. |
ContentType |
Select a type of content for this control. Choices are:
|
DisplayXslt |
Determines how the information on the page is displayed None—databind only ecmNavigation—lists the title of every content block in the folder. See Also: Using the Collection Server Control ecmTeaser—lists the title of every content block in the folder plus the content summary. See Also: Using the Collection Server Control Path to Custom Xslt—Enter the path to an Xslt that determines the display of the page WARNING! If you specify an external file, it is strongly recommended that you do not store this file in your site's Workarea folder. If you store this file in the Workarea folder, the file will be lost when you upgrade. |
DoInitFill |
By default, Fill occurs during the Page_Init event. Set to false if you want to postpone the fill-action until later. In this case, Fill is automatically called during the Page Render event. You might do this if you need to set or change a property on the control in code-behind and have it render with your changes shown. |
EnablePaging |
This property, in conjunction with the MaxNumber property, lets site visitors view an unlimited number of content items while controlling the amount of screen space. To accomplish this, the content display is limited to the number set in the MaxNumber property. If you set this property to true, and the number of content items exceeds the MaxNumber number, navigation aids appear below the last item. The site visitor uses the aids to view additional items. See example below.
So, for example, if specified metadata is found in 9 items and the MaxResults property is set to 3, the screen displays only the first three items. When the site visitor clicks [Next], he sees items 4, 5 and 6, etc. NOTE: If the EnablePaging property is set to True, the CacheInterval property is disabled. |
ExactPhrase |
Determines whether the KeyWordValue needs to match the metadata value exactly. For example, if “site” is the KeyWordValue, the title of a content block is “Welcome to the site” and ExactPhrase is set to true, you would not see the content block in the metadata list. This is because “site” does not equal “Welcome to the site”. True—Match the exact phrase |
FolderID |
The folder ID from which content is retrieved. At the Recursive property, you determine if content in this folder’s subfolders is also retrieved. |
GetAnalyticsData (Boolean) |
Set this property to True if you want the following information for each content in the list. Returns Content View Count, Content Rating, Content Rating Average. Create your own XSLT styles to display this data. NOTE: This property only provides reliable data when the Business Analytics Feature is on. Enabling the Business Analytics Feature. |
GetHtml |
Set to True if you want to display the content (html body) for all content to appear on this metadata list. For example, you want to display content inside a Web server control such as a GridView. |
Hide |
Used to hide a metadata list in design time and run time. True—Hide metadata list. |
IncludeIcons |
Choose whether to display icons next to the metadata list’s links. NOTE: This property only works when ecmSummary or ecmTeaser are used in the DisplayXslt property. When the [$ImageIcon] variable is used in an EkML file and that file is assigned to the MarkupLanguage property, this property acts as True.
|
KeyWordName |
KeyWordName represents a metadata definition, that is, the container for the KeyWordValues. Examples of a KeyWordName are Keywords and Title. If you are authenticated, you can click the ellipsis button and select from a list of existing metadata definitions. For information on creating metadata definitions, see Adding a Metadata Definition. |
KeyWordValue |
Enter the values associated with the KeyWordName. Only content whose metadata (defined at the KeyWordName property) matches this value appears on the metadata list. Examples of a KeyWordValue are “home; page; company.” To view an illustration of the relationship between KeyWordName and KeyWordValues, see Adding Content to a Web Page with the MetadataList Server Control. NOTE: The character that separates multiple items is defined at the KeyWordValueSeparator property. At the KeyWordValueMatchAll property, you determine if all metadata definition values must match or any one of them. |
KeyWordValue MatchAll |
This property is only used if you enter more than one keyword value. If you do, and only want content to appear on the metadata list if all values entered at the KeyWordValue field match its metadata values, enter true. If metadata can appear on the list as long as any value defined at the KeyWordValue field matches the selected metadata value for a content item, enter false. Example: KeyWordValue for Title (assigned for this server control): home; page; company. Metadata values for a content item’s Title metadata definition field: software; ektron; company.
|
KeyWordValueSeparator |
Enter the character used to separate the list of keyword values. An example is a semicolon(;). |
Language |
Set a language for viewing the MetaDataList. This property shows results in design-time (in Visual Studio) and at run-time (in a browser). |
LinkTarget |
Defines the way a link acts when a link is clicked. Choices are: _blank—This target causes the link to always be loaded in a new blank window. This window is not named. _self—This target causes the link to always load in the same window the anchor was clicked in. This is useful for overriding a globally assigned BASE target. _parent—This target makes the link load in the immediate frameset parent of the document. This defaults to acting like “_self” if the document has no parent. _top—This target makes the link load in the full body of the window. This defaults to acting like “_self” if the document is already at the top. It is useful for breaking out of an arbitrarily deep frame nesting. |
MarkupLanguage |
Identify the template markup file that controls the display of the metadata list. For example, See Also: Controlling Output with Ektron Markup Language and metadatalist.ekml NOTE: If you enter a valid EkML file, the DisplayXslt property value is ignored. If the EkML file contains the [$ImageIcon] variable, the IncludeIcons property acts as True. |
MaxNumber |
Enter the maximum number of items to appear in the initial display of this server control. To set no maximum, enter zero (0). To let site visitors view more than the maximum but limit the amount of space being occupied, enter the maximum number of results per page here. Then, set the EnablePaging property to true. If you do and more than the number of MaxResults are available, navigation aids appear below the last item to help the site visitor view additional items. See example below.
|
OrderBy |
The order of the list to be returned. Title—The title of the content block
|
Recursive |
Whether to search sub-folders of the identified root folder. The starting folder is identified in the FolderID property. |
SortOrder |
Choose the order direction of the list, Ascending or Descending. |
SuppressWrapperTags |
This property is set to false because Ajax uses <div> tags to rewrite the region around the tag. You cannot change the value to true. |
WrapTag |
Allows a developer to specify a server control’s tag. The default is Span. Span—The <span> tag is used to designate an inline portion of an HTML document as a span element. |
Retrieving the XML structure of XML content allows for greater control over developing XSLs. The following is an example of how to retrieve the XML structure:
NOTE: You should set the width of the text box to at least 400px.
Textbox1.Text = Metadata1.XmlDoc.InnerXml
For an additional example, see the MetadatList XML page on the CMS400Developer samples page. It is located at:
In a browser:
http://siteroot/CMS400Developer/Developer/MetaDataList/MetadataListXML.aspx
In the source code:
siteroot/CMS400Developer/Developer/MetaDataList/MetadataListXML.aspx and MetadataListXML.aspx.vb
Simple Dublin Core is a set of fifteen standard names for metadata fields designed to cover the most useful items of information on a document. From the Dublin Core site FAQ: “Dublin Core metadata provides card catalog-like definitions for defining the properties of objects for Web-based resource discovery systems.” For more information, refer to the Usage Guide:http://www.dublincore.org/documents/usageguide/.
To generate Dublin Core metadata, set the GenerateDublinCore property to True. This creates 7 of the fifteen Dublin Core metadata fields. These fields are automatically filled with the information from the equivalent Ektron property. The following list shows the 7 fields and their Ektron equivalent. For more information on the Metadata Server Control, see Adding Content to a Web Page with the Metadata Server Control.
After you create a metadata definition, assign it to folders whose content will use it. On each folder’s properties screen, you determine which metadata definitions can be used. The section of the folder properties screen used to assign metadata appears below. Only metadata definitions whose Assigned box is checked can be completed by users working with content in the folder.
You can determine that a metadata value must be inserted before content can be saved (see the Required checkboxes in the illustration above). This occurs both when new content is added and existing content is edited. If you set a kind of metadata to be required, its label is red and includes an asterisk (*) on the Metadata tab of the Edit Content screen.
NOTE: If a default value is defined for a required metadata field, the default value is used when the user saves the content. In this case, the user is not prompted to enter a value because the default value is sufficient.
Each folder can inherit metadata fields from its parent folder or have a unique set of them. The information includes the kinds of metadata that are assigned and which of those are required. For example, you could assign the top folder (Content) all metadata definitions, while you assign the Contacts folder (directly below it) none. On every folder property’s Metadata tab, use the Inherit Parent Configuration check box to determine if metadata definitions are the same as the parent folder or unique. By default, Inherit Parent Configuration is checked, meaning that the folders inherits its metadata definition from the parent folder. When you uncheck Inherit Parent Configuration, you can change the settings as desired. All inherited values appear by default (that is, Assigned and Required boxes are either checked or unchecked).
When a user creates or updates content, he can define its metadata within the assignments specified for its folder. Default metadata values are applied without user intervention. To enter or edit content’s metadata, follow these steps.
NOTE: You may only edit metadata of content that is published, checked in, or checked out by you.
To fully comply with the Simple Dublin Core metadata element set, the administrator must create the remaining 8 Dublin Core fields as standard Ektron Metadata definitions and apply them to all Ektron folders. Next, CMS users complete the appropriate values for each content block.
IMPORTANT: When creating the Dublin Core metadata fields in the Metadata section of the Workarea, you do not need to create the first 7 fields in the table above. In addition, the names of the fields you create must match the names in the following list. For example, in the name field, enter “DC.subject”. The DC identifies the metadata as Dublin Core metadata.
These descriptions are from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative site. For a more detailed description, visit http://www.dublincore.org.
Ektron Version 8.5, Doc. Rev. 2.0 (Dec. 2011)
Visit the Ektron Dev Center at http://dev.ektron.com 1–866–4–EKTRON
Ektron Documentation, © 2011 Ektron, Inc.