AssetNow NX Content Tool - Categories

AssetNow NX organizes content in categories. An unlimited number of categories can be added the the hierarchical site tree. The Category tool is used to create and manage categories.

Categories are best managed by an individual or small team, who understand website architecture, navigation, and usability issues. Allowing all publishers to create and manage categories can lead to duplicated categories, inconsistent and confusing naming, and result in a poor experience for site visitors.

Use the Content tool to display the site tree. Clicking a category (folder) in the site tree displays the selected category, subcategories, and content pages.

Click the category edit icon to display the tabbed edit form to update and the category.

The category settings are grouped under 5 tabs:

1. Content

A category can optionally display a section of content published in the category Body. The template applied to the category determines how the body section is displayed.

Parameter	Description
Lock	Check to lock the category. If a category is locked it can only be edited by the user who locked it or by site administrator who has global access permissions. Typically you will lock categories that are linked in your site design. For example if you create a site information category that is linked in the footer for your site you would lock it to prevent inadvertently changing it which would affect all your site pages.
Name	Enter the name of the category. Since categories are used for navigation the name should be short and unambiguous. Adhere to established conventions. Note that you cannot change the name of the top level Home category. If you wish to display a different name then edit the value of the AN_HOME string in the site properties bundle, this can be done using the Tools > System > Tools > Bundles tool.
Teaser	Teaser is a short and to the point description of the category and/or the content in the category. Teaser text is optionally displayed based on the template used by the category. The teaser is typically displayed on intermediate navigation pages that list a number of subcategories. Designers can change where and how the teaser is displayed is a template.
Body	A category can have a complete body section with images and other media. How this is displayed is determined by the applied template. The body section can be edited with the XHTML or simple code editors and supports the same features as content pages including widgets. You can reference images assets uploaded to the category - see the Assets tab section below. File assets are not directly supported for categories.
Redirect URL	If a URL is entered the category visitors will be automatically redirected to the URL and not see the category. This typically happens as site requirements change. URLs can be absolute, for example redirecting to a different web site using http://www.google.com would redirect to Google. Internal links redirecting to another part of the same AssetNow site can use short form URLs like /anlink/1,2,345,html.

2. Metadata

Metadata is not visible to visitors and is inserted in the page head section. Metadata is used by web browser to display the page title in the web browser title bar. Metadata is also used by search engines when indexing your site.

Parameter	Description
Title	Title is added to the page metadata title and used by search engines when indexing your site. The title is displayed by web browsers in the active window title bar (top). If the Title is left empty the name is used. The title may be longer and more descriptive than the Name.
Description	Description of the category. Typically contains key phrases selected to improve search engine rankings.
Keywords	Comma separated list of keywords relevant to the content of the category. Typically contains a range of keywords selected to improve search engine rankings.
Options	The Options field is available to designers/developers for customization. The data in the Options section can be accessed via the request.metaOptions variable when the category is displayed.
Advanced	The Advanced field is available to designers/developers for customization and designed for XML formatted metadata. This is typically used when group permissions are used to publish group/region specific content. Advanced metadata can then be added to that search engines index different metadata for each group. See the Advanced Metadata information for details of the XML format.

3. Properties

Parameter	Description
Status	Set the display status of the category: Off - the category and all subcategories and content will not be displayed and cannot be accessed. On - the category and all active subcategories and active content is available for display/access. The category is subject to the On / Schedule On date/time. If this is in the future the category will only be available from that date/time. Schedule - the category is available for the period set by the Schedule On and Schedule Off date/time values. Hide - same as On however the category is not shown in navigation menus and the site map. Auto - same as On however the category is only displayed if it contains active content.
On / Schedule On	The category will be activated (displayed) from the set date and time.
Schedule Off	Only applies is Status is set to Schedule. The category will be unavailable (not displayed) after the set date and time.
Display Mode	Available for customization. Normal is the default mode. Developers can add modes as required by their custom templates.
Display Date	Enable display of date or date and time on content pages within the category.
Template	Select the display template. Designers and developers can add templates to suit your site design.
Order	Adjust the list order of the category relative to other categories within the same parent category. Typically ordering is done from the Category listing display using the up/down order arrows. This order option allows for rapid repositioning if there are many categories.
Language	If the site is configured to support multiple languages you can select the language for the category. The language setting is used to set the site interface text and the category language code can be used by designers/developers. For example you could switch the site visual design based on the category language.
Search	Enable search indexing of content in the category. If the category is Off it will be excluded from the search. Check the Update Search Index option to add/remove the category content from the site search index. Note that with the Update Search Index option checked saving the category can take longer than usual, especially if the category contains many subcategories and pages.
Cache	Enable caching of the category page. Generally you will enable caching. However if the template you are using contains dynamic elements that need to update every time the category is accessed set caching to No.
Feed	Enable XML syndication feed for content in the category. This can be used by designers/developers to control display of the feed link.
Settings	The Settings field is available to designers/developers for customization. The Settings value can be accessed via the request.metaSettings variable when the category is displayed.

4. Assets

The category assets tab allows you to upload image assets which can be used by in category templates.

Parameter	Description
Upload Image	Use either the Browse option, or one of the six upload applet buttons, to select and upload a file. The applet buttons launch a java applet in a pop-up window. The applet allows uploading of very large files and multiple files simultaneously. The numbered buttons apply a preset scaling and compression filter to jpg and png images. The scale preset values can be configured by your Site Administrator and are typically configured to suit the site visual design requirements.
Images	Any assets that have been uploaded will be listed here. You can select an asset to delete it. If the asset is referenced in the Body section the delete option will be grayed out to prevent inadvertent deletion of an active asset.

5. Permissions

The permissions tab is used to set category access permissions, and tool user permissions. The permissions available to a group depend on the roles, if any, assigned to the users who are members of the group. Roles are used to provide tool access. If no roles are assigned to any users in a group the only permission option available to the group is Read. If users with roles are assigned to a group then the other permission options are available. Note that the functions enabled by these options depend on how the Site Administrator has configured the content tool for each role.

The Everyone group is a pre-defined AssetNow group with anonymous access permissions granting access to anyone visiting the category. To remove general anonymous access permissions you must uncheck this group.

Parameter	Description
Inherit	Yes = inherits same permissions are parent category. Set to No to set specific permissions for the category.
Groups	If Inherit is set to No then the groups are displayed with check box options. The available check boxes are determined by the roles, if any, assigned to users of the group.
Users	Click to launch a popup allowing setting of user specific permissions for the category. Generally you should not use user specific permissions as they are can become very complex to manage.
Approval	Available if groups or users have been set with Approve permissions. Use the Approval option to set the approval order. Approval order is sequential from lowest to highest order value. If two approvers have the same order value either of them may approve an item.
Not Inherited	List of descendant categories (subcategories) that will not inherit permissions. You cannot remove read permissions from the category if set for a descendant category, you must change the subcategory permissions first.

Read permissions can be applied to any group or user accessing the site. All other permissions apply to tool users only.

• Read - Group/User that have access category.
• Edit - Group/User can edit content pages. enabled edit icon.
• Add - Group/User can add new content pages. Enables add new page icon.
• Delete - Group/User can delete pages. Enables delete icon.
• Restore - Group/User can restore a revision of a content page. This means the user can enable previously approved revisions and hence replace the current revision of a page.
• Approve - Group/User may approve content.
• Admin - Enable all other options including all category options including add, delete, move for categories, and adding virtual pages.

AssetNow NX permissions are very flexible and offer many configuration alternatives. The choice typically depends on the size of your web content team. For large teams you should consider creating workgroups by assigning users to a group and then assigning each workgroup to a section of the site. Other options include creating role specific groups - publishers, approvers etc. Then assign users from these groups to sections of the site. You can also create private categories exclusively for managing content, for example a draft category for different sections of the site. Once content is approved an administrative user can move (or virtual) content to the appropriate live site categories.