Document Actions
Tabs and Menus for Editors
As we saw in the section on User Roles and Publishing States, Editor users have access to a number of tabs and menus that are not available to staff and public users. This section provides a brief overview of the most commonly used of these tabs and menus.
The Tabs
When you log in as an Editor user, a green menu bar with several tabs appears in the main content area of your Plinkit window. These tabs allow you to view different information about or perform actions on a particular Plinkit item. The row of tabs is context-sensitive, so the number and name of the tabs will vary depending on your location in your Plinkit site.
For example, if you are viewing a folder, you will see the following set of standard tabs:
If you are viewing a Smart Folder, however, the tabs will be different:
Because Smart Folders are not real folders, but searches, a contents tab is not relevant. Instead, you need a criteria tab to configure each Smart Folder’s predefined search.
The sections below give a brief description of the tabs you will use most often.
The Contents Tab
The contents tab lists the title, size, last modified date, and publishing state of each content item stored in a particular location. In the example above, the contents tab lists the contents of the eShelf & Research folder. You can click on folders and use the Up one level link to navigate through your site’s folder structure.
The contents tab also includes features to help you manage your content items. You can use the check boxes in the left column in conjunction with the buttons at the bottom of the tab to copy, cut, rename, paste, delete, or change the publishing state of a single item or multiple items at once. For instance, if you want to move two items from the eShelf & Research folder to the Kids & Teens folder, simply check the box next to each item, click cut, navigate to the Kids & Teens folder, and then click paste.
The up and down arrows in the order column of the contents tab allow you to reorder your topics. By default, content items are listed in the order they are created.
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Notes: Any changes you make using the arrows in the contents tab will be also be reflected in the ordering of the items shown in the navigation portlet. However, the navigation portlet will not show items that have been configured to be excluded from navigation. The actions initiated by the buttons on the contents tab apply only to those items that have been selected with a check mark. If you perform an action using the green menu bar while you are viewing the contents tab, the action will apply to the item that is currently being displayed. The menu bar actions are not controlled by the check boxes. For example, in the screen shot above, if we selected actions>delete from the green menu bar, the entire eShelf and Research folder and all of its contents would be deleted, even though none of the folder’s contents were marked with check marks. |
The View Tab
The view tab displays the selected content item in its formatted appearance. This view represents what the content item looks like when it is viewed by a public user (if the item has been published). The item’s content may look considerably different than it did when you entered it on the edit tab. In the example above, for instance, the information we entered in a Web form has been formatted into a text box and a formatted table with headings.
After you have created or edited a content item and saved your changes, the item is automatically displayed in the view tab so that you can see the effects of your changes.
Some content items, such as folders, can be displayed in more than one way. When the view tab is opened on such an item, a display menu appears that can be used to change the default display setting of the item (see Changing the Default Display Setting for a Folder for an example).
The Edit Tab
The edit tab displays a form that allows you to create content for a new item or edit content for an existing item. The specific fields that appear on the edit tab form vary depending upon the content type you have selected. The example above shows an edit tab for a new event.
In some cases, the fields on the edit tab will also vary depending on an item’s publishing state. For instance, when you first create an event, the Edit Event form contains fields for specifying the starting and ending date(s) and times for an event, as in the screen shot above. After the event has been published, however, these fields no longer appear on the edit tab.
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Tip: On Plinkit forms, a small red square indicates a required field. |
The Properties Tab
The properties tab allows you to associate specific types of metadata, such as keywords and copyright information, with a content item. These pieces of metadata can be used as Smart Folder criteria. Some of the metadata, such as contributor and creator names, will be displayed when the item is viewed or listed in search results or other lists within your site. You can also use the properties tab to configure settings that affect when and where an item is displayed.
1. Exclude from navigation setting: Controls whether the content item appears in the navigation portlet. The box is empty by default when a new item is created, which means that new items are included in the navigation portlet by default. Check this box if you want to prevent an item from appearing in the navigation portlet.
2. Keywords section: Assigns keywords to a content item. These keywords are used in Smart Folder searches and in searches initiated from the search website field near the top of Plinkit pages. To select keywords from the list of Existing keywords, hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Command key (Macintosh) on your keyboard and click each term you want to add. If you want to use keywords that have not yet been added to the Plinkit site, enter them in the New keywords text box.
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Note: Any keywords entered in the New keywords text box will be added to the list of Existing keywords after you click save. |
3. Contributors text box: Displays the names of content contributors.
4. Creators text box: Displays the names of the original creators of the content item. Plinkit automatically enters in this text box the login name of the user who initially created an item.
5. Effective Date fields: Specifies the date on which the item (if it is in the published state) will become visible to the public. This field is initially blank. When an item is changed from the public draft state to the published state, the effective date automatically changes to the date and time at which the item was published.
6. Expiration Date fields: Specifies the date on which a published item will cease to be visible to the public.
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Note: You can specify an expiration date for any content item, but this feature is most useful for content types, such as news Items, that are time-sensitive. |
7. Language setting: Indicates the language in which the content is written.
8. Copyrights text box: Displays copyright information.
The Sharing Tab
The sharing tab is an advanced tab that controls access rights to content items. In most cases, your Plinkit Administrator will configure the rights and permissions associated with your site and you will not need to use this tab. If you have questions or concerns about access rights, contact your Plinkit Administrator.
The Menus
The type and number of menus that appear on the green menu bar are also context-sensitive, as are the specific menu items on each drop-down menu. The most commonly used menus are described briefly below.
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Note: The options and actions that appear on the drop-down menus on the green menu bar apply only to the currently displayed content item. Before performing an action using one of these menus, check the breadcrumb trail at the top of the page, the navigation portlet, and/or the main content area of the view tab to make sure that you are viewing the correct item. |
The Actions Menu
The actions menu allows you to perform common item management tasks, such as cutting, copying, pasting, deleting, or renaming an item.
The Display Menu
The display menu allows you to change the default display of the item you are viewing. This menu is only visible if you are viewing an item, such as a folder, that can be displayed in different ways. The display options listed in the menu are specific to your location and the type of item being viewed. For one example of how to use this menu, see Changing the Default Display Setting for a Folder.
The Add Item Menu
The name of the add item menu and the specific menu options that are available vary depending on your location within your site. If you are at the top level of a folder, for instance, the menu is called add to folder, and it includes options for adding every content type except organizations. If you are viewing Community Organizations, the menu has only one item and appears as an add organization link, rather than a drop-down menu.
The State Menu
The state menu displays the current publishing state of an item and allows you to change that state if desired.