Communicate on assets

Introduction

censhare allows you to coordinate with other users regarding all kinds of content and associated information. For every asset, you can create your own threads or reply to existing comments. You can create tasks related to the asset and assign them. For better communication, you can create and refer to markers on previews for certain assets.

Introduction

censhare allows you to coordinate with other users regarding all kinds of content and associated detailed information. For every asset, you can create your own threads or reply to existing comments. A "Communication" tab on an asset page shows all of the messages associated with the asset in question. There you can discuss the draft of a text or coordinate changes to a layout.

The "Communication" widget (3) on the "Communication" tab (7) shows the comments and messages related to an asset. If no comments have been made in the widget (3) you will find your photo up above (2), if it has been assigned, and the input field for messages (1). The "Comments" widget (4) with the "Add marker" button shows a preview image (5) of the asset.

You then assign topics to a comment. That allows comments for different assets that have been posted to be related to each other. censhare saves every topic as an asset. You can search according to topic. Using the topic you'll then find all messages that refer to that topic.

A comment can also be assigned to other assets. For example, you want to refer to another asset as a comment in a discussion about a text draft. To do that, select the desired asset while you write your message. Other users can then switch to the linked asset directly from the thread.

To make the communication easier, for certain assets you can mark areas in a special preview widget and then refer to them in a message. Currently, this includes various image sections for assets with images. Let's say you get a sequence of images from a photographer and some of the images still need editing in some spots. On the preview images of the assets, create markers for those spots and refer to them in the messages.

censhare saves the comments as assets which you can then look for. Via the message, you can directly access the asset for which the message was made. Every message receives a link to the person asset of the person who wrote the message. You can also use it to find all discussion threads that you yourself wrote or that other users wrote.

"Communication" tab

The "Communication" tab summarizes the communication regarding an asset on an asset page. On the left side of the tab in the "Comments" widget is the preview image of the asset. On the right side is the "Communication" widget, which shows the existing messages. Every message has a date and time of publishing. Here you can also create new threads or post answers to existing threads. Answers are then linked with the associated messages. Replies to an answer are also linked to this. This creates a hierarchical structure of threads.

Discussion entries appear in chronological order with the latest message at the top. As soon as you have replied to a comment, the associated message structure moves to the top of the list because it becomes the most recent. If more messages exist than can be shown in the widget then a scroll bar appears.

If an asset has a preview image, you can create markers for it. It doesn't matter whether the preview image is automatically created or it was assigned to the asset. The latter is the case for person assets that have been assigned a photo. If you are not allowed to create a marker, the "Add marker" button won't appear when you move the mouse to the "Comments" widget.

Write a message

Below the input field (3) for the message are the following buttons: "Attach asset" (6), "Add topic" (5) and "Add marker" (4). Click CANCEL (2) to discard your entry and POST (1) to publish it. To the left of the message is a photo of the author (7).

To create a comment, click in the input field for messages. At that moment, the buttons "Link asset", "Add topic" and "Add marker" will appear on the left under the field. The latter button is only visible if at least one marker is created in the "Comments" widget. Click CANCEL to delete your entry. Click POST to publish your message.

Above the message text is the name of the author on the left and the time of publication on the right. All the way to the left is the photo assigned to your person asset. If there is no photo, censhare uses a different icon.

If you enter a term in the text with the format "x.y" or "www.x.y" the system will recognize that as a website link. You can also add one of the prefix protocols HTTP, HTTPS or FTP. The system recognizes email addresses if they are separated from other text and have the following formats: "xxx@ddd.yy" or "@ddd.yy". You can also put the following protocol in place: "mailto:xxx@ddd.yy".

To enlarge the input field, move the cursor to the lower right corner of the field. Pull it downward until the field is the desired size.

Two or more users can create discussion comments for an asset at the same time. The user whose post is finished first will appear first. The texts written by other users are not lost in the process.

Add a topic

Topics allow you to assign comments to different categories across many assets and thus classify them. To select a topic, click the button "Add topic". A selection field will open. Click this field to get a list of possible topics to select from. Click the desired entry to add the topic to your message. It will then appear in the selection field.

To add another topic, click again in the input field. Topics that have already been selected will be grayed out in the list.

If the topic you want isn't shown, create it. To do that click on the first entry "Add new topic". The asset chooser dialog will open. Select a topic template asset, enter the name you want and confirm your selection. The newly created topic will automatically be added to the selection list.

To delete the topic from the selection field, click the "x" at the end of the topic name.

You can also add or delete topics to a thread retroactively. To do that, you look for the messages asset in question and open it in an asset page. Go to the "Topic" widget there, which has a list of topics related to the message.

Because message assets have the subtype "Message" with the main type "Text", you have to search separately for them in the quick search and the expanded search. In the quick search, enter the subtype directly. In the expanded search you need to first enter the main type "Text" for the "Type" parameter and then select "Message" for the subtype. The reason for this is the different configuration of both search options.

To add a topic to a message asset click the "Add relation" button in the widget title bar. An asset chooser dialog will open. Select the desired asset and confirm your selection. To remove a topic, move the cursor to the topic in question in the widget. An asset action list will appear in the upper right of the entry. Select the action "Delete relation".If this is not directly visible, click the "Menu" button.

Add asset links

To add an asset relation click the button "Link asset".Now the asset chooser dialog opens. Select the desired asset and confirm your selection.

The system adds information about the asset and a preview image below the message. In the asset information entry, there is an asset action menu on the right side with the various available actions. You can open the asset, add it to the pinboard or create a duplicate. For more information see also the overview of  "Asset actions".

The entry is then linked with the referenced asset with a "Media" type link. Using this relation you can also recognize whether a reference is made to an asset in a message. Open the asset in an asset page and go to the "Media from" widget. In the asset list, you will see all of the threads and comments that refer to the asset.

Add markers to a comment

To add a marker to a message, click the "Add marker" button. You will see a selection list with the markers defined in the "Comments" widget. Click the desired entry. A link to the marker with its color and number is added to the location where the cursor is.

You can also create a marker when writing your entry and then refer to it in the message.

To then delete a marker while entering your message, click the cursor either in front of or behind the marker text. Then press the delete or backspace key.

Reply to comments

The "Communication" widget with one input field for a new message (1) and one for an answer (6). An entry (9) contains an image of the author (8), his name (2), the date (4) of the post and the message text (3).An answer (7) looks like a message but it is indented. For an answer to an answer, the author field (2) will also have the name of the author of the answer. If the cursor is above the date (4) of a message or an answer, the "Answer" button appears (5).

You can enter a message yourself for any message or reply. Move the cursor to the entry in question. An arrow appears on the upper right. As soon as you click on that an input field appears. This is at the end of a thread and all of the associated replies. For more information see the section "Creating a message".

All replies to a message are shown indented. It doesn't matter whether you are replying to the entry yourself or replying to a reply. For a reply to a reply, then next to your name you will see the name of the author who wrote the message you are replying to.

Finding comments

Because censhare saves every entry as an asset, you can search for an asset just like searching for any other asset. To do that, in censhare Web you enter the "Message" asset type as the search criteria in the quick search in order to limit the results accordingly. In the censhare Java Client you first select the "Text" asset type and then the subtype "Message".

To do that you can use both the quick search and the expanded search.

Delete comments

If you have the rights you can also delete messages.

After you've deleted an entry, it will no longer appear in the "Communication" widget of the asset for which it was created. If you delete a message within a series of replies, the relations between the messages will still remain intact to a degree.

Markers in preview images

The following buttons are available in the toolbar in editing mode of the "Annotations" widget for markers: (5) "Color selection" (1), "Discard changes" (2) "Approve changes" (3) and "Delete marker" (4). In the darkened preview image (9) the active marker (7) is highlighted with the eight grips (8) and the associated number (6), here 1.

Create markers

To create a marker, click the button "Add marker" in the "Comments" widget. Now click the preview image. censhare creates a frame with a sequential number in order to identify the marker later. Click the cursor on the frame to drag and drop it to the location you wish. To change the size, click one of the eight anchors and pull it until you get the desired size.

The "Color selection" button shows you on the left the current color of the marker. Click in the right menu area to change the color. A color chooser dialog will appear. Click the desired color in the table. Alternatively, you can enter the hexadecimal color code in the input field and confirm your entry with the "Return" button. The new color will be shown in the "Color selection" button and in the frame.

Click the button "Confirm changes" to create the marker. Click the "Discard changes" button to exit editing mode without creating a marker.

The "Delete marker" button isn't shown when creating a marker.

Edit markers

Double click a marker in order to enter the editing mode. Just like creating a marker, you can move the selected marker, change its size or give it another color.

Use the buttons "Approve changes" or "Discard changes" to exit editing mode again.

Delete markers

In editing mode, click the "Delete marker" button. Confirm your action in the following dialog with OK. The marker is deleted and you will exit editing mode.

Select CANCEL to abort your deletion and return to the editing mode. The "Confirm changes" and "Discard changes" buttons will again exit the editing mode.

If a message refers to the deleted marker, the text of the marker reference still remains. The color marking will disappear, however.