Content Editor - standard content structure v3

The Content editor allows users to create and edit text in structured XML directly in censhare Web. censhare provides a default content structure that can be used for this purpose without further configuration: the censhare standard content structure. Administrators can customize the standard content structure to their requirements.

Context

censhare Web provides a standard content structure (SCS) for the Content editor for assets of type "Article". Users can use this SCS as a template and start editing XML formatted content without further configuration. The censhare standard content structure for articles consists of standard sets of content assets and configuration assets that are referenced to each other. This asset structure provides the Content editor data model and functionality. As administrator, you can customize the standard content structure.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the Content editor in censhare Web.

Introduction

In censhare Web, XML-first content management is based on assets that store XML structured content files and metadata, for instance for print and web publishing. Users can edit XML content files directly in the respective assets with the Content editor.

Note: The description in this article is based on the standard content structure (SCS) version 3.

The description refers to the standard content structure of assets of type "Article".

There are further standard configurations available, such as for the InCopy editor or text editor. They are out of scope of this article. For further information, see Configure the Content editor, as well as the Development guide.

The Content editor requires a content asset as part of an asset structure that form a virtual document. The minimal structure consists of a container asset (asset type "Article") and a content asset (asset type "Text"). Besides, a set of configurations assets is required. These are referred to as configuration asset structure. The structures must be referenced to one another to enable that users can display and edit text in the Content editor. censhare provides a standard content structure (SCS) for assets of type "Text" with all subtypes and an XML master storage item.

The descriptions in this article are based on the standard content structure (SCS) of asset type "Article" and refer to version 3 of the SCS.

Key steps

As administrator, you can use the standard content structure out of the box. Or, you customize the standard content structure to your requirements. The key steps for customization are:

Create the content editor asset structure
Enable editing content
Create the configuration asset structure
Create the RelaxNG schema and UI definitions
Create article templates (optional)

For a comprehensive description on how to create and customize a content and configuration structure for the Content editor, see Configuring the Content editor and the respective section on the Content editor in the Development guide.

Content editor standard asset structure

In the Content editor standard structure for articles, an "Article" asset functions as container. The "Article" asset stores:

Content: The XML content is provided in text assets that are linked to the Article asset. All content assets have a “Main content” relation with the container asset. The minimal content asset structure requires one content asset (Text) for the container asset (Article).
Metadata: The metadata are stored as asset properties on the "Article" asset. The metadata are provided for web and print publishing and internal use.

The Content editor combines the text assets and metadata into one virtual document.

censhare standard article structure

The censhare standard article structure contains two content assets. For translation purposes, one content asset is defined as source language (English) and one asset as target language (German). Both content assets have a “Main content” relation with the container asset (Article). Additionally, the target language asset has a “Variant with update flag” relation with the source language asset.

How to customize

To create your own content editor asset structure:

Create an "Article" asset.
Create the "Text" content assets for source and target languages. You can also use one single text asset only, without translation.
Change the default language of the content assets or add more language assets.

Note: Remember to set the relations as described above.

Templates

As administrator, you can create templates from the standard article structure. Templates consist of the asset structure and can contain predefined content. Users can easily create new article assets from these templates.

How to customize:

For further information, see Standard configuration of Content editor with "Translation with memory" applications in text assets.

Content editor workspace

The Content Editor displays the content and metadata in an asset page. In the standard content configuration, all of this information is displayed as structure elements in the “Editor" tab of the Content editor. The main structure elements are:

Content – structured text of an article that is stored in the text asset
Online – additional content and metadata for web publishing: teaser, key visual, SEO data, IVW categories, share options and advertising settings
Print – additional content for print publication: teaser, key visual, images
General – metadata retrieved from the content asset data: workflows, annotations, output channel hierarchies

In the SCS, the Editor tab has two widgets:

"Content Editor" widget for editing the text
Widget with several tabs, such as "Inspector" for editing attributes, and a Preview widget for different output formats

How to customize:

Adapt the display on the Content editor asset page to your individual needs.
Define whether to split the information onto separate tabs For example, you can create additional tabs for Teaser and Print information. For further information, see Configure Content Editor, Create a configuration, Step 1.

Enable editing content

To edit content in the Content editor, each content asset requires a reference that points to a content editor configuration. The respective asset type is "Content Editor Configuration". The asset of this type is the root of the configuration asset structure.

The reference is set in the content assets using the resource key of the Content Editor Configuration asset.

Note: The XML content of the master file of the content assets must correspond to the schema that is attached to the content editor configuration.

Standard content structure

For the censhare standard content structure, the reference to the root configuration asset is already set in the content assets:

Main content assets for articles: "Main content - EN" (names can be different)
Asset type: Text
Reference to root configuration asset: "Content Editor Configuration – Standard Article Content"
Reference key for root configuration asset: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-text-v3

How to customize:

Log in to the censhare Client in administrator mode.
Edit the metadata of the content asset (type Text): "Features" tab > "Feature internal: Content Editor Configuration". For this feature, enter the resource key of the root configuration asset you want to reference.
Repeat these steps for all content assets of your content structure.

Configuration asset structure

The configuration asset structure defines:

which elements from the content structure are displayed in the Content editor
which elements, attributes and relations can be edited
schema that specifies a pattern for the structure and content of an XML document
localizations of the document structure, UI elements and metadata that are displayed in the Content editor

The configuration structure can consist of several configuration assets. One configuration asset must be defined as root of this configuration asset structure. This root configuration asset must be referenced in the content assets.

censhare standard configuration structure for articles

Content editor configuration asset

The Content editor configuration asset is the root of the configuration structure for the Content editor. The asset holds the node sources and localization configurations:

The node source assets define the editable content and the available metadata.
The localization asset provides the terms of the structure elements, XML and UI elements, attributes and values that are displayed in the Content Editor page in the available user interface languages.

To reference the Content editor configuration in a content asset, censhare uses the resource key of the Content editor configuration asset.

The master file of the Content editor configuration asset defines which node source assets contain the referenced XML element and metadata.

For further information, see Configure Content editor, Main configuration asset.

Standard content structure

In the censhare standard content structure, a preconfigured Content editor configuration is provided:

Asset type: Content editor configuration
Name: Content Editor Configuration – Standard Article Content v3
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-text-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create an asset of type: Module/Content/Content Editor configuration as root configuration:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset. You use this resource key as reference in the content assets to enable content editing.
- Select Enabled.

Node sources

The node source assets for the standard content configuration define:

XML document structure of the storage item content
Asset metadata that can be edited

There can be several node sources in one configuration.

censhare provides further standard node source types that are not part of the standard content structure and out of scope of this article. For further information, see the Development guide .

Standard content structure

In the censhare standard content structure, two preconfigured node sources are provided:

Node Source – Standard Article / Content
Node Source – Standard Article / Article Meta

Node Source – Standard Article / Content

The "Standard Article / Content" node source defines the XML documents structure, the UI representation and localizations of the UI elements and attributes. It is a container asset without master file. The respective configuration assets are assigned to this asset:

RelaxNG schema: specifies a pattern for the structure and content of an XML document
UI definitions: the representation of XML elements of the schema in the user interface
Localization: localized UI elements and attribute names

Standard content structure

In the censhare standard content structure, a preconfigured content node source is provided:

Asset type: Content editor storage item configuration
Name: Node Source – Standard Article / Content v3
Reference to Content Editor Configuration: Content Editor Document Node Sources
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-content-node-source-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create a node source asset of type: Module/Content Editor/Content Editor storage item configuration:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset.
- Select "Enabled" and "In cached tables".
Open the root configuration asset and add the asset on the "Content Editor Document Node Sources" widget.

RelaxNG schema

Every XML document is associated with a schema. The schema specifies a pattern for the structure and content of an XML document. For example, the schema defines which elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables a document contains and in which sequence these elements can be used in the document. censhare uses RelaxNG as an XML schema language.

When users edit a document in the Content editor, the document is immediately validated against the associated RelaxNG schema. Invalid structures are marked accordingly with a flag, and users can correct them on-the-fly. No separate validation step is required.

For further information, see About RelaxNG in censhare.

Standard content structure

The censhare standard content structure contains a predefined schema:

Asset type: RelaxNG
Name: Schema - Standard Article / Article Content v3
Reference to Node Source - Standard Article / Article Content v3: Content Editor content schema
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-content-schema-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create an asset of type: Module/Content Editor/RelaxNG:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset.
- Select "Enabled" and "In cached tables".
Open the node source content asset and add the RelaxNG asset on the "Content Editor Content Schema" widget.
Create a RelaxNG schema to your requirements and attach it as master file to the schema asset.

User interface definition

The Content editor UI definitions specify how the XML elements and attributes of the schema are represented in the user interface of the Content editor. For example, you can define that the supported headings are available from a drop-down list in the Content editor.

The display of elements and attributes in the user interface is controlled by different renderers. For example, there are renderers for text, placed assets or the presentation of attributes. The renderers that are used, are specified in the UI definition. A default renderer is defined as fallback if no other renderer is available.

Standard content structure

The censhare standard content structure contains predefined UI definitions.
Examples of what is defined in the censhare standard UI definitions:

Headings can be selected from a drop-down list.
Clickable icons in the toolbar to add elements that are frequently used, such as links.
Supported special characters such as non-breaking-spaces, hyphens and soft returns are available from a drop-down list.
Mapping for inline style formats: Inline styles such as bold and italic are retained when copying text from other applications such as Microsoft Word. An XML element is created from the style.
Note: The application needs not provide the styling, otherwise the formatting might not be retained in all cases.

UI definition asset:

Asset type: Content editor UI definitions
Name: UI Definition - Standard Article / Article Content v3
Reference to Node Source - Standard Article / Article Content v3: Content Editor UI definition
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-content-ui-definitions-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create an asset of type: Module/Content Editor/ Content Editor UI Definition:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset.
- Select "Enabled" and "In cached tables".
Open the node source content asset and add the UI Definition asset on the "Content Editor UI definition" widget.
Create a UI definition XML or adapt the one of the SCS to your requirements. Add it as master file to the UI definition configuration asset. For further information, see Configure Content Editor, UI Definition.
Update the RelaxNG schema according to the UI definitions.

See an example for customizing a UI definition on inline styles formatting.

Node Source – Standard Article / Article Meta

The "Node Source - Standard Article / Article Meta" asset defines editable asset properties (metadata) that are retrieved from the asset data and output together with the content on a web page or print product. They can include properties like publication and update dates, settings for workflows and commenting.

Asset properties are referenced with their trait key and property key. For more information, see Creating a new feature.

The display of the metadata within the Content editor is defined in the XML master file of the Content Editor Configuration asset.

Standard content structure

In the censhare standard content structure, a preconfigured metadata node source is provided. The metadata defined, are displayed in the "Edit" tab of the Content editor page and can be edited there.

Asset type: Content meta data configuration
Name: Standard Article / Article Meta v3
Reference to Content Editor configuration asset: Content Editor Document Node Sources
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-meta-node-source-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create an asset of type: Module/Content Editor/ Content Editor metadata configuration:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset.
- Select "Enabled" and "In cached tables".
Create an XML file with the necessary traits to your requirements and attach it as master file to the asset. For further information, see Configure Content Editor, section Metadata asset. Also see the respective sections in the Developer guide.
Open the root configuration asset and add the metadata asset on the "Content Editor Document Node Sources" widget.
Define the display of the metadata within the Content editor in the XML master file of the Content Editor Configuration asset.

For further information, see Configuring the Content editor, Metadata asset. Also, see the respective sections in the Development guide.

Localization

Localization configuration assets provide the translations of the document structure elements, UI elements and metadata that are displayed in the Content editor. The information is stored in XML as master files on the respective localization assets. The files contain the terms for the languages that are available in the user interface.

Standard content structure

The censhare standard content structure contains three preconfigured localization assets with XML master files that contain the locales English and German:

Main XML structure elements:

Name: Localization - Standard Article / Article v3
Asset type: Content Editor Localization
Content: names of main elements displayed in the Content editor page, in the available user interface languages
Reference to the Content Editor Configuration asset: Content Editor Localization
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-localization-v3

UI elements and attributes localization:

Name: Localization - Standard Article / Article Content v3
Asset type: Content Editor Localization
Content: names of elements, attributes and values defined in the according XML text, in the available user interface languages
Reference to Node Source – Standard Article / Content: Content Editor Localization
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-content-localization-v3

Metadata localization:

Name: Localization - Standard Article / Article Meta v3
Asset type: Content Editor Localization
Content: names of metadata in the available user interface languages
Reference to Node Source – Standard Article / Meta v3: Content Editor localization
Resource key: censhare:content-editor-scs-article-content-localization-v3

How to customize:

In censhare Web, create an asset of type: Module/Content Editor/ Content Editor localization:
- Enter a name.
- Enter the resource key for the asset.
- Select "Enabled" and "In cached tables".
Create the required XML with all names of structure and UI elements and attributes used. Create the required XML for the metadata used. Add sections for all locales. The required XML can be combined in one file or split into several files depending on the desired configuration.
Open the respective configuration asset and add the Localization asset on the "Content Editor Localization" widget.
Attach this respective XML file as master file to the localization asset.

For further information, see Configuring the Content editor, localization asset. Also, see the respective section in the Development guide.

Result

You have learned about the censhare standard content structure for assets of type "Article" that users can display and edit in the Content editor.

You know the basics on how to customize a content structure.

Next steps

You might want to deepen your knowledge on the specific parts like RelaxNG, or UI definitions.