Uploading Assets & Setting Metadata
Ensuring Your Asset File is Properly Named
It is important that your assets have appropriate filenames to ensure proper operation of the digital asset manager and the website.
Filename Criteria
- Lowercase file name with dashes separating keywords
- Three-character file extension in lowercase (.jpg, .png, .pdf, etc.)
- Allowable characters: a-z, 0-9 and - (simple dash)
- No uppercase letters
- No spaces or underscores
- No ampersands
- No special characters
- No four-character file extensions (.jpeg)
Mac users must pay particular attention to file naming as Macs allow greater freedom in file names than even the newest versions of Windows. Many of these allowable conventions in Mac OS are NOT compatible with the digital asset manager.
Adding the Asset to the DAM Folder
Be certain to only upload images to the images folder and documents to the documents folder to ensure proper optimization of the DAM. You must work with your WebComm liaison if you need other types of assets.
After you have selected the appropriate folder for your asset, there are two simple ways to upload your asset to the folder:
- Click on the New... button in the toolbar
- The new asset dialog forms with the selected path
- Click the Browse button and locate the asset on your computer
- Click Upload
- Drag the asset from your computer onto the DAM folder in your browser window
NOTE: This method may not work in browsers other than Firefox
Ensuring Your Asset is Ready for Editing
When you first upload your asset, CQ initiates a number of backend workflows to process your asset and prepare it for editing and use. Depending on how much of the processing capability of CQ author is in use at the time and/or the size of your asset, your asset may be ready immediately or it may take several moments or minutes to process.
It is important that you do not edit your asset until it is fully processed.
Asset is Processing
While your asset is processing through the workflows, you will see an animated file building block thumbnail (1 above) and/or the workflow blocks icon (2 above).
You can periodically press the refresh button in the upper left corner of the asset list to refresh the list to see if there is a change in asset status.
Asset is Ready
When your asset is ready for editing, the workflow icon (2) will disappear and the animated thumbnail will be replaced either with a true thumbnail for your asset or it will disappear. Once this has happened, you can open your asset to add metadata.
Add/Edit Your Asset's Metadata
Open your asset by right-clicking on it and choosing Open or double-clicking on the asset's line in the list. It will open in its own tab within the DAM module:
If your asset already had metadata associated with it (like the one above), you will see that already populated in the appropriate fields. You will need to ensure that the following fields all have appropriate data:
- Title
- PDF Title (if a PDF)
- Description
- Tags
You can also enhance the findability of your asset by adding information to the other fields (optional) such as:
- Creator
- Person
- Location
Please only add data to the Language field if it is a language other than English.
Title (& PDF Title)
This field must contain a title for your asset. The title must be formatted in proper case and be reflective of the contents of the asset.
If your asset is a PDF, the PDF Title should be the same as the Title.
Description
The Description should describe your asset. For documents, this should be an explanation of what the document is. For images, this text should actually describe the content of the image. Your description should be descriptive but succinct.
Tags
Click the drop arrow at the end of the Tags field to bring up the tag selector.
Use the tabs across the top to select the tag categories. You may only use tags from the following categories:
- Attributes
- Campus Locations
- Organizational Unit
- Photo Tags
- University Buildings
Only use the + and - buttons to the left of the tag name to drill down (and up) within the tag structure, otherwise you will add every tag as you go.
To add a tag, click on the words for the tag name. You will see the tag appear in the Tags field. To remove a tag, hover over the tag and an "X" will appear in the upper right corner. Click the "X" to remove the tag.
Tag as many tags as are appropriate for your asset but do not overtag.
Saving & Activating Your Asset
Once you have all of your metadata entered, be sure to save your asset. The Save button is located at the very bottom of the middle section of the window. After you click Save, CQ will indicate that it is saving your asset. When the "Saving" box disappears, your asset is saved and ready to go.
Next, go up to the top of the module and find the tab for your asset. It will have a small "X" in the upper right corner of the tab. You can click that "X" to close your asset.
You must activate your asset before it will be visible on the live website. You can do that via the main list on the DAM module. See Accessing the DAM/DAM Interface for more information.