Metadata
Digest
Metadata is data within the CMS that describes an asset. Common fields such as title, summary, or keywords provide quick information about the content contained inside of a particular asset. Because the system manages all assets as XML, the metadata that a user enters for assets can be used for display purposes on site pages. When used in conjunction with index blocks, an XSLT stylesheet can be applied to the metadata to create common HTML content listings such as a listing of recent press releases including the title and a quick summary of the press release content. Cascade Server uses two types of metadata – wired and dynamic.
Concept
Wired Metadata Fields
Wired metadata fields are default fields that are included in the Cascade system. They include:
Display Name - the short name of the assets (typically four or less words)
Title - the title of the asset
Summary - the synopsis of the asset
Teaser - a short enticing phrase about the asset
Keywords - words or phrases about the asset
Description - the description of the asset
Author - the person or organization responsible for the asset
Review Date - the date and time for the content to be reviewed with a respective workflow
Start Date - the date and time the content should be made public
Expiration Date - the date and time the content should no longer be made public
Expiration Folder - the folder the content should be moved to upon reaching the expiration date
All wired fields leading up to the date fields are standard text-based fields that accept normal text data. The wired date fields: review date, start date, expiration date, and the related expiration folder field provide an interface for date metadata to be entered that will trigger the system to perform actions on the asset. The review date, start date, and expiration date fields instruct the system to carry out activities based on the date entered such as prompting users to review the asset, permit an asset to be published to the live web server, or un-publish an asset after a particular date respectively. The expiration folder allows the user to select a folder into which the expired asset should be moved.
Dynamic Metadata Fields
Dynamic metadata fields are custom fields that can be created by an administrator and can include:
- custom text fields
- drop down boxes with preset option
- Boolean Yes/No values
Dynamic fields are especially effective in allowing users to filter specific assets via stylesheets based on the metadata values that describe them. For example, a user could tag a particular asset with some metadata that places that asset into a certain category that could then be referenced in a stylesheet.
FAQs
- Does Cascade Server include Metadata for content?
- Metadata fields such as title, author, keywords, date created, and summary are available for all content types. Different content types (press releases, news items, individual department pages) can have different default metadata values. Fields may be designated mandatory as desired, and keywords can be selected by setting up a keyword bank if desired. In addition to the standard Metadata fields, additional fields may be added for any content type.
- How do I access the metadata of the page I'm currently on?
A 'current page' index block is simply an index block that returns the XML content of the current page. To set one up, do the following:
- On the top menu bar, click New -> Default -> Block
- For the Block Type, select Index and click Submit
- Configure the index block as indicated in the screen shot below:
- Attach the block to the region for which the metadata content is needed.
Technical
Adding Metadata
Metadata offers additional information about an asset (e.g. a page) that helps to classify or describe the asset.
Metadata may be viewed on any asset by selecting the asset and clicking the Properties tab.
To edit metadata for any asset:
- Select the desired asset and click Edit on the action bar.
- Select the Metadata tab.
- Adjust the Metadata as desired
- Either click Submit to save and close the asset, or select another tab to continue editing.
Although an administrator has the ability to change which metadata is shown and add customized metadata fields, here are the default metadata fields for each asset:
- Display Name - The short name of the assets (typically four or less words).
- Title - The title of the asset.
- Summary - The synopsis of the asset.
- Teaser - A short enticing phrase about the asset.
- Keywords - Words or phrases about the asset.
- Description - The description of the asset.
- Author - The person or organization responsible for the asset.
- Review Date - The date and time for the content to be reviewed with a respective workflow.
- Start Date - The date and time the content should be made public.
- Expiration Date - The date and time the content should no longer be made public.
- Expiration Folder - The folder that the content should be moved to upon reaching the expiration date.
ADDITIONAL NOTES- Depending on the settings selected by the administrator, certain metadata field may appear in-line with the WYSIWYG editor.
Metadata and Metadata Sets (Administrators and Managers)
A Metadata Set is a system component that provides the interface for customizing the kinds of metadata fields that can be visible and/or associated with an asset. Since metadata fields can be broken into two categories, wired and dynamic, metadata sets allow administrators to choose which wired fields can be made visible to end users and which ones will be turned off. Likewise, the interface allows for dynamic fields to be created that help to further describe an asset beyond the scope of what regular wired fields allow.
Metadata sets also allow for administrators to customize the wired and dynamic metadata fields so that they appear "inline" in the editing interface for an asset instead of appearing in the metadata pane, making the fields more accessible to end users. Additionally, fields can be set to 'required' so that end users must enter acceptable values for metadata before saving the asset.
For more information on Metadata Sets and their construction, please see our Metadata Set page.