System Preferences

Digest

System preferences are managed by users who have the ability to edit system preferences, and are found under the Tools menu.

There are four main types of system preferences:

1) General Options – allows users to customize basic system-wide preferences

2) Email Options – allows administrator to use email properties to determine how emails are sent from the system

3) Content Options – provide more detailed customization for how the system handles various types of content

4) User Preferences – determine settings unique to the current user

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General Options

General options allow you to customize basic system-wide preferences:

  • Organization Name - This text will show up at the very bottom of the interface and can be customized for your organization.
  • Default Language - This will set the language for the Cascade Server interface. Select your preferred language from the dropdown menu. This is a global preference for all users, and can be overridden for individual users by changing their user preferences.
  • System URL - This is the address that is used when accessing the CMS.  If this address is not correct, emailed notifications will have broken links and images will not be rendered in PDF outputs.
  • Simple Interface - This is the default behavior for users who have never adjusted their preferences.  This setting may be overridden by checking or unchecking the box in the User Preferences section.
  • Default Chooser Width - Enter the width in pixels that you would like to set for all chooser windows.
  • Default Chooser Height - Enter the height in pixels that you would like to set for all chooser windows.
  • Session Timeout - This allows you to set how long a user's session can remain inactive before being logged out by the system. The value is in minutes and any value less than 0 will be interpreted as 60 minutes. If a user clicks "Log out" it will immediately end their session.

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Email Options

The system uses SMTP to send email for LDAP and workflow user notifications. 

The email properties allow the administrator to determine how email messages are sent from the system. All fields should be populated with the appropriate values: 

  • SMTP Host

  • SMTP Username

  • SMTP Password

  • SMTP From Address
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Content Options

Content Options provide more detailed customization for how the system handles various types of content.

  • Global Max Upload (KB) - Determines the maximum size for any uploaded files. Particularly relevant for restricting the use of large images, and can be restricted further at the asset factory level for more specific size limitations. File size is also limited by the database, which is based on the maximum BLOB size allowed (packet size for MySQL).

  • Max Assets in Index Blocks - Determines the maximum number of assets that may be returned by an index block.

  • Max Asset Versions - Determines the maximum number of versions that will be stored for any given asset. Once the maximum number of versions is reached, the oldest version is removed.

  • Expiration Warning - Determines how soon in advance of a content expiration date a user will be notified via an internal message.

  • Global CSS Classes - Determines which CSS classes will be made available via the WYSIWYG editor. CSS classes will be replaced when specifying classes at the target level; likewise, classes specified by the default group will further replace both global and target level CSS. CSS classes defined here must exist in CSS styles used in the published site(s).

  • Global Keywords - Determines keywords that will be used by default in all system assets.  Customized keywords can be defined in metadata sets.

  • Editable File Extensions - Determines the types of text files that are editable inside the system.

  • Plain Text File Extensions - Determines which files will be treated as plain text within the system.  For these files, the system will return a MIME type of text/html.  Files with the .css extension should not be included due to their MIME type.
  • Workflow
    • Bypass workflow by default for users capable of bypassing workflow - Acts as a system default for the user preference governing the same behavior. Requires that a user have the ability to bypass workflow.
  • Default Data Checks - Determines whether spell, content accessibility, or link checks are turned on by default.  Checks will run any time an asset is created or edited.
    • Spell - Reviews all content and metadata for each asset.
    • Content Accessibility - Reviews content for objective level 1 508 compliance requirements.
    • Link - Reviews both internal and external links referenced in an asset.  For external links, verifies whether a connection is available to the server, and that no 404 error is returned.
  • HTML Tidy
    • Enable HTML Tidy by default - Enables HTML Tidy by default when submitting changes for HTML containing assets.
  • Word Processor - Allows users to turn off various WYSIWYG options to retain better control of formatting.
    • Font Formatting - Enables font color and background color.
    • Font Assignment - Enables font types and sizes.
    • Text Formatting - Enables font to be bold, italicized, and underline.
    • Remove all font tags and style attributes from word processor content - Removes all font tags and style attributes.
    • Disable table controls on the toolbar - Turns off the insert table button on the toolbar.  Existing tables may still be edited via right click, and users will still be able to copy and paste tables into the WYSIWYG.

  • Microsoft Office - Determines how much, if any, extraneous code and formatting is removed from content copied from Microsoft Office software.
    • Optimize HTML content - This strips out any extraneous and non-compliant tags from Microsoft Office content.
    • Remove font tags and style attributes - This strips out any font tags and style attributes when content is copied from Microsoft Office.
  • Smart Publishing - Turns on smart publishing so that any files that have been modified in the CMS since the last publish to a specific destination will be republished (saves on publishing time). Also, files which have been altered or removed on the remote machine will be republished.

  • Folder Gallery - Turn on the image gallery option for all folders.  Only image files will appear as thumbnails in the gallery pane.

  • Links - Allows for additional quality control regarding link management.
    • Relative Links - Determines whether relative links are reported or ignored upon publishing.
    • Check External Links - Determines whether external links should be checked as part of the link checking function.
  • External Link Check Timeout - Allows users to limit the amount of time the system spends waiting for a response for external links.

  • Global CSS File - Allows users to select one CSS file for use as a default in the WYSIWYG. Optional, but valuable for assigning CSS classes to the WYSIWYG.

  • Global Starting Page - Allows users to select a default page (typically the site's home page) which will appear under the first tab of the dashboard for each user. This feature is optional.

  • Generated Blocks Folder - These are blocks that are automatically created during template conversion.  If this folder is not specified, blocks will be placed in the same folder as the template (recommended).

  • Asset Tree Display - Determines the asset tree items that are loaded. A more verbose display will consume more system resources.
    • Active and parent folders with assets
    • Active folder assets only
    • FoldersOnly
  • Publisher Concurrency - Determines the multi-threadedness of the Publishing process. Only raise if server has adequate resources.
    • Light
    • Medium
    • Heavy
  • Publish Job Timeout - The amount of time to allow before the system times out the transmission of a particular asset when publishing.
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User Preferences

The user preferences determine settings unique to the current user.

  • Language - This allows users to select their default language.  If none is selected, the global preference will be used.
  • Item List Size - This allows users to limit the number of items that appear under history, folder contents, audit trails, and administration containers.
  • After Publishing Assets - This determines whether the system will automatically forward the user to the publish status screen after inserting a publish job into the publish queue.  This preference requires the ability to publish.
  • Un-publish on Delete - Determines whether content should be removed from the web server(s) when deleted from the CMS by default.
  • Default Chooser Width - Enter the width in pixels that you would like to set for all chooser windows.  Changing these values will override the global preference.
  • Workflow -This option allows users to bypass workflows by default.
  • Simple Interface - This allows you to turn off the left asset tree by default in order to provide a more simplified interface.  Users are still able to turn the left asset tree back on by clicking the asset tree toggle button.
  • Default Chooser Height - Enter the height in pixels that you would like to set for all chooser windows.Changing these values will override the global preference.
  • Change Password - This allows users to change their own passwords.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES -If Cascade Server was configured to synchronize with LDAP or a custom authentication system, users will not be able to change their password here.

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