Document Actions
Introduction To The Basics
New to the system? Start here.
Plone stores information based on a traditional folder and file structure. Each user is supplied their own folder called "my folder" located at http://servername.edu/members/yourusername. If you are logged into the system you'll also find a link titled "my folder" which will take you directly to your space.
Within any folder you may add other folders, web pages, images, links to external websites and files you have uploaded (PDFs, Word documents, etc.) I strongly recommend you think ahead when adding things to the web site; once items are added they may be moved but doing so is more complicated than having a good organization strategy in place ahead of time. For example, if you're uploading pictures create at least one folder to store your images, more if you wish to organize them in specific projects.
To add one these items to your folder:
- Click the my folder link in the upper right. That will put you in your own folder area.
- Click the add to folder pop-up in the green bar (note: the color of the bar may have changed) and choose the type of item you wish to add. See Content Types for more details on what these are and how they differ. (You may also explore on your own; anything you create may also be easily deleted.)
Content Types
This system allows you to create several different types of items in your directory, each with their own unique attributes. These are:
Item |
Description |
|---|---|
File |
Use this item if you wish to upload a file (Word Document, PDF, video, etc.) to your folder. |
Folder |
Creates a new folder. |
Image |
Used to load one of many common image file formats (JPG, GIF, PNG) to your folder. |
Link |
Creates a link to an external website. |
Page |
Creates a web page. Most will use this option most frequently. |
|
|
Creating a "web page"
In many cases you'll be seeking to create a web page, or series of web pages. This system simply refers to them as pages. Each page is made up of several parts: the title, description, body text and related items. The system requires you enter something in the title and body text, as indicated by the red markers next to each field title. In fact, the system will not allow you save your page until you have entered something in to each field.
- Title is important because it not only serves as the title for you page but provides the system with an address for you page.
- Description is not so critical, in fact, it can be added later by visiting your page and clicking the Edit tab.
- Body is also important; it's the content of your document. This system provides you with a simple what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor but you're generating HTML like any conventional web page. If you're comfortable editing HTML manually you can click the HTML button in the edit bar and you'll be given access to the raw HTML. You may also copy and paste styled text (bold, italic, etc.) from other sources but beware: your mileage may vary.
Important! The editors in this system are compatible with all common web browsers except, unfortunately, Apple's Safari. We recommend Firefox but just about anything except Safari will work.
- Related Item(s) is a convenient and sophisticated way for indicating relationships between your page and others. The advantage of this over directly linking within your page is that if your or other related pages are moved, the system will update their locations for you automatically. If you link them yourself, those changes will not be done automatically.
Once you've added some information, click Save to save the file.
Folder Views
Just as with a computer operating system, the contents of each folder on this system can be viewed in a variety of ways without affecting the actual contents of that folder. The views can be changed by clicking on the display menu in the green bar and selecting one of the options. For example, if you have a folder full of images, choosing the thumbnail view will show the contents of the folder with small previews of each of the images.
Additionally, for each folder you create you can set a default item which is shown when you or other users click on the folder. You may wish, for example, to have a page appear when someone visits your my folder. This is similar to the default.html or index.html on a conventional website.
Document Views
The default view for each document may be altered via the "display" menu depending on how you wish the content of your document be displayed. To change the view, click the "edit" tab then click on the "display" menu. Your display options for that document will appear at the bottom of that menu. Currently, you may choose to display the body text along with title, description and byline or the title and description or only the body text. The system only hides the information you've entered so you may switch between these views without having to re-enter any text.
Limiting public access to an item or folder
By default, any type of item created in Plone will be made private, meaning only the person who created the item and the faculty of the School of Journalism & Communication may view and/or edit the file. To make an item available for the whole world to see:
- Navigate to the folder or item on which you wish to set the permissions.
- Click the state: pop-up in the green bar and choose "Publish".
For more details about managing access to your items, see controlling access to your items.
Changing the state for multiple items to make them private/published
Often times you'll want to make the entire contents of a folder private. Fortunately there's an automated way to do so.
- Navigate to the folder which contains the items you wish to make private.
- From the State: pop-up on the far right of the bar, choose Advanced...
- Check the "Include folder items" checkbox.
- Scroll further down to "Change State" and select the desired state.
Sharing a file or folder with a specific set of users or a group
By default any item will be visible to everyone unless it is marked "Private". Others will not be able to edit or alter the item unless they're given the rights to do this. To give others the proper rights...
- Navigate to the folder or item on which you wish to set the permissons.
- Click the Sharing tab on the green bar (note: we may have changed the color of the bar)
- Search for a username or a group name (student2, faculty, etc.)
- Select the username or group name and make that an owener of the page or folder.
Moving a file or folder
- Naviate to the item you wish to move.
- Choose Actions, Cut.
- Navigate to the location you wish the file or folder to exist.
- Choose Actions, Paste.
Important! Links to files and folder will be updated across all documents in the system. Links to files or folders that are renamed WILL NOT BE updated.
Managing Discussions/Comments
Each page, image or other item you upload to the system can have a discussion associated with it. To enable discussion, navigate to the item, click the Properties tab, locate the Discussion controls and select Enable. At any time you may disable the discussion function by following the same steps but choosing disable instead. Some useful things to know about how the discussion function works:
- Only users logged into the system may participate.
- A page is marked as private, only the owners of a page may participate.
- Comments may not be edited after they have been posted but can be deleted.
