Setting up Publishing: Creating Containers for Users

Article
08/02/2007

Overview

Administrators set up and organize the virtual workspace where Microsoft Content Management Server 2001 (MSCMS 2001) users author and publish pages and grant access for the MSCMS 2001 Web Author. Administrators also assign publishing roles to users and create rights groups—this process establishes who can do what in which containers.

Understanding the Primary Tasks

Setting up publishing involves three primary tasks:

creating containers for users to work in. You create:
- channels: to store and organize postings
- folders: where authors and editors create and edit pages
- template galleries: where template designers create and store page and navigation templates
- resource galleries: where resources (images, video, text) are created and stored.
assigning publishing rights to users. This involves:
- creating rights groups for each role
- assigning users to one or more rights groups
- assigning permissions to containers for each rights group.
assigning ownership of templates to template designers.

Tips on creating containers

create your channel hierarchy first to set the foundation for building your site. Channels determine the overall architecture and navigation for your site. Creating them first sets the foundation for building your site.
create containers with a one-to-one correspondence. For example: if you create a channel named "Sales" you should create a folder named "Sales." Assign the Sales channel as the default channel for the Sales folder. Content authors for the Sales folder then know to which channel they should submit the postings. For the Web Author, you must create a folder to correspond to each channel.

Creating Containers

About containers

A container is a directory used by MSCMS 2001 to organize and store pages, postings, and resources. There are four types of containers: folders, channels, resource galleries, and template galleries.

Container type	Used to store
Folder	Pages
Channel	Postings
Resource gallery	Resources
Template gallery	Templates

One of your first tasks is to create, name, and organize containers of your own to suit your organization's needs.

Conventions for naming and using channels

MSCMS 2001 does not allow channel names that use the following characters:
# & % + / |
give each channel a unique name
never name a channel NR. NR is the name reserved for the root virtual directory for MSCMS 2001
never start a channel name with a backward slash (\)
spaces in channel names are permitted (they are converted to the plus sign (+) in the Web browser)
postings: MSCMS 2001 adds a .htm to the posting name in the URL. For example, the following URL is generated for the posting "February":

Marketing/Newsletters/February.htm
Advise authors and editors not to add ".htm" to a page's name, because a posting of the page is given a .htm file name extension.

URL Encoding or hierarchy-based URLs

A hierarchy-based Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is an address for an item stored in an MSCMS 2001 hierarchy. For example, the URL for a posting might look like this:

https://www.example.com/Marketing/Newsletter/CurrentIssue.htm

By default, MSCMS 2001 uses hierarchy-based URLs. You can switch to unique ID-based URLs using the Server Configuration Application. Refer to Chapter 5 in this guide for more information.

Items and container names are stored as Unicode (UTF-8 encoded). Do not use characters that are outside the 0 to 9, A to z range because they are automatically encoded on generated pages. You do not have to worry about the encoding, provided you are merely following links from one MSCMS 2001 page to another. However, if you are directly typing in the URL in your Web browser's Address box, you must manually replace the invalid character with its URL-encoded equivalent.

For example, to view a page named "News" that you know is in the "Sales, Marketing and Promotions" channel, because the channel's name includes a comma and spaces, type the following URL in your browser's Address box:

https://yourserver/Sales%2C+Marketing+and+Promotions/News

Note that the .htm file name extension is optional for requested postings.

Creating virtual directories on your MSCMS 2001 server

If you plan to create virtual directories that map to your Web site's channel hierarchy, avoid using names that are identical to your MSCMS 2001 site's root-channel name, and its immediate sub-channels. Internet Information Server (IIS) gives MSCMS 2001 the first chance to find a match for the URL in the MSCMS 2001 database. If a URL match is found in the database, MSCMS 2001 retrieves the page. The similarly-named file in the virtual directory is not retrieved.

Summary of creating channels procedure

Following is a summary of the five key steps to creating a channel. Step-by-step instructions follow in the next sections.

Naming the channel, giving it a description, and assigning its publishing priority:
- name the channel to make it easily identifiable to content creators in the Web Browser and Site Builder environments, and to subscribers browsing your site
- the description provides more detailed information about the channel's intended use that appears in a ToolTip in the Site Builder
- the priority of the channel can be set to "Important" so the channel and its postings are returned when a subscriber clicks the What's New button on your Web site, if the navigation template programmer has allowed this functionality.
Enabling the channel for the Web Author makes the channel available for authoring.
Assigning the channel a navigation template and cover page determines how the channel displays on your site. It can determine how the channel sorts its postings.
Setting the channel's start and expiry dates determine when it is available on your Web site.
Assigning rights groups to the channel determines who can work in the channel and who can view postings published there.

Creating the MSCMS 2001 Documents Channel

The documentation suite is stored in a folder on the Microsoft Content Management Server 2001 Installation CD. To make these PDFs available for download by your site's users, we recommend creating a channel named "MSCMS 2001 Documents," and assigning all subscribers (except perhaps Guest Subscribers) to that channel. Then add the PDFs to a resource gallery and create a page containing the PDFs.

To create the MSCMS 2001 Documents channel, follow the instructions in the next sections. You need to assign subscriber rights groups to the channel only and not other rights groups.

Creating channels, step 1: naming, describing, and assigning priority

Open the Site Builder, and click the Channels icon to display the channels hierarchy.
Right-click the channel the new channel is to be created in, and select New Channel. The New Channel dialog box opens.
(Be sure to have read "Conventions for naming and using channels" in this chapter before proceeding.) Name the new channel to make it easy to identify. For example, if it's a channel where content related to inside sales will be published, name it Inside Sales. Channels must have names less than 100 characters in length.
Enter a description of up to 256 characters that makes the channel's use easily identifiable to Site Builder users and subscribers. This description should briefly describe what type of content the channel is for, and indicate which rights groups have rights in the channel.

Note MSCMS 2001 supports the use of the DisplayName property for postings, channels, and resources to display text for navigation links. See Chapter 9, "Customizing Your MSCMS 2001 Web Author" of the MSCMS 2001 Site Programmer's Guide.

Creating channels, step 2: enabling the channel for the Web Author

These steps are required to make the channel available on the Web Author.

On the Web Authoring tab, select "Enable Web Author Access on this Channel."
In the Folder box, browse to select a folder. Pages using the Web Author are generated in this folder. If a suitable folder does not exist, you need to create one later, then return here to assign the folder. See "Creating Folders" later in this chapter. To allow authoring on this channel, a folder must be associated it.
In the Template Gallery box, browse to select the template gallery that stores Web Author templates. (Note this is only the default gallery that is displayed first or is in some way flagged in the list of accessible galleries. This applies also to selecting from resource galleries.) The template gallery you choose will be available to authors when they create pages for the Web Author.

Navigation template programmers frequently need to change and re-assign navigation templates to channels. You may want to assign navigation template programmers to the administrator role so they can assign navigation templates to channels themselves.

The main function of navigation templates is to generate links to MSCMS 2001 pages, postings, and resources on your site. Navigation templates are also used to create Web Authors. Refer to the MSCMS 2001 Site Programmer's Guide for more information on navigation templates.

The cover page for a channel is the page that appears when a subscriber clicks the channel name in their Web browser. You can assign a different cover page as required.

Framed sites: When assigning a channel as a cover page for a framed channel, make sur subscribers have access to the channel you assign as a cover page. Otherwise, they will see the MSCMS 2001 default cover page, located in the NR/Shared/cover.asp virtual directory.

Framed navigation in the samples sites designates the first posting in framed channels as the channel cover page.

The order of postings in a channel is usually controlled by navigation scripting. Refer to the MSCMS 2001 Site Programmer's Guide for information on how to change the navigation scripting's sort order. In the absence of scripting to control navigation, the order of postings is controlled by the sorting you set on the Sorting tab of the channel Properties dialog box.

Frameless sites: For a frameless channel, create a posting in the channel that describes the channel, and have the navigation scripting for that channel use that posting as the channel's cover page.

On the Navigation tab, select "Copy from Parent Channel" to assign the same navigation template as the channel's parent channel.
To designate the channel as important, click the Options tab and select the "Important Channel" option. When subscribers do a "What's Important" search, this channel is returned. The channel's icon in the Site Builder changes to signify it is an important channel.

Or:

Select "Select Navigation Template," and click Select to browse to a navigation template. The Select Template dialog box opens.
In the Navigation Template box, select a navigation template. A thumbnail preview of the navigation template appears to the right. Click OK.
Select an option in the Cover Page URL area:

Default: a generic cover page appears for the channel (NR/shared/cover.asp)

Copy from Parent Channel: the channel uses the same cover page as its parent.

Select Cover Page URL: choose this option, and click Select to browse to a cover page. The Select Cover Page dialog box opens.

Enter a URL, or select a channel or posting to use as a cover page. Click OK.
Click Preview to see the selected navigation cover page in a Web browser.

Note Do not enter a URL for a channel which, in turn, uses this channel as its cover page. For example: if Channel "A" uses Channel "B" as its cover page, and Channel "B" uses Channel "A" as its cover page, an infinite loop is created.

Creating channels, step 4: setting the channel's start and expiry dates

Note The Start and Expiry dates of a channel may override the Start and Expiry dates of a posting. Any postings submitted to the channel will not be visible until the channel's Start Publishing date, even if the posting's publishing date is set to immediate.

On the Lifetime tab, select an option from the Start Publishing area. The options set the date the channel becomes available for publishing.
To publish the channel on a specific date, select the "On" option, and click the drop-down list. The calendar opens where you can click the required date.
In the Stop Publishing area, select an option:
- Never Stop Publishing: the channel is available for publishing until this option is changed, or the channel is deleted.
- Interval: select this option and select a time period (day, week, month) for when the channel expires.
- On: select a specific date in the future when the channel expires.

Creating channels, step 5: assigning rights groups to the channel

If you have not created rights groups to assign for the channel, click OK to close the New Channel dialog box, and move to the next section for instructions on creating other containers. After you have finished creating containers, you can create rights groups and assign them to the containers.

Assigning rights groups to the channel allows the rights group members to work there. In order to browse your Web site, users must also be assigned subscriptions rights to channels.

Select the Rights tab on the New Channel dialog box.
On the Rights tab, click Select. The Select User Rights dialog box opens.
Select a user role from the Look In box. You can assign authors, editors, moderators and subscribers to the channel. Assign subscribers to the channel first so users can view postings in the channel on your site.

Or:

To assign the channel the same rights groups as its parent channel, click Add Parent's Rights. The parent channel's rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box. Skip to step 5.
Select rights groups from the Look In box, and click Add. The rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box.
Click OK to close the Select User Rights Groups dialog box.
In the Current User Rights area, select a Rights Group, and click Properties. The Rights Group Properties dialog box opens.
Select the Group Members tab. The users assigned to the rights group are shown.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 to assign rights groups for authors, editors, and moderators to the channel.
Close the Group Rights Properties dialog box. To modify members of the rights group, see "Assigning publishing rights to users" in Chapter 3, "Setting up Publishing: Assigning Publishing Rights."
When finished assigning the rights, lifetime, navigation, and Web Author properties to the new channel, click OK on the New Channel Properties dialog box. The dialog box closes, and the new channel appears in the Site Builder's channel hierarchy. The channel will be available for use, effective from its start date.

If the channel has been Web Author-enabled and rights groups have been assigned to the channel, when you click the OK button, a dialog box appears offering to automatically assign the channel's rights group members to corresponding folders and galleries.

Changing the root channel's name

In the following example, the channel named "Channels" is the root channel name:

Channels
Human Resources
Marketing
Press Releases
Sales

You can change the name of the root channel, although it's a good idea to retain "Channel" as part of the name, to help users distinguish channels from folders in the Site Builder.

The channel's URL does not contain the root channel's name when a user views a channel in a Web browser. However, a navigation template programmer can set the root channel's name to appear in its cover page.

You can change the root channel's name the same way file names are changed in any Windows environment:

Click the root channel's name ("Channels").+-
Click the name again. The name field for "Channels" is highlighted.
Change the name.

Deleting a Channel

Only administrators can delete channels. When a channel is deleted, it is moved to the Deleted Items container.

To delete a channel, select it and press delete or move it into the Deleted Items container. The Deleted Items container is like the Recycle Bin on your Windows desktop. Items moved to the Deleted Items container are no longer in the MSCMS 2001 hierarchy, but remain in the MSCMS 2001 database. To remove an item from the database, and therefore delete the item permanently, it must be removed from the Deleted Items container (Purging a channel).

Undeleting a channel

To make the channel available for use again, move it from the Deleted Items container back into the channel hierarchy.

Purging a channel

Purging a channel removes it permanently from the system. Channels can be purged from the Deleted Items container only. To purge all deleted channels, right-click the Deleted Items container, and select Purge All Deleted Items. To purge one deleted item, select it in the Deleted Items container, and delete it.

Note There is a default limit of 200 on the number of items that can be purged in one operation.

Creating Folders

Channels that have been enabled for the Web Author require a corresponding folder. You must create one folder for each Web Author-enabled channel, then reset the channel's properties, to associate the folder with the channel. See "Creating channels, step 2: enabling the channel for the Web Author" earlier in this chapter.

Once a folder is created, it is available for authors and editors to use in the Site Builder.

Do not store more than 500 pages in a folder. Overloading a folder with pages will cause noticeable delays in the Site Builder.

Folders and the Web Author

Folders in the Site Builder are inextricably connected to postings in the Web Author. When an author creates a new posting in the Web Author and submits it for approval, the page for that posting is stored in a folder on the Site Builder.

Do not delete pages in folders, unless you are sure of the following:

the folder has not been assigned to a channel used for authoring in the Web Author
you want to delete the postings that correspond to those pages.

Creating folders, step 1: naming and describing the folder, and setting its posting channel

Open the Site Builder, and display the folders hierarchy by clicking the Folders icon.
Right-click the folder (in Folders area you want to create the new folder in) and select New>Folder. The New Folder dialog box opens.
Name the new folder to make it easy to identify. For example, if it's where pages related to inside sales will be submitted, name it "Inside Sales."
Enter a description in the description box to make the folder's use easily identifiable to authors. This description should briefly describe what kind of content the folder is for, and indicate which rights groups have rights in the folder. It can be up to 256 characters.

Note Default posting channels apply to authoring within the Site Builder only. Read this section only if your organization does not use the Web Author.

When authors use the Posting dialog box to create and submit a posting of a page, it suggests using this channel. (The words "default channel" appear beside the channel's name in the Posting dialog box.) This makes the author's job easier, and encourages posting to the appropriate channel. Authors can also select a different channel in which they have rights.
On the Publishing tab, click Browse to choose a default posting channel for the folder. The Select Channel dialog box opens.
Select a channel to use as the folder's default channel, and click OK. The Select Channel dialog box closes.

Creating folders, step 2: assigning rights groups to the folder

If there are no rights groups to assign for the folder, click OK to close the New Folder dialog box and move to the next section for instructions on creating other containers. After you have finished creating containers, you can create rights groups and assign them to the containers.

Assigning rights groups to the folder allows the rights group members to work on items stored in the folder.

Select the Rights tab to assign rights groups members to the folder.
Click Select on the New Folder dialog box. The Select User Rights for Folder dialog box opens.
Select a user role from the Look In box. You can assign authors and editors to the folder.

Or:

To assign the folder the same rights groups as its parent folder, click Add Parent's Rights. The parent folder's rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box. Skip to step 4.
Select rights groups from the Look In box, and click Add. The rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box.
To assign rights groups from the Selected Rights Groups box to the folder, click OK.
In the Current User Rights area, select a Rights Group, and click Properties. The Rights Group Properties dialog box opens.
Select the Group Members tab. The users assigned to the rights group are shown.
Close the Group Rights Properties dialog box.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 to assign rights groups for editors to the folder.
When finished assigning the rights and publishing properties to the new folder, click OK on the New Folder Properties dialog box. The dialog box closes, and the new folder appears in the Site Builder's folder hierarchy. The folder is available for use by authors and editors immediately.

Deleting a Folder

When a folder is deleted, it is moved to the Deleted Items container. To delete a folder, select it and press the delete key or move it into the Deleted Items container. The Deleted Items container is like the Recycle Bin on your Windows desktop. Items moved to the Deleted Items container are no longer in the hierarchy, but remain in the MSCMS 2001 database. To remove an item from the database, and delete the item permanently, it must be deleted within the Deleted Items container (Undeleting a folder).

Note Be careful when deleting folders that are assigned to channels. If the folder contains published pages, once the folder is deleted, the postings associated with those pages will no longer be available for viewing in a browser.

Undeleting a folder

To make the folder available for use again, move it from the Deleted Items container back to the folder hierarchy.

Purging a folder

When you purge a folder, it is removed permanently from the system. Folders can be purged from the Deleted Items container only. If you haven't done so already, move the folder to the Deleted Items container. To purge all deleted folders, right-click the Deleted Items container, and select Purge All Deleted Items. To delete one, select it in the Deleted Items container, and delete it.

There is a default limit of 200 on the number of items that can be purged in one operation. This limit can be increased or decreased.

Creating Resource Galleries

Resource galleries hold the images, sound files and videos that authors use when adding content to a page. Template designers use resources from the resource galleries to create templates.

Creating Resource Galleries, step 1: naming and describing the resource gallery

Open Site Builder, and display the Resource Gallery hierarchy by clicking the Resource Gallery icon.
Right-click the resource gallery you want to create the new gallery in and select New>Gallery. The New Resource Gallery dialog box opens.
Name the new resource gallery to make it easy to identify. For example, if it contains resources intended for a specific purpose, such as default content, name it Default Content.
Enter a description of up to 256 characters in the description box to make the resource gallery's use easily identifiable to content creators. This description should briefly say what type of content the resource gallery is for, and indicate which rights groups have rights to it.

Creating Resource Galleries, step 2: assigning rights groups to the new resource gallery

If there are no rights groups to assign for the resource gallery, click OK to close the New Resource Gallery dialog box, and move to the next section for instructions on creating other containers. After you have finished creating containers, you can create rights groups and assign them to the containers. Assigning rights groups to the resource gallery allows the rights group members to work there.

Click Select on the New Resource Gallery dialog box. The Select User Rights Groups for Resource Gallery opens.
Select a user role from the Look In box. You can assign resource managers, authors, editors, and template designers to the resource gallery.

Or:

To assign the resource gallery the same rights groups as its parent folder, click Add Parent's Rights. The parent resource gallery's rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box. Skip to step 4.
Select rights groups from the Look In box, and click Add. The rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box.
To assign rights groups from the Selected Rights Groups box to the folder, click OK.
In the Current User Rights area, select a Rights Group, and click Properties. The Rights Group Properties dialog box opens.
Select the Group Members tab. The users assigned to the rights group are shown.
Close the Group Rights Properties dialog box. To modify members of the rights group, see "Assigning publishing rights to users" in Chapter 3, "Setting Up Publishing: Assigning Publishing Rights."
Repeat steps 1 to 3 to assign rights groups for other roles to the resource gallery.
When finished assigning the rights and publishing properties to the new resource gallery, click OK on the New Resource Gallery Properties dialog box. The dialog box closes, and the new gallery appears in the Site Builder's Resource Gallery hierarchy. The new gallery is available for use immediately.

Creating Template Galleries

Template galleries store page and navigation templates. Page template designers create and save page templates to template galleries, where they are made available for authors to create pages. Navigation template programmers create navigation templates, which contain ASP scripts and server-side include files that control the navigational elements of channels.

Store page and navigation templates in separate galleries. Name the galleries so that users know which ones contain page templates and which ones contain navigation templates.

Creating Template Galleries, step 1: naming and describing the template gallery

Open the Site Builder and display the Template Gallery hierarchy by clicking the Template Gallery icon.
Right-click a template gallery, and select New>Gallery. The New Template Gallery dialog box opens.
Name the new template gallery to make it easy to identify. For example, if it is to contain navigation templates, name it so that authors will not confuse it with a gallery that contains page templates.
Enter a description in the description box to make the template gallery's use easily identifiable to users. This description should briefly say what type of content the template gallery is for, and indicate which rights groups have rights to it. The description can be up to 256 characters.

Creating Template Galleries, step 2: assigning rights groups to the new template gallery

If there are no rights groups to assign for the template gallery, click OK to close the New Template Gallery dialog box and move to the next section for instructions on creating rights groups. Assigning rights groups to the template gallery allows the rights group members to work there.

Click Select on the New Template Gallery dialog box. The Select User Rights Groups for Template Gallery opens.
Select a user role from the Look In drop-down list. You can assign authors, editors, and template designers to the template gallery.

Or:

To assign the template gallery the same rights groups as its parent folder, click Add Parent's Rights. The parent template gallery's rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box. Skip to step 4.
Select rights groups from the Look In box, and click Add. The rights groups appear in the Selected Rights Groups box.
To assign rights groups from the Selected Rights Groups box to the template gallery, click OK.
In the Current User Rights area, select a Rights Group, and click Properties. The Rights Group Properties dialog box opens.
Select the Group Members tab. The users assigned to the rights group are shown.
Close the Group Rights Properties dialog box.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 to assign rights groups for other roles to the template gallery.
When finished assigning the rights and publishing properties to the new template gallery, click OK on the New Template Gallery Properties dialog box. The dialog box closes, and the new gallery appears in the Site Builder's Template Gallery hierarchy. The new gallery is available for use immediately.