The same image, video, audio file, or document can now be used across multiple stories with different, context-appropriate metadata in each one. The underlying asset remains untouched in the asset library, and other articles that use it are unaffected. This applies to all supported asset types, including images, videos, audio files, and documents.

What Problem This Solves

Previously, asset metadata (title, byline, caption) lived only at the asset level — meaning any edit applied globally to every article using that asset. Editors who needed different captions or bylines for the same asset across stories had two bad options:

• Use the same generic metadata everywhere and lose context

• Upload duplicate copies of the same asset just to change a few words

Both approaches created clutter, wasted storage, and made asset management harder over time.

Article-level overrides eliminate that tradeoff. One asset, many contexts.

Where It Appears

Asset metadata overrides are available in the article editor when editing or inserting an asset into a story. The override controls appear in the asset edit modal alongside the existing metadata fields.

Override controls are not shown when editing assets directly from the asset library — in that context, you're editing the global asset values, and all toggles remain off.

How To

Override an asset's metadata for a single article

1. Open an article in the editor.

2. Click the Edit option for the asset placeholder you want to customize.

3. For each field you want to override (Title, Byline, Caption), toggle Override to the on position.

   • The toggle label switches from "Override" to "Overridden," and an Overridden indicator appears in blue.

4. Edit the field. Your changes apply only to this article.

   • The field is pre-populated with the current asset value as a starting point.

   • The Caption field supports rich text formatting (bold, italic, underline, link, bullets, numbering, clear formatting) and displays a word count below the field.

5. Click Update to save.

You can override any combination of fields independently — title only, caption and byline only, all three, etc.

Revert a field back to the asset's default value

1. Open the asset edit modal from within the article.

2. Toggle Overridden back to off for the field you want to revert.

3. The field will display the current global asset value.

4. Click Update to save.

Edit the original asset (global value)

To change the metadata for an asset everywhere it appears (in articles using the default asset value), edit the asset directly from the asset library rather than from within an article. Articles with active overrides for that field will not be affected.

How It Behaves

Independent fields

Each field (Title, Byline, Caption) has its own override state. Overriding one does not require overriding the others.

Edit-session memory

Within a single open instance of the asset edit modal:

• If you enter an override value, toggle the field back to the asset value, and then toggle it back to override mode, your previously entered override value is restored — the field does not re-copy the asset value.

• This memory is per-field. Title memory does not affect Byline or Caption.

• Closing the modal without clicking Update discards all changes made in that session, including any toggle flips.

Global asset changes

• If an asset's global metadata is updated (from the asset library), articles using the default asset value for that field will reflect the change automatically.

• Articles with an active override for that field will not be affected.

Context awareness

The same asset can have different override states in different articles. Each article-asset relationship stores its own override values.

Known Limitations

TotalCMS write-back risk (sites running TotalCMS + InCopy/InDesign client)

If your site is integrated with TotalCMS via the InCopy/InDesign client, there is a risk that overriding asset metadata in NXT will write those changes back to the source asset in TotalCMS — overwriting the global asset values and breaking the per-article isolation this feature is designed to provide.

The fix for this is tracked in TotalCMS ticket INDESIGN-4525 and requires:

1. The updated InCopy/InDesign client to be released, and

2. The updated client to be installed on your specific site.

Because site-level installation of TotalCMS client updates has historically lagged behind release dates, this caveat may apply to your environment for some time after the NXT feature ships.

Workaround for affected sites: Your TotalCMS administrator can disable the child image asset write-back via a ruleset change. If you're a TotalCMS customer and unsure whether this affects you, contact BLOX Digital Customer Support before rolling this feature out to your editorial team.

Asset types

While the feature supports all current BLOX asset types (images, video, audio, documents), the override fields are limited to Title, Byline, and Caption. Additional metadata fields are not currently overridable at the article level.

FAQ

Does overriding an asset's metadata change the original asset? No. Overrides are stored at the article-asset relationship level. The original asset in your library is unchanged, and other articles using that asset are unaffected — except in the TotalCMS scenario described above.

Can different articles have different overrides for the same asset? Yes. Each article maintains its own independent override state for any asset it uses.

What happens if I update the original asset after I've set an override? Articles using the default asset value for a field will reflect the update. Articles with an active override for that field will keep their overridden value.

I overrode a caption, then toggled it off by accident. Did I lose my work? As long as you haven't closed the modal or clicked Update, no. Toggling the override back on within the same edit session restores your previously entered value.

Does this work for video and audio assets too? Yes. The override behavior is identical across all supported asset types.