Page Content Types are entered on a domain-by-domain basis in the browser interface at Settings > InDesign > Page creation settings. In this case the type of news is the default. Having a default, which is not a requirement, is indicated by the Type's name and Description being displayed in Bold. A Set as Default button at the top right of the dialog controls that setting.
This image shows the Add/Edit Publications dialog where the user has typed a filter in the Geometry field to limit the display of the Geometry items available for use.
To allow a Design Element Snippet to be used as a Page Tracker Geometry Item, it must be exported as a snippet by the Template Master (or anyone using Development Mode). In Development Mode, the option to Export to Page Tracker becomes available.
When using Export to Page Tracker there is the option to limit which publications can use the Geometry Item. If you check any checkboxes in the Publication Codes area, then it is limited to just those codes. However, if you do not check any publication code checkboxes then it is available for all current and future publication codes. This is a case where doing less, does more.
The Page Tracker Application Settings' Miscellaneous accordion includes an option for Make Page Content Type Folder for each Pub. When selected, and saved, subsequent uses of triggering an automatic placement of a Page Design Snippet via the page's Page Content Type will cause the search for the snippet to be within the folder for the active publication code. Without this option, the snippets are expected to be in the default folder for the Page Design Snippets.
The Print Publications dialog for an entry that has a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied.
Speed Page Production with Automatic Snippet Placement
By Jon S. Winters
Product Architect
Updated
This image shows the Add/Edit Publications dialog where the user has typed a filter in the Geometry field to limit the display of the Geometry items available for use.
Preface
Some sites make heavy use of snippets, others hardly use them. But for fast page production there is nothing that compares to having the layout in place before or during the page's production using snippets.
For BLOX Total CMS sites, that is handled with two different types of snippets:
Page Design Snippets
Design Element Snippets (also referred to in Page Tracker as Geometry)
Both types of snippets can be automatically applied to the page, though the techniques are radically different for each.
Automatic Application of Page Design Snippets
This one is truly simple. And it's already in use at many sites!
Many ad layout systems support the use of a page type. In BLOX Total CMS parlance, it is converted to a Page Content Type. That is a generic name for what is to be placed on a page. The image below shows some examples:
Page Content Types are entered on a domain-by-domain basis in the browser interface at Settings > InDesign > Page creation settings. In …
Those content types need to match the ad layout systems names. But, because of some issues with BLOX Live e-Editions, the names need to be:
lowercase
Contain NoSpaces
Contain NoUnderscores (_)
Once both systems (your ad layout system and BLOX Total CMS) agree on the naming, then the next step is to export Page Design Snippets with those matching names. The only trick here is that the feature requires the snippets to be exported into folders for the publication code. The reason being that each publication code would more than likely have an 'opinion' page, but each would look unique. To prevent the ad layout system and the 'Page creation settings' from needing a uniquely named version of that page, a generic name is used and the snippets are just organized in a logical fashion.
The Page Tracker Application Settings' Miscellaneous accordion includes an option for Make Page Content Type Folder for each Pub. When selecte…
Once the setup is complete, as pages are created after using BLOX Total CMS > Documents > Advertising > Create Edition from Edition file... feature, the appropriate Page Design Snippets will be automatically applied.
This works for Distributed Production too, however, the Page Design Snippets are currently applied only in-office and then included when the page is first checked in.
Some additional generic information on Page Content Types can be found below:
A three page PDF discussing the various ways that Page Content Types are configured and used.
Automatic Application of Design Element Snippets
This is both a new and an old feature.
It originated in client 5.35 in November of 2018. It was improved in client 5.36 the following January. But for those versions it required that the name of the snippet be typed in a special format into the asset's Print Notes field.
Later in 2019 Snippets, as Geometry items, became available in the browser in the Publications accordion as shown in the collection below:
This image shows a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied to an Article Asset. This is accomplished by using the Print Publications tab in the asset editor.
Geometry can also be assigned using the `Batch ass publication to assets` option in Page Tracker. The interface for doing this is a little odd, but it does work.
The Print Publications dialog for an entry that has a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied.
The Print Publications dialog for an entry that has a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied.
Another example of Geometry being assigned to an Article Asset from the Print Publications tab of the asset editor.
When selecting a Geometry Item, there should be a list of all those Design Element Snippets that have been exported using the `Export to Page Tracker` option for the designated publication code. This menu is available in both the Asset Editor's Print Publications accordion as well as here in the `Batch add publications to assets`. The menu allows for some filtering. For example, type a 3 in the field to limit the display to all Geometry Items whose names begin with a 3.
Examples of Applying and Applied Geometry (Design Element Snippets)
This collection of images shows various access points to Geometry in the browser interface.
To allow the Geometry items (Design Element Snippets) to appear, export the snippets from your Master Document using the Export to Page Tracker option.
This image shows a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied to an Article Asset. This is accomplished by using the Print Publications tab in the asset editor.
Geometry can also be assigned using the `Batch ass publication to assets` option in Page Tracker. The interface for doing this is a little odd, but it does work.
The Print Publications dialog for an entry that has a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied.
The Print Publications dialog for an entry that has a Geometry Item (Design Element Snippet) applied.
Another example of Geometry being assigned to an Article Asset from the Print Publications tab of the asset editor.
When selecting a Geometry Item, there should be a list of all those Design Element Snippets that have been exported using the `Export to Page Tracker` option for the designated publication code. This menu is available in both the Asset Editor's Print Publications accordion as well as here in the `Batch add publications to assets`. The menu allows for some filtering. For example, type a 3 in the field to limit the display to all Geometry Items whose names begin with a 3.
Initially that too allowed a snippet to be assigned and placed on a page automatically. But something happened in Page Tracker without notice to break that feature.
It has been restored in the 5.56.00 version of the BLOX Total CMS client for Adobe InDesign in early 2022.
When an article has Geometry specified, the page designer can draw any size text frame and then the corresponding snippet will replace the selected frame. The snippet is placed at the upper left hand corner of the selected frame and it remains the size of that the snippet was exported. It does NOT scale to the size of the drawn frame.
Depending upon how the snippet was exported, it's main story, caption, or headline frames might get lengthened or they might stay as exported. That depends upon the Translation rulesets and how the snippets were exported. But the width of all the frames should remain as set.
To enable Geometry access, the template master needs to export the Design Element snippets and check the Export to Page Tracker option as shown below:
To allow a Design Element Snippet to be used as a Page Tracker Geometry Item, it must be exported as a snippet by the Template Master (or anyo…
Note: When exporting a Design Element Snippet to Page Tracker, to allow the snippet to be used with ALL publications, both current and future, do NOT chose any publication codes. The Select All will mark it for all current publications. But having none of them marked will allow it to work with All current and future publications.
