You can certainly base templates on other templates. In fact, we recommend it. That way, it's easier to manage global changes but also possible to specify variations in your standards.
For example, the standard Author-it object templates for Linked Files (like Linked GIF and Linked Icon) are all based on the Linked Graphic Directory template, which only specifies the location of the directory containing all your graphic files. When you want to change the location of that directory, you only need to do it in the Linked Graphic Directory template, and Author-it automatically updates that setting in all your File Objects, within seconds.
Changing Inherited Settings
Each object has settings or "properties" which tell Author-it how that object behaves. Objects are usually based on an object template, and they inherit some of their settings from the template. This means you can update the settings of all related objects at once, and your standards will remain consistent. Its also quicker than having to set each property every time you create a new object. If the label of any setting is blue, it means the setting is inherited from the object's template. Such inherited settings cannot be directly changed. For example, when you base a Book object on the
Normal template, you'll notice that the Include object in settings on the General tab are all
inherited.
To Change an Inherited Setting:
Base the object on a different template. Another template may have the setting you need.-or-
Open the object's template, then make your change there. Author-it will update all objectsbased on that template. This may take a while. Think carefully before you do this, because the change may not be appropriate for all other objects based on the same template (see "Inheriting Settings By Using Object Templates" on page 76).
-or-
Create a new object template with the correct settings. The easiest way is to create a newtemplate then base it on the template most like the one you want, then base it back on "(none)"
and make the required changes. Now make sure the object is based on your new template (from the object's General tab, choose the new template's name from the Based On drop-down list). This approach is good if you want to make a change to your object's settings, but that change is not appropriate for all other objects based on the same template. You can even base templates on other templates (see "Can I Base an Object Template on Another Template?" on page 78). -or-
From the object's General tab, choose "(none)" from the Based On drop-down list, instead ofthe name of the current template. Author-it makes sure the current settings are kept, but now you will be able to change the inherited setting.
This solution is not recommended because future changes to related objects will no longer affect this one, reducing consistency and increasing the work you need to do when updating standards.
Version Control
Another very powerful Author-it feature is the ability to create multiple versions of an individual object, while still keeping the old versions.
The Life Cycle of an Object
When you're using version control in Author-it, each object goes through these life cycle states:
Active: the current active version of an object. All new objects are created as active, and therecan only be one active version of an object.
Inactive: a proposed version of an object. When you create a new version of an object it will beproposed and inactive. There can be many inactive versions of an object.
Redundant: an old version of an object. When an inactive version of an object becomes theactive version, the current active version becomes redundant. There can be many redundant versions of an object. Although the redundant versions are read-only, their variable assignments and release states can still be modified. Redundant objects cannot be used in a new relationship with other objects, for example, a "redundant" topic cannot be dragged into a book or another topic.
The life cycle of an object
The following diagram shows the life cycle of an object.
An object is first created as Version 1, with a status of Active.
What Happens When You Make an Object Active
When you create a new version of an object, that new version will be created as Inactive, or proposed. Once you have finished making changes to the new version you will want to make it the
Active version.
When you make an object the Active version, several things happen:
The current Active object changes status to Redundant, and becomes read-only.
Any child relationships that the current Active version of the object was involved in are replaced with the new version, only where the parent in that relationship is not already Redundant.
The new version of the object changes its status to Active.Example
Let's look at an example where you have already produced version 1 of a book and it is related to several topics which are also version 1. Now you want to create a new version of the book. However, only a few of the topics need to be changed, and you still want the ability to publish the old version of the book as it is.
First you would create a new version of the book, and make that new version Active. This has the effect of making the old version Redundant.
Next, you would create a new version of the topic you wanted to change. After making the changes to the new version of the topic, you would make that new version Active. Just like for the book, the old version of the topic would become Redundant. Additionally, the relationship that the new book has with the old version of the topic now changes to be with the new version of the Topic. However, the relationship that the old version of the book has to the old version of the topic is retained, because the parent in the relationship (that is, the old book) was already Redundant.
This replacing of relationships occurs automatically through the entire library for the object version being made Active. This ensures that your changes are propagated through all the documentation in the library.
Effect of Version Status on Relationships
The Version status of an object will affect its ability to be involved in a relationship. Only the Active version of an object can be involved in a relationship where it is the child (that is, the object is used by another object). This is because the act of making an object Active automatically updates the child relationship with the current Active version.
Examples
Some examples of child relationships are an embedded topic within a host topic, or the target topic used in a hyperlink.
Embedded topic:
1) Topic A Version 1 is created in the library and embedded into Topic X. (In the screenshot the embedded topic has been added at the end of the host topic.)
2) A new version of the topic is created,we'll call it Topic A Version 2. When Topic A Version 2 is updated and made active the relationships between the host topic and embedded topic are updated, and Topic A Version 1 (now redundant) is replaced.
1) Topic A Version 1 is created in the library and used as the target topic in a hyperlink. When the book is published the link points to Topic A Version 1.
2) A new version of the topic is created, we'll call it Topic A Version 2. When Topic A Version 2 is made active the relationship between the hyperlink object and the target topic is updated, and Topic A Version 1 (now redundant) is replaced with the active version.
3) The book is republished. This time the link points to Topic A Version 2.
Variants
As the term implies, each Variant is a different iteration of a primary (source) object, but presented in a different way.
For example, create content in US English, then translate to French and German variants from the US English primary content.
A Library needs to be enabled for Variants.
Once created, variants must reside in the same library as their primary objects.
Variants can be created for any objects in the library except for Publishing Profile objects, and you can have multiple Variants for each object.
Each variant is a unique object that can be modified without affecting the primary object or other variants based on the primary object.
The variants that you create depend entirely on your application requirements and your ingenuity. Let's look at some terminology that will be used in variant information...
Standard, Primary and Variant objects
A Standard object has no variants. A Primary object has at least one variant. A Variant is a variation of a primary object.
Variant Criteria and Variant Criteria Values
Variant Criteria are the different ways (criteria) in which you can create variation from a primary object.
For example, take a a Person as a primary object: one possible variant criterion is Gender, for which the variant criteria values are Male and Female.
Another possible variant criterion is Eye Color, for which variant criteria values include Brown, Blue, Gray and Green.
More typically:
Primary object Variant Criteria Variant Criteria Values
Book Language French
German Print size Letter-size
A4-size Measurement system Decimal
Imperial
In localization, the variation is normally in the form of translation to another language or cultural meaning.
How Author-it uses Variants
Some fundamental Author-it capabilities are founded on Variants:
Localization / translation in a single Library by means of Author-it Web Localization Manager
Rather than managing each language from its own library, localizers work with translated objects that exist as variants of the primary (source) objects within the single library.
Aspect publishing Set up Aspect publishing so that users view variants of the published content
based on deliberate selections that they make.
Set up Aspect publishing so that users are automatically shown variants of the published content based on their user profiles in Active Directory, or based on other criteria such as their operating system, language, country, or
geographical area.
Software releases Variant criteria are used by the book filter and the publishing filter to locate or
work with variations of primary objects. This enables you to:
Republish any release at any time - the content for each release exists in the library; just use the filter to select the release you want to publish.
Go back and change an old release - as all objects are unique, a variant object's content can be changed without affecting any related variant objects.
Create a variant from a variant - as content changes through releases, instead of creating the new variant from the primary object you can choose the variant object that has the most appropriate content as your starting point.Fall-back paths Customize fall-back paths and hierarchies to choose which variants should be
used if the current filtering does not have a matching variant object. For example, if a book has no release 1.5, display release 1.4. Or, if a book has no French Canadian translation, fall-back to the French translation.
Library functions in Author-it Editor and Author-it Live
Preview publishing options in the Library: Preview variant objects in Author-it by simply clicking a variant to see its content and/or properties.
Selectively view content in the Library: Filter books to display just selected Variants in the Library (for example, display just German and French topics) Compare versions in the Library: Compare two variants side-by-side in the library. For example, compare a US English topic to its translated French topic. Quickly recognize which objects have variants in the Library.
Quickly view which topics will be removed in a publishing job: When filtering books where content uses fall-back criteria values, topics that will be removed during publishing are displayed using "strikethrough" text in the book's content pane.
Introducing the Author-it Interface
This chapter describes the work environment and the interface elements you will encounter while you're using Author-it.
Video: Exploring the Author-it Interface (http://www.youtube.com/v/H5degVMim60)
In This Chapter
Ribbons, Tabs, and Commands ... 87 Library Explorer ... 89 Author-it Button Menu - Main Window ... 90 Quick Access Toolbar - Main Window ... 91 Navigation Pane ... 92 Object List Pane ... 95 Preview Pane ... 95 Library Command Ribbons ... 96 The Editor Interface ... 104 Opening the Editor ... 105 Author-it Button Menu - Editor ... 107 Quick Access Toolbar - Editor ... 108 The Editor's Tabs ... 109 Editor Command Ribbons... 114 Styles Toolbar ... 119 Topic Editor Status Bar ... 120 Keyboard Shortcuts ... 121 All Author-it Objects ... 123
Ribbons, Tabs, and Commands
One of the first changes you'll notice from Author-it 5 is that menus have been replaced with ribbons. The ribbon is designed so you can quickly find the commands you need by bringing menu options into full view. Whether you are an author or designer, or if you are reviewing or publishing your documents, you can find the commands you need at a glance.
The ribbons contain a series of role-based tabs for working in the library, or in the Editor. Each tab includes commands that are grouped according to an action, for example formatting text, or inserting images, symbols, and links. Some command groups also include a dialog box launcher , giving you immediate access to settings for the action you're working with.
In addition to the standard tabs, there are also context-based tabs that only display when you are completing certain actions. An example is the Layout tab which contains the commands for
formatting tables. When the cursor is inside a table the Layout tab is accessible, when you continue working with topic text the tab is hidden.
Tab
Command Group Dialog Box Launcher Command
In our procedures you'll notice that the naming convention we use is based on the "path" to the command, Tab > Command Group > Command, for example, Edit > Insert > Insert File object.
Library Explorer
Drag and drop objects from the Library Explorer into your books, topics, or other objects. You can use the shortcut menu to work with your objects.
The Library Explorer is your base for working with all the objects in your library. This is where you store and select the components that you'll assemble into documents.
Author-it's main window gives you access to the objects in your library. The main window includes the library command ribbons, object list, and navigation pane (providing access to folders, search, project management, and publishing).
Author-it Button (see "Author-it Button Menu - Main Window" on page 90) Command Ribbons (see "Library Command Ribbons" on page 96)
Library Folder List (see "Folders Tab" on page 93) Navigation Pane (on page 92)
Preview Pane (on page 95)
Author-it Button Menu - Main Window
The Author-it Button is located in the top left corner of the main window. When selected, the button's menu is opened giving you access to general library commands, and the Author-it Options window.
This Button Does This
Used to close the current library and open a library chosen from the Select Library window (Open Recent tab). Alternatively, select a library from the Recent Libraries list.
Note: Close all library windows before switching to a different library.
Used to close the current library and create a new library using the Select Library window (New Library tab).
Opens a window listing the variables used in the library. Use the window to drag and drop variables from the window into a topic.
Opens the Customize Styles Toolbar window. Use the window to add, remove, and organize styles in the toolbar.
Quick Access Toolbar - Main Window
The main window's Quick Access Toolbar lets you access folder and navigation options, and open the Quick Search window.
This Button Does This
Select a folder from the recently selected folders drop-down list to display its contents in the object list. When the Folders tab is open, the selected folder is highlighted in the library's folder list.
Selects the previous folder from the recently selected folder list, relative to the current folder.
Selects the next folder from the recently selected folder list, relative to the current folder.
Opens the Quick Search window.
Recently selected folders list
The recently selected folders list records the name, and order, of each folder you select or open during the current session. The current folder (the folder with contents displayed in the object list) is displayed with a check mark. When moving to the next or previous folder, the selection is always relative to the folder currently selected.
Navigation Pane
The Navigation pane on the left of the Author-it main window is your access point for locating content in the library. Using the pane you can:
Open the library Folders List
Display Search options, as a basic text search or an advanced object search
Display your Task list
Open the Project Manager (if you have purchased the Project Manager license)
Open the Publishing ConsoleThe Navigation pane includes the content pane where the library folder list, search options, and user tasks are displayed. When the publishing or projects tabs are selected, the content pane displays as part of the console areas for batch publishing or project management.
The tabs at the bottom of the pane, can be customized to provide more room for the content pane.
The Navigation Pane Tabs
The Navigation tabs are located at the bottom of the navigation pane, and can be displayed as:
The accordion is expanded, and uses large buttons -or-
A combination of large and small buttons - where the accordion is partially collapsed-or-
The accordion is fully collapsed and uses small buttonsYou can maximize the space in the folder pane by resizing the tabs. Either customize (see
"Customizing the Navigation Pane" on page 94) the tabs by removing buttons, or collapse the tabs so the buttons are shown in a single button tray. To quickly resize the tabs just move your cursor to the top of the group, when the cursor turns to a double-headed arrow drag the top of the pane to make the area larger or smaller.
Folders Tab
You can organize the items in your Library using customizable library folders with associated user