censhare Feature summary
Feature summary
Version 4.2. Stand 22. Oktober 2011
censhare at a glance: concise summary of components, characteristics, features, technologies and contents of the censhare publication system for decision makers, project managers, sales people and IT personnel
Copyright censhare AG, Paul-Gerhardt-Allee 50, 81245 München publishing. Telefon 089 56 82 36-0, Fax 089 56 82 36-501 [email protected], www.censhare.com communication.
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary collaboration. censhare Feature summary
Inhalt
1 censhare system architecture 3 2 censhare databases 3 3 File management 4 4 censhare clients 5 5 Domain concept 7 6 User and privileges managemen 7 7 Asset management 8 8 Collaboration and communication capabilities 11 9 Content management 12 10 Image management 14 11 Ad management 15 12 Managing time with censhare 15 13 Managing geographical information 16 14 Variant management 17 15 Language management 18 16 Assetplanning 19 17 Layout management 20 18 Template management 21 19 Importing into censhare 22 20 Exporting from censhare 23 21 Online Channel 24 22 Mobile Channel 26 23 Customizing the censhare system 27
The intention of this document is to provide a keyword-based overview of the censhare publication system, to help decision makers to appraise the system’s capabilities and compare it to competitive products on the market. This feature summary is technically oriented and divided into the major building blocks of the censhare system. Some descriptions might overlap in the different chapters. Features described in this summary might be available only in certain versions, licence-models or distributions of the censhare system and are subject to change. Many features might appear under different terminology and arrangements in censhare’s sales literature when pre-configured for specific application areas and trades. For more detailled information about the censhare publication system please refer to a censhare AG representative or one of censhare’s distribution partners.
* new features in version 4.2
2 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
1 censhare system architecture
1.1 Fundamental technologic architecture
— 3-tier-architecture — service-oriented architecture (SOA) — one centralized Oracle database per system — any number of distributed, individually customizable application servers — specialized proprietary embedded database for performance enhancement in the application servers — all network traffic based on TCP/IP protocol with customizable ports — interface for hierarchical asset exchange among different censhare systems — optional server-to-server desaster-recovery feature (Unix/Linux/Solaris-based servers only) — integration of given filesystems — Nagios support — Server- and client code written in Java and available for Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X and Linux/Unix/Solaris (server only)
2 censhare databases
2.1 Core database
— centralized, high-performance Oracle database — data model fully constrained — standard database maintenance tasks are operated by censhare automatically, for example: verification of the data model, index consistency check, database statistics update, resolution of database locks, pre-emptive index rebuild, purging — data model entirely Unicode-based — automatic multi-language scheme handling — database extensible by the customer; data model is represented by an extensible XML database scheme to the application logic — self-creating HTML documentation of the datamodel
2.2 Embedded database
— in-house developed, proprietary, non-transactional, high-performance database engine for caching purposes and special applications. This database is embedded in the application servers, translation memory management module and WebCMS webservers — automatic synchronisation with core database — automatic error-recovery — maintenance-free — unlimited scalability — monitor for all index data of a given asset in the embedded databaseel
3 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
3 File management
3.1 Supported file storage architectures
— support for most common file sharing protocols and solutions like Helios Ethershare, Mac OS 9/X (afp/Apple Double), Samba and more — integrated filesystem replication for backup and pre-emptive data distribution — integrated file management maintenance tools for volume cleaning, verifying asset/file consistency, file system size monitoring and more — integrated file streaming allows client file access without mounting volumes on client computers. File streaming support for InDesign (CS4 or better)
3.2 Mimetypes
— support for most common file sharing protocols and solutions like Helios Ethershare, — more than 50 predefined mimetypes — mimetype list fully customizable and extensible by the customer — automatic magicbyte-recognition of mimetypes by on-the-fly file content analysis — mimetype specific behaviour for many system features
3.3 Distributed filesystems
— support for any number of distributed filesystems in one censhare environment — automatic filesystem allocation by domain-based rules — integrated tools for data exchange between distributed file systems, either manually or automatically based on customizable events, schedules or rules — all file transfer between distributed filesystems is transparent for the user and requires no external tools
3.4 Archiving
— support for any number of distributed archiving file systems — integrated support for file archiving — manual archiving and de-archiving of single assets or entire hierarchical asset structures — automatic archiving of single assets or entire hierarchical structures based on customizable schedules, events or rules — support for selective archiving of dedicated filetypes and versions — automatic inter-asset dependency checks during archiving — archived assets remain fully searchable in the database — support for archiving solutions like EMC Centera, IBM Sharc, HSM
3.5 censhare FailSafe
— support for database-less emergency file access by web-based backend of the file systems — automatic live synchronisation of the FailSafe web-backend — file access in the web client by essential asset metadata, previews, version history information and rule-based lists — direct file transfer to local client computer from the web-backend
4 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
3.6 censhare Virtual Filesystem
— support for WebDAV-based virtual filesystems that emulate a volume consisting only of the current versions of all asset-files. This keeps file access and file dependencies transparent for applications that are not supported by censhare plugins
4 censhare clients
4.1 censhare Client
— Java-based, highly configurable, all-purpose client application for Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X — censhare-Client includes the following applications:
• asset query (including search and filter capabilities, attribute editing, overview, version and history managers, user/team editor, and much more) • tag-based content editor • InCopy-exchange-format-based content editor • translation client • translation with memory client • image editing • layout editor • address editor • schedule application • calendar application • manual import and export • asset/page-planning • collection editor • basket & wishlist docks • field-based content editor
— user interface defined in censhare’s proprietary XML-based GUI-description language — Mac OS X 10.7 Lion compatibility with improved native look and feel — freely customizable, role-specific windows with a docking framework, tabs, multiple toolbars, lists and a plethora of widgets like hierarchical popupmenus, editfields, calendars, checkbuttons and much more — zoomable thumbnails in gallery view — Mac OS X-like quickview for asset selection — customizable, switchable look and feel schemes (a modern, dark, glossy scheme is preset) — censhare-Client is fully preconfigured for full functionality out of the box — special “protected” client version for high-security environments (administrative options are stripped from code before compilation) — hierarchical local and server-based client preferences — multithreading allows up to 5 parallel operations at a time — all client communication is TCP-based with customizable ports and optional SSL-encryption — client-server communication can optionally be compressed up to 9 levels for low-bandwidth connections — support for multiple hosts; rapid switching between two hosts
5 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
4.2 censhare Webclient
— highly configurable, multi-purpose client application for all contemporary browser versions — based on Ajax/Web2.0 technologies — censhare-Webclient includes the following applications:
• asset query (including search and filter capabilities, attribute editing, overview, version and history managers) • tag-based content editor • InCopy-exchange-format-based content editor • translation client • translation with memory client • image editing • layout editor • address editor • schedule application • calendar application • manual import and export • asset/page-planning in read-only mode • collection editor • basket & wishlist docks
— user interface defined in censhare’s proprietary XML-based GUI-description language — freely customizable, role-specific windows with a docking framework, tabs, multiple toolbars, lists and a plethora of widgets like hierarchical popupmenus, editfields, calendars, checkbuttons and much more — zoomable thumbnails in gallery view — Mac OS X-like quickview for asset selection — bright and dark look and feel schemes — censhare-Webclient can be branded in colors and logo for corporate purposes — censhare-Webclient is fully preconfigured for full functionality out of the box — drag&drop support — user preferences are stored in the database — support for secure (https) connections — support for keyboard — filter-based “grub” mode for casual asset browsing
4.3 censhare Adminclient
— Java-based censhare frontend for system customization and monitoring — available for WindowsXP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X — user interface for maintaining “regular data” in the database — user interface for accessing the XML customization layer containing the configuration files of the server modules and services — built-in XML editor with text search capability, syntax coloring, line counter, validation and error location support — extensive list-based monitoring tools for system states, connected users, pending tasks and system errors — graphical, customizable long-term monitoring of some 50 vital system parameters — full integration into the privilege concept, allowing domain-specific sub-administrators with arbitrary restrictions
6 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
4.4 censhare Renderer
— Java-based censhare frontend for Adobe InDesign Server CS3/CS4/CS5 — available for WindowsXP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X — censhare Renderer can be run as Microsoft Windows Service — support for multiple Adobe InDesign instances via SOAP interface (requires Adobe InDesign CS5 Server, multi instance license and censhare >4.0.2) — support for the distribution of different Adobe InDesign version numbers to multiple dedicated servers — automatic execution of content and geometry updates in layout documents — preview generation for layout editor, translation editors and content editors — automatic PDF generation with multiple configurable profiles — optional auto-start, auto-login and automatic application recognition — window-less execution mode for maximum throughput
4.5 censhare Serviceclient
— Java-based censhare frontend for 3rd-party-software like imagemagick, ghostscript and Helios for distributed image rendering
5 Domain concept
5.1 Domain features
— two independent, freely extensible and customizable hierarchical domain trees — domain trees can be extended and nodes be re-arranged and renamed on-the-fly in the running system — all assets and most regular data are domain-bound, thus implementing a multiple client environment on node-level — server based domain access verification for highly secure multiple client distinction — the domain structure is part of the user permissions ruleset — the domain structure is responsible for asset – file systems association — the domain structure is available throughout the customization layer for domain specific distinctions — smart domain-to-asset assignment in dependence of user’s and asset parent’s domain
6 User and privileges management
6.1 User management
— individual user accounts with global access and visibility flags — support for virtual users (representing, for example, system processes) — support for external, email-triggered collaborators — assignments of any number of roles and domains to each user account — support for Kerberos-based authentification services like LDAP and AD, including support for single-sign-on
7 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— support for collaboration teams (groups) and optional on-the-fly creation of teams by users — the user account can be linked to an asset of type “web user” to allow standard login of system users as users of WebCMS sites and to provide a source of user-related content and metadata (like a photo of the user and the like)
6.2 Privileges management
— five levels of privilege control:
1. domains control which assets a user can see 2. roles control which actions a user can perform on all the assets that belong to the accessible domain scope 3. asset user ownership allows access control for individual assets 4. permission keys can be assigned to the assets metadata to allow tiered access to individual assets based on roles, rather than domains 5. user interface customization controls, which metadata become accessible for the role
— more than 80 individual permission restriction keys — permission keys extensible for customized server modules — permission sets for common permission key constellations — roles combine privileges of any selection of permission sets — permission sets can be limited to workflows and subsets of workflow steps — individual assets can be associated with any selection of permission restriction keys, allowing role-specific, domain-independent asset access
6.3 Security
— fully encrypted passwords — optional expiring passwords — optional user changeable passwords — password strength verification with customizable regular expressions — support for creating and distributing passwords by the server — optional SSL-encrypted client-server-communication — optional protected client versions, lacking all administrative features
7 Asset management
7.1 Asset data model
— an extensive default metadata model of more than 200 parameters describes every aspect of an asset, its relations, elements and files — default metadata model contains (among many others):
• global unique asset identification numbers (UUID) • file information (mimetype, filesize, image-parameters, relative storage locations ...) • status information; manually assigned and calculated deadlines • keyword thesauri, freetext fields, authorship information, language codes, comments, domains • production history (modification timestamps and involved users) • utilisation parameters; priority; rating; validity
8 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— easy metadata extension with censhare’s “features”, which provide 10 different datatypes, hierarchical value lists, groups and categories and domain-dependency — “context sensitive features” allow hierarchical metadata-structures — automated server modules allow schedule-, rule- and/or event-based inheritance of metadata up and down the asset hierarchies — “address” asset type provides a dedicated metadata model for the storage of address-related data and contact persons — “website” asset type allows drag&drop creation of URL assets from a browser with customizable preview creation and preview updates
7.2 Asset management
— manual asset creation; file import asset creation; asset creation from within layout applications and asset-planning — server based automatic asset creation from emails, hotfolders and interfaces — role-specific, multiple, fully customizable forms for editing asset attributes in censhare-Client and censhare-Webclient — support for batch-editing the metadata of any selection of assets — checkin and checkout of assets (locking of assets) — read-only (non-locking) checkout and read-only (non-locking) asset metadata access — 3-stage manual deletion of assets (suggest for deletion, mark for deletion, override dependency checks, version-only deletion, file-only deletion) — administrative features for automatic, rule-based asset purging
7.3 Asset behaviour
— freely extensible, customizable, hierarchical “asset types” — native plugin support for master files of the following applications:
• Adobe InDesign CS3/4/5/5.5 • Adobe InCopy CS3/4/5/5.5 • Adobe FrameMaker 8 • QuarkXPress 4/6
— asset type specific icons — some 20 pre-defined asset types for media management and publishing — 16 built-in “asset application types” that control the checkout behaviour of assets — dedicated metadata asset application type for file-less assets — asset types are associated with default “asset application types” — manual and automatic (mimetype-steered) overriding of default asset application assignments — files of all other applications without native censhare plugins can be checked in and out over the standard client — comprehensive feature set for layout applications:
• deconstruction of pages into subtext-, pagearea- and image-assets (enables concurrent collaboration on the same document) • automatic deconstruction of image-assets • automatic page number to metadata extraction • OPI image toggling • drag&drop support for placing assets • geometry update to synchronize the layout documents to the flatplan • manual and automatic content update to synchronize interim changes of child assets • XML placeholders for dynamic content (InDesign only)
9 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— optional role-specific mimetype-to-application assignments — shop behaviour: users can collect assets in baskets and wishlists, swap items between lists and checkout order baskets. Customizable export of basket contents. Automatic creation of administrative order assets upon checkout.
7.4 Duplicate asset handling
— built-in duplicate asset detector as server action with arbitrary matching criteria of the entire metadata set — detector available for all asset types — multiple instances of an asset (according to the matching criteria) are collected in a dedicated grouping asset type for simplified comparison
7.5 Address management
— pre-configured address editor for persons, companies and employment relationships with contact cards, photos/logos and map display
7.6 Asset relations
— all assets, regardless their type, can be linked to each other with relations, thus building hierarchical, semantical asset structures — customizable rules for permissible dependencies between asset- and relation-types — multiple parent- and child-relations per asset — default relation types for technical dependencies (actual relation), planning associations (target relation) and arbitrary user-generated links (user relation) — fully customizable, extensible, directional and non-directional asset relation types — extensive visualization of asset relations by icons, colors, tree-views and a dedicated column view — support for subsequent manual modifications of existing asset relations — asset relations contain their own metadata model (allowing, for example, different placement instructions for an ad asset that is placed in different issues) — customizable, user-editable metadata as censhare “features” for relations — “collection” asset type groups related individual assets into a super-asset structure for common treatment
7.7 Version management
— full version history of asset’s files, metadata, previews and relations — any old version of an asset can be re-established together with the respective versions of related assets — customizable version preservation rules and safekeeping periods — version history access restricted by privileges — manual and automatic version creation — manual version skipping — automatic, selective deletion of version — optional history of actions applied to assets
10 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
7.8 Asset search
— fulltext search of file contents — search facilities for all metadata — customizable common meta-index for selected metadata — role-specific, fully customizable query forms and multiple query forms per role — pre-defined query forms for standard search, advanced search and a dynamic query builder — pre-defined query criteria for common production control tasks (“own tasks”, “checked out assets” ...) — all search functionality is perfomed within censhare’s embedded database — instant search results providing number of results for each search criteria — and/or/not combination of search criteria within single metadata fields and across metadata fields — “quick search” performs live search on every keystroke across a wide range of metadata — “facette search” features combines search queries with customizable filters that can perform immediate subqueries — results of search queries can be easily transferred into new windows or tabs — search queries of any complexity can be stored for individual users, teams, roles or domains and show up in the favorite dock — “smart query asset” feature allows to save search queries of any complexity as asset attributes
8 Collaboration and communication capabilities
8.1 Messaging service
— integrated message application in all censhare clients — user-to-user and user-to-group/team messaging — system-to-asset messaging implements asset-specific notification functionality — schedule-, event- and ruledriven generation of messages — reply, reply-to-all and forward functions — message history with customizable safekeeping period — visual and accustic message notification
8.2 E-mail
— customizable centralized setup of in- and outgoing mail services — email sending application in all censhare clients — asset assignment email-notification for external collaborators — schedule-, event- and ruledriven server modules for automatic sending of emails with customizable addresses, subjects, bodytexts and asset storage items as attachments — support for .zip-packing for outgoing email traffic — dedicated error-triggered email notification server module — support for ingoing email-traffic that allows the automatic creation of assets and hierarchical asset structures from emails and their attachments — automatic .zip-unpacking support for ingoing email traffic
11 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
8.3 Asset notes
— sticky text notes available for assets with previews — unlimited number of notes per preview — asset notes behave like discussion threads and keep a history of participants and timestamps — detailed permission concept for the participation in asset note threads — asset notes can be freely moved and placed within the preview — support for displaying asset note info flags in the customization layer
8.4 Workflow management
— unlimited number of fully customizable workflows and sequential workflow steps (status) — workflows can be defined, associated with asset types and renamed on-the-fly in the running system — support for automatic assignment of default workflows to assets, default workflow-steps and workflow-step specific default targets — support for automatic assignment of workflows and workflow steps according to server actions, events and rules — fully customizable color schemes to all workflow elements — global common system workflows (workflow states) to implement production phases and user permission restrictions to dedicated workflow sections — hierarchical analysis of workflow information down any structure of assets (worst-status escalation) — numerous tools for the visualization of workflow information in asset views and pageplanning application — all workflow information fully search- and filterable — all automatic server modules can be workflow-triggered — workflow management is directly connected to the time management modules — administrative tools for workflow migration and workflow statistics
8.5 Rating
— trackable, collaborative rating of assets – works as well with web users and common users and shows individual and averaged results
9 Content management
9.1 XML content editor
— editor application within the censhare-Client and censhare-Webclient for XML-based content with field- and tag-based input modes — field-based (widget) input mode:
• fully customizable XML input template assets in the censhare GUI language to create screen forms • large selection of GUI widgets for input templates, including dynamic structures and censhare’s formula language
12 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— tag-based (DTD) input mode:
• standard DTD-syntax for input templates • support for complex, multi-file and zipped DTD-frameworks like DITA or Docbook • full write access to all elements and attributes of the input template DTD • live DTD validation • support for additional tag-style information for display purposes (renaming of tags, font-styles, -sizes and -colors) in separate add-on files • optional automatic insertion of tags for repeating elements (smart newline feature) • various display modes (short and long tag banners, raw XML) • customizable content buildings block define (hierarchical) groups of elements and content, that can be selected like single tags from the user • tagging of selected text with complex tag-structures • drag and drop of any assets into the content editor. This complex feature visualizes possible placements for the dragged asset in dependency of its type, automatically tags the inserted asset and produces valid links that translate smoothly for the WebCMS publication
— live switching of input- and output templates within the editor — fully customizable input- and output template relation dependencies — hyphenation and spellchecking (currently supported languages: german, english, french, italian, portuguese) — preview function renders content reliably against freely chooseable print templates (InDesign- or XPress-Server required) — preview function delivers live, clickable websites of freely chooseable online templates — content-in-content feature: metadata or XML-content of any asset can be referenced and embedded in the content-editor following XSL-conversions — automatic PDF storage item and JPEG preview creation based on formatting objects processor (FOP) — formatting objects processor (FOP) and XSL transformation infrastructure integrated in censhare – XSL stylesheets can be maintained as “transformation assets” — support for complex, multi-file output templates for XSL-FO transformations — quick-saving without version creation — auto-saving feature
9.2 InCopy XML content editor
— editor application within the censhare-Client and censhare-Webclient that allows lossless editing of Adobe InCopy-documents without the InCopy application — full support of the InCopy interchange format — preview function renders content reliably against freely chooseable print templates (InDesign- or XPress-Server required) — preview function delivers live, clickable websites of freely chooseable online templates — access to all character and paragraph style sheets of the document — support for numerous special characters and markers
9.3 Office suite documents
— parser for office open documents (Excel and Word) — automatic lossless translation of Excel- and Word-documents into InCopy format — support for multiple, customizable Excel/Word-to-InCopy XSL transformation templates (allowing for example automatic CI-normalization) — modified version of the tag based XML content editor for editing table oriented content like spread sheets
13 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
10 Image management
10.1 Image files
— predefined mimetypes for all common image formats — display of all IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-data of the image file — customizable mapping of IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-data to database fields for advanced metadata search either in censhare’s mapping language or JavaScript — predefined import- and export metadata mapping for the most common EXIF tags — automatic correction of undefined or inconsistent endocings in IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-metadata — automatic extraction of geographic metadata — customizable mapping of asset metadata into the IPTC-, EXIF- or XMP-header of an image file upon export, utilizing JavaScript — dedicated views in the client applications for displaying images (gallery mode, preview) — automatic extraction of relevant technical image information like size, pixels, resolution, colorspace and mimetype into dedicated searchable metadata fields — metadata model extensible for images to incorporate free and/or predefined keywords, utilisation policies, descriptions and the like — automatic tracking and limitation of the image usage
10.2 Preview generation
— automatic and manual preview and thumbnail generation of all image files and many other document formats like PDF, InDesign and more — preview support for office open xml documents — support of color workspace specific profiles for preview rendering — support for watermarked previews — optional limitation of the preview generation to filesize and number of elements
10.3 Image editing
— built-in user application for common image manipulation tasks like scaling, cropping, flipping — image editor application available in the web client — server based image editor for automatic image manipulation (cropping, scaling, rotation, flipping, colorspace transformation, resolution changes) based on customizable schedules, events and rules — server based image file creation (placeholder images) with customizable textual database content — incorporation of external image tools (like Adobe Document Server, Agfa Intellitune) via hotfolder-based interfaces — automatic creation of additional image storage items in existing assets — automatic creation of new assets from existing storage items (image branching)
10.4 OPI support
— support of Helios OPI — censhare proprietary OPI solution based on imagemagick — automatic lowres image creation with dedicated OPI filetype — manual or automatic toggling of lowres/hires images in the layout application
14 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
10.5 Supported image formats
— supported standard formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, PSD, PDF, PS/EPS, SVG, PICT, Adobe Illustrator, XMP- thumbnails of Adobe InDesign, JPEG-XMP-thumbnails in Microsoft Excel/Word/PowerPoint OOXML — supported RAW formats: Hasselblad 3F (.3fr), Sony Alpha (.arw), Canon 2 (.cr2), Canon CIFF (.crw), Kodak (.dcr), Adobe Digital Negative (.dng), Epson (.erf), Kodak DC25 (.k25), Kodak DC (.kdc), Minolta (.mrw), Nikon (.nef), Olympus (.orf), Pentax (.pef), Fuji (.raf), Sony 2 (.sr2), Sony (.srf), Sigma X3F (.x3f)
11 Ad management
11.1 Ad administration
— dedicated, pre-defined asset type for advertising media — customizable import interfaces for any commercial advertising system, allowing the automatic creation, update and cancellation of ad assets and their placement relations to publications — storage of full booking information of the commercial advertising system within dedicated tables and XML-blops in the censhare database — dedicated views and search queries for the ad departments’ staff — automatic assignments to the issue’s pageplans — analysis functions and reports (advertising space per page/issue and others) — support for motif administration information of the commercial advertising system (no need to manually treat repeating motifs) — distinction between booked and actually produced parameters (size, color-dependencies, placement) — feedback interface to the commercial advertising system (e.g. occurrence, size, placement)
11.2 Ad production
— support for InDesign and XPress as ad production tools (automatic document creation in dependency of booked size parameters) — administration of templates and customer-specific media — administration of headers and fillers for page production — automatic creation of placeholder images, as long as ad assets contain no motif — manual and automatic ad placement in the pageplanning and classified application — automatic PDF-email to ad customer for author’s approval
12 Managing time with censhare
12.1 System-Basics
— database-model freely extensible with datetime-fields — date/time/datetime-datatypes for “features”
15 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— dedicated calendar-widgettype “editdate” for the GUI-XML-editor supporting customizable date/time-display-formats, absolute or relative value-display and a searchmode supporting exact search, before/after-searches, range-searches and offset-searches — datetime-values are fully supported in the censhare-formula-language, allowing calculations with dates within the XML-customization level — one predefined deadline-attribute in the asset-table — numerous default timestamp-datafields for asset creation, modification, history, storage-item creation/modification and the like
12.2 Schedule application
— creation and maintenance of any number of dates per schedule — date-definition in absolute values or durations — three alternative values for each date (target, alternative, actual) — dependencies between dates (predecessor, successor) — visualization as gantt-view or list with different zoom-levels (day, week, month, range) — display filters for role-specific date-types and value-type — user-definable holidays — user-definable weekend rules — user-definable display colors for each date — automatic inheritance of deadline values by workflow-steps recursively down any hierarchy of assets — multiple asset-type-independent assignments of dates to workflow-steps — support for schedule-templates and variants — display of deadlines in absolute or relative mode in all GUI-dialogs — support for range-searches — customizable date/time-display-formats — realtime calculations and notifications — all features are fully supported in brower-based censhare-Webclient
12.3 Calendar application
— combined display of any number of schedules in calendar-overview — display filters for date-value-types — all features are fully supported in brower-based censhare-Webclient
13 Managing geographical information
13.1 Geographical metadata
— pre-configured asset metadata attribute for longitude/latitude information — database-model freely extensible with geodata related metadata — dual-float-number-datatype for geographic positions in the WGS84 map datum — automatic geodata extraction of IPTC metadata in image files during import — geodata to image IPTC metadata export feature
16 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
13.2 Map-Widget
— customizable widget allows to display numerous map-services and overlayed position pins of assets with geo- metadata in the censhare Client and censhare Webclient — supported map-service providers: Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap with their respective display styles (Map, Satellite, Hybrid) — API access license keys for commercial map-service providers are maintained by the system — customization allows to pre-define map service, display style, fixed map section, dynamic map section in dependency of asset selection and zoom level in the map display widget — position pins in the map display can be moved and will update geo metadata accordingly — asset search by coordinates, coordinate ranges or from visual map selections
13.3 Address conversion
— bidirectional address conversion (address to coordinate and coordinate to closest address) as available from the supported map-service providers — dedicated textfield widget for address entry and search — realtime funnel search of addresses
14 Variant management
14.1 Basic variant features
— five basic types of asset-branches (variants):
1. independent asset duplicates 2. asset branches that remember their source asset 3. asset branches that receive notification upon source asset’s changes 4. asset branches that receive notification upon source asset’s changes and allow a manual merging with the source asset 5. asset branches that have individual metadata but share the same file set with the source asset (alias behaviour)
— manual creation of all variant types — possibility for subsequent manual transformation of any variant relation — visualization of variant dependencies between assets with dedicated relation types and icons
14.2 Asset structure duplicates
— manual or automatic generation of asset variants over entire hierarchical asset structures — support for comprehensive variant creation rules based on asset- and relation-types and exception behaviour — automatic language adaption in content files (like InCopy documents) during creation of language variants — options for automatic modification of metadata like domains, language flags, access restrictions, description and workflow information upon variant creation — options for automatic asset renaming (based on regular expressions) upon variant creation — customizable presets for structure duplication rulesets
17 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— possibility for hierarchical asset structure duplicates of arbitrary depth (variants of variants) — any variant relation created by an asset structure duplicate can be manually overridden by the user — asset structure syncronisation allows to run a new ruleset over existing hierarchical variant structures
14.3 Variant templates
— hierarchical asset variant structures of any complexity can be defined as template structures — each asset in a hierarchical asset variant structure template can have its own template behaviour status (copy, refer, visible/invisible)
15 Language management
15.1 System localization
— centralized management of language schemes — multilingual censhare clients with localization features, full Unicode support and live language switching — localization dictionaries for user interface customization — multilingual support for all metadata (regular data and “features”) — default system delivered in english and german language — possibility to override default terminology in all languages
15.2 Translation application
— translation application embedded in censhare client and webclient — dual view of source and target language and versioned source text changes — full translation support for InCopy documents — live WYSIWYG preview of translation results (requires censhare-Renderer)
15.3 Translation memory application
— translation application embedded in censhare-client and censhare-Webclient — dual view of source and target language — translation on a segment-(sentence)-basis — automatic storage of all translated segments of the past and automatic translation of recurring segments — full translation support for InCopy documents — automatic on-the-fly translation of office documents — dedicated translation mode for tables — live WYSIWYG preview of translation results (requires censhare-Renderer) — translation suggestions
18 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
15.4 Glossar application
— integrated centralized glossar application for censhare-client and censhare-Webclient — synchronization feature for external glossars — glossar suggestion feature for users
15.5 3rd party support
— XLIFF and TMX interfaces
16 Assetplanning
16.1 Assetplanning application
— planning application available for every asset type (typically issues and layouts) — assets with preview-able master files produce two planning modes for actual and target planning — multi-user access to assetplanning (no checkout-locking) — multiple layer planning with automatic layer order rules — single or double page display modes — individual sizes for each page and page element — unlimited number of pages per assetplan — all pages and elements can freely be moved and modified — plethora of display options including WYSIWYG previews, workflow status colors, gridlines, page numbers and much more — customizable display of metadata in pages, page-elements and tooltips — four role-specific text fields per page for descriptive information on pages and page elements — live update of previews — live earmarking of geometry-modifications to affected layout-assets — full access to all metadata of related assets within the assetplan; checkout of assets from the assetplan — markers for cancelled elements and size deviations — markers for special placements like stickers, insertions, coupons and supplements — predefined and freely configurable display filters — read-only display of the assetplans in the censhare-Webclient with most of the display options and PDF-export capability — customizable printing and PDF-export of assetplans — manual and optional rule-based element placement — hierarchical assetplanning allows for complex structures (chapters-to-books, regional variants with varying number of sizes and common pages)
16.2 Sheetplan
— independent, exchangable sheet structure for each assetplan — support for saddle stitch, perfect binding and asynchronous sheet-arrangements — sheet-dependant schedules — individual sheet markers — support for sheet templates
19 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
16.3 Classified page assembly
— classified page assembly on dedicated page-areas within the assetplanning applications — automatic rule-based placement of headers and fillers — headers and fillers can be maintained as assets — manual and automatic vertical adjustments
16.4 Statistic function
— asset placement report — per issue page report — per asset type report — available adverstising placements report
17 Layout management
17.1 Adobe InDesign Integration
— support for InDesign versions CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5 — almost no limitations to the design features, number of pages, structure, pagination, layers and typography of the InDesign documents (InDesign book feature is not supported) — close integration by censhare InDesign Plugin — censhare windoid in InDesign shows information about current layout asset, placed and unplaced sub-assets in multiple customizable views and gives access to all censhare-specific additions to InDesign — layout asset creation from within InDesign — mighty page deconstruction options: all text and image boxes within an InDesign document can be deconstructed into independent assets from within the layout application. Text boxes can be deconstructed into plain text or InCopy documents. — deconstructed text from the layout can be organized in single boxes, chained boxes, groups of unchained boxes and combinations thereof. Boxes can be added or removed from existing textual subassets — optional automatic deconstruction of image boxes — drag&drop support for image placement and replacement — any rectangular area of an InDesign-document can be deconstructed into an independent “pagepart asset” (enables multiple layouters for one document) — pagepart assets can further be hierarchically deconstructed into sub-pageparts, -texts and -images — reverse deconstruction deletes sub-assets but leaves the elements in the layout document — manual and automatic updates of deconstructed document elements (content update) — automatic notifications to deconstructed elements about geometric changes of the layout — textual subassets can be checked out within the layout document — one-click checkout and checkin of all textual subassets of a document — enhanced features for handling deconstructed document elements natively (deletion of locked frames, pages with locked frames, image replacement) — live matching of actual InDesign-document attributes to the target attributes of the pageplanning application. Notification flag on mismatch. — remote adaption of InDesign-documents to the planning state (geometry-update)allows for automatic creation and re-pagination of pages — tiered adaption of variant layouts upon updates of the source document — automatic plausability checks on checkin, like image resolution or missing content updates
20 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
17.2 Dynamic Layout Extension
— censhare’s Dynamic Layout PlugIn for InDesign allows the assignment of dependencies between box-frames and page boundaries, and between box-frames and their content. This allows for dynamically growing, shrinking and pushing of boxes and their content
17.3 Data Integration
— support for dynamic content from the censhare database, by utilizing InDesign’s XML capabilities and censhare formula language — support for InDesign’s built-in Office-document import filters and censhare’s own Office-document import and transformation filters
17.4 XPress & FrameMaker Integration
— basic support for Quark XPress and Adobe FrameMaker provided by censhare PlugIns. Supported versions and feature subsets for both applications upon request
18 Template management
18.1 Basic template features
— dedicated template flags can define any asset or asset hierarchy in the system as future template — invisible templates within a template hierarchy — usage-related template types (content editor input-/output-form and copy-templates) — templates can be domain- and asset type specific — subsequent switching of templates on certain asset types (e.g. asset-planning, schedules) — trackable relation between templates and their derivations in the metadata — different user modes for applying templates:
• automatic prompting of possible templates whenchecking out assets withoutmaster file • “create asset from template” action • “create asset by type” action • drag&drop usage from template favorite’s dock • “apply template” on existing assets
18.2 Asset structure duplicates
— ad hoc usage of any asset or asset hierarchy as template structure — backup of any asset hierarchy — rule-based metadata modifications
21 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
18.3 Layout Editor
— layout editor application in censhare-Client and censhare-Webclient allows to place collections of media assets into template pages and pageareas without the need of a dedicated layout application — live, reliable preview of the actual layout (InDesign-Server required) — template pages are created in InDesign (CS3/4/5) with an administrative frontend for structuring layout documents and to associate pageareas, boxes and text snippets with data-structures — data-layout assignment follows rules containing mediatypes, priorities, validity, arbitrary metadata keys, order and media condition — “Dynamic layout plugin” allows to create dynamic boxes in InDesign (CS3/4/5) that adapt their size, edges, position, alignment and content automatically. This feature allows for extra flexibility in the layout behaviour — support for online templates in the WebCMS — layout editor allows pre-assignment and manual asset search for available media — hierarchical page construction (support of pagearea templates) — exchange of media components in the layout — scaling and cropping support for image media
19 Importing into censhare
19.1 Client-based file imports
— import of single files or entire hierarchical directory structures per drag&drop — hierarchical import of anchored images in layout documents — rebuilding of import directory structures as asset hierarchies — automatic creation of timestamped import groups for immediate access to imported assets — comprehensive matching criteria (filename, path, file size and id-codes) to prevent file duplicates — live-preview of re-import-matches — on-the-fly OPI file exchange when importing layout documents — joint checkin-dialog for multiple file import — metadata mapping for image files — mass import
19.2 Server-based file imports
— import of files per email — import of files per generic hotfolder server module — any number of import hotfolders — hotfolder scanning with inclusive and exclusive regex patterns for file- and directory names — extensive ruleset for the hotfolder module allowing creation of assets, replacement of storage items, generation of metadata from filename with regular expressions, multi-value id matching, hierarchical imports and more — automatic metadata updates on import (like workflow and receiver information) — automatic, reliable mimetype recognition — metadata mapping for images — mass import — optional asset locking during import
22 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
19.3 Interfaces
— asset creation from dataset files and jobtickets by generic asset interface server module — import server module works on all types of CSV- and XML files — import server module fully customizable with censhare’s attribute mapper language — large number of pre-configured, fully customizable import interfaces for:
• commercial advertising systems (e.g. Verlagsmanager, AdWare, NTX, SAP IS-MAM, ...) • page planning and classified assembly systems (e.g. JournalDesigner, ClassWizard, ...) • customer relations management (CRM) systems • enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems • product information management (PIM) systems
— administrative XML-import of “regular data”
19.4 Developer interfaces
— SOAP and Webservice access to the database (requires developer training and tools)
20 Exporting from censhare
20.1 Client-based exports
— export of any selection of assets or entire hierarchical asset structures (filtered by relation type) — hierarchical export of placed images in layout documents — filtered exports of storage items or asset’s XML content — rebuilding of asset hierarchies as directory structures — optional ID-suffixes on export file names for subsequent re-import matching — on-the-fly OPI file exchange when importing layout documents — server action for exporting asset metadata as CSV-spreadsheet files — server action for exporting PDF-files associated with printing sheets in the assetplanning — server action for exporting dedicated storage item types — export server actions allow export to target destinations, that are not visible to the client — administrative XML-export of “regular data” in the censhare-Adminclient
20.2 Server-based exports
— export of files and metadata per email — export of files and metadata per generic content-export server module:
• XML based metalanguage for complex export rules • configuration file for multiple export settings • export allows filtered parsing up and down an asset hierarchy and combination of any number of assets into one export file • freely customizable, self-creating export paths
23 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
• numerous “content providers” give access to all aspects of an asset’s information, like metadata, files, hierarchy, collection-content, file content and internal XML-structures • numerous “output transformers” allow the modification of the asset information, incorporating XSL conversion, PDF creation by XSL-FO transformation and image manipulation (scaling, cropping, colorspace conversion, resolution and more) • export into any type of document (text, html, xml, interchange formats) allows the creation of indexes, table of contents, advertiser registers, social media contributions and any standard exchange formats (like KML, GPX, PMG, NITF ...) • export settings provide the technical behaviour of censhare’s “output channels”, that can be assigned to assets by the user
— optional asset locking during export — manual or automatic export based on schedule, rules and/or events
20.3 Output channels
— complex export settings including transformation operations and file generation can be preset as “output channels” — predefined output channels for print, web-publication, social media likeTwitter and Apps
21 Online channel
21.1 Online channel basics
— Feature rich online content management system, fully integrated into the censhare system — dedicated web-editor for website construction elements in the censhare-Client — support of W3C web standards — support for Ajax and JSON — support for Cascading Stylesheet (CSS2) and arbitrary HTML — support for accessibility and barrier-free websites like WAI and BITV — support for any popular JavaScript Framework like JQuery, YUI, mootools, ExtJS and the like — fully functional, clickable WYSIWYG-previews of the websites within the web editor, selectively from the staging or publication web-servers — easy to learn for experienced web developers
21.2 Architecture
— “Component“ model: business logic, configuration, presentation (skin) layer and content are separated from each other — hierarchical construction of components — reusable components — catalogue of components is constantly extended
24 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
21.3 Presentation layer
— customizable skins — skins are assigned to components and have read access to the component data model as well as the data store — multiple skin engine implementations (Freemarker, XSLT, PHP)
21.4 Online content
— online content creation is fully integrated in censhare’s core technologies, supporting workflows, templates, hierarchical asset relations, scheduling, versioning, variants, automation and more — all censhare content sources are supported for online deployment — enhanced default metadata set for online content (validity, cancellation, URLs, priority, duration, privileges, sorting, webmodule parameters) — manual assignment of content to online deployment — dynamic assignment of content to online deployment by rules, semantic tagging or stored queries — support for multilingual websites (integrates the censhare language management) — form generator
21.5 User generated and personalized content
— support for user generated content (UGC) — user generated content is stored as assets in the central data store of the censhare Application Server — user generated content can be integrated with censhare workflows for content approval — social network support (user accounts, profiles, followers and more) — user generated recommendation and rating — personalized content based on arbitrary metadata like target group association, geo location, language or personal preferences — notification services — dynamic related content based on any combination of meta data (like topic, author, similar products, target group and more)
21.6 Extensibility, Performance and Scaleability
— modular and dynamic architecture — well defined and stable API’s and extension points — support for custom components, skin engines and complete Java web applications — integration with familiar tools like Eclipse — easy and natural integration of current and future web technologies and standards — horizontal and vertical scaleability
21.7 Datastore and hosting
— backend identical with the AssetStoreService on the censhare Application Server (common data object model and query API’s – QBuilder, XML, XPath) — assets and storage items are synchronized from the censhare Application Server for configured channels — modified assets are written to the censhare Application Server and synchronized after successful commit — web delivery servers can be hosted at any ISP — optional fully managed hosting services by censhare AG — support for staging service on internal web-servers
25 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
21.8 Integration with 3rd party products and partners
-— integration with statistics providers like Google Analytics, AdWords, Webtrends, eTracker, IVW and others — integration with e-commerce providers like Oxid, Magento, Konakart and others — integration with newsletter distributors like inxmail, emarsys and others — integration with advertising providers like DoubleClick, OpenX and others — customizable, role specific user interfaces for component or frontend developers, webmasters, system administrators and editors
21.9 Searching and SEO
— superfast website search functionality for metadata and fulltext in all common file formats — Live search with suggestions — funnel search — related search — dynamic lists and filters — RSS feed support — native SEO support:
• Meta data SEO • lightweight indexing • extra link strategy • secondary site strategy • custom URL’s • SEO Check-Up • landing pages • sitemap.xml
21.10 E-Marketing
— support for newsletter generation — support for microsites — support for landing pages — support for tracking, statistics and conversions — SEM Check-Up
22 Mobile channel
22.1 Mobile channel basics
— App export server module for the generation of mobile content like Interactive Magazine Apps, Catalog Apps and News Apps — support for all censhare content sources (censhare’s internal XML-based content editors, InCopy, InDesign or external structured data) — mobile content creation is fully integrated in censhare’s core technologies, supporting workflows, templates, hierarchical asset relations, scheduling, versioning, variants, automation and more
26 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— seamless integration with the print production, as mobile rich media content can be attached to print assets — mobile publication planning with censhare’s asset-planning application — pre-defined and customizable metadata sets for mobile content
22.2 Viewer App
— censhare’s native publication Viewer App builds customer specific Apps in two basic styles (news viewer, publication viewer) – ready to be published in the AppStore — support for mixed media (InDesign, PDF documents, HTML content, video and audio) — static HTML content for help/contact/about pages — single page, double page and customized layout views — support for display rotation — Rich media and interactivity support modules within censhare’s Viewer App:
• slideshow • video • inter-publication link • external content • turntable (360°) • pop-ups • related content • zoom mode for images • colorizer
— support for typical mobile user interface gestures like swiping, single/double tabs and two finger pintching — page zooming — navigation bar, table of contents, page overview navigation based on publication, articles or chapters
22.3 Mobile content deployment
— support for the AppStore and In-App purchases — kiosk mode for In-App purchases — support for free and paid publications — automatic deployment of mobile content to webservers, which will be automatically recognized by the App
23 Customizing the censhare system
23.1 General customization features
— administrative parameters that are subject to changes at a daily basis like workflows, user accounts, privileges, metadata-extension definitions, colors, papersize specification,asset types and the like are stored as “master data” in the database and can be edited by administrators at any time in the running system without maintenance windows and without restarts of connected clients — administrative parameters in the “master data” model can be extended as socalled “resources”-assets. This adds version control, ownership and highly dynamic access control to administrative parameters
27 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary censhare Feature summary
— each censhare core service and service module comes with XML-based configuration files that can be customized by administrators. Most XML-based configuration files contain a graphical user interface (GUI) description and can be edited without any XML-knowledge — censhare contains a built-in XML-based configuration language for the design of graphical user interfaces, that allows far-reaching customization of the censhare-Client and censhare-Webclient applications, as well as the design of field- based content-editor input templates — censhare contains a built-in XML-based configuration language for the conversion of attributes, the so-called “attribute mapper language”. It allows the splitting, reformatting, concatenation and transformation of values, supports regular expressions, embedded BeanShell scripts and XPath-like data extraction. This language is used in all interfaces, in asset attribute inheritance, image metadata mapping and many other places of the censhare system — besides the “attribute mapper language” censhare also supports JavaScript as an all-purpose, highly dynamic programming language for mapping purposes — censhare contains a built-in simple programming language (“formulas”), that allows data extraction, string manipulation, numerical calculations, if-clauses and case-statements in a one-line-syntax. Formulas support a large subset of the XPath syntax and implement XSLT 2.0 transformations in the HTML-widgets of the censhare WebCMS system. Formulas can be embedded into many places of the configuration files throughout censhare’s customization layer — any customization in the system is automatically transferred into a dedicated customization repository and automatically incorporated on system updates — all application servers can be individually customized from within the master application server. Configuration updates to remote application servers are automatically executed — developer API’s for REST and SOAP access — generic high-level access to asset files, XML-formatted metadata and asset icons based on Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI’s), provided by a dedicated API-webservice — seamless content-to-content conversions with the built-in “transformations”-architecture, allowing to maintain XSL stylesheets as assets within in the system
28 / 28
22. Oktober 2011, Version 4.2, censhare_feature_summary