AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.
Some Content Fragment functionality requires the application of AEM 6.4 Service Pack 2 (6.4.2.0) or later.
Content Fragments are stored as Assets, so are primarily managed from the Assets console.
Content fragments are then used with authoring pages; see Page Authoring with Content Fragments.
Content fragment models can be enabled and created, prior to creating content fragments with structured content.
See Developing Content Fragments for further information on templates; used for simple content fragments.
The method of creating a content fragment is (basically) the same for both simple and structured fragments:
Navigate to the Assets folder where you want to create the fragment.
Select Create, then Content Fragment to open the wizard.
The first step of the wizard requires you to specify the basis of the new fragment.
This can be a:
All available templates and models are displayed.
After selection, use Next to proceed.
In the Properties step specify:
Basic
Title
The fragment title.
Mandatory.
Description
Tags
Advanced
Name
The name; will be used to form the URL.
Mandatory; will be automatically derived from the title, but can be updated.
Select Create to complete the action, then either Open the fragment for editing or return to the console with Done.
In the Assets console a range of actions are available for your content fragments, either:
Select the fragment to reveal the toolbar with applicable actions:
Download
Create
Checkout
Properties
Edit
Manage Tags
To Collection
Copy/Paste
Move
Quick Publish
Manage Publication
Delete
Many of these are standard actions for Assets and/or the desktop app.
To open your fragment for editing:
To edit a content fragment you need the appropriate permissions. Please contact your system administrator if you are experiencing issues.
Use the Assets console to navigate to the location of your content fragment.
Open the fragment for editing, by either:
The fragment editor will open:
A message will be shown when the fragment is already referenced on a content page.
The side panel can be hidden/shown using the Toggle Side Panel icon.
Navigate through the three modes using the icons in the side panel:
After making changes, use Save or Cancel as required.
Both Save and Cancel will exit the editor - see Save, Cancel and Versions for full information on how both options operate for content fragments.
Versions can also be created, compared and reverted from the Timeline.
The editor has two options:
Save
Will save the latest changes and exit the editor.
To edit a content fragment you need the appropriate permissions. Please contact your system administrator if you are experiencing issues.
It is possible to remain in the editor, making a series of changes, before selecting Save.
In addition to simply saving your changes, Save also updates any references and ensures that the dispatcher is flushed as required. These changes can take time to process. Due to this, there can be a performance impact on a large/complex/heavily-loaded system.
Please bear this in mind when using Save and then quickly re-entering the fragment editor to make and save further changes.
Cancel
Will exit the editor without saving the latest changes.
While editing your content fragment AEM automatically creates versions to ensure that prior content can be restored if you Cancel your changes:
When a content fragment is opened for editing AEM checks for the existence of the cookie-based token that indicates whether an editing session exists:
While there is an active editing session, the content being edited is automatically saved every 600 seconds (default).
The auto save interval is configurable using the /conf
mechanism.
Default value, see:
/libs/settings/dam/cfm/jcr:content/autoSaveInterval
If the user selects to Cancel the edit, the version created at the start of the editing session is restored and the token is removed to end the editing session.
If the user selects to Save the edits, the updated elements/variations are persisted and the token is removed to end the editing session.
Once you have opened your fragment, you can use the Variations tab to author your content.
Once you have created the Master content, you can create, and manage, Variations of that content.
You can also associate content with a fragment. This provides a connection so that assets (i.e. images) can be (optionally) used with the fragment when it is added to a content page.
You can view, and edit, the properties of a fragment using the Metadata tab.
In addition to the standard options, Timeline provides both information and actions specific to content fragments:
View information about versions, comments, and annotations
Actions for Versions
Actions for Annotations
Comments are:
Annotations (for Content Fragments) are:
For example:
The Compare to Current action is available from the Timeline after you have selected a specific version.
This will open:
the Current (latest) version (left)
the selected version v<x.y> (right)
They will be shown side-by-side, where:
Any differences are highlighted
The full-screen icon allows you to open either version on its own; then toggle back to the parallel view
You can Revert to the specific version
Done will return you to the console
You cannot edit the fragment content when comparing fragments.
You can revert to a specific version of your fragment:
Directly from the Timeline.
Select the required version, then the Revert to this Version action.
While comparing a version to the current version you can Revert to the selected version.
If your fragment is based on a model, then you should ensure that the model has been published.
If you publish a content fragment for which the model has not yet been published, a selection list will indicate this and the model will be published with the fragment.
Content Fragments must be published for use in the publish enviroment. They can be published:
After a fragment has been published and/or referenced, AEM will display a warning when an author opens the fragment for editing again. This is to warn that changes to the fragment will affect the referenced pages as well.
To delete a fragment:
In the Assets console navigate to the location of the content fragment.
Select the fragment.
The Delete action is not available as a quick action.
Select Delete from the toolbar.
Confirm the Delete action.
If the fragment is already referenced in a page you will then see a warning message and be required to confirm that you want to proceed with a Force Delete. The fragment, together with its content fragment component, will be deleted from any content pages.