Variations - Authoring Fragment Content variations-authoring-fragment-content
Variations are a significant feature of Content Fragments in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) as a Cloud Service. This is because they let you create and edit copies of the Master content for use on specific channels and scenarios. IN particular this makes headless content delivery even more flexible.
From the Variations tab you can do the following:
- Enter the content for your fragment,
- Create and manage variations of the Master content,
Perform a range of other actions depending on the data-type being edited; for example:
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Select between Rich Text, Plain Text, and Markdown for editing
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View key statistics (about multi-line text)
Authoring your Content authoring-your-content
When you open your content fragment for editing, the Variations tab is open by default. Here you can author the content, for Master or any variations you have. The structured fragment contains fields of various data-types that were defined in the content model.
For example:
You can:
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Make edits to your content directly in the Variations tab; each data type provides different editing options, for example:
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when configured (as multiple) in the model, various data types allow you to Add instances of the relevant field
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for Multi-line text fields, you can also open the full-screen editor to:
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For Fragment Reference fields, the Edit Content Fragment option can be available, depending on the model definition.
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Assign Tags to the current variation; the tags can be added, updated, and removed.
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Tags are powerful when organizing your fragments as they can be used for content classification and taxonomy. Tags can be used for finding content (by tags) and applying bulk operations.
- Searches for a tag return the fragment, with the tag variation highlighted.
- Variation tags can also be used to group variations for a specific Content Delivery Network (CDN) profile (for CDN caching), instead of using the variation name.
For example, you can tag relevant fragments as “Christmas launch” to allow browsing only these as a subset, or to copy them for use with another future launch in a new folder.
note note NOTE Tags can also be added (to the Master variation) as part of the Metadata -
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Create and manage variations of the Master content.
Full Screen Editor full-screen-editor
When editing a multi-line text field you can open the full screen editor; select within the actual text, then select the following action icon:
This opens the full-screen text editor:
The full-screen text editor provides:
Actions actions
The following actions are also available (for all the formats) when the full-screen editor (that is, multi-line text) is open:
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Select the format (Rich Text, Plain Text, Markdown)
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Synchronize with Master (when editing a variation)
Formats formats
The options for editing multi-line text depend on the format selected:
The format can be selected when the full-screen editor.
Rich Text rich-text
Rich text editing lets you format:
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Bold
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Italic
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Underline
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Alignment: left, center, right
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Bulleted list
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Numbered list
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Indentation: increase, decrease
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Create/Break hyperlinks
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Paste Text/from Word
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Insert a table
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Paragraph style: Paragraph, Heading 1/2/3
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Open the full-screen editor, where the following formatting options are available:
- Search
- Find/Replace
- Spellchecker
- Annotations
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Insert Content Fragment; available when your Multi-line text field is configured with Allow Fragment Reference.
The actions are also accessible from the full-screen editor.
Plain Text plain-text
Plain Text allows for rapid entry of content without formatting or markdown information. You can also open the full-screen editor for further actions.
Markdown markdown
This lets you format your text using markdown. You can define:
- Headings
- Paragraphs and Line Breaks
- Links
- Images
- Block Quotes
- Lists
- Emphasis
- Code Blocks
- Backslash Escapes
You can also open the full-screen editor for further actions.
Fragment References fragment-references
If the Content Fragment Model contains Fragment References, your fragment authors may have additional options:
Edit Content Fragment fragment-references-edit-content-fragment
The option Edit Content Fragment opens that fragment in a new editor tab (within the same browser tab).
Selecting the original tab again (for example, Little Pony Inc.) closes this secondary tab (in this case, Adam Smith).
New Content Fragment fragment-references-new-content-fragment
The option New Content Fragment lets you create a fragment. To achieve this, a variation of the create content fragment wizard opens in the editor.
To create a content fragment:
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Navigating to, and selecting the required folder.
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Selecting Next.
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Specifying properties; for example, Title.
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Selecting Create.
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Finally:
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Done:
- returns (to the original fragment)
- references the new fragment
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Open:
- references the new fragment
- opens the new fragment for editing in a new browser tab
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Viewing Key Statistics viewing-key-statistics
When the full-screen editor is open, the action Text Statistics displays a range of information about the text.
For example:
Uploading Content uploading-content
To ease the process of authoring content fragments, you can upload text, prepared in an external editor, and add it directly to the fragment.
Summarizing Text summarizing-text
Summarizing text is designed to help users reduce the length of their text to a predefined number of words, while keeping the key points and overall meaning.
en/ as in the following path:/content/dam/my-brand/en/path-down/my-content-fragment-
Select Master or the required variation.
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Open the full-screen editor.
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Select Summarize text from the toolbar.
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Specify the target number of words and select Start:
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The original text is displayed side-by-side with the proposed summarization:
- Any sentences to be eliminated are highlighted in red, with strike-through.
- Click any highlighted sentence so you can keep it in the summarized content.
- Click any non-highlighted sentence so you can have it eliminated.
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Select Summarize to confirm the changes.
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The original text is displayed side-by-side with the proposed summarization:
- Any sentences to be eliminated are highlighted in red, with strike-through.
- Click any highlighted sentence so you can keep it in the summarized content.
- Click any non-highlighted sentence so you can have it eliminated.
- The summarization statistics are shown: Actual and Target-
- You can Preview the changes.
Annotating a Content Fragment annotating-a-content-fragment
To annotate a fragment:
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Select Master or the required variation.
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Open the full-screen editor.
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The Annotate icon is available in the top toolbar. You can select some text if necessary.
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A dialog box opens. Here you can enter your annotation.
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Select Apply on the dialog.
If the annotation was applied to the selected text, then that text remains highlighted.
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Close the full-screen editor, annotations are still highlighted. If selected, a dialog box opens so that you can edit the annotation further.
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Select Save.
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Close the full-screen editor, annotations are still highlighted. If selected, a dialog box opens so that you can edit the annotation further.
Viewing, Editing, Deleting Annotations viewing-editing-deleting-annotations
Annotations:
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They are indicated by the highlight on the text, in both full-screen and normal mode of the editor. Full details of an annotation can then be viewed, edited, and/or deleted, by clicking the highlighted text, which reopens the dialog box.
note note NOTE A drop-down selector is provided if multiple annotations have been applied to one piece of text. -
When you delete the entire text to which the annotation was applied, the annotation is deleted as well.
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It can be listed, and deleted, by selecting the Annotations tab in the fragment editor.
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It can be viewed, and deleted, in the Timeline for the selected fragment.
Inserting Assets into your Fragment inserting-assets-into-your-fragment
To ease the process of authoring content fragments, you can add Assets (images) directly to the fragment.
They are added to the paragraph sequence of the fragment without any formatting; formatting can be done when the fragment is used/referenced on a page.
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Position the cursor where you want to add the image.
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Use the Insert Asset icon to open the search dialog.
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In the dialog box, you can either navigate to the required asset in DAM, or search for the asset in DAM.
When located, select the required asset by clicking the thumbnail.
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Use Select to add the asset to the paragraph system of your content fragment at the current location.
note caution CAUTION After adding an asset, if you change the format to: - Plain Text: the asset is lost from the fragment.
- Markdown: the asset is not visible, but is still there when you return to Rich Text.
Inserting a Content Fragment into your Fragment inserting-content-fragment-into-your-fragment
To ease the process of authoring content fragments, you can also add another Content Fragment to your fragment.
They are added as a reference in your current location in your fragment.
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Position the cursor where you want to add the fragment.
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Use the Insert Content Fragment icon to open the search dialog.
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In the dialog box, you can either navigate to the required fragment in the Assets folder, or search for the fragment.
When located, select the required fragment by clicking the thumbnail.
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Use Select to add a reference to the selected Content Fragment to your current content fragment (at the current location).
note caution CAUTION After adding a reference to another fragment, if you change the format to: - Plain Text: the reference is lost from the fragment.
- Markdown: the reference remains.
Inheritance inheritance
Inheritance is the mechanism where content can be automatically pushed from one fragment to another. Inherited fields, and variations, can be the product of Multi-Site Management.
You can cancel (then re-enable) the inheritance. Depending on the context, this can be available for a variation, or an individual field, if the fragment is part of a live copy.
For example:
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Cancel Inheritance
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Re-enable Inheritance (if inheritance is already canceled)
Managing Variations managing-variations
Creating a Variation creating-a-variation
Variations let you take the Master content and vary it according to purpose (if necessary).
To create a variation:
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Open your fragment and ensure that the side panel is visible.
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Select Variations from the icon bar in the side panel.
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Select Create Variation.
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A dialog box opens so you can specify the Title and Description for the new variation.
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Select Add; the fragment Master is copied to the new variation, which is now open for editing.
note note NOTE When creating a variation it is always the Master that is copied, not the variation that is open. note note NOTE When you create a variation, all Tags currently assigned to the Master variation are copied to your new variation.
Editing a Variation editing-a-variation
You can change the variation content after either:
- Creating your variation.
- Opening an existing fragment, then selecting the required variation from the side panel.
Renaming a Variation renaming-a-variation
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Open your fragment and select Variations from the side panel.
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Select the required variation.
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Select Rename from the Actions drop-down.
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Enter the new Title and/or Description in the resulting dialog box.
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Confirm the Rename action.
Deleting a Variation deleting-a-variation
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Open your fragment and select Variations from the side panel.
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Select the required variation.
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Select Delete from the Actions drop-down.
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Confirm the Delete action in the dialog.
Synchronizing with Master synchronizing-with-master
Master is a part of a content fragment and, by definition, that it holds the master copy of the content. Whereas variations hold the individual updated and tailored versions of that content. When the Master is updated, it is possible that these changes are also relevant to the variations and, therefore, must be propagated to them.
When editing a variation, you have access to the action for synchronizing the current element of the variation with Master. This lets you automatically copy changes made to Master to the required variation.
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Open your content fragment in the fragment editor. Ensure that the Master has been edited.
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Select a specific variation, then the appropriate synchronization action from either:
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the Actions drop-down selector - Sync current element with master
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the toolbar of the full-screen editor - Sync with master
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Master and the variation are shown side-by-side:
- green indicates that content was added (to the variation)
- red indicates that content was removed (from the variation)
- blue indicates replaced text
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Select Synchronize, the variation is updated and shown.