Managing Content Fragments managing-content-fragments
Learn how to manage your Content Fragments in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) as a Cloud Service, from the dedicated Content Fragments console, and Content Fragment editor. These Content Fragments can be used as the basis of your headless content, or for page authoring.
After defining your Content Fragment Models you can use these to:
- for Headless Content Delivery using Content Fragments with GraphQL,
- when authoring pages; see Page Authoring with Content Fragments.
The Content Fragments Console content-fragments-console
The Content Fragments console is dedicated to managing, searching for, and creating Content Fragments. It has been optimized for use in a Headless context, but is also used when creating Content Fragments for use in page authoring.
The Content Fragments console provides direct access to your fragments, and related tasks. The console can be directly accessed from the top level of the Global Navigation.
For detailed further information see:
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Basic Structure and Handling of the Content Fragments Console
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Actions for a Content Fragment in the Content Fragments Console
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A selection of keyboard shortcuts are available for use in this console
Basic Structure and Handling of the Console basic-structure-handling-content-fragments-console
Selecting Content Fragments opens the console in a new tab.
Here you can see that there are three main areas:
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The top toolbar
- Provides standard AEM functionality
- Also shows your IMS organization
- Provides various actions
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The left panel
- Here you can hide, or reveal, the folder tree
- You can select a specific branch of the tree
- This can be resized to show nested folders
- You can select between viewing Content Fragments or Assets
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The main/right panel - from here you can:
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See the list of all Content Fragments in the selected branch of the tree:
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Content Fragments from the selected folder, and all child folders will be shown:
- The location is indicated by the breadcrumbs; these can also be used to change the location:
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Various fields of information about a Content Fragment provide links; depending on the field, these can:
- Open the appropriate fragment in the editor
- Show information about references
- Show information about language versions of the fragment
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Certain other fields of information about a Content Fragment can be used for Fast Filtering:
- Select a value in the column and is immediately applied as a filter
- Fast filtering is supported for the Model, Status, Modified By, Tags and Published By columns.
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By using mouse-over on the column headers a drop-down action selector, and width sliders, will be shown. These allow you to:
- Sort - select the appropriate action for either ascending or descending
This will sort the entire table according to that column. Sorting is only available on appropriate columns. - Resize the column - using either the action, or width sliders
- Sort - select the appropriate action for either ascending or descending
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Select one, or more, fragments for further action
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Use the Search box
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Open the Filter panel
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Actions actions
Within the console there is a range of actions that you can use, either directly, or after selecting a specific fragment:
- Various actions are directly available from the console
- You can select one, or more, Content Fragments to show appropriate actions
Actions (unselected) actions-unselected
Certain actions are available from the console - without selecting a specific Content Fragment:
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Create a new Content Fragment
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Filter the Content Fragments according to a selection of predicates, and save the filter for future use
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Search the Content Fragments
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Customize the table view to show selected columns of information
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Use Open in Assets to directly open the current location in the Assets console
note note NOTE The Assets console is used to access assets, such as images, videos, and so on. This console can be accessed: - using the Open in Assets link (in the Content Fragments console)
- directly from the global Navigation pane
Actions for a (selected) Content Fragment actions-selected-content-fragment
Selecting a specific fragment opens a toolbar focused on the actions available for that fragment. You can also select multiple fragments - the selection of actions will be adjusted accordingly.
- Open in new Editor
- Open (in original editor)
- Publish (and Unpublish)
- Manage Tags
- Copy
- Move
- Rename
- Delete
- Replace
The Information provided about your Content Fragments information-content-fragments
The main/right panel (table view) of the console provides a range of information about your Content Fragments. Some items also provide direct links to further actions and/or information:
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Name
- Provides a link to open the fragment in the editor.
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Model
- Information only.
- Can be used for Fast Filtering
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Folder
- Provides a link to open the folder in the console.
Hovering over the folder name will show the JCR path.
- Provides a link to open the folder in the console.
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Status
- Information only.
- Can be used for Fast Filtering
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Preview
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Information only:
- In sync: Content Fragment is in-sync on the Author and Preview services.
- Out of sync: Content Fragment is out-of-sync on the Author and Preview services. You need to Publish to Preview to ensure that the two instances return to being in-sync.
- blank: The Content Fragment does not exist on the Preview service.
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Modified
- Information only.
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Modified By
- Information only.
- Can be used for Fast Filtering.
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Tags
- Information only.
- Shows all tags related to the Content Fragment; both Main and any variations.
- Can be used for Fast Filtering.
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Published At
- Information only.
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Published By
- Information only.
- Can be used for Fast Filtering.
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Referenced By:
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Provides a link that opens a dialog listing all parent references of that fragment; including referencing Content Fragments, Experience Fragments and pages. To open a specific reference, click the Title in the dialog.
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Language: indicate any Language copies
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Indicates the locale of the content fragment, together with the total number of local/Language copies associated with the content fragment.
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Select the count to open a dialog that displays all the language copies. To open a specific language copy, click the Title in the dialog.
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Creating Content Fragments creating-content-fragments
Before creating your Content Fragment, the underlying Content Fragment Model must be created.
Creating a Content Model creating-a-content-model
Content Fragment Models must be enabled and created, prior to creating content fragments with structured content.
Creating a Content Fragment creating-a-content-fragment
To create a content fragment:
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From the Content Fragments console, select Create (top-right).
note note NOTE To have the location of the new fragment predefined you can navigate to the folder where you want to create the fragment, or you can specify the location during the creation process. -
The New Content Fragment dialog opens, from here you can specify the:
- Location - Auto-completed with the current location, but you can select a different location if necessary.
- Content Fragment Model - Select the model to be used as a basis of the fragment from the drop-down list.
- Title
- Name - Auto-completed based on the Title, but you can edit it, if necessary.
- Description
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Select Create, or Create and open to persist your definition.
Statuses of Content Fragments statuses-content-fragments
During its existence a Content Fragment can have several statuses, as shown in the Content Fragment Console and Content Fragment editor:
- New (grey)
A new Content Fragment has been created, but has no content as it has never edited, nor opened, in the Content Fragment editor. - Draft (blue)
Someone has either edited or opened the (new) Content Fragment in the Content Fragment Editor - but it has not yet been published. - Published (green)
The Content Fragment has been published. - Modified (orange)
The Content Fragment has been edited after it was published (but before publishing the modification). - Unpublished (red)
The Content Fragment has been unpublished.
Editing the Content of your Fragment (and Variations) editing-the-content-of-your-fragment
To open your fragment for editing:
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Use the Content Fragments console to navigate to the location of your content fragment.
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Open the fragment for editing, by selecting the fragment, then Open in new Editor from the toolbar.
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The fragment editor opens. Select your required Variation amd make your changes as required (they will be auto-saved):
View and Manage Tags manage-tags
From the Content Fragments console you can view any applied tags in the Tags column; after ensuring that the column is showing.
Manage Tags (Console) manage-tags-console
To manage the tags:
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Navigate to the Content Fragment console.
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Select a Content Fragment.
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Select Manage Tags in the toolbar.
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Use the Tag selector to select tags to apply, or remove:
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Save updates. This will return you to the console.
Viewing, and Editing, Tags (Editor) viewing-and-editing-tags
You can also view, and edit, the tags applied to a fragment using the Properties tab of the editor. The information shown differs between Main and any Variations.
Viewing, and Editing, Properties (Editor) viewing-and-editing-properties
You can view, and edit, the properties (metadata) of a fragment using the Properties tab of the editor. The information shown differs between Main and any Variations.
Publishing and Previewing a Fragment publishing-and-previewing-a-fragment
You can publish your Content Fragments to:
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the Publish Service - for full, public access
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the Preview Service - to preview the content prior to full availability
note caution CAUTION Publishing Content Fragments to the Preview Service is only available from the Content Fragments console; using the Publish action. note note NOTE For more details about the Preview environments, see the following:
Publishing publishing
You can publish your Content Fragments using the Publish option from either:
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the toolbar of the Content Fragments console
- Select one, or more, fragments from the list.
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the toolbar of the Content Fragments editor
After selecting the Publish action:
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Select either of the following options to open the appropriate dialog:
- Now - select either the Publish service, or the Preview service; after confirmation, the fragment will be published immediately
- Schedule - in addition to the required service, you can also select the date and time when the fragment will be published
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Provide all details in the dialog. For example, for a scheduled publish request:
note note NOTE When necessary you will be required to specify the references to publish. By default, references also get published to the Preview service to ensure that there is no break in the content. -
Confirm the publish action.
After publication the fragment status will be updated and visible in the editor and console. If you have specified a scheduled publication, information will be shown.
Unpublishing a Fragment unpublishing-a-fragment
You can unpublish Content Fragments:
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the toolbar of the Content Fragments console
- Select one, or more, fragments from the list.
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the toolbar of the Content Fragments editor
In both cases, select Unpublish from the toolbar, followed by either Now or Scheduled.
When the relevant dialog opens you can select the appropriate service:
Find and Replace find-and-replace
The Replace action is available (in the top toolbar) to find, and replace, specified text in your selected Content Fragments.
Before replacement, validation criteria are checked and you are informed of any conflicts, allowing you to change the replacement string or only replace the validated instances.
Deleting a Fragment deleting-a-fragment
To delete a fragment:
- In the Content Fragments console navigate to the location of the content fragment.
- Select the fragment.
- Select Delete from the toolbar.
- Confirm the Delete action.
Finding Parent References of your Fragment parent-references-fragment
Details of parent references can be accessed from the
- References column of the Content Fragments Console
- the parent references link in the top toolbar of the Content Fragments editor
Both provide a link that opens a dialog listing all parent references of that fragment; including referencing Content Fragments, Experience Fragments and pages. To open a specific reference, click the Title, or the link icon, in the dialog.
For example:
Finding Language Copies of your Fragment language-copies-fragment
Details of Language Copies can be accessed from:
- the Language column of the Content Fragments Console
- the Language Copies tab of the Content Fragments editor
The icon indicates the locale of the content fragment, together with the total number of locales/language copies associated with the content fragment. For example, from the console:
Select the count to open a dialog that displays all the language copies. To open a specific language copy, click the Title in the dialog.
Select columns shown in the console select-columns-console
As with other consoles you can configure the columns that are visible, and available for action:
This will present a list of columns that you can hide or show:
Filtering Fragments filtering-fragments
The Filter panel offers:
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a selection of predicates;
- including content fragment models, localization, tags, status fields, among others
- one, or more, predicates can be selected and combined to create the filter
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Exclude sub-folder items, giving you the option of excluding content fragments stored in sub-folders
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the opportunity to Save your configuration
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the option to retrieve a saved search filter for reuse
Once selected, the Filtering by options are shown (under the Search box). They can be deselected from there. For example:
Fast Filtering fast-filtering
You can also select a predicate by clicking on a specific column value in the list. You can select one, or more, values to combine predicates.
For example, select Published in the Status column:
Once selected, this will be shown as a filter predicate, and the list will be filtered accordingly:
Searching Fragments searching-fragments
The search box supports full-text search. Entering your search terms in the search box:
Will provide the selected results:
The search box also provides quick access to Recent Content Fragments and Saved Searches:
