Managing Pages in AdminCentral
About Pages
The Website workspace allows you to manage your web pages, create new pages, edit current ones, and to do all related tasks, which are necessary to manage and build your website.
When you login to Magnolia, AdminCentral of the Website workspace opens, by default.
To access the Website workspace, if it is not already open, click on the Website button in the navigation pane on the left of the window.
A blue navigation button indicates the active workspace, whereas the buttons of the inactive workspaces are green.
Workspace Area
The workspace area of the Website workspace contains five columns:
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Page: page name of each web page;
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Title: title of each web page;
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Status: status indicator, which shows whether or not a web page has been activated, i.e. published to a public instance;
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Template: name of the template upon which the web page is based;
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Mod. Date: date on which the web page was last modified.
These elements are referred to as the page elements and are discussed in individual sections.
Command Bar
The command bar, which contains the main commands, is located at the bottom of the workspace.
You can use any of the commands in the bar by simply clicking on them.
Whereas the New page and Refresh commands are always active, the Open page, Activate this page and De-activate commands are page-specific, and are only active and clearly visible when a page is selected. When no page is selected, they are transparent and do not work.
To select a page, click on any of the page elements in the page row and a blue rectangle will highlight the row, indicating that it is selected.
The use of the commands is discussed in individual sections.
Command Menu
The command menu is accessed by right-clicking with your mouse.
All of the commands display in the command menu, whereas only the main commands display in the command bar.
To access the command menu, right-click in anywhere in the workspace and the menu will appear.
When a specific page is selected, all of the commands are active and clearly visible.
If no page is selected, only the New page, Export tree to xml and Import from xml commands are active and clearly visible. All of the other commands are page-specific and only function when a page is selected.
The use of the majority of the commands is discussed in individual sections. The Export trees to xml and Import from xml commands, are beyond the scope of this manual, and are not dealt with here.
Search Box
Magnolia has a built-in search function, which allows you to search through the content of your pages.
The search box is located in the bottom right-hand corner of the workspace.
The search function is useful for locating specific content within your pages and functions in exactly the same way as most others, that you are probably already familiar with, do; Google search, being the most well known example.
To use the search function simply insert a search term and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
The specific properties of the search function are discussed in Search Function.
Error Messages and Warnings
While working in the Website workspace, if you attempt to do anything that is not possible, an error dialog opens, advising you of this.
The following screenshot is an example of the type of errorr message that you could receive. If you receive this or a similar message, click on the OK button to close the dialog and return to the workspace.
Before Magnolia performs certain actions, which could have serious consequences, such as deleting pages or nodes, you will receive a warning message. A warning dialog opens requesting you to confirm your choice. To do so, click on the OK button, and on the Cancel button to cancel the action. In either case, the dialog will close, returning you to the workspace.
User Information
Magnolia has a sophisticated security system and you can only gain access if you have valid login credentials, i.e. a username and password.
The username that you logged in under is displayed in the top right-hand corner of the workspace.
You can access and amend your login details by clicking on your username. Modifying your user information is discussed in Getting Started - Modifying Login Details (link).
Logout Link
In the top right-hand corner of the screen, to the right of your username, there is a Logout link.
To logout of Magnolia, click on the Logout link and the window will reload to display the log in screen.
We suggest that you always logout of Magnolia whenever you are away from you computer for any length of time.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Magnolia has its own set of commands, which vary from workspace to workspace, and can be activated by right-clicking with your mouse. For this reason, when working in some areas of Magnolia, the normal right-mouse commands that you may be familiar with, such as Copy and Paste, will not work in all areas. The associated keyboard shortcuts in Windows, however, do work, and you may want to use these.
Page Structure
Pages have a hierarchical structure. Subpages can be created and there is no limitation on the number of subpage levels.
Magnolia refers to pages, including their subpages, as a node and you may see this term in some of the error and warning dialog boxes. A node could refer to a single page with no subpages, a first-level page and its subpages, or a mid-level page and all of its lower-level pages.
The content of the small square to the left of the page icon indicates whether the page:
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has subpages: plus sign ( + );
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has subpages that are displayed: minus sign ( - ):
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does not have subpages: period ( . ).
To expand or collapse a page that has subpages, click within the small square. When you click, the sub pages will display if they are hidden, and be hidden if they are displayed.
Page Names
Page names are listed in the Page column of the workspace.
Pages may be given any alphanumeric name, i.e. they may include letters and numerals. An under-score ( _ ) and a dash ( - ) are also permissible, but most of the other non-alphanumeric keyboard characters are disallowed.
The disallowed characters are: ampersand ( & ); asterisk ( * ); at ( @ ); back quote ( ` ); back slash ( \ ); braces ( { } ); brackets ( [ ] ); caret ( ^ ); close brace ( } ); close bracket ( ] ); close parenthesis ( ) ); colon ( : ); comma ( , ); curly braces ( { } ); dollar ( $ ); double quote ( " ); equal ( = ); exclamation point ( ! ); forward slash ( / ); greater than ( > ); less than ( < ); open brace ( { ); open bracket ( [ ); open parenthesis ( ( ); parenthesis ( () ); percent ( % ); pipe ( | ); plus ( + ); pound or hash ( # ); quote ( " ); semi colon ( ; ); single quote ( ' ); slash ( / ) and tilde ( ~ ).
If you inadvertently do include a disallowed character, Magnolia substitutes it with a dash (-). This also happens if you include a blank space.
Magnolia uses the page name to create URLs for your web pages, so bear this in mind when choosing an appropriate name.
How to name new pages and rename current ones is discussed in Creating New Pages - Naming Pages.
Page Titles
Page titles are listed in the Title column of the workspace.
Like page names, you may give your pages any title that you choose. The title may be completely different from the page name and there are no disallowed characters.
If you do not later make appropriate changes in the editing window, Magnolia uses the page title as the:
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main heading of your web page;
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navigation title in the navigation bar of your web page;
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window browser title and tab header title of your web page.
How to insert a title into a new page or to modify the title of a current page is discussed in Creating New Pages - Inserting a Page Title.
Page Status
The page status indicator of each page is listed in the Status column of the workspace.
The page status refers to whether or not a page has been activated, i.e. published to a public instance.
There are three possible indicators:
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Red: the page has not been activated or has been de-activated;
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Green: the page has been activated;
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Orange: the page has been activated, but has been modified since its last activation.
The status indicator is inserted automatically and can only be changed by either activating, deactivating or modifying a page. This is discussed in Activating and De-activating Pages.
Page Templates
All web pages in Magnolia are template-based and the page template used to create any specific page is listed in Template column of the workspace.
A number of sample templates are included in the demo-project and demo-features websites, which are included in the default installation. To view a range of pages created using many of the sample templates, please refer to Demo-project Website - Templates (link).
The screenshot below is of the demo-project website Home page and is based on the Home template.
Selecting a template is discussed in Creating New Pages - Selecting a Template.
Page Modify Date
The page modification date of each page in listed in the Mod. date column of the workspace.
Each time a page is modified in any way, Magnolia records the date and time of the change and updates the information in the Mod. date column. The date is listed in the yy-mm-dd format and the time in the digital: hh-mm format. Modification date information is inserted automatically and cannot be changed in the workspace.
The page modification date is different from the page version date. New versions of a page are only created and dated only on activation of the page, whereas the page modification date is updated each time a change is made to the page. Page versions are discussed in Page Versions.
Managing Pages
Pages are created and managed in AdminCentral, but the page content is added and modified in the editing window.
This section deals with managing pages in AdminCentral. Adding and modifying the content of web pages is discussed in Working with Web Content (link).
Selecting Pages
In order to work on any specific page, the page first needs to be selected.
To select a specific page, click on any of the page elements within the page row. The page elements refer to the page name, title, status, template and modify date.
When you point to any of these elements, a light blue rectangle highlights the row, and when you click on any of the elements, the rectangle darkens, indicating that the row is selected. You can now move your mouse and the row will remain selected.
Using the Commands
The command bar contains the main commands and the command menu contains the main commands plus additional commands. Commands that are common to both menus can be used in either.
To use the command bar, simply select a page, if appropriate, by clicking on any of the elements in the row and then click on the relevant command in the command bar.
The command menu is accessed by right-clicking with your mouse. There are two alternative ways to activate and use the command menu.
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Alternative 1:
Select a page by clicking on any of the elements in the row, then right-click anywhere in the workspace to activate the command menu, and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
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Alternative 2:
Without first selecting a page row, point to and right-click on any of the elements in the row and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
When you point, the row is highlighted by a light blue rectangle and when you right-click, the rectangle darkens and the command menu appears.
Resizing Columns
The columns in the workspace can be resized by simply dragging the right column border to the appropriate size.
This function is useful when you have lengthy information inserted in either the Page or Title column, or have a smaller computer screen.
To resize a column:
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Point to the right-hand column border, click on it and keep your left mouse button held down.
When you point, your mouse pointer will change into a horizontal double-arrow, and when you click, a duplicate black column border will attach to your mouse pointer and move with it.
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Next, drag the black duplicate column border in either direction and then release your left mouse button in the position where you would like the repositioned border to appear.
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The new column border will now appear in the selected position.
Opening Pages
The Open page command allows you to open any page in the editing window. The selected page opens in a new window or tab in your browser and this window is referred to as the editing window.
The Open page command is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
To open a page, select the page and then click on the Open page command in the command bar or command menu.
As an alternative to the Open page command, you can also open a page by simply double-clicking on the page icon to the left of the page name. When you point to the page icon, a light blue rectangle highlights the row and when you double-click, the rectangle darkens, indicating that the row is selected.
When you click on the Open page command or double-click on the page icon, the page opens in the editing window.
Pages can be previewed and modified in the editing window. Working in the editing window is discussed in Working with Web Content (link).
Creating New Pages
Web pages are made up of a number of elements or components. Some of these originate in AdminCentral, while others are added in the editing window.
The elements, which are added in the editing window, are discussed in Working with Web Content (link). This section deals only with the elements added in AdminCentral.
In AdminCentral, there are four essential steps to creating new pages:
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Create the page;
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Name the page;
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Insert a page title;
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Select a page template.
Creating the Page
The New page command allows you to create new pages in AdminCentral and is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
The procedure for creating pages on all levels is identical, except that when creating a first-level page, no page should be selected, whereas when creating a subpage, the higher-level page should be selected.
To create a new first-level page, refresh the workspace to deselect all pages and then click on the New page command in the command bar or menu. Using the refresh command is discussed in Refreshing the Workspace.
When you click on the New page command, the workspace reloads and the new first-level page appears at the bottom of the list of current pages.
To create a new subpage, select the higher-level page that you would like to new page to be a subpage of and then click on the New page command in the command bar or menu.
When you click on the New page command, the workspace reloads and the new page appears at the bottom of the list of current subpages.
Once the new page is created, you can move it to another location in the page structure. How to move pages is discussed in Moving Pages.
If you create two or more pages directly after each other, Magnolia adds sequential numbers, starting with "0", at the end of the word "untitled" so that they can be easily identified.
Naming Pages
Page names are listed in the Page column of the workspace and can be changed by simply inserting a new name.
To change the name of a new page from "untitled", or to rename a current page:
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Double-click on the current page name.
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When you double-click, a white text box containing the current page name appears. In this text box, highlight the current page name.
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Next, insert a new name, by typing it in the text box.
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Once you have inserted your new page name, press the Enter key on your keyboard to save it. The window will reload and your page will now bear the new name that you assigned to it.
Magnolia uses the page name to create the URL of your web page. For more information about page names and permissible characters, please refer to About Pages - Page Names.
Inserting a Page Title
Page titles are listed in the Title column of the workspace and can be changed by simply inserting a new title.
When you first create a page, or if a current page has no title, there is a dash ( - ) in the title column of the page row.
To insert a title for a new page, or to change the title of a current page:
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Double-click on the dash, in the case of a new page, or on the current page title, if there is one.
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When you double-click, if the page does not have a current title, a blank white text box appears, and if the page does have a title, a white text box containing the current title appears. In this text box, highlight the current title, if any.
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Next, insert a new title by typing it in the text box.
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After you have inserted your new page title, press the Enter key on your keyboard to save it. The window will reload and your page will now bear the new title that you assigned to it.
The page title can be completely different from the page name.
Page titles are important as Magnolia by default, uses the title inserted in AdminCentral as the main title of web pages, in navigational menus, and in window and tab headings, unless you later change these in the editing window. Changing these elements is discussed in Working with Web Content (link).
Unlike page names, there are no disallowed characters for page titles. For more information about page titles, please refer to About Pages - Page Titles.
Selecting a Template
All pages are template-based.
There are a number of built-in sample templates in the demo-project and demo-features websites.
While creating a new page adds a new node to your website, the template you select specifies the way in which your web page displays.
The template attached to each is listed in the Template column of the workspace.
The available templates vary in accordance with the page level of the page. This is discussed in Working with Web Content - Page Templates (link).
When you create a page, the page template is selected automatically, but can be changed. For:
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first-level pages, the Home template is selected as this is the only template available for this level;
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second-level pages, the Section template is selected, but this can be changed to various other templates;
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Third- and lower-level pages, the template of the higher-level page is selected, but can be changed to various other templates.
To select a new template:
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Double-click on current template in the Template column.
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When you double-click, a drop-down box surrounding the current template name appears. Click on the down-arrow on the right-hand side of this box to access the list of options.
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Select a new template from the list by clicking on your choice.
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The new template will now appear in the template column.
You can change the template upon which any page is based by selecting a new template. This can be done at any stage, even after content has been added in the editing window.If the page contains content that is inappropriate for the new template type, this content will not display after the template is changed. The inappropriate content is stored and if you once again change the template type to one that can accommodate the content, it will once again display.
Copying Pages
It is possible to duplicate any on the existing pages in AdminCentral.
Pages are copied using the Copy page command, which is available in the command menu.
Duplicate pages can be positioned in any location within the page structure by simply dragging the duplicate page from the original location and dropping it in a new location.
Copy Page Command
To copy a page:
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Select the page and then click on the Copy page command in the command menu.
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When you click on the Copy page command, a duplicate page name and icon of the page you are copying, attaches to your mouse pointer. This icon will move with your pointer and you can now drag it to the location where you would like the duplicate page to appear in the page structure.
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To position the copied page between current pages, drag the duplicate page name and icon to the location that you would like it to appear in, and then click on the new location.
When you indicate with your mouse pointer to a possible location, a solid line appears, indicating that you are pointing to a possible location.
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When you click on the new location, the window reloads and the copied page appears in the selected location.
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To position the copied page as a subpage of a current page, drag the duplicate title and icon to the page that you would like the copied page to be a subpage of and click on the page name.
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When you click on the page name, the window reloads and the copied page displays as a subpage of the selected page.
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When positioning a page, if you indicate with your mouse pointer to any location that is not a possible location, a small "no-entry sign" appears over the duplicate page title and icon, indicating that the position that you have pointed to is not a possible location.
About Duplicate Pages
You can copy pages to and from any location in the page structure.
For example, it is possible to:
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Copy a main page and position the duplicate as a subpage of any other main page or lower-level page;
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Copy a subpage and position the duplicate as a main page.
When you copy a page:
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The page name of the copied page is normally identical to that of the original page name.
There is one exception to this rule. When the duplicate page is positioned on the same level, within the same page grouping, as the original page, an identifying numeral is added to the end of the page name.
For example, if you copy the demo-project page, which is a first-level page, and position the duplicate as a first-level page, the duplicate will be named, demo-project0. Similarly, it you copy the section_about page and position it within the same grouping and on the same level as the original, the duplicated will be named, section_about0.If you position any of these duplicate pages as a subpage, an identifying numeral is not added to the duplicate page name.
The screen shots below highlight the instances when an identifying numeral is added to the duplicated page name.
Numeral added
No numeral added
If you make more than one copy of an individual page, and position the copies in a manner that will add numerals to the page name, the numerals at the end of the duplicated pages names will be sequential, for example "home0,1,.2, 3 etc";
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Subpages of higher-level pages are also copied and the duplicate page will have identical subpages linked to it.
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Identifying numerals are only added, if applicable, to the page name of the actual page that is copied. Identifying numerals are not added to the page names of duplicated subpages of a higher-level page;
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The page title of the copied page and all subpages is identical to those of the originals;
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The template attached to the copied page and all subpages is identical to those of the originals;
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The modification date of the copied main page is the date of duplication, but the modification date of the any duplicated subpages is the modification date of the original subpages. The modification date of the original page/s remains unchanged;
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The content of the copied page and all subpages is identical to those of the originals.
To create the screenshot below, we copied the section_about page and positioned the duplicate on the same level directly below it. The similarities and discrepancies between the original page and the copied page are annotated.
Moving Pages
It is possible to move any on the existing pages in AdminCentral.
Pages are moved using the Move page command, which is available in the command menu.
Pages can be moved to any location within the page structure by simply dragging the page from the old location and dropping it in a new location.
For example, it is possible to:
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Move a main page and position it as a subpage of any other main page, or lower-level page, within the page structure;
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Move a subpage or lower-level page and position the duplicate as a main page.
When you move a page that has subpages, the subpages are also moved.
Moving Page Command
To move a page:
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Select the page and then click on the Move page command in the command menu.
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When you click on the Move page command, a duplicate page name and icon of the page you are moving, attaches to your mouse pointer. This icon will move with your pointer and you can now drag it to the location where you would like the duplicate page to appear in the page structure. In addition, a solid line is drawn through all the page elements to indicate that the page is in the process of moving.
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To position the moving page between current pages, drag the duplicate page name and icon to the location that you would like it to appear in, and then click on the new location.
When you indicate with your mouse pointer to a possible location, a solid line appears, indicating that you are pointing to a possible location.
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When you click on the new location, the window reloads and the moved page appears in the new location.
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To position the moving page as a subpage of a current page, drag the duplicate title and icon to the page that you would like the copied page to be a subpage of and click on the page name of the higher-level page.
While you are in the process of dragging the duplicate page name and icon, the original page row remains highlighted by a darker blue rectangle. When you point to the name of the page that you would like the moving page to be a subpage of, the page row of this page is highlighted by a lighter blue rectangle. This lighter blue rectangle indicates that you have located a possible location and will only appear when you point to the actual page name and not anywhere else along the page row.
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When you click on the page name, the window reloads and the moved page displays as a subpage of the selected page.
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When positioning a page, if you indicate with your mouse pointer to any location that is not a possible position, a small "no-entry sign" appears over the duplicate page title and icon, indicating that the position that you have pointed to is not a possible location.
Deleting Pages
Deletion is similar to other changes in that it requires approval. If an author decides to delete a page, the page is marked for deletion in AdminCentral and its template is changed to display a special "deletion" page with further options, instead of the original content. No further actions are taken. This way, an author can easily restructure a site and, once all activities are done, activate the changes. Authors can "undo" the deletion by restoring the previous version. If workflow is enabled, deletion creates a workitem which needs to be processed.
It is possible to restore the deleted page from a prior version. When you delete a parent page, its subpages are also deleted.
To delete a page:
- Select the page that you would like to delete and then click on the Delete page command in the menu.
- When you click on the Delete page command, a warning dialogue opens, advising you that the node or page will be marked for delection and deactivated and requesting that you confirm your choice. Click on the OK button to do so.
- When you click on the OK button, the workspace reloads and the deleted page is marked for deletion. Page status changes to modified (yellow icon) and the Deleted Page template is applied to the page. This template allows you to restore the deleted page if needed.
- To complete the deletion, activate the change (right-click > Activate Changes). If workflow is enabled, a workitem is created and sent to the Magnolia inbox. The workitem needs to be approved for the deletion to take effect.
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Name: page name;
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Date: date on which the page was activated. By default, the date is displayed in ascending order, with oldest version appearing in the first row and the newest in the last row; and
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User: user who activated each version of the page.
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Alternative 1:
Select the row of the version you would like to work on, then right-click anywhere within the highlighted row to activate the command menu, and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
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Alternative 2:
Without first selecting a row, point to and right-click anywhere within the row of the version that you would like to work on and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
When you point, the row is highlighted by a light blue rectangle and when you right-click, the rectangle darkens, indicating that the row is selected, and the command menu appears.
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Red: the page has not been activated or has been de-activated;
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Green: the page has been activated;
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Orange: the page has been activated, but has been modified since its last activation.
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Author instance: ;
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Public instance: .
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Activate this page command, which is available in both the command bar and the command menu; or
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Activate incl. sub pages command, which is available in the command menu.
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Name: page name of the page;
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User: user who created or last modified the page; and
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Title: page title.
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page names;
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page titles;
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page content;
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information inserted in the editing window in the Page Info dialog of each page when pages are created or amended. This is discussed in Working with Web Content - Setting Page Information (link).
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If you search for the search term "market", the results will include pages that contain both the words "markets" and "marketing";
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If you search for the search term "markets", the results will exclude pages that contain the word "market", and obviously also the word the word "marketing";
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If you search for the search term "marketing", the results will exclude pages that contain the words "market" and "markets".
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Alternative 1:
Select the row of the page you would like to work on, then right-click anywhere within the highlighted row to activate the command menu, and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
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Alternative 2:
Without first selecting a row, point to and right-click anywhere within the row of the version that you would like to work with and then click on the relevant command in the menu.
When you point the row is highlighted by a light blue rectangle and when you right-click, the rectangle darkens, indicating that the row is selected, and the command menu appears.
- In the Download text for translation area either enter the page path in the Start page field or select it from the tree by clicking on the Choose button. The start page is the parent page and all sub-pages will be included in the download file.
- Select the file format by choosing either the Excel (Xls) or Comma Seperated Values (CSV) option.
- Click Download file.
- Modification date of page.
- Key: message bundle key used by Magnolia to render the translated content.
- Link to page: page URL for easy access by the translator.
- Title: title of each content node.
- Default Language: default language text of each content node.
- Language: empty columns for each language configured for the site. German (de) in the example below.
- In the Upload translated texts area, select the file from your computer using the Browse function.
- Select the file format.
- Select Overwrite existing values to overwrite any current content.
- Select Import empty values if you do not want the default language content to render in the absence of translated content.
- Click Upload file.
When you delete a page that has subpages, the subpages and any sub-subpages are also deleted. If you do not want to delete the subpages, first copy or move them to another location before you delete the parent page. Copying and moving pages is discussed in Copying Pages and Moving Pages.
When you open a page that has been marked for deletion, the Page deleted template is displayed in place of the page content in the editing window. Links are provided to display or restore the page marked for deletion.
Click Show previous version to view the page content.
Restoring deleted pages
Click Restore previous version or Restore previous version incl. sub pages, to restore the content as it was prior to marking for deletion. You will be returned to AdminCentral where the page(s) are restored to their previous status.
You can also restore individual pages marked for deletion in the Versions dialog by clicking the Restore command.
Page Versions
Magnolia has built-in page versioning, which automatically saves previous versions of you web pages and allows you to revert to previous versions, if necessary.
This functionality is extremely useful in many instances, for example, when you want to display a different version of a page for a defined period, or if you simply decide that, you prefer a previous edition.
There is an important difference between saving pages and activating pages. Magnolia stores the versions of a page that have been activated, i.e. published to the public instance/s, but does not store a different version of a page each time it is saved. Until you activate a page, it is not available as a distinct version.
The standard installation of Magnolia is configured to store the ten most recent versions of a page.
Page versions are accessed using the Versions command.
Versions Command
The Versions command is available in the command menu.
To access previous versions of a page, select the page and then click on the Versions command in the menu.
When you click on the Versions command, the Versions workspace opens in a new window.
Versions Workspace
The versions of the selected page display in the Versions workspace.
Like in the normal Website workspace, the Versions workspace has its own set of commands, which are available in the command bar at the bottom of the workspace, and in the command menu, which is accessed by right-clicking with your mouse. There are two commands in the Versions workspace: Show and Restore.
The page information area of the workspace has three columns:
To the right of the columns, there is a gray panel, which facilitates different grouping options.
Grouping Options
By default, the page versions in the Versions workspace display in ascending date order. The gray panel to the right is used to group or sort the page version to the second level.
The first grouping level is by User, and the link, appears beneath the "Group by" category heading.
To sort your pages by User, click on the User link and the versions workspace will reload to display the pages grouped by User.
The second grouping level headed, "Sort within a Group by", allows you to group your pages, within the first sorting level, by date.
To sort by date, click on the Date link and the Search workspace will reload to display your files grouped first by User, and then by Date in ascending order.
Using the Commands
Two commands, Show and Restore, are available in the Versions workspace and are both available in the command bar and the command menu. You can use the commands in either menu.
To use the command bar, select the row of the version you would like to work on and then click on the relevant command in the command bar.
The command menu is activated by right-clicking with your mouse. There are two alternative ways to activate and use the command menu:
In the normal Website workspace, after selecting a row, you can then right-click anywhere in the workspace to activate the command menu and the original row will remain selected. This procedure differs slightly in the Versions workspace. In the Versions workspace, after selecting a row, it is necessary to right-click within the blue rectangle highlighting the selected row to activate the command menu. The reason for the difference is that, in the Versions workspace, when you point anywhere within a specific row, the row is highlighted by a light blue rectangle, whereas in the normal Website workspace a row is only highlighted by a light blue rectangle when you point to one of the actual row elements.
Show Command
The Show command allows you to view a particular version in your browser. When you click on the Show command, the page opens in a new window.
The Show command is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
To view a version, select the page version and then click on the Show command in the command bar or menu.
When you click on the Show command, the page will open in a new window in your browser where you can view the selected page version.
You can open multiple versions of the page in different tabs or windows at the same time. This allows for easy comparison of the different versions. To open a further version simply select it and click on the Show command.
Restore Command
The Restore command restores the selected page version as the available version in the Website workspace.
The Restore command is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
To restore the selected version, select the page version and then click on the Restore button in the command bar or menu.
When you click on the Restore command, a message dialog opens advising you that the selected version has successfully been restored as the page version available in the Website workspace. Click on the OK button to complete the action.
If you open the restored page in AdminCentral, the selected version of your page will be displayed in the editing window.
Comparing versions
In the Versions dialog, the Compare with current and Compare with previous commands allow you to compare different versions of the page in a preview window.
When you click either of these commands, the page opens and the changes are clearly visible. Deletions are highlighted in red and marked with strikethrough, while additions are highlighted in green.
If workflow is enabled, when an editor requests the activation of a page, the publisher can compare the proposed amendments to the current version by clicking on Compare versions link in the Edit Workitem dialog. This dialog is accessed by editing a workitem in the Inbox.
When you click on this link, the page opens in a preview window and the changes are highlighted and clearly visible.
Refreshing the Workspace
The Refresh command allows you to refresh or reload the workspace.
While the workspace reloads automatically after using most commands, this added function can be extremely useful. For instance, when you want to deselect all pages, or when a number of subpages are expanded and you would like to collapse them all simultaneously.
The Refresh command is available in the command bar.
To use the Refresh command, simply click on the Refresh command and the workspace will reload.
When the page has refreshed, only first-level page/s display in the workspace and all previously expanded pages collapse.
Activating and De-activating Pages
About Activation
In a typical Magnolia installation, there is a single author instance and one or more public instances.
The author instance allows you to manage, edit and create your content in a separate and non-public environment. Until a page is activated or made public, your amendments are only visible to other editors and role-players within your organization. Your actual website is in the public instance/s of Magnolia. This separation allows you to edit content at your own pace, and to make it available, or publish it, whenever you like.
Activation is the process of publishing your content. Magnolia simply copies pages from the author instance to the public instance/s.
Whether your page/s will be activated immediately or not will depend on the modules of Magnolia that are installed and the procedures relevant in your organization.
If the Workflow module is installed, you may have to wait for someone else, typically a publisher, to approve your activation. If the Workflow module is not installed, your pages will be activated immediately.
The activation status of each page is indicated in the Status column of the workspace.
There are three possible indicators:
Once activated, you can view your pages in the Public instance of Magnolia.
In many instances the page URL of the page in the author instance will correspond to that of the public instance, save for the substitution of the word "Public" for "Author" where appropriate.
For example, the URLs for the "demo-project" Home page in the Author and Public instances could be:
Pages are activated using, either the:
As the name implies, the Activate this page command facilitates the activation of a single page, whereas the Activate incl. sub pages command allows you to activate multiple pages in a single action.
The use of these commands is discussed below in Activating Single Pages and Activating Multiple Pages.
About De-activation
Deactivation is the process of removing your pages from the public instance/s so that they are no longer visible on your website.
When you de-activate a page, Magnolia removes it from the public instance/s, i.e. from your website/s. If a single page appears in more than one place in your site/s it will be removed from all places. However, the page will still be available in AdminCentral in the author instance for further use.
There is a difference between de-activating and deleting pages. When you delete a page in AdminCentral, Magnolia will first automatically de-activate it and remove it from the public instance/s. While when you de-activate a page, it will only be removed from the public instance/s, but will still be available in AdminCentral.
Activating Single Pages
Single pages are activated using the Activate this page command, which is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
If you activate a page that contains subpages, the subpages will not automatically be activated.
To activate a single page, select the page that you would like to activate and then click on the Activate this page command in the command bar or menu.
If the Workflow module is not running on your installation, when you click on the Activate this page command, your page will be activated immediately and the indicator in the Status column in the workspace will change from red to green.
If the Workflow module is running on your installation, notification of your activation will be sent to the appropriate person in the workflow chain of your organization. In this instance, when you click on the Activate this page command, the Magnolia Edit dialog opens.
The Edit dialog contains a single function area: Activation.
In the Comment field, insert an appropriate comment to accompany your activation request, and then click on the Save button in the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog.
After you click on the Save button, the Edit window closes returning you to workspace, which will reload. Once the workspace has reloaded, a message dialog will open advising you that the workflow process is in progress and that the relevant person has been notified. Click on the OK button to close the dialog.
The details of the activation request appear in the Inbox workspace of the person responsible for approving the request.
Once your activation request is approved, the status indicator in the workspace will change from red to green.
Working in the Inbox workspace is discussed in Inbox Workspace (link).
Activating Multiple Pages
It is possible to activate a higher-level page and all its subpages simultaneously using the Activate incl. sub pages command, which is available in the command menu.
When you use this command the subpages of higher-level page are activated simultaneously, and also any subpages of subpages, i.e. third- and lower-level pages.
To activate multiple pages, select the higher-level page that you would like to activate and then click on the Activate incl. sub pages command in the command menu.
If the Workflow module is not running on your installation, when you click on the Activate incl. sub pages command, your page will be activated immediately and the indicators in the Status column in the workspace will change from red to green.
If the Workflow module is running on your installation, notification of your activation will be sent to the appropriate person in the workflow chain of your organization. In this instance, when you click on the Activate this page command, the Edit dialog opens. The Edit dialog contains a single function area: Activation.
In the Comment field of the Activation area, insert an appropriate comment to accompany your activation request, and then click on the Save button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
After you click on the Save button, the Edit window closes returning you to the workspace, which will reload. Once the workspace has reloaded, a message dialog opens advising you that the workflow process is in progress and that the relevant person has been notified. Click on the OK button to close the dialog.
The details of the activation request appear in the Inbox workspace of the person responsible for approving the request.
Once your activation request is approved, the status indicators in the workspace will change from red to green.
Working in the Inbox workspace is discussed in Inbox Workspace (link).
De-activating Pages
Pages are de-activated using the De-activate command which is available in both the command bar and the command menu.
Unlike the activation process, it is not possible to de-activate a single higher-level page without also de-activating the subpages. When you de-activate a higher-level page, all of the subpages are also de-activated.
To de-activate a page, select the page that you would like to de-activate and then click on the De-activate button or select De-activate from context menu.
When you click on the De-activate command, a workflow dialog is displayed. Deactivation is a workflow process just like activation if workflow is enabled. Fill in the workflow dialog and click OK. A workitem is sent to the Magnolia Inbox.
Process the workitem from the Inbox. The selected page and all subpages, will be de-activated immediately and the status indicator in the Status column will change from green to red.
Modifying Activated Pages
When you modify elements of a page in AdminCentral, the activation status in of the page remains unchanged. For example, if you change the page name, title or template, the status of an activated page will remain activated.
When you modify the content of an activated page in the editing window, the activation status is affected. Modifications to an activated page in the editing window cause the activation status of the page in AdminCentral to change from green to orange, indicating that the page has been modified since its last activation.
In order for any modifications, both in AdminCental and in the editing window, to display in the public instance, it is necessary to once again activate the page. The fact that the page status remains unchanged when modifications are made in AdminCentral, does not cause the changes to be reflected in the public instance.
Search Function
General
Magnolia has a built-in search function, which allows you to search through the content of your pages. The search function is very useful for locating specific pages or information, especially when your site is large and contains many pages.
The search box is located in the bottom right-hand corner of the workspace.
To use this function, type a search term in the search box and then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
When you enter and search term, the workspace reloads to display the Search workspace in which all of the pages containing the search term are listed.
Layout
The Search workspace is divided into two sections; the page information is listed in columns in the left-hand side of the window and the grey panel to the right offers grouping and sorting options.
There are three columns containing page information:
The addition of the User column in the Search workspace, which is not displayed in the normal workspace, can be extremely useful in locating a specific page.
Grouping Options
In the grey panel, on the right-hand side of the columns, there are links, which facilitate grouping and sorting options. This panel can be used to group or sort the pages in the search results and offers hierarchical sorting or grouping options to the second level.
The first grouping level is by user, and the link, which facilitates this, appears beneath the "Group by:" category heading.
To group your pages by user, click on the User link and the Search workspace will reload to display the pages grouped by User.
The second grouping level headed, "Sort within a Group by", offers you the choice to sort your pages, within the first grouping level, by either page name or title.
To sort by page name, click on the Name link and the Search workspace will reload to display your pages grouped first by user, and then alphabetically by page name.
To sort by page title, click on the Title link and the Search workspace will reload to display your pages grouped first by User, and then by alphabetically by page title.
Search Levels
Magnolia's search function operates simultaneously on four levels. Before returning your search results, the search function searches through:
Choosing Search Terms
The search function works in much the same way as many others, that you are no doubt already familiar with, do. A good example would be a basic Google search.
Choosing the right search term is the key to finding the information that you are looking for and it is always best to be as specific as you can. If you are unsure of the precise page that you are searching for, you can always start with a broad search term and later narrow it down by including additional search terms.
The sections below detail the basic rules for searching.
Capitalization
Searches are not case-specific. Regardless of the case in which you enter the search term, or the case in which the search term appears in the page name, title, content or related information, the page will be included in the search results.
For example, if you were to enter the term "nEWs", the search function would still return all results, which contain the term "news", "News" or "NEWS".
Multiple Search Terms
Multiple search terms can be included and are useful in narrowing down your search. When you enter multiple search terms the search function searches for pages that contain only all of the terms. The more terms you enter, the more you will narrow down your search.
Specific Phrases
You can search for a specific phrase. If you can recall the exact phrase, place it in quotation marks and the search results will contain only those pages that contain the exact phrase. If you cannot recall the exact phrase, include as many terms as you can, but in this instance omit the quotation marks.
Excluding Terms
You can exclude pages containing specific terms by using a minus sign (-).
For example, if you enter the words "news -website", your search results will include all files containing the word "news", excluding those that additionally contain the word "website". When using the minus sign, include a space before the minus sign, but exclude a space after it.
Common Words Excluded
The search function automatically excludes common words, such as "and", "where" and "how", so it is unnecessary to include these terms.
For example, if you insert the words "news and workspace" or "news workspace", your search results will be identical because the word "and" is automatically be excluded.
Including Common Words
It may on occasion, be necessary to include common words, which are automatically excluded by the search function. If this is the case, you can include them by using the plus (+) sign.
If, for example, you would like, to find all pages containing the words "news" and "how", insert "news +how" into the search box. When using the plus sign, include a space before the plus sign, but exclude a space after it.
Word Variations
The search function automatically includes natural extensions or derivatives of words, but does not include word shortenings.
If you search for the singular of a word, the plural will automatically be included, but only if it is an extension of the singular. For example, singular: "market", plural: "markets". If the plural is not an extension of the singular, it will not be included. For example, singular "goose", plural "geese".
The word "market", its plural "markets" and a derivative of it "marketing", provides a good example:
Search Workspace Commands
The Search workspace contains a separate set of commands, which are relevant to conducting searches and working with pages in the search results.
There are two commands, Open page and Show in Navigation, which are available in both the command bar and the command menu. You can use the commands in either menu. As both of the commands are page-specific, they will only be clearly visible and active when you select a specific page.
Using the Commands
To use the command bar, simply select the row of the page you would like to work on and then click on the relevant command in the command bar.
The command menu is activated by right-clicking with your mouse. There are two alternative ways to activate and use the command menu:
In the normal Website workspace, after selecting a row, you can then right-click anywhere in the workspace to activate the command menu and the original row will remain selected. This procedure differs slightly in the Search workspace. In the Search workspace, after selecting a row, it is necessary to right-click within the blue rectangle highlighting the selected row to activate the command menu. The reason for the difference is that, in the Search workspace, when you point anywhere within a specific row, the row is highlighted by a light blue rectangle, whereas in the normal Website workspace a row is only highlighted by a light blue rectangle when you point to one of the actual row elements.
Open Page Command
The Open Page command opens the selected page in the editing window. This command is common to the Search workspace and the normal Website workspace and functions in the same way in both.
To open a page, select the page and then click on the Open page command in the command bar or menu.
As an alternative to the Open page command, you can also open the page by simply double-clicking on the page icon to the left of the page name.
When you click on the Open page command or double-click on the page icon, the page opens in the editing window where you can fully review its contents.
Working in the editing window is discussed in Working with Web Content (link).
Show in Navigation Command
The Show in navigation command allows you to view the page in its position within the navigational page structure. When you click on the Show in navigation command, the window reloads to display the normal workspace and the selected page is highlighted within the navigational structure.
To show the page in navigation, select the page and then click on the Show in navigation command in the command bar or menu.
When you click on the Show in navigation command, the window reloads to display the normal workspace, where the page selected in the Search workspace is highlighted within the page structure.
Translating content
Magnolia allows you to export and import page content in a translation-friendly format. With Tools > Content Translation you can export page content to CSV or Excel format. Content is exported in the default language and columns for translations are provided. You can then send the Excel sheet to your translators and import the translated content back.
Alternatively, you can create a multi-step approval workflow that includes automated export of your content. Export formats are pluggable and can easily be extended to support any custom format you might need.
The Excel file includes a link to each page on the published site to make it easy for translator to see the text in context.
Exporting content for translation
To access the content translation tool, open Tools > Content Translation in the main menu in AdminCentral.
To download a file for translation:
The download file contains four standard columns (or comma separated headings):
The translator(s) now has ready access to all necessary information and can simply include the translation in the provided column(s).
Once the translated content has been inserted into the column(s), you can upload the file to populate all of the content nodes.
Uploading a translated file
After uploading, when you open the page and select the language that corresponds to the newly translated content (German (de) in this example) in the selector box in mainBar, the fields are populated with the translated content from the uploaded file.
