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Typographic conventions
The following typographic conventions are used in this guide:
Bold
User Interface elements
Mono-spaced font
Text the user types
Introduction
Alfresco Web Content Management (WCM) is a content management system for your websites
and web applications. It allows you to create, develop, and maintain your source code all within
one repository.
Alfresco recommends you download the Enterprise Trial and walk through this guided tutorial
to familiarize yourself with the features. Refer to the user help provided with the application for
information on using all WCM features.
Additional resources
Alfresco recommends you review and keep up-to-date on the latest information regarding our
WCM offering on our Developer Wiki.
To bookmark this page for easy reference, use the following link: http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/
Web_Content_Management.
Get started
The Getting Started with Alfresco Web Content Management tutorial introduces the basic
WCM concepts to accompany the download of Alfresco Explorer ECM (Enterprise Content
Management). It demonstrates how to set up and configure Explorer for managing a website and
showcases a sample web publishing scenario.
Scenario
For this tutorial, you will be walking through the following scenario.
You will:
• Create web forms
• Create the web project
• Import content into the new project
• Create web content – from a web form
• Create web content – from a web form with templates
• Submit the content
• Perform a content review
• Publish the website
• Roll back to a previous version
Log in
Log in to Alfresco Explorer using the default credentials.
1. Type the following on the login page:
a. Username: admin
b. Password: admin
2. Click Login.
In the next task, you will associate these web forms with your web project.
1. In Explorer, navigate to Company Home > Data Dictionary > Web Forms and select
Create Web Form in the Create menu.
The Create Web Form Wizard opens.
2. Complete each page of the wizard as follows, clicking Next to move to the next step.
Step One – Web Form Details
Use the Browse button to locate and upload the file company-footer.xsd from
\alfresco-wcm-examples-3.3\examples\getting-started-sample in the location to
which you extracted the tutorial sample files. This populates several boxes on this page.
Title
Company Profile Form
Description
This form provides a summary overview of a company. These summaries are included
in press releases.
Output path
${name}.xml
Select No not now. This step allows you to create a default workflow for content
generated by this web form across all projects. You’ll configure workflow locally when you
create your web project.
Summary
Review the summary screen, which should look like the following:
3. Click Finish. The new web form, company-footer, appears as a space in the Web Forms
space.
You will now create the second web form.
4. In the Web Forms space, select Create Web Form in the Create menu.
5. Again, complete each screen as follows, clicking Next to move to the next step.
Step One – Web Form Details
Use the Browse button to locate and upload the file press-release.xsd from \alfresco-
wcm-examples-3.3\examples\getting-started-sample in the location to which you
extracted the tutorial sample files.
Title
Press Release Form
Description
This form is used to create press releases for www, including both HTML and printer-
friendly versions.
Output path
${name}.xml
Use the Browse button to locate and upload the file press-release.xsl from \alfresco-
wcm-examples-3.3\examples\getting-started-sample. Again, this populates several
boxes on the page.
Rendering Engine
XSLT
Title
Press Release HTML Template
Description
This template pre-generates an HTML page for www.
Rendition mimetype
HTML
Output path
${name}.${extension}
To associate a second template with the form, remain in Step Two and use the Browse
button again and upload the file press-release-plain-text.ftl from the same location. Use
the following information to complete the page:
Rendering Engine
FreeMarker
Title
Press Release Plain Text Template
Description
This template pre-generates a printer-friendly version to be linked from the press
release HTML page.
Rendition mimetype
Plain Text
Output path
${name}.${extension}
Summary
Review the summary screen, which should look like the following:
6. Click Finish.
The new web form, press-release, appears as a space in the Web Forms space.
1. Navigate to Company Home > Web Projects and select Create Web Project in the
Create menu to open the Create Web Project Wizard.
2. Complete each page of the wizard as follows, clicking Next to move to the next step.
Step One – Web Project Details
Use the following information to complete the page:
Name
alfrescosample
DNS name
alfrescosample
Title
Alfresco WWW
Description
Web Project to evaluate Alfresco Explorer features.
Type
Live Server
Host
localhost
Port
44100
Username
admin
Password
admin
Click Add.
Click Add to List to the right of each web form to select them to be used with this project.
The web forms appear in the Selected Web Content Forms section and you must edit the
details for each.
• Click Web Form Details for Company Profile Form and set the Output path
pattern to /${webapp}/media/releases/content/${name}.xml.
•
Click OK. Notice the attention icon next to the workflow: .
This indicates a workflow has been selected but not configured. Click Configure
Workflow for this form. Search for and select the user Mark, then click Add to List.
Click OK.
• Click Web Form Details for Press Release Form and set the Output path pattern
to /${webapp}/media/releases/content/${name}.xml.
• For the Press Release Form web form, you must specify how each template
associated with the form will generate web content. Click Configure Templates
for this form and set the Output path pattern to /${webapp}/media/releases/
content/${name}.${extension} for both templates.
• Click OK.
Selecting workflow in this step sets workflow for the web project as a whole. All content in
the project not generated via a web form follows the workflow configured here. As you are
only creating content using web forms in this tutorial, there is no need to select a workflow
option in this step.
Using the search feature provided, locate and select the user Mark. Select Content
Manager as the role for this user and click Add to List.
Review the summary screen, which should look like the following:
3. Click Finish.
The new web project, alfrescosample, appears in the Web Projects space.
Completing the wizard automatically creates a source repository, called a Staging
Sandbox, and a set of development repositories, called user sandboxes. There is one user
sandbox for each user invited to work on the project, as well as an administrator sandbox.
The sandbox view appears displaying the staging and user sandboxes.
Each user sandbox contains the existing web project content. The sandbox labelled My
Sandbox belongs to the currently logged on user (in this case, the administrator).
As the administrator, you have access to the sandboxes of all users associated with
the web project. By default, only the Staging Sandbox and your user sandbox display;
however, you can select the option Show All Sandboxes in this view to display all
sandboxes available to you.
2. In your user sandbox, click Browse Website to display the user sandbox, which is empty.
3. Select Bulk Import in the Create menu.
4. Use the Browse button to locate and upload the file alfresco-sample-website.war from
\alfresco-wcm-examples-3.3\examples\getting-started-sample in the location to
which you extracted the tutorial sample files. Once uploaded, click OK to begin the import.
The .war file, which you imported into the current directory (the ROOT web app), appears
in expanded form in your user sandbox.
10. Refresh the page as necessary until the Modified Items list is empty. In the Staging
Sandbox, expand the Recent Snapshots list to view the snapshot you have created.
1. In your user sandbox, expand the Web Forms list, which contains the two web forms you
created: Company Profile Form and Press Release Form.
2. Select the action Create Content associated with the Company Profile Form web form.
Name
Alfresco
Body
Alfresco is the leading open source alternative for enterprise content management.
It is the first company to bring the power of open source to the enterprise content
management market, enabling unprecedented scale and a much lower total cost of
ownership than proprietary systems. Founded by a team of content management
veterans that includes the co-founder of Documentum, John Newton, and former
COO of Business Objects, John Powell, Alfresco is based in London. For more
information, visit www.alfresco.com.
c. Summary
Review the summary screen, which should look like the following:
Note that you are creating the content item Alfresco.xml to be stored in the location
/ROOT/media/releases/content, which was specified when you created the
Company Profile Form web form.
As we no longer need to work on this asset, select the option to Submit Alfresco.xml
when wizard finishes to speed up publication. This saves you from initiating a
separate submission process.
4. Click Finish.
The Submit Items page appears where you enter the following details regarding the
submission:
Label
Alfresco Profile
Description
Added Alfresco profile
5. Click OK. You return to the Staging Sandbox. Expand the Modified Items list to view the
newly created and submitted content item: Alfresco.xml.
Remember that the web form used to create this content item was defined with a
workflow dictating that all generated content was to be assigned to Mark, the Content
Manager, for approval. Upon submission, the content item was routed through its defined
workflow, which promoted it for editorial review. This action locked the item to prevent the
administrative user from modifying it underneath the reviewer and potentially having the
wrong set of changes approved and promoted to staging.
6. Repeat this process to create three more content items using the Company Profile Form
web form. In each case, submit the content to staging on the Summary page.
Profile #2
Name
InterDoc
Name
InterDoc
Body
InterDoc is a leader in the Enterprise Content Management field that provides
business solutions to enable operational efficiency of critical business processes. The
company has decades of experience in improving operational efficiency for commercial
enterprises and government organizations and has used this experience to create a
new generation of software solutions based on a core of open source software. For
more information, visit www.interdoc.com.
Label (Submit)
InterDoc Profile
Description (Submit)
Added InterDoc profile
Profile #3
Name
Easypress
Name
Easypress
Body
Easypress Technologies (www.easypress.com) provides software for converting
content between XML and QuarkXPress. Its flagship products include Atomik
Roundtrip(TM), which provides full bidirectional XML support for QuarkXPress;
Atomik Xport(TM), which provides automated QuarkXPress-to-XML conversion; and
Atomik Import(TM), which provides flexible import of XML content into QuarkXPress
documents. Easypress Technologies is an operating division of EvolvedGroup Limited
and is headquartered in Guildford, UK.
Label (Submit)
Easypress Profile
Description (Submit)
Added Easypress profile
Profile #4
Name
World Economic Forum
Name
World Economic Forum
Body
The World Economic Forum (http://www.weforum.org), based in Geneva, Switzerland,
is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded
by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the
spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and
social progress.
Label (Submit)
World Economic Forum Profile
Description (Submit)
Added World Economic Forum profile
7. In the Staging Sandbox, expand the Modified Items list to view all four newly created and
submitted profiles.
The additional three content items are locked as they, like the first item, were promoted for
editorial review upon submission. Until approved or rejected, these items are available only
for preview.
1. Return to the Web Forms list in your user sandbox and select the action Create Content
associated with the Press Release Form web form.
The Create Web Content Wizard opens.
2. Complete each page of the wizard as follows, clicking Next to move to the next step.
a. Step One – Web Content Details
Enter WorldEconomicForum_Tech_Pioneer as the Name.
b. Step Two – Author Web Content
The fields and controls presented in this step are dictated by the selected web form.
Use the following information to complete the page:
Title
World Economic Forum Announces Technology Pioneers 2007
Abstract
Alfresco selected by leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic
Forum
Location
LONDON
Body #1
The World Economic Forum today announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007.
Alfresco Software has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. The
Technology Pioneers were nominated by the world’s leading venture capital and
technology companies.
Click beneath the Body text box to add an additional control for the second
paragraph.
Body #2
“We are proud to have won this award recognizing Alfresco’s technology, the
global power of open source and the importance of managing content in economic
development,” said John Newton. “We hope to use the opportunities created by
this award to gain greater visibility to how information can help solve some of the
world’s most pressing problems and how sharing and retaining knowledge can
level the playing field for companies outside of the developed world.”
Include Company Footer #1
World Economic Forum
Click beneath the Include Company Footer box to add a second footer option.
Category
Company
Launch Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
Expiration Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
c. Summary
Review the summary screen, which should look like the following:
Note that you are creating multiple items: the XML version as well as an HTML and
a Plain Text rendition of the content. All versions will be stored in the location /ROOT/
media/releases/content, which was specified when you created the Press Release
Form web form. Unlike the company profile content, do not submit this press release
to staging.
3. Click the Preview icon next to the generated HTML page to see the virtualized view of the
website with the pending changes. At the bottom of the generated HTML page, click view
plain text version to check the link to the generated text file. Also, click the News link in
the submenu to see that the JSP index page now has a link to the to-be-published content.
If any changes need to be made, you can click the Back button in the wizard to modify and
then regenerate the content.
4. Click Finish. When you are returned to the sandbox view, expand the Modified Items list
in your sandbox to see the three new content items generated from this web form.
Note that because these content items have not been submitted, several additional actions
are available for them.
5. Repeat this process to create two more press releases using this web form. Again, do not
submit the content.
Press Release #2
Name
Easypress_OEM
Title
Alfresco and Easypress Technologies announce OEM Agreement for Atomik Dynamic
Publisher, powered QuarkXPress Server 7
Abstract
Alfresco and Easypress Technologies announce ground-breaking Collaborative
Publishing
Location
LONDON
Body #1
Alfresco, the first and leading provider of an open source enterprise content
management solution, today announced an OEM agreement to support the launch of
Easypress Technologies’ new Atomik® Dynamic Publisher product, which works in
conjunction with the new QuarkXPress® Server 7 from Quark.
Category
Company
Launch Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
Expiration Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
Press Release #3
Name
InterDoc_Alfresco_Solution
Title
InterDoc Chooses Alfresco to Deliver Solution for the Government of Quebec
Abstract
Alfresco continues Government Momentum in Canada
Location
LONDON
Body #1
Alfresco Software Inc., the first provider of an open source enterprise content
management solution, today announced that it has been chosen by InterDoc to create
a new regulatory government solution for customers including the government of
Quebec.
Include Company Footer #1
InterDoc
Include Company Footer #2
Alfresco
Include Media Contacts
Yes
Category
Company
Launch Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
Expiration Date
Select any date. This will not be used in the tutorial.
6. In your user sandbox, expand the Modified Items list to view the nine new content items.
7. Select Preview Website in your user sandbox. In the website preview, select About Us
and then News. The JSP page displays a dynamic view of the website as it is staged in
your sandbox. Test all three links to the newly created press release web pages. When
done, close the preview.
8. Now select Preview Website in the Staging Sandbox. In the website preview, select
About Us and then News to confirm that the new web pages are only available in the user
sandbox. Close the preview.
Approve content
With all of your web project content created, you can now address the items assigned for editorial
review as part of the defined workflow.
1. Log out as the administrative user and log in as Mark, the Content Manager (mark, demo).
In the My Tasks To Do list on Mark's dashboard, notice the four outstanding review tasks,
one for each of the company profiles you created.
2. For the Interdoc profile, click Added Interdoc profile to open the Manage Task: Review
page.
3. Click Approve.
4. Approve the Added Easypress profile and Added World Economic Forum profile
tasks in the same manner.
For the Alfresco profile, you can work through the process of rejecting and resubmitting an
item for approval.
5. Open the Added Alfresco profile task and type Please shorten description and
update. Click Reject.
Once rejected, the serial workflow defined reassigns the item as a task to the user who
originally submitted it—in this case, the administrative user.
6. Log out as Mark and log in as the administrator (admin, admin).
7. Open the task in the administrator’s My Tasks To Do list and note the comment in the
Workflow History list.
8. After reviewing the changes Mark requires in order to approve the content, click the Edit
action ( ) for Alfresco.xml in the Resources section to open the Edit Web Content
Wizard.
9. In the Body text editor box, remove the last sentence and click Next.
Notice on the Summary page that the option to auto-submit upon completion is not
present, as the content has already been submitted.
10. Click Finish. In the Comment box, type Removed last sentence and updated, then
click Resubmit for Review.
11. Log out as the administrator and log in as Mark again.
In Mark's task list, notice the (2) next to the task description. This number represents the
current review cycle for this content submission.
12. Open and approve the task to promote the item to staging.
13. Log out as Mark and log in as the administrator one last time.
14. Within the alfrescosample project, expand the Recent Snapshots list in the Staging
Sandbox.
This final promotion to staging releases the lock on the item and creates a new snapshot in
the Staging Sandbox.
Submit content
With the website content now complete, we need to confirm how these changes will look within
the website. To do this, you promote the content items from your user sandbox to the Staging
Sandbox.
Though you will submit all items at once, you do have the option to submit a single item or a
group of selected items.
1. In your user sandbox, expand the Modified Items list to display the content items you
created.
With the company profiles already submitted, your user sandbox now contains only the
nine press releases.
2. Click Submit All and, on the Submit Items page, provide the information that will display
as the name and description of the corresponding snapshot in staging:
a. Label: Launch Press Releases
b. Description: Major new awards, customers, and OEM, and agreements
3. Click OK.
Again, the submission is processed in the background. Each content items remain in the
Modified Items list until its submission is complete.
4. After a few moments, refresh the page to see the empty Modified Items list in your user
sandbox. Expand the Recent Snapshots list in the Staging Sandbox to see the submitted
content: Launch Press Releases.
Now that the press releases have been committed to staging, you can deploy, or publish,
the snapshot to ensure your audience can see the content.
1. In the Staging Sandbox, locate the Initial Import snapshot (version 3) and select the
Deploy icon: .
2. On the Deploy Snapshot page, confirm the selection of the remote target server,
localhost, and click OK.
3. Close the Monitor Deployment page once the snapshot is successfully deployed. In the
Recent Snapshots list, note that version 3 is listed as being LIVE.
4. Click View Deployments to review the deployment report. Click Close to return to the
Staging Sandbox where you can deploy another version of the website.
5. Expand the Recent Snapshots list again and deploy the most recent snapshot, Launch
Press Releases (version 8). Again, confirm the target server and click OK.
6. In the Recent Snapshots list, confirm that version 8 is currently the live version of the site.
1. In the Staging Sandbox, expand the Recent Snapshots list and click the Revert action,
, for version 3 – Initial Import.
This creates a new snapshot, version 9 – Reverted to Version 3.
Note that while this is a new version of the site, no content has been duplicated in the
repository; the new version is simply a new entry in the history chain noting that an older
version has been pulled forward.
Since all sandboxes in the web project are baselined off the current view of staging, each
user instantly has an updated content for previewing and editing. Within the tutorial, this
means that the profiles and press releases no longer exist.
2. Enter your user sandbox (My Sandbox) and navigate to /media/releases/content. The
content items you created as you worked through the tutorial were stored here; it is now
empty.
3. Similarly, click Preview Website in your user sandbox and select the submenu News in
the sample website to see that this page is back to its original blank state.
If you continue to see a list of press releases, simply refresh your cache.
Summary
This concludes our walkthrough of the basic Web Content Management functionality in Alfresco
Community Edition 3.3.
To learn more about the capabilities provided in this release, please visit our wiki.