User interface

The user interface provides navigation, access to content, and a working area. The user interface includes three main areas: the toolbar, the sidebar, and the working area.

Toolbar The toolbar contains a navigation area with buttons that lead to the various spaces: Company Home, My Home, Guest Home, and My Alfresco. Sidebar The sidebar appears to the left of the working area and can contain one of four features: Navigator, Shelf, OpenSearch, and Categories. The sidebar defaults to the Navigator. Working area The working area is a dynamic area displaying items relevant to the selected space and the task you are performing. My Alfresco Dashboard The My Alfresco Dashboard is a configurable area where you can select from a list of pre-configured layouts and components to construct your own page.

Getting around in Alfresco

Once familiar with the user interface features of Alfresco, it is important to know how to use them to perform standard tasks, such as navigating the spaces, configuring the Alfresco interface, and performing searches.

Navigating spaces The Navigator enables you to easily navigate the spaces in the Alfresco repository. Changing the space appearance You can set the preferred view for displaying spaces and content in the working area. Using the clipboard In the Shelf view of the sidebar, expand the Clipboard to view and use Alfresco content that has been collected using the Cut and Copy actions. Using shortcuts In the Shelf view of the sidebar, expand Shortcuts to display the shortcuts to spaces and/or content items that you have created. Shortcuts can save you time navigating the repository in search of spaces and content you use often. Finding content and spaces The search bar on the right side of the toolbar enables you to quickly perform both basic and advanced searches.

Uploading content from your computer

Upload content from your computer to a space in the Alfresco repository. 1. Navigate to the space to which you want to upload a file. The space header displays the name and details of the space where the uploaded file will reside. 2. In the space header, click Add Content. 3. On the Add Content page, click Browse. 4. Locate the file on your computer that you want to upload and click Open. A message informs you that your upload was successful. 5. Verify the General Properties information and click OK. 6. On the Modify Content Properties page, add or edit the properties as necessary and click OK. You are returned to the space where you started this procedure. The Content Items pane displays the file uploaded from your computer

Viewing content
View a content item directly in Alfresco without needing to download or check out a copy to your hard drive. 1. Navigate to the space containing the content item you want to view. The file name of each content item is a link. 2. Click the name or icon of the content item you want to view.

Editing content
There are two options available for editing documents: Edit Online and Edit Offline. The Edit Online action is available for HTML and plain text documents but only when the Edit Inline option is enabled for the content item. This option is enabled by default when you add an HTML or plain text document to the repository. You can change this setting at any time by editing the content item details.

Editing content online When online editing is enabled for an HTML or plain text content item, you can edit the item online. This shortcut enables you to bypass the tasks of downloading the item to your computer and then updating the repository version with the changes. Editing content offline The Edit Offline feature enables you to download an item from the repository to your computer to edit it with the appropriate desktop application. This process automatically locks the repository version of the content item to prevent editing conflicts.

Editing content offline

The Edit Offline feature enables you to download an item from the repository to your computer to edit it with the appropriate desktop application. This process automatically locks the repository version of the content item to prevent editing conflicts. The process for editing a content item offline will vary depending on your User Profile setup. 1. Navigate to the space containing the content item you want to edit. 2. Click (Edit Offline) for the content item of interest.

If your preferences indicate automatic download, the file begins to download automatically and you are prompted to specify a file destination. When the automatic download feature is not enabled, the selected item is simply locked in the current space and you can use the Download feature at your convenience to place a copy of the item on your computer. 3. At the prompt (when automatic download is enabled), save the item to the desired location on your computer. 4. Click Close on the Download page. The Content Items pane displays both the original item (locked) and a working copy of the item. 5. On your computer, open the file with the relevant desktop application and make the necessary changes. At any time, you can click saving any edits. (Cancel Editing) to release the lock on the item without

Once your offline edits are complete, you must update the version in the repository to allow others to see the changes.

Adding versioning to content

Enable versioning for a content item to track the revisions made to that item. When enabled, a new version number is assigned to the item each time its content is checked in or updated. When you use the Update feature, you do not have the opportunity to enter version notes. 1. Navigate to the space containing the content item you want to version. 2. In the Content Items pane, click (View Details) for the content item of interest. to expand this

3. On the Details page, scroll down to the Version History pane. Click pane, if necessary.

This document has no version history is displayed if the content item does not yet have versioning. 4. Click Allow Versioning.

The history table appears with the current version set at 1.0 for this item. As the content is versioned, previous iterations are available in this table. 5. Click Close in the top right of the pane to return to the current space.

Updating content
The Upload New Version function enables you to update a content item in the repository with content from your computer. You can perform this function without checking out the content item. 1. Navigate to the space containing the content item you want to update. 2. Click (Upload new version) for the content item of interest.

3. On the Upload new version page, click Browse. 4. Locate and upload the appropriate file from your computer. A message informs you that the upload was successful. 5. Click OK. The date and time details for the content item indicate it has been updated. Note that at any time, you can click (Cancel Editing) to unlock the item without saving any edits. 6. Click (Done Editing) to unlock the document and add the updates to the repository.

7. When versioning is enabled, provide versioning details as follows: a. Indicate if the edits constitute a minor or major change. When you specify Minor Changes, checking out version 3.4 of a file results in the versioning being updated to 3.5 upon check-in. Selecting Major Changes would update the version number to 4.0. A version number is assigned only when versioning is enabled. b. In the Version Notes box, enter details specific to the file being checked in, if desired. c. Click OK.

Approving and rejecting a content item

If a content item is part of a simple workflow that is, it resides in a space for which simple content review workflow has been defined you can approve it. The approve action may be followed in the action list by a rejection action. The actions are represented by the icons actions is user defined, so will vary. (accept) and (reject). The text label for these

1. Navigate to the space containing the content item you want to approve or reject. 2. In the Content Items pane, click to display the available actions.

3. Click the approval action (

) or click the rejection action (

), as appropriate.

Understanding working copies

When you check out a content item for editing, Alfresco creates a working copy for you to work with. The working copy provides an easy way to make changes to content, online or offline, and review and update the changes before replacing the original content. Checking out a content item locks the original item. Roll your mouse over the lock icon associated with a content item to see who checked it out. The icon indicates it is checked out by you and indicates it is checked out by another user. Users can view both the original version and the working copy of a content item. The working copy remains the same as the original unless you upload your changes. You can update the working copy to allow others to see your changes without updating the original content. Once you complete your edits, you must check in the working copy to update the original content item.

Checking out content When editing content, you can check out a content item to prevent other users from overwriting your work. Checking in content When you complete edits on a checked out content item, you must check in the working copy to update the original.

Implementing a simple workflow

A smart space with a defined workflow content rule generates simple workflow. In a simple workflow, a space is used to represent a step and the workflow is defined as a content rule. The rule specifies the user actions and flow of the content between the spaces. To add complexity to simple workflow you must create rules for other spaces and pass content around from space to space. For example, you could set up rules to create a simple workflow that manages content as follows:

Users with the appropriate abilities can approve the content items added to the Drafts space. On approval, the content is moved to a space named Pending Approval. Users with the appropriate abilities can approve the content in this space. On approval, the content will be moved to the Published space. If, however, the content is rejected in this step, it will be moved back to Drafts.

The content can be a document, a graphics file, a Web page, streaming media, and so on.

When a rule is created for a space, it applies to all files that are added to the space after the creation of a rule. Files residing in the space before the rule was created are not affected by the rule. You can reapply the rules to ensure the new rules apply to the existing content. 1. Navigate to the space for which you want to create a simple workflow. The space header displays the name and details of the selected space. 2. In the More Actions menu, click Manage Content Rules. 3. On the Content Rules page, click Create Rule. 4. In Step One, Select Conditions, select a condition in the Select Condition list and click Set Values and Add. If you select All Items, click Add to List. 5. Depending on your selection, the Set condition values pane may appear. On this pane, set the desired conditions and click OK. 6. Add as many conditions as needed and then click Next to proceed. 7. In Step Two, Select Actions, select Add simple workflow to item and click Set Values and Add. 8. In the Set action values pane, specify the Approve Flow and, if desired, the Reject Flow for the workflow being defined. The values provided in the Name boxes will be the labels for the approval and rejection actions. Indicate whether the content being acted on is to be moved or copied, then select a target location. 9. Click OK. The defined workflow is summarized in Step Two. 10. Define additional actions in the same manner, if desired, and click Next to proceed. 11. In Step Three, Enter Details, provide information about the rule you are creating and click Next. Select one of the following three options as the rule type:

Items are updated: The action occurs when content is updated in the space. Items are deleted or leave this folder: The action occurs when content is moved or deleted from the space. Items are created or enter this folder: The action occurs when content is copied, created or added to the space.

12. In Step Four, Summary, ensure all information entered is correct and click Finish. 13. Click Close to return to the current space.

Working with smart spaces and content rules

One of the key benefits of Alfresco is the ability to define rules that affect content within a space. A space with one or more defined content rules is called a smart space.

A content rule is made up of three main elements:

The conditions on the content for the rule to match The actions that are performed on the content The rule type, which indicates the event that triggers the rule

A rule can be triggered by one of the following events:

Content arrives in the space Content leaves the space because it is moved or deleted Content is modified

There is no limit to the number of conditions that can be applied to each rule. You can define rules to provide creative solutions to automation and management of content. Rules are applied when content moves in or out of a space and may also apply to content directly in the space or in sub spaces. For example, you could set up rules to manage content in the following ways:

All content items placed in the Drafts space are versioned All content items placed in the Drafts space become part of a simple workflow (see Implementing a simple workflow) All presentation documents placed in the Published space will be transformed to Flash and copied to the Assets space

When a rule is created for a space, it applies to all files that are added to the space after the creation of the rule. Files residing in the space before the rule was created are not affected by the rule.

Creating a content rule Create a content rule to automatically perform actions on content items within the space that meet certain conditions. Deleting a content rule If you no longer need an existing content rule, you can delete it. Editing a content rule You can edit a content rule unless it is inherited from a parent space. Viewing content rules You can view rules in a space based on where they have been created. Managing content rules Content rules can be applied directly to a space or they can be inherited from a parent space. You manage the content rules at the space level.

Creating a content rule

Create a content rule to automatically perform actions on content items within the space that meet certain conditions. 1. Navigate to the space where you want to create a content rule. The space header displays the name and details of the selected space. 2. In the More Actions menu, click Manage Content Rules. 3. On the Content Rules page, click Create Rule. 4. In Step One, Select Conditions, select a condition in the Select Condition list and click Set Values and Add. If you select All Items, click Add to List. 5. Depending on your selection, the Set condition values pane may appear. On this pane, set the desired conditions and click OK. 6. Add as many conditions as needed and then click Next to proceed. 7. In Step Two, Select Actions, select an action in the Select Action list and click Set Values and Add. 8. For most selections, the Set action values pane will appear. On this pane, set the desired action values and click OK. 9. Add as many actions as needed and then click Next to proceed. 10. In Step Three, Enter Details, provide information about the rule you are creating and click Next. Select one of the following three options as the rule type:

Items are updated: The action occurs when content is updated in the space. Items are deleted or leave this folder: The action occurs when content is moved or deleted from the space. Items are created or enter this folder: The action occurs when content is copied, created or added to the space.

11. In Step Four, Summary, ensure all information entered is correct and click Finish. 12. Click Close to return to the current space.