Author / Editor / Chief Editor Documentation

  Meta::
  
    Valid for:  Silva 0.9.3, Zope 2.6.2, Python 2.1.3
    Authors:    kit blake
                Clemens Klein-Robbenhaar 
    Email:      kitblake+infrae.com
                robbenhaar+espresto.com
    CVS:        $Revision: 1.19 $ $Date: 2003/12/06 07:06:06 $

  This document describes the workings of Silva from the point of view of
  the Silva Author, Editor, and Chief Editor roles.

  **Subdocuments** 

  "ContainerObject":ContainerObject/ --
    "The ContentsTab and Structuring a Publication":ContainerObject/ContentsTab/ <br />
    "The PreviewTab":ContainerObject/PreviewTab/ <br />
    "The MetadataTab":ContainerObject/MetadataTab/ <br />
    "The AccessTab and Permission Management":ContainerObject/AccessTab/ <br />
    "The PublishTab and Publishing Workflow":ContainerObject/PublishTab/ <br />

  "ContentObject":ContentObject/ --
    "The EditTab":ContentObject/EditTab/ <br />
    "The StatusTab":ContentObject/StatusTab/ <br />

  "SilvaNews":SilvaNews/ --
    &nbsp;

  Assumptions: -- 
  The reader is assumed to have an up-to-date browser (Mozilla / Netscape
  6+ or Internet Explorer 5+ or similar), and be familiar with basic web
  jargon.

    For the purposes of locating objects, the Silva installation is
    assumed to be 'default', where Silva is installed at
    the root level of a Zope instance, and named 'silva'. All paths in
    this document begin with '/silva'. This is not a restriction of
    Silva; it can be installed in multiple ways including as virtual
    hosts.

  Nomenclature: -- To limit confusion, we rarely use the word
  'user'. Silva has built in roles (including Author, Editor,
  Chief Editor, Manager). These are always spelled with a capital letter.
  When we refer to the person or organization which has installed Silva,
  we use the word 'customer'. A person viewing public pages
  (anonymously) is a Visitor.

  The screens and navigation of Silva

    The Silva environment (aka the Silva Management Interface, or SMI) 
    has two workspaces, a ContainerObject workspace and a ContentObject 
    workspace. The container workspace is where site management happens,
    such as adding and deleting objects, structuring the site,
    configuration and bulk approve or publish actions. The content
    workspace is for manipulating a ContentObject. These areas are
    further divided into screens, reachable via the tab-like navigation. 

    A "ContainerObject":ContainerObject/, such as a Publication or
    Folder, has five screens: Contents, Preview, Properties, Access, and
    Publish. Each screen provides a cascading overview, showing both the
    object's and its underlying objects' characteristics (excepting
    the PreviewTab, which only shows the preview at that level).

    A "ContentObject":ContentObject/ can have five screens as well:
    Editor, Preview, Properties, Access, and Publish. Each screen
    provides a different view on the object. Sometimes there
    are less than five, depending on what sort of content it is.

    The functions of the screens in the two workspaces correspond. For
    instance in the PublishTab of a ContentObject you can publish the
    item. You can also publish it in the PublishTab of its container. The
    difference is that when you're in a ContentObject all modifications
    only affect that object. When you're in a container you can perform
    bulk operations on multiple objects, such as publishing all items
    inside a folder in one go.

    Navigation

      A Silva Publication usually has multiple levels of folders and
      subfolders. Since each level has a corresponding set of screens, a
      matrix of locations develops. Navigation through this grid is
      possible in three directions.

      - **horizontal**: each workspace has 5 possible screens (sometimes
        there are less). You move horizontally across the screens.

      - **vertical**: the trees next to the tabs provide vertical
        navigation through a publication. The small tree takes you up
        one level, while the large tree jumps to the top of the
        publication. Also the breadcrumb trail can be used to navigate
        vertically through the current screen. In order to descend, go to
        the ContentsTab or PublishTab of a container, where the
        publication tree is unfolded. You can also navigate to other
        folders and publications using the sidebar which is present in
        most of the screens of a container.

      - **diagonal**: via the arrows in the tabs it's possible to move
        diagonally. From the PreviewTab of a document you can jump up and
        over to the PublishTab of its container. 

      - **top**: in the upper left hand corner of the navigation is the
        Silva icon, which takes you to directly to the ContentsTab at the
        top of Silva.

      Access keys

        Most links and buttons in Silva have access keys that make
        keyboard navigation easy (hitting a key is always faster than
        grabbing the mouse). For instance the tabs correspond to alt-1,
        alt-2, and so forth. To jump to the top of Silva, use alt-/.

        Remember that you can enter an access key even if the button or
        link is not visible. This negates the need to scroll. Click the 
        Help link (alt-h) to see a complete explanation and list. 

  Silva Membership and Roles

    If you've been given a role in a Silva site, your role and user name
    appears in the 'user info' row in the footer -
    bottom right corner - of every screen. 

      Email service

        If the site manager has activated the Silva Email Service,
        Silva can notify people of requests and changes in the status
        of documents. This occurs via the PublishTab of containers and
        content objects. In the bottom left corner of the footer there
        is a "User settings" link (alt-~) that pops up a
        new window which shows some account information about you.

        It depends on your local Silva setup whether this allows you to
        edit your email address; the default setup allows this, but some
        other setups could retrieve the email address from an external
        source such as LDAP instead, and may not allow you to edit the
        address.

        If allowed, you can fill in the email address you want Silva
        to use for messages and click the |_Save_| button
        (alt-s). This way Silva knows where to send email to you.

      Request access

        Say you have a Reader role in a specific location, and you
        wish to have authoring rights. If this is configured by the
        site administrator, in the middle of the user info row there
        mcan be a "Request access" link (alt-,). This link
        pops up a screen where you can request an additional role.
        Choose a role and click the |_Send_| button (alt-s). Your
        request will be sent to the person responsible for that area
        of the site.

  The building blocks of a Silva site

    Descriptions of the building blocks of a Silva site follow in the 
    subpages. The important concept to grasp is that content in Silva is 
    built in a tree structure (aka a dendritic pattern). As folders and 
    subfolders are added, the tree branches out. Textual content in 
    documents has a tree structure as well, since it is stored in XML. 

    As you build a site, a forest of trees develops. The icon for a 
    Silva Publication is a forest, while the icon for a Silva Document 
    is a single tree. This metaphor is carried throughout the user 
    interface.

<br />
Copyright &copy; 2002, 2003, 2004 Infrae. All rights reserved.<br />
See also "LICENSE.txt":license.txt
