Info: This feature requires Content Station version 9.5.0 or higher.
In a multi-channel workflow, the same story is used in multiple Publication Channels.
However, each Publication Channel has its own rules and restrictions, such as text formatting, writing style (especially headlines), article length (restricted for print, 'unlimited' for Web), image quality (low for Web, high for print), and so on.
As a result, a story that is published for one Publication Channel cannot be directly used for another Publication Channel (think of Web versus print). However, much of the content of a story that is used in one Publication Channel can very well be used as a basis for creating the story for use in another Publication Channel.
For this purpose, such content can be imported when creating a new article in Content Station.
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Example: A Publish Form for a Web story contains the following components:
A new article is created for print by importing the following components from the Web story:
Once the article is created, additional article components and high-resolution images are added as needed, the title is re-written in the style for the print publication and the length of the body text is adjusted to ensure copy fit. The content of the Web story is un-touched. |
The creation of a new article is based on an article template.
In order to import specific content from a particular story, text variables are added to the article template: one for each story component (such as the story title, the intro component, the body component and so on).
The definition of the text variable controls which component of the story is imported into the component of the article. Typically this is the content of a related component (the body text of the Web story is imported into the body text of the print article), but it is also possible to combine multiple components during import, for example by importing the 'header' and 'body' components into a single 'body' component.
The basic workflow
See this demonstrated in this short video:
Step 1. In InDesign, open a layout that is stored in Enterprise and create a text frame for each article component that the article should contain.
Step 2. For each article component, create a text variable of type Custom Text that defines the content to import (see below).
Step 2a. In InDesign, choose Type > Text Variables > Define... .
The Text Variables dialog appears.
Step 2b. Click New.
The New Text Variable dialog box appears.
Step 2c. In the Name box, type a descriptive name.
Step 2d. From the Type list, choose Custom Text.
Step 2e. In the Text box, enter the definition (see below).
Step 2f. Click OK and Done to close the dialog boxes.
Step 3. Insert each created text variable in the correct text frame.
- Place the text cursor in each frame and choose Type > Insert Text Variable > [name of your text variable].
Step 4. Turn the text frames into an article template.
- Select all text frames, choose Smart Connection > Create Article and save the article as an article template by selecting the Save as Template check box.
Note: Make sure to use a descriptive name for the article template: the Content Station user needs to choose the template from a list; it therefore needs to be clear which template to choose.
Defining the text variables
The rule that defines which content to import is stored in a text variable.
Setting up this rule can be done by using one of the following methods:
- A simple method whereby the component to import is directly referenced
- An advanced method whereby the component is referenced through a regular expression
Simple method: direct reference by name
In this method, the component that holds the content to import is directly referenced by its name.
- Advantage: the setup is quick and easy to manage
- Disadvantage: the exact name of the component needs to be known
Use the following syntax:
- For importing content from a Publish Form:
- [PublishFormProperty name="name"]
- [PublishFormProperty displayName="name"]
- For importing content from an article:
- [ArticleComponent name="name"]
Note: This syntax is only used when the article component is imported from a Publication Channel of type 'Print' or 'Adobe DPS'.
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Example: 1. In Content Station, a Publish Form for a Web story contains a field named 'Title', containing the title of the story:
2. In InDesign, a text frame is created in which a text variable is inserted containing the following syntax: [PublishFormProperty displayName="Title"]
3. The text frame is turned into an article template. 4. When a new article is created in Content Station by using the article template and by choosing the Publication Channel on which the Publish Form is based, the content of the 'Title' component is imported into the new article:
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Advanced method: reference by regular expression
In this method, regular expressions are used. For each component for which the expression is true, the content is imported.
- Advantage: this method is powerful and doesn't require knowing the exact name of the component
- Disadvantage: regular expressions can be complex and less easy to manage
Use the following syntax:
- For importing content from a Publish Form:
- [PublishFormProperty name="regular expression"]
- [PublishFormProperty displayName="regular expression"]
- For importing content from an article:
- [ArticleComponent name="regular expression"]
Note: This syntax is only used when the article component is imported from a Publication Channel of type 'Print' or 'Adobe DPS'.
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Example: 1. In Content Station, a Publish Form for a Web story contains 2 fields containing the word 'body': one field named 'Summary (Body)' and another field named 'Body':
2. In InDesign, a text frame is created in which a text variable is inserted containing the following syntax: [PublishFormProperty displayName="/.*body.*/ig"]
This regular expression looks for all components of a Publish Form of which the display name contains the word 'body' (not case sensitive). 3. The text frame is turned into an article template. 4. When a new article is created in Content Station by using the article template and by choosing the Publication Channel on which the Publish Form is based, the content of the 'body' components are imported into the new article:
Note that the content of the original fields have now been combined into one article component. |
Regular expression examples
Example 1: Find all Publish Form components containing the word 'body' (not case sensitive) in their display name
- Syntax: [PublishFormProperty displayName="/.*body.*/ig"]
- Comments: This regular expression finds all components containing the word 'body' in their display name. This search is not case sensitive.
- Examples of phrases that are found:
- body
- Body
- 12body34
- test-body-test
- BODYTEST
- BoDy456
Example 2: Find all Publish Form components containing the word 'body' (case sensitive) followed by a set of numbers in their display name
- Syntax: [PublishFormProperty displayName="/.*body[0-9].*/g"]
- Comments: This regular expression finds all components containing the word 'body' followed by a set of numbers in their display name. This search pattern is also case sensitive.
- Examples of phrases that are found:
- body1
- body999
- testbody12
- Examples of phrases that are ignored:
- body
- body-test
- body-test-123
- Body12
- bOdY999
Example 3: Find all components in an article containing the word 'crosshead' (not case sensitive)
- Syntax: [ArticleComponent name="/.*crosshead.*/ig"]
- Comments: This regular expression finds all components in a source article that are labeled as 'crosshead'. This search is case insensitive.
- Examples of components that are found:
- crosshead
- crosshead2
- testcrosshead
- Examples of components that are ignored:
- head
- intro
- body
Resources
For more information about regular expressions, visit www.regular-expressions.info.
To test your own regular expressions, visit www.regexr.com.
Notes
- By default, InDesign text variables do not break across lines. During the import therefore, the text variable is converted to regular text.
- If multiple article components are found they are all imported, separated by a paragraph break.
See this demonstrated in this short video:
Step 1. Open a Dossier.
Step 2. From the Info pane choose Dossier Content and do one of the following:
- In the Dossier toolbar click Article
- Choose File > New > Article
- Use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+N (Mac OS) or Ctrl+N (Windows)
The New Article dialog box appears.
Step 3. Follow the steps:
1. Choose a template.
Note: This template is set up by your system administrator. It controls which content is imported from the story and which content is ignored. When you are unsure which article template to use, check with your system administrator.
2. Choose the story from which you want to import content by choosing the Publication Channel in the 'Import text from' list.
3. Set the properties for the article as needed.
Step 4. Click OK.
The article is created. Logical next steps are to modify the imported content and to add additional content such as article components and images.
Import behavior
During the import process, the content of the article template is merged with the content of the imported article. The following overview shows what happens to the various components:
- Paragraph styles. The first paragraph of the imported text is styled based on the paragraph style that was assigned to the frame in InDesign. Any remaining paragraphs will be styled according to the next paragraph style definition as defined for the paragraph styles in the article template.
- Character styles. When the imported article contains text that is styled with a character style that is also available in the article template, the character style is applied. When the imported article contains text that is styled with a character style that is not available in the article template, the character style is removed and the text is styled by using the character style as defined in the article template.
- Local style overrides (such as making text bold or italic or changing the font size are maintained.
- Track Changes are removed/accepted.
- Tables are maintained.
- Inline images are maintained.
- Hyperlinks are removed.
Import examples
The following examples show how content is imported:
Example #1
| Template setup | Source content | Result |
|---|---|---|
| AAA<text variable>BBB | CCC | AAACCCBBB |
In this example, the article template consists of a single paragraph that starts with some text, directly followed by a text variable (that is going to be replaced by the source content), directly followed by some text.
The source consists of a single paragraph of text.
The result is one long paragraph of text.
Example #2
| Template setup | Source content | Result |
|---|---|---|
| AAA<text variable>BBB |
CCC DDD |
AAACCC DDDBBB |
In this example, the article template consists of a single paragraph that starts with some text, directly followed by a text variable (that is going to be replaced by the source content), directly followed by some text.
The source consists of two paragraphs of text.
The result is two paragraphs of text, split by the paragraph break of the source content.
Example #3
| Template setup | Source content | Result |
|---|---|---|
|
Paragraph style: Red (with Next Style Blue) AAA<textvar>BBB ZZZZ |
CCC DDD EEE FFF |
AAACCC DDD EEE FFFBBB ZZZ |
In this example, the article template consists of 2 paragraphs of text. The first paragraph starts with some text, directly followed by a text variable (that is going to be replaced by the source content), directly followed by some text.
The source consists of 4 paragraphs of text.
The result is 5 paragraphs of text of which the first 4 are styled based on the paragraph style containing the 'next' style.
Comment
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