Working with Dossiers in Content Station 9

A Dossier forms the basis of creating a story: it is used for gathering all files that are related to the story and it contains tools to publish a story to an output channel such as the Web or Adobe DPS.

This article describes how to work with Dossiers in Content Station 9.

Creating a Dossier

Creating a Dossier in Content Station can be done in many ways and in many locations of the software, but can basically be broken down into the following methods:

• Creating a Dossier from a Dossier template
• Creating an empty Dossier
• Creating a Dossier containing files
• Creating a Dossier that is related to another Dossier

Creating a Dossier from a Dossier template

In a typical workflow, a Dossier is created by converting a Dossier template into a new Dossier.

For a detailed description, see Working with Dossier templates in Content Station 9.

Creating an empty Dossier

This is the most basic method of creating a Dossier and can be used for creating a story from scratch.

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• In the Applications pane on the Home screen, double-click the New Dossier icon.

• Choose File > New > Dossier...

• In the Planning Application, select an Issue in the Issue pane and click the Dossier button in the toolbar.

• Press Shift+Cmd+N (Mac OS X) or Shift+Ctrl+N (Windows)

The Create Dossier dialog box appears.

Step 2. Enter a name for the Dossier.

Step 3. (Optional) Set the Brand, Issue and Category as well as any of the other properties.

Note: When creating the Dossier by using the Planning Application, the Dossier will inherit the properties of the targeted issue and normally don't have to be changed.

Step 4. Click OK.

The Dossier is created and is opened in a new tab. A logical next step is to add files to the Dossier.

Creating a Dossier containing files

The process of creating a story can also begin by finding one or more files that you subsequently want to bundle in a Dossier.

Step 1. Select one or more files in one of the following locations:

• The Inbox
• The Recent Items pane
• The Favorites pane
• The Search Application
• The Publication Overview Application
• Another Dossier

Note: Make sure not to select a Dossier, Dossier template or Publish Form; these files cannot be added to a Dossier this way.

Step 2. Do one of the following:

• Right-click any of the files and choose Create Dossier...
• Choose File > New > Dossier from Selection...

The Create Dossier dialog box appears.

Step 3. Enter a name for the Dossier.

Step 4. (Optional) Set the Brand, Issue and Category as well as any of the other properties.

Step 5. Click OK.

The Dossier is created and all selected files are added to it. The Dossier is opened in a new tab.

Notes: The process of adding a file to a Dossier does not mean that the file is physically moved. Instead, a reference to the file that is stored in the system is created. This means that all instances of the file are one and the same file: making a change in one instance of the file will be visible in all instances of that file. Files can belong to multiple Dossiers.

Creating a Dossier that is related to another Dossier

Sometimes, the files that you want to add to a Dossier are already part of another Dossier. Instead of adding each individual file to the Dossier, you can simply add the Dossier itself.

In another scenario you may want to create a new Dossier from the files that you see in an existing Dossier. The newly created Dossier will automatically be added to the Dossier from which it was created.

Note: A Dossier that is part of another Dossier is referred to as a 'Related Dossier'.

Related Dossiers can be viewed by selecting Related Dossiers in the Info pane of a Dossier.

Figure: Here, a Dossier named 'Find your style' is added as a Related Dossier to the Dossier named 'Facebook Post'.

Similar to creating a regular Dossier, you can create a Related Dossier from scratch (containing no files) or create a Related Dossier that already contains files.

Step 1. Open the Dossier in which you want to create a Related Dossier.

Step 2. Create a Related Dossier by using one of the following methods:

Viewing Dossiers to which a file belongs

You can quickly see to which Dossier or Dossiers a file belongs (if any), by doing the one of the following:

• Select the file, right-click it and choose Show Dossiers...
• Select the file and choose File > Show Dossiers...

The Dossier window appears in which all Dossiers are shown in which the file is added.

From here you can perform all regular actions: open the Dossier by double-clicking it, right-clicking the Dossier to access the context menu, and so on.

Opening existing Dossiers

To open an existing Dossier, you can:

• Locate the Dossier and open it
• Locate a file and open all Dossiers in which that file is added

Opening the Dossier itself

To open a Dossier, do one of the following:

• Double-click it
• Select it, right-click it and choose Open
• Select it and choose File > Open > Open
• Select it and press Cmd+E (Mac OS X) or Ctrl+E (Windows)
• Choose File > Recent Items > <Dossier name> (Dossier)

Opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs

A quick way of opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs is to do the following:

• Select a file, right-click it and choose Open Dossiers
• In the Publication Overview, Alt+double-click a layout

All Dossiers in which the file is added (if any) are automatically opened.

Note: When the file is added to more than 3 Dossiers, you are asked if you are sure to open that many Dossiers. This is done because opening a large number of Dossiers containing a large number of files can potentially take a long time.

Adding files to a Dossier

Adding a file to a Dossier can be done in the following ways:

• By dropping the file onto the Dossier
• By using the Upload option of a Dossier

Note: The process of adding a file to a Dossier does not mean that the file is physically moved. Instead, a reference to the file that is stored in the system is created. This means that all instances of the file are one and the same file: making a change in one instance of the file will be visible in all instances of that file.

Dropping the file onto a Dossier

Info: This feature is available in Content Station AIR only, not in Content Station Web.

This is the quickest and easiest way of adding a file to a Dossier. Simply drop a file onto one of the following areas of Content Station:

• A Dossier icon anywhere in Content Station
• An open Dossier (in either the Dossier Content option in the Info pane or in the Document pane of the Dossier Content option)

Figure: Different areas where a file can be dropped on to add it to a Dossier: (A) the Dossier Content option in the Info pane of an opened Dossier, (B) the Document pane of the Dossier Content option of an opened Dossier, and (C) a Dossier icon anywhere in Content Station (here in the Favorites pane).

Note: When doing this with a file that is not yet stored in Enterprise, the Upload dialog box appears. See Using the Upload option of a Dossier.)

Using the Upload option of a Dossier

The Upload option is used for adding external files that are not yet stored in Enterprise.

Example: Files that are saved on your local system, on a network server, and so on.

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• Click the Upload icon in the toolbar of the Dossier, select the files that you want to upload and click Open.

• Drop one or more external files onto the Dossier (see Dropping the file onto a Dossier)

Example: Drop a file that is saved to your Desktop onto the Dossier.

Notes: The files all need to be of the same type: all images, all spreadsheets, all ZIP files, and so on. When uploading from Content Station Web, choose a file with a size that is less than 100 MB. The files need to be in a supported file format.

The Upload dialog box appears.

The files that are ready to be uploaded are shown on the left.

Tip: Add additional files by clicking the '+' button or by dropping the files onto the dialog box.

The properties are inherited from the Dossier into which the files are added.

Step 2. (Optional) Change the properties as needed.

Step 3. Click Upload.

The files are stored in Enterprise and added to the Dossier.

Removing files from a Dossier

You can remove a file from a Dossier by:

• Removing it from the Dossier while keeping it in Enterprise
• Removing it from the Dossier and moving it to the Trash Can

Removing a file from the Dossier while keeping it in Enterprise

When using this method, the file is only removed from the Dossier; it is not removed from Enterprise itself.

Step 1. Open the Dossier from which the file needs to be removed.

Step 2. Select one or more files in the Dossier and do one of the following:

• Right-click a file and choose Remove from Dossier.
• Choose File > Remove from Dossier
• Press Cmd+Shift+D (Mac OS X) or Ctrl+Shift+D (Windows)

A message appears asking to confirm the action.

Step 3. Click Yes.

The file is removed from the Dossier.

Removing a file from the Dossier and moving it to the Trash Can

When using this method, the file is removed from the Dossier and moved to the Trash Can, ready to be removed from Enterprise altogether.

Step 1. Open the Dossier from which the file needs to be removed.

Step 2. Select one or more files in the Dossier and do one of the following:

• Right-click a file and choose Move to Trash Can.
• Choose File > Move to Trash Can
• Press Cmd+D (Mac OS X) or Ctrl+D (Windows)
• Press Backspace.

A message appears asking to confirm the action.

Step 3. Click Yes.

The file is moved to the Trash Can.

Filtering the content of a Dossier

Info: This feature requires Content Station version 9.1 or higher.

When working on files in a Dossier, more often than not you only need to see the files that you want to work on; all other files are superfluous and might get in the way of quickly finding the files that you are after.

By filtering the files in the Dossier on only those that are relevant to what you need at that time, finding files and working on them becomes more efficient.

This is done by assigning one or more Dossier Labels to a file in a Dossier and to subsequently filter the content of the Dossier to show only those files that have particular Dossier Labels assigned.

Figure: A Dossier containing 12 files with several Dossier Labels assigned to each file. The Dossier is not filtered: all 12 files are shown.

Figure: The same Dossier as in the figure above, but now filtered by Dossier Label 'photo shoot 1'. A total of 5 files are shown.

For more information about using Dossier Labels, see Filtering the content of a Dossier in Content Station using Dossier Labels.

Moving Dossiers between Issues

Step 1. Access the Planning Application.

Step 2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dossier pane, drag a Dossier to an Issue in the Issue pane. The Dossier will be removed from the current Issue and added to the new Issue.
• Perform the same action as above, but while holding the Option key (Mac OS) or Alt key (Windows). Instead of moving the Dossier, it is now copied to the new Issue.
• Drag a Dossier onto the [Unassigned] Issue. All assigned Issues will be removed from the Dossier.

Publishing content from a Dossier

The second main purpose of a Dossier — the first being the ability to bundle content — is to easily publish a story to one or more publications. To facilitate this, multiple Publication Channels can be assigned to a Dossier, one for each channel that the story needs to be published to.

Examples: Supported Publication Channels include print, Adobe DPS as well as Web-based channels such as Facebook, Drupal 7 or Drupal 8 and WordPress.

In general, publishing from a Dossier is a 4-step process:

1. Assign content to a Publication Channel
2. Select the Publication Channel
3. Control which content to publish
4. Click the Publish button

Unpublishing content is easily done by clicking the Unpublish button.

Different workflows

Depending on the type of Publication Channel that the story is published to, different steps need to be followed to prepare and publish the story:

• Print channels. These are not published from Content Station but are typically exported to PDF from InDesign or InDesign Server.
• Adobe DPS. Individual stories can be published from a Dossier but a more typical workflow is to make use of the Digital Publishing Application of Content Station.
• Web-based publications. These make use of Publish Forms: forms that show you only those components that are needed for publishing a story to that particular Publication Channel, thereby preventing you from having to deal with content that is not relevant for that channel. For details see:
• Publishing to the Web (Drupal 7 or 8)
• Publishing to Facebook
• Publishing to Twitter
• Publishing to WordPress

Routing a Dossier to another user

Working on a story is a team effort. To share a Dossier with other users you can route it to them. This will add the Dossier to their Inbox in Content Station and Smart Connection, and will send out an e-mail to notify them that a Dossier has been sent.

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• Right-click a Dossier anywhere in Content Station and choose Send To...

• Access the properties of a Dossier

Step 2. In the dialog box that appears, choose the user or user group to send the Dossier to from the Route To list.

Step 3. Click OK.

The Dossier is sent to the selected user or user group.

Adding a Dossier to the Favorites pane

Files and Dossiers that you use on a regular basis can be added to the Favorites pane for easy access.

Figure: The Favorites pane (A).

Do one of the following:

• Adding a Dossier without having the Dossier open:
• Drag a Dossier from anywhere in Content Station to the Favorites pane.
• Select a Dossier anywhere in Content Station and choose File > Add to Favorites

• Adding a Dossier while having the Dossier open:
• In the Dossier, select Dossier Content in the Info pane and click the Favorites icon in the toolbar

Figure: The Dossier Content option in the Info pane (A) and the Favorites icon in the toolbar (B).

Additional actions

Additional actions that can be performed in a Dossier are described in the following articles:

• Creating a new article
• Adding Hyperlinks
• Using Tasks
• Adding or removing Publication Channels

Document history

• 4 September 2017: Updated section 'Opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs' with information about using Alt+double-click on a layout in the Publication Overview to open all Dossiers that the layout belongs to.