Exporting and importing AI Layout Automation settings for a Brand in Studio

Info: This feature requires the AI Layout Automation Studio Server plug-in 2.2.x or higher.

The AI Layout Automation feature in Studio makes the process of placing articles on a layout more efficient by analyzing the available space on the pages of a layout — based on preconfigured blueprints and article shapes and taking already placed advertisements into account — and providing suggestions on how and where the available articles and their images can best be placed to fill the pages.

Configuring the AI Layout Automation is done per Brand in the AILA Management Console in Studio Server.

The Import / export page of the AILA Management Console is used for exporting Layout Automation settings from one Brand and importing them into another Brand.

This has the following benefits:

• It makes the process of setting up this functionality in Brands more efficient.
• It makes it possible to create a backup of the settings before experimenting with the settings. When needed, the original settings can then be imported again.
• It makes it possible to experiment in a staging Brand and bring the settings over to production when ready.

How this is done is explained in this article.

Tip: If only certain settings of a Brand need to be copied within the same Studio Server instance, use the 'Copy to...' option on pages such as Genres, Page Layout, and so on.

How it works

Settings from one Brand are exported to an Excel file named and stored locally. This is done on the Import / export page in the AILA Management Console.

The exported file contains everything that is configured on the available pages in the AILA Management Console for that Brand, with the exception of the settings on the System settings page.

For each page, a different worksheet is created.

Pages on which no settings are configured are left out.

The file can then be imported on the Import / export page in the AILA Management Console for another Brand. This can be a Brand in the same Studio Server instance or in a different instance.

Any existing settings in the target Brand are replaced by the settings imported from the Excel file.

When settings exist in the target Brand for a page, but no settings exist for that page in the Excel file, the settings in the target Brand are maintained.

Figure: An example of an Excel file with exported Layout Automation settings for a Brand.

Brand setups need to match

The import is entirely name based. This means that the names of the configured Categories, Element labels, Genres, and so on in the target Brand need to be identical to those in the source Brand. The import process automatically resolves the IDs that belong to the respective names.

Before you start

For import / export operations across Studio installations, make sure of the following:

• The source and target installations should have the same version of the AILA Studio Server plug-in installed. Using different versions may result in format incompatibility issues as the structure may evolve over time and new features are added.

• The configuration of the source Brand and the target Brand should be identical, using the same names for all options that are configured in the source Brand.

Depending on the features that are used, this can include options such as Element labels, Genres, Categories (used for Digital article support), and so on.

Recommended is to create an export, verify the option names in the Excel file, and make any changes to names in the source and / or target Brand so that they match.

Note: The import is case, accent, and whitespace insensitive so names do not need to match on that level.

Exporting settings

Step 1. In Studio Server, access Integrations > AI Layout Automation > Import / Export.

Step 2. From the list of Brands, choose the Brand for which settings need to be exported.

Step 3. In the Export to Excel section, click Export.

An Excel file is generated. Depending on your browser settings, it is automatically saved to your local system, or you need to browse to a location first and save it.

Note: The default file name is <Brand name>- Layout Automation config.xlsx.

Step 4. Verify the content of the file.

Importing settings

Step 1. In Studio Server, access Integrations > AI Layout Automation > Import / Export.

Step 2. From the list of Brands, choose the Brand in which settings need to be imported.

Step 3. In the Import from Excel section, import the Excel file containing the exported settings by doing one of the following:

• Dragging the file into the drop area
• Clicking Browse and browsing to the file on your system

The file is validated and an overview of what is about to be imported is shown, including any errors that may have been detected.

Step 4. Do one of the following:

• At any time, click Check again to validate the import against the current settings.
• Click Browse... to upload a file once more (either a different one, or the same one that has been modified).
• When resolving errors and changes need to be made to the Layout Automation setup in the AILA Management Console, do this in a different tab so that the Import / export page can be left open. Else, return to the page and start the process again.
• When ready and no errors are reported, click Import. In the dialog that appears, confirm the action.