Configuring Studio for publishing to Twixl

In an increasingly fast paced world, it is more important than ever to create content that can be considered 'channel neutral' and to output this content to different channels.

In Studio this can be done by creating a Digital article and publishing it to multiple digital output channels as well as to print.

One of the digital channels to output to is Twixl. To make publishing from Studio to Twixl possible, Twixl needs to be set up as a custom Publish Channel in Studio.

How this is done is explained in this article.

About Twixl

For information about Twixl, see the Twixl website.

Requirements

To take advantage of the full Twixl format and Twixl functionality included with Studio, the following is required:

• Studio Server 10.10.0 or any higher version of Studio Server 10.
• A Twixl account for setting up the channel to publish to Twixl.
• A Web server to publish the article to from where it is pushed to Twixl, such as Studio Server or any other place where it can be hosted and accessed publicly. It is assumed here that such an environment is in place.

How it works

An article for Twixl is a file in HTML format.

This file is hosted on your existing content management system (CMS) and then pushed to Twixl using the Twixl Distribution Platform.

In Studio, a channel is set up which users can select when publishing an article from within the Digital editor.

Configuration

Configuration steps are required in Twixl and Studio.

1. Creating a Twixl account
2. Creating a Twixl Distribution Channel
3. Obtaining keys in Twixl
4. Setting up a channel in Studio
5. Setting up metadata fields
6. Setting up a style
7. Testing the environment

1. Creating a Twixl account

Publishing to Twixl requires configuration steps within the Twixl development environment. For this, a Twixl account is required.

Access the link and create an account that is accessible to everyone within your team who needs to manage the environment.

2. Creating a Twixl Distribution Channel

In this step, a channel to publish to in Twixl is created. This is done by setting up a Twixl Distribution Platform.

To do this, follow the steps as outlined in the Twixl documentation.

3. Obtaining Twixl keys

In this step, keys are obtained that are needed for connecting Studio to Twixl. These are used in a later step.

From your Twixl Distribution Platform, note down the following keys:

4. Setting up a channel in Studio

In Studio, every custom channel is configured with an 'endpoint' that Studio sends messages to when the article is published.

In the context of publishing to Twixl, having this endpoint makes it possible for Digital articles to be pushed from Studio to Twixl.

To set this up, follow all steps in Configuring Studio for publishing to a custom Publish Channel. For setting up the custom channel in Studio, use the following settings:

• Name: The name you want to give this channel. This name will appear in the list of Publish channels that the user can choose from.

• Target name: The name of the type of target you want to publish to. The user interface will group channels with the same Target name in the Publish dialog.

• Endpoint URL: Use one of the following methods and add the keys that were obtained earlier:

Method 1: For publishing as a Bundle Collection, use the following URL:

https://platform.twixlmedia.com/api/2/YOUR_APP_KEY/inception-channel

Method 2: For publishing to individual issues, use the following URL:

https://platform.twixlmedia.com/api/2/YOUR_APP_KEY/inception-channel?collection_id=YOUR COLLECTION ID

Note: When this method is chosen, the configuration must be updated regularly. For each issue, a new collection will need to be added and the channel configuration will need to be changed.

• Reference images by ID only (actual images will not be sent). Select this option when only a reference to any images in the story need to be included, not the actual images.

• Export formats. Make sure that the HTML format is selected.

• Custom data. Not required.

• Maximum width and height for images in Assets. (See Optimizing images for publishing a Digital article in Studio) Assets images that are published to a digital channel and which have a format bigger than 2500 x 2500 pixels are automatically downsized to that format. To change this format, set a custom width and/or height.

5. Setting up metadata fields

The Twixl publication requires various types of information such as the title, authors, page number, and so on.

This information is added as a property in the Properties dialog for the article in Studio and is mapped to the corresponding metadata field of Twixl during the publishing process.

It is recommended to set up the metadata fields described below.

Note: Based on your publication the needs and fields can vary.

Step 1. In Studio Server, set up the following custom metadata fields as described in Adding a custom metadata property in Studio Server.

Step 2. Add the above created custom meta fields to the Properties dialog box as described in Adding a property to a dialog box in Studio Server.

6. Setting up a style

Creating a Digital article in Studio is done by basing it on a template. This template contains a Style that controls the look and feel of how the Story should look.

Each specific publication in Twixl can utilize a dedicated style. Set this up by following the steps in Styling a Story in the Digital editor of Studio by using Styles.

Tip: WoodWing Digital Services provides a service for outsourcing the production of a digital magazine, including the creation of custom templates for your brand. For more information, see the WoodWing website.

7. Testing the environment

To test to see if the system is set up correctly, follow the steps as outlined in Publishing to Twixl using Studio.

Creating a private collection inside of a Twixl demo account will allow you to publish the article and check the mapping before anything is published to the public.