Configuring Studio for publishing to eMags

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 eMags. To make publishing from Studio to eMags possible, eMags needs to be set up as a custom Publish Channel in Studio.

How this is done is explained in this article.

About eMags

For information about eMags, see the eMags website.

Requirements

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

• Studio Server 10.10.0 or any higher version of Studio Server 10.
• A Web server to publish the article to from where it is pushed to eMags, such as Studio Server or any other place where it can be hosted and accessed publicly.
• An eMags account.

How it works

An article for eMags is a set of files in JSON, HTML, and PSV format.

These files are hosted on your existing content management system (CMS) and then pushed to eMags using the eMags RSS feed.

For eMags, the full issue containing all articles is published in one action from Studio. On receiving the articles, eMags will turn them into a publication and provide you with a URL for viewing it.

For the publishing process 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 eMags and Studio.

1. Creating an eMags account
2. Setting up an eMags Distribution Channel
3. Setting up an eMags RSS feed
4. Setting up a channel in Studio
5. Setting up metadata fields
6. Setting up a style
7. Testing the environment

1. Creating an eMags account

Publishing to eMags requires configuration steps within the eMags development environment. For this, an eMags 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. Setting up an eMags Distribution Channel

Pushing articles from Studio to eMags’s distribution center requires an eMags Distribution Channel to be set up.

For information about how to do this, contact eMagazines directly.

3. Setting up an eMags RSS feed

When articles are published from Studio, they are first placed on a Web server from where they are then pushed to eMags. Pushing the articles to eMags is done by making use of the eMags RSS feed.

This RSS feed is provided by the eMags (ValueMag) team. Its URL is later needed for configuring Studio.

Contact eMags to request to have the RSS feed set up, and note down the URL.

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 eMags, having this endpoint makes it possible for Digital articles to be pushed from Studio to eMags.

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.

• Group 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: The eMags RSS feed as set up earlier.

• 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 formats JSON, HTML and PSV are 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 eMags 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 eMags during the publishing process.

The metadata fields used are a combination of default metadata fields and custom metadata fields.

Default metadata fields

The following default metadata fields are mapped to fields in eMags:

Custom metadata fields

eMags requires additional information other than what is provided through the above mentioned default fields. Providing this information is done through custom metadata fields.

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

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

Step 1. 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 visually display.

Each specific publication in eMags 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 eMags using Studio.