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First steps for editors

   English is not my language. Therefore I translated the text with Deepl-Translator.

Content

Introduction and Motivation

Working with Imperia is as easy as driving a car. Even 8-year-olds can hold the steering wheel and operate the pedals, but still you have to pay €2000 for a driver's license. Not as a bribe, but because so many little things are involved in making sure you not only drive, but arrive healthy without a guardian angel.

That's exactly how it is with Imperia. I could say install the bookmarklet, log in and change the page or create a new one, 5 clicks, and you're done. But still there is a 3-hour training or this forever long document because you don't want to just drive straight, you want to turn right or left, park or reverse to stay in the picture.

In this long text, I have included some links. They serve to deepen the content or to look at the same subject differently. If you want to work with Imperia for the first time, you should ignore the links. Everything essential is here, and it is easy to get distracted and lose the thread.

In 1993 Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web (WWW) with the invention of HTML. By 1994, the university was already online. Little by little, web servers popped up in the university (and outside, of course), offering Internet pages in the most dazzling layouts. Internet pages are pages which, apart from the text of a normal documentation, have the characteristic that they are linked to each other. Being linked means you click on a button, a text or an image and poof you are on a new page - possibly on the other side of the world. Documents and linking is therefore called a point in the content statement. It's one thing to create the document, add images, tables and lists, and another problem to set up the linking properly. Of course, you already know all this. But in the future you will have to create such information networks yourself, so you should be clear about what you are actually doing and what is happening.

With many word processors, such as Word, you have a single file after the document is created. You can save the file, send the file, etc.  If you have a web page, in addition to the plain letter text, it contains some formatting instructions and lots of links. You could write the HTML page with a normal text editor, one of the reasons why the WWW caught on so quickly. Images and other page components are usually connected with links and displayed by the browser, (the program you use to view the HTML page) in the right place in the page. So a web page is not a normal document, but a HTML file, which is connected with its other parts by links. We have 2 levels of links. The links between the web pages and the links between the HTML page and the components that make up the web page. And if you think now, link is link, you are right. A link is always a reference to another file. But some files are further away and others are closer to us. Those that are closer to us are what the Media item deals with.

In 1999, the university tried to create a bit of order by proposing a corporate design (CD) so that the pages of the institutes, the central pages and pages of the facilities would look the same. The idea was received very differently and, even with good coaxing, many institutes moved towards the CD but rarely achieved it.

By 2006, the strategy had changed. The institutes were offered a system that would make it as easy as possible to create an Internet presence, but not an arbitrary presence, but a presence exactly as prescribed by the now new CD. In addition, an archiving function was provided, with which it was possible, among other things, to revert to an earlier version of the document. The new CD provided for left navigation, center text, and a right column (optional). I will come back to these points later.

Today, this new layout is the old layout, because the university intends to switch to a new system. Drupal. Drupal will do a few things differently. It's a dynamic system where the pages are sort of assembled as they're delivered. In the past, this would not have been possible because the computing power was not available. I don't want to write anything negative now. I should only point out one detail. In Imperia, the normal approach to creating an HTML page is that you now have an editor (CK editor) that allows you to insert text as you see fit. This approach has advantages and disadvantages, especially if you have a CD and want to guarantee accessibility. That's why there are flex modules where you don't have to worry about the appearance, but where you just type in the text. Optional with Imperia, the rule with Drupal.

After we have clarified a few basic terms, we are already at the point of system structure.

System structure

We have already talked about a web server. A web server provides internet pages. I don't want to explain much more. In the most primitive case it is a storage place, in front of it is the server, which, when it receives a request, fetches the page and sends it to the remote client. Some pages are protected and are not delivered, for some pages the server checks if it needs to add something (SSI) before it is allowed to deliver them.

The Imperia system basically consists of 2 servers. A development server (develop server) and a public server (live server).

On the develop server, the pages are created by going through a workflow like on an assembly line. At the end of the workflow, there is the question whether the website should be published - that is, released in Imperia jargon. HTML pages are created that can also be viewed on the development server. Furthermore, images, PDF files, etc. are stored on the development server. Possibly from pictures different variants are produced, which are to be represented then in the Internet side. In the header of the browser is the address of an internet page. If it says something like imperia-dev.uni-heidelberg.de, then you are looking at the website on the development server.

Since the development server is the source system used to generate the live pages, it has been protected separately. It is behind a firewall, as it is called. The firewall means that you cannot see this server from the outside, somewhere in the wide world. But if you are within the university HD network, i.e. if you are inside the university, then you can access this server. This protection is not done by the server we talked about above, but by the network configuration within the university. Fine, but if the server is only visible within the university, then how can you access the server from your home office, for example? That is possible by establishing a VPN connection to the university. This means that you are inside the university. Since the VPN server requires a university ID and password, this ensures that not just anyone can come in through this route.

Let's take a closer look at the information on the web server. After all, they can't all be lying around flat. On the development server, documents are stored in rubrics.

What are categories? What are documents?

Rubrics are a kind of folder, as you know it, from the file system. There are permissions in the rubrics, who can do what, I'll get to that later. And there is another list of properties that you as an editor don't have to worry about. These properties are entered by administrators and determine a part of the appearance of the later website. A part, because of course a not insignificant part, is predetermined by the CD. Most of the time, these properties are the same for the whole institute, the whole workgroup or at least the whole rubric. These properties are added to a document or a copy of a document at the beginning of the workflow. An important property is, for example, the folder in which the web pages are to be published and the navigation variable that determines which navigation is to be included on the page. More about this later.

So a document already contains the list of properties of the rubric. The next step in the normal workflow is a green page where you as editors can enter data. These are text fields or various editors and selection options. This data is also collected in the document.

In the next step of the workflow, this data is evaluated with the help of various templates and processed into Internet pages in the normal workflow. This is not a spelling mistake, different internet pages can actually be generated, for example a German, an English and a Spanish one. The information for this is all in one document, if you have entered it and the administrator has intended it that way. Important data that you have to enter are the document name, so that you can find the file again, and the file name(s) that the HTML file representing your Internet page should have.

The development server and the live system are linked via a release function, which copies the finished Internet page to the live system.

The live system, on the other hand, is visible worldwide. On the live system, which is also a web server, there is also a storage space with the appropriate images, the current HTML pages and other media. In contrast to the development server, I can't really name it, because they are defined by so-called virtual hosts. Some pages can be reached via www.uni-heidelberg.de, hfjs.eu, www.jura.uni-heidelberg.de or www.iek.uni-hd.de, just to name a few.

Actually, there is only the way from the development server to the live system. An exception is the bookmarklet. If you have an Imperia bookmarklet (bookmark) installed in your browser, I'll get to that later, then you can go to any web page on the live server and use that bookmarklet to log in to the development server and, if you are authorized, edit that web page's document on the development system, and so on. With this, we leave the system setup, because the document creation and editing comes after the login.

Registration and login

You are inside Heidelberg University, in case of doubt via a VPN connection, because the development server is not visible outside the Uni-HD network. There are a lot of people inside the university now, but not everyone is allowed to log in to the development server. In any case, you have to go to the page:

https://imperia-dev.uni-heidelberg.de/imperia

If you can't reach the page, maybe the reason is that the web server is down. This happens, but it is usually not the cause. It is more likely that you are not in the Uni-HD network after all.

Before logging in, please read the supplement to the privacy policy. Already after logging in, your data will be stored on the development system. That is, of course, only if the login is successful, because this time the server that is located in front of the storage space becomes active. The authorization to log in is assigned to you by the EDP representative or Imperia administrator of your institute or institution.

If you have successfully logged in, then you will be assigned to the group that the EDP officer or Imperia administrator has assigned to you. This second filter level causes that only those users who are assigned to the group are allowed to edit pages of a group. You can also be a member of more than one group.

This is a one-time thing, after that you can log in, and you are automatically assigned to the right group.

Who actually determines which pages can be edited by which group?

The administrator determines which group has which permissions in a section. For example, he can determine whether your group is only allowed to read the rubric name. The rubrics are arranged in a tree-like manner. If you are to edit documents in a small branch, then you must have read permissions in the root rubric, the branch rubric, etc., so that you can reach the branch rubric at all.

In the branch rubric, your group must have the right to create and delete documents if necessary. If you are supposed to edit a web page, but you don't have the permission in the branch rubric where the document for the web page is located, it won't work. In this case, please contact the administrator, because only he can decide whether an additional group is allowed to create documents in the rubric or whether you should be assigned to an additional group.

All group members have equal rights. So you can see your documents among each other and change them. So that you do not hinder each other, there is a blocking function.

Before we get into the document creation, let's install a bookmarklet. I'll explain how to do it, if it doesn't work I'll link to the separate documentation where a video explains the procedure.

After logging in, you will find yourself on the Imperia desktop. The most important thing for editors is the left navigation. Under the User Account item, you will find the Profile item. In the profile, scroll down to the Bookmarklet button. Every browser has a bookmark control bar, bookmark tool bar or favorites bar. Unfortunately, the browser developers could not agree on a name. You open it, for example, by clicking on the three dashes or dots at the top right of the browser window, or by right-clicking at the top of the browser.

Then drag the bookmarklet into this line below the address of the web page. (Double click and drag, just like you highlight and move text).

And here is the link to the installation.

Documents and linking

There are usually several ways to do something in Imperia. This is also the case when creating a document.

The first, arduous way is to go to the rubric where you want to create the document, via the menu item Documents and the sub-item Create Document. Then click on the rubric and a new document is in the workflow.

Or the second, simple way, you go to a web page on the live server, for example in the folder xyz and click on the bookmarklet. The bookmarklet displays a new row in the browser header, and you can use Create New Document to create a new document in the same section where the web page document is located. The new web page will then also be released in the xyz folder. If you want to create a new document in the uvw folder, find an internet page in uvw and click on the bookmarklet. If the Create new document item is grayed out, then you have no right to create documents in this section.

The same steps if you want to edit a document: Menu item Documents, submenu item Document Browser, click on the desired section, select the document in the right selection window, and for example click on Edit and Reimport via the horizontal navigation. Or go to the web page, click on the bookmarklet, select Edit or Reimport.

A small difference exists between Create and Edit: When creating you actually create a new document, when editing you create a copy of the last document version. There is also an option in the archive to create a copy of a previous version. In any case, the copy is then the very last version. If you ruin this very last version, you still own the last version! So don't panic!

You will come to a window in which the color green dominates, at least as long as you have a (potential) HTML document in focus. In this input template you can change the properties of the document.

In a new document most of the fields are expanded, when editing only the text field describing the middle column should be expanded. Here you will usually find a CK editor, which I will discuss later.

At the bottom and top of the page you will find the Preview button. This button opens a new window and shows approximately how the later page will look like. (I'd like to be more specific, but there are exceptions all over the place that make documentation difficult. For example, the preview does not pull in SSI files. Which is not so tragic, if SSI files are not to be pulled in on your pages, and if they are pulled in and you may not have rights to edit them, then you'll have to live with it whether you like it or not. The SSI files are created in a special workflow, which I'll get to later).

With Save & Next you leave this edit window and usually also the workflow.

In the next step you can view the web page on the development system, with the same restrictions as in the preview. However, the advantage of this link is that you can send it. If, as part of a four-eyes principle, you want, need, or want someone else to look at the page before you release it, then you can put a stop at this point.

If you have inserted this stop, then you may have the problem, how to get the page then probably unlocked. There is the tedious way via the menu item Document Browser, search and select the document there, and in the horizontal navigation under Edit this time select the item Unlock Document. It is easier if the document was already unlocked and you just wanted to have a change confirmed, then you just need to click on the bookmarklet and select Update. At this point maybe also interesting. If the document has not been unlocked yet, but you still have the link from the development server, because you sent it for example, then you can also update via this link with the bookmarklet and thus unlock the document. So the bookmarklet also works on the development server.

Without stopping, you can directly unlock the document. In the log of the unlocking process you can see which internet page was transferred from the development server to the live system. Possibly it is also indicated that media were also transferred. If there are problems, these are also indicated. An error message would be e.g. that a linked picture is to be transferred, which you deleted in the meantime.

A remark to the background process Hermes. It ensures that you can also release time-controlled, if this is desired. It also tries to unlock the missing image later, if it is recorded in the system.

Let me briefly summarize everything again: You have a bookmarklet in your browser. You know how and where to log in, and you can distinguish between the two servers imperia-dev and the live system. You are able to reimport a document that is in a rubric into the workflow. The editing of the document in detail comes now. After that you know that you have to save the document and after that you can unlock the web page. Please note, if you have looked at the internet site before and after that recreated it, the internet site in your browser has not changed. You will see the changes only when you reload the document. It may happen after reloading that parts of the web page have not changed. For example, you have reloaded the HTML document, but the overwritten image is loaded from the cache by the browser. As you know, the web page consists of one or more files. So you still need to reload the other file.

Your main input option is the green input template. The green area is language version specific, the grey upper area concerns the whole document. Here you will find the document name as an important point, usually after your institute abbreviation in square brackets. If you search for the document in Imperia, in the document manager, in the archive or on the desktop, this document name will be displayed. If you name all documents in the New Document section, that may be right at the moment when you have to think of a name, but it is not permanently useful.

The CK-Editor makes sure that your input is correct or what the editor understands by it. If you know better, you can do without the editor and use a text field for the document instead of the editor, then you have to use HTML tags, or you do without the fixed editor altogether because you want to work with flex modules, for example. Flexmodules will come later.

The first block is the navigation. How to change it, I'll write later. But if you don't want to change it and the point already exists, under which your web page should be found, then you can already click this point. If it is clicked, then the navigation will not be displayed folded out in the future. You can make it visible again at any time.

Second block, we are at the meta information of the language version. Here comes first the document title. The document title is the most important description for search engines. It is displayed in the search results and is highly valued in the ranking. It is also displayed in the tabs of the browser. In the English version there should be an English title, in the German one a German one.

For the file name, you should make sure that it starts with a letter and ends with .html. Otherwise, it should contain only characters that you would find on an English typewriter and no special characters except _. -. Usually file names start with a lowercase letter to avoid typing errors. But this is not mandatory. It is important to know, however, that file names and folder names are distinguished between lower and upper case letters. The file index.html will be displayed if you specify only the folder. www.irgendwo.de/ordner/index.html = www.irgendwo.de/ordner

You can specify keywords and description, or leave it. This used to be important for search engine ranking, but is no longer relevant.

The author is automatically inserted and also indicated in the web page. If you don't want this, leave the field empty.

You can also expand a Javascript field if you want to write any instructions in the header of the HTML page. This doesn't really fall under first steps.

The next large area is divided into header information, text input, and footer information. The header is the area between the gray line and the heading. On the one hand there is the so called breadcrumb navigation (breadcrumb trail). The beginning is given by the administrator in the heading, if you want to add it, you can do it here. On the other hand you find the horizontal navigation. This is also predefined by the administrator for the whole rubric. If you think an additional item is important, then you can add it. If you have added a new language, then this area must be open so that the necessary information for the voice control is transferred. Otherwise you will have to add the voice control manually.

In the text input there is the Heading item. The text entered here is red, large and has a dashed line. There should be only one H1 heading per document. If you think you need another one, create a new document. This H1 heading is important for ranking.

You can create an additional in-page navigation. I could have done that in this text because it is so long. But I decided to use the table of contents. The elements are placed in the upper right corner of the text area. They consist of an identifier (term you can click on) and a link. We will come to the link later.

The editor is somewhat trimmed on KUM's instructions. For example, font size, font color, background or font are missing. In the CD these specifications are just fixed and should not be changed. You can try out most of the icons in an exercise document.

The editor can insert text from other sources, for example from a Word file, a PDF file or from an e-mail (CTRL-v). We have not configured it down so far that it only transfers the text, unfortunately it also transfers formatting that you can no longer correct with the clipped editor. That is why we have the Tx icon. It eliminates formatting. The editor can also insert images. Images are normally compressed. But that is not the case here. Therefore, it will happen that you will not be able to work with the document version. The next section explains how to insert images correctly. If you copied them into the editor, please delete them immediately.

The linking comes in a subsection. You can insert pictograms and special characters and look at the source code and work in the source code if you have sufficient HTML knowledge. In doing so, keep in mind that the editor will correct your mistakes, but it may not be to your liking.

For example, if you want to bold the first paragraph and forget the </b> at the end, the editor thinks you want to bold the whole text. The correct thing to do then is to add <b></b> to each paragraph. Since the editor works with <strong> </strong>, you can correct this error only in the source code.

The bottom line is intended for the creation of forms and is not part of the first steps.

After the editor the flex modules are hidden in the black box. They are prefabricated text components that you can use as they are. More often used are image gallery or multi-column input and output.

You should not use more than 50 flex modules per document, otherwise editing will be very slow.

At the end of the block the footer information. Here the administrator also has his hands in the game. But you have the possibility to overwrite these specifications.

The last block is the right column, which is covered in a separate section.

Linking

Linking is a prominent feature in Internet pages. For example, they look like this in the source code:

    preceding text <a href="address of the page">clickable text</a> following text or
    Preceding text <img src="Addresses of the image"> following text.

In the first case, you can click on clickable text and land on a new page. In the second case, an image is specified between the texts.

Of course, you don't have to bother with such cryptic specifications, that's what the CK editor is for. For example, if you select the clickable text and click on the icon with the chain link, another window opens where you can enter the address of the other page, among other things. Where do you get the address of the other page. To do this, go to the other page and you can copy the address from the address bar of the browser. In that case copy the absolute address.

If there is an absolute address, surely there is also a relative address? Correct. With the absolute address it doesn't matter where you are. It is the complete address.

If you want to write a letter to your home address in China, then you need your complete address. To a colleague, the street and house number is enough. Street and house number is a relative address, namely relative to the location where you are. In our case, relative links are based on the current HTML document.

An absolute address is composed of.

protocol://host/folder/filename

For the protocol you should pay attention to https, http is not encrypted and therefore no longer state of the art. If you specify a relative address when creating a link, then choose <other> as the protocol. You probably won't need Ftp and News anymore.

With the relative address, you can omit the protocol.

//host/folder/filename

The host is the web server where the file is located. Upper and lower case are not important here. Please avoid linking to imperia-dev.uni-heidelberg.de. First, the server is only accessible in the Uni-HD network. And second, if you intend to do just that, please contact the administrator. And third, we don't need to advertise Imperia.

For the relative address, you can also omit the host.

/folder/filename

For the folder and the filename, the case is important. The folder(s) are separated by a slash, not a backslash (\). But there is also the possibility to get into a parent folder with ../, as known from the operating systems.

You have reached the next level of relative address if you also omit the folder.

filename

If you link an internet page, then this is by default a file of the form something.html or something.htm or something.shtml (instead of s another letter is also possible). But it can also be a dynamic file, like something.php or something.cgi. Or one or no other program extension. As already mentioned, you can also omit the filename (so something must be between the quotes, but for example only the folder), then, as already mentioned, the file index.html or any other file is fetched by default, or the content is generated and delivered directly by the dynamic system. The file name can also be an image, video, audio or PDF file. Then it depends on whether the browser of the reader can do something with it, in case of doubt it is offered to save the file. Everything else about media comes later.

If you now think we are at the end, you are wrong. There are still two relative addresses

#anchor

?value

You can set an anchor on a web page using the icon with the flag. It is some label, for example, section_3. If you then put for example #Section_3 over a clickable text, the page will jump to this anchor. An anchor can of course also be specified in an absolute address, then you jump not only to another page, but also to a specific place on the page.

You need the value specification for pages that have a dynamic character. This value is then evaluated by a program. For example https://www.google.de/search?q=Suchwort.

In the link window that opens when you click the chain link icon, you can enter an email address instead of a URL. An e-mail address must contain an @, otherwise the input will not be accepted. The address looks like this (you don't have to remember it, but you should know that you can look it up if you need it in another place, for example in any text fields):

mailto:Name@hostname

For media and navigation, we'll fall back on what we've explained here.

Media

There should be a definition here, but there is none. In Imperia, media are files that are meta-informed and become media documents. The files can be, for example, image files, PDF files, Word files, video or audio files. In principle, you can save and include anything as media files, filename.xyz. The file should not be too big. Anything over 50 MB please put somewhere else, the web server is not designed for that in terms of storage space. You can write as many HTML pages as you want and you won't embarrass us, but a few movies and the storage space is full. Media is also read in through a different workflow. You can reimport the media documents, and thus overwrite them, and you keep an overview of the different versions in the archive. For images there are some editing functions in the media asset management (MAM). The context-sensitive online help can certainly support you. Please try this out for yourself. But a separate image editing program may not be a superfluous expense.

I'll first explain how media is captured in the Imperia content management system, and then what you can do with the captured media.

There are two ways to open the media asset manager. One is via the desktop menu and the MAM item. It looks something like the document browser where you found the HTML documents. In particular, the rubric structure is identical in our case. Strictly speaking, there is actually only one rubric structure, where in the rubric A there are both the documents and the media. Using a filter, you will see only documents in the Document Manager and only assets in the MAM. (I mention this only because sometimes the filter is broken, and then suddenly you see both sorts - i.e. documents and assets - in one manager. That's not bad, just confusing).

This also clarifies the question: Can it be that I can create documents but not take pictures? No, that can't be. It is one and the same category. Either you have rights or you don't. But it is probably the case that in the Document Manager you are in section A, where you have rights, and in the MAM you have selected section B, where you do not have rights.

The second way to get into the MAM is to click on the icon that looks remotely like a picture of a landscape with sun and land in the Image Properties window. There you can select an image and a second window opens with the MAM.

The window is divided into two parts when the navigation is collapsed. On the left is the rubric tree and on the right is the content of the selected rubric. And there is a horizontal navigation with the items File, Edit etc. You can upload an image to the MAM by opening the source (e.g. a file manager). Then select the file to be uploaded (you can select more than one), and drag it to the field where you want or will see the section content. Confirm that you want to upload the file. The other way is, you go to File in the horizontal navigation and take the Upload item. Here you have more possibilities to specify additional meta information. If you want to overwrite a file that exists in the field, then select it, go to Edit Reimport, and you'll come to the same window as you just did, except now you can replace the file.

This puts the asset on the development server and makes it available for linking.

Let's assume that the asset is a PDF file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TXT, etc.), then when you click on the identifier, the file should open in the current or another tab of the browser, or the file should be made available for download. So, it should happen approximately what happens when we click on the address of another web page. Therefore we need the symbol with the chain link for this operation. Here we don't need to specify a URL in the URL field, because we don't know it. We only know that we have uploaded the PDF file in the MAM, in which section it is located and what the file is called. Therefore we open the MAM with the BrowseMAM button and go to the PDF file in the opening MAM window. We click on the icon or image and end up back in the link window and see that the URL field is filled in.

The link in the URL field is relative. This means that the asset, in this case the PDF file is transferred to the live server when the document is released and is clickable. If the PDF file is located on another server and we know the address of the PDF file, for example if you have uploaded a PDF file in Heibox and have made this file publicly available, then you can also specify this absolute address. However, the PDF file will then not be unlocked when you unlock it.

Let's assume that asset is an image file, then first of all we don't want this file to be displayed in another tab, but somewhere in our text. Put the cursor at this point and click on the icon with the landscape that we already used when uploading. This time click on Browse MAM, and if the image has already been uploaded, go to the image and click on it. You'll end up back at the image properties and the URL is filled in. It's a relative link again and the image will also be unlocked when you unlock the HTML file. For accessibility reasons, you should specify an alternative text that will be read aloud to a visually impaired person. Below this, the image size is specified in pixels. The width of 1000px fills approximately the whole window width. So if it says 2400, then it is certainly too large. If you specify a different size, then your original image will no longer be transferred to the target system, but a reduced or cropped image.

The image is actually cropped and not originally transferred and displayed in a reduced size. If you link a very large image, for example a group picture with 30 participants on the website, and you want each individual to be recognizable (observe data protection), then you can insert a small image on the website and specify a relative link to the original image in the third tab of the image properties. Then not only the resized image will be transferred to the live server, but also the original image. Also, a link environment will be set up around the image, which will cause when you click on the downsized image, then the original image will be displayed without CD. You can even zoom in the image if necessary. Image galleries for multiple images can be found in the flex modules.

All further information can be found in the MAM documentation.

Navigation

A left navigation belongs to the CD and the current menu item must be emphasized. There is no agreement on which links must be in the navigation. There was an idea a long time ago from a vice-rector that at least the deaneries should have the same navigation points, but no agreement has been reached. The navigations, like almost everything, are static. Still, occasionally you get the impression that you pop up when you go deeper. This effect is caused by the fact that it is simply a different navigation.

Since navigations are mostly the same for several pages, we thought about how we could best realize it with the given means, that a navigation does not have to be added manually on every page. Because if that would be the case and a navigation point changes, then all pages would have to be changed. And nobody wanted that. We decided to outsource the navigation to a so-called SSI file. In a navigation SSI file there is a small piece of text and in the HTML file there is a hint that before delivering the HTML page the server should write this text into the HTML file. Server-Side-Include, as SSI sounds written out, does exactly this, server-side something is included.

Various documents are included in one section. The administrator determines if there is a navigation for this rubric. If yes, then the site editor can create and modify this navigation.

If no, then the administrator must specify in the rubric that a navigation of another rubric should be pulled in. Here it is then not so clear whether the editor of the other rubric can edit the navigation. If no, he has to live with the navigation. If yes, then he can change it; however, the change also affects the documents of the other rubric.

There are different approaches that administrators take. Some see it as important that there is only one central navigation for all sections of their area, other administrators want to keep the central navigation as short as possible and want it to pop up in the subsections. Still other administrators leave the responsible persons of the subcategories all liberties to define also completely new navigations. The workload in the first and last case is small. I.e., if a navigation point changes, then only the central navigation must be changed or if the separate navigation changes, it does not influence the other navigations. In case of the expandable navigations, several navigations may have to be changed manually.

Changing the navigation can be done through the document browser: Reimport and change. The filename is usually navi_de.ssi if it is a German navigation, or navi_en.ssi in the English case etc. (In the document browser only one filename is output per document, even if the document creates varios files, so you have to have some imagination. But the file name starts with navi and ends with .ssi).

Or you open a document where you can see the navigation. Then activate the line Navigationspunkt hervorheben oder Navigation ändern. Then you will see the navigation. Here you could also select the appropriate navigation point. At the end of the navigation you will find the link to change the whole navigation.

If there is no navigation yet, then you can create a new navigation with the link. In a second tab you branch off to a sub-branch of the workflow and have the option, if no navigation exists yet, to copy another navigation. Of course, this makes no sense if you want to create an absolutely new navigation. In the other case, you save yourself a few clicks.

Afterwards, you can select the languages. After all, the English web pages should have an English navigation and the German ones a German one. Then you will come to a page where you will essentially find a flex module element, where you will have to select a new module. The selection is limited to one navigation element.

This navigation element consists of two text fields and one selection field. You need the two text fields to enter the identifier (text in the navigation) and a link. The selection field indicates whether it is a main point or, indented, a subpoint.

The navigation is, apart from the restriction by the administrator, completely freely selectable. There is no automatism that determines the navigation points.

After you have saved and unlocked the created navigation, you can click the Template Reload link in the green input template at the top. Then the template will be rebuilt, and the new navigation will be pulled in so that you can select the correct navigation point. After that, you can save the document and unlock it. The web page now has a navigation with a grayed out navigation point.

As an editor, you could also bypass the normal way that the administrator tells you which navigation is pulled in by pulling in a different navigation in the navigation column in the document. This usually makes no sense and is no longer part of the first steps, because you need the address of the other navigation.

Two special features still to the left column. There is also the possibility to specify a secondary navigation. But the result is probably so ugly that this secondary navigation has not been accepted. Then there is the possibility to insert another SSI file below the navigation, which is then included in the HTML page together with the navigation. But this is a setting that the administrator makes.

Right column

The right column is optional. It can be shown and hidden—with or without content. This can be done in the last block of the input template. At least, if the administrator does not have other ideas. He can specify in the rubrics that, for example, all documents of the rubric are three-column or two-column. In addition, he can also set via rubric configurations that SSI files are to be pulled in by default. However, these will only be displayed if a right column is actually displayed.

If you edit the right column, you will find a flex module element similar to the left one. The choices are larger here. There is a standard block in two different forms. But you can also call a CK editor for entering the contents of the right column. Then there is the possibility to pull in SSI files or even content from other servers. These are then no more first steps. And if you have such contents, then you know what you need, namely exactly these interfaces.

Delete and discard

There are several places in Imperia where you can delete and discard something. It's also a bit of repetition in principle. Information, even if it was created with a lot of love, usually comes to a point where it is no longer interesting or even wrong. Then you have to part with them. Some things disappear when you edit the pages, but at some point we also get to the point where the cuts are bigger or supposed to be bigger.

Let's start with the bookmarklet. You are on a web page, and you see the Delete item. If you press it, then a security query comes up, where it is roughly described what happens. Namely, the HTML pages on different servers are deleted, and the document disappears from the document browser. It is important to know that the attached documents, PDF files and images etc. are not deleted. Why is that? Because these documents may be linked from elsewhere and therefore should continue to exist.

Now, of course, if you want to delete a lot of files from one section, a tedious task. Therefore, we go to the document browser. We select the documents to be deleted, and in the horizontal navigation under Edit we find two interesting options, Delete and Live Delete. In the first case, the same thing happens as with the bookmarklet. In the second case, the unlocking is virtually undone. The HTML file is no longer on the live system, but the images etc. are. The file can be easily unlocked again via the document browser or the bookmarklet if necessary.

Here is a shortcut. Removing a link to another page does not delete the page. It may be that you can no longer reach that page from the home page, but at some point Google etc. has looked at the page and remembered the content. Now, if a search query fits perfectly to exactly this page, then it will be displayed prominently to the visitor. The fact that you may no longer know anything about this totally outdated page does not change that much.

It also suggests that you delete pages in the reverse order of creation. If a professor goes that has an entry page that links to a resume and publications page each, don't delete the entry page first, but start with the resume. See if the resume links to other internal pages, if not, then the page can go. For publications, do the same. If then there are other links on the entry page, do the same, then when everything is cleared, delete the entry page.

Images and PDF files are also deleted, of course. For PDF files, the matter is simple. We open the MAM, select the documents and can get rid of them using the horizontal navigation and edit and delete. With images, this would also be possible. But there is an archive to consider, which I'll get to in a moment. If you want to look at an internet page there, then this internet page does not exist as a finished page, because those were deleted or overwritten by other versions, but it is assembled on the fly. For the Internet page, you need however actually also the pictures. They should still exist on the development system, and not only in the archive, otherwise you will only see the text of the internet page in the archive version. Therefore, I recommend deleting the pictures only on the live system.

Even if you deleted everything, then the information is not gone yet, neither if you overwrite it. You can also find the deleted documents in the archive. You should never delete there! Because if you make a mistake here and delete, then the information is definitely gone. This is not only annoying for you, but also for the university archive. They would like to keep the information for the next 2000 years. That's why you never delete in the archive. Use the archive for what it is intended for, to restore accidentally deleted documents or to restore broken documents to a working state.

In the input template, there is an item Discard. When a new document is created, and you click on Discard, then more happens than with the previous deletion. The new document is not only deleted from the document browser, but also from the archive. If you accidentally create a new document and click Discard, it disappears without a trace. Even caching is pointless. If you think about it, it becomes clear why this makes sense. You created a document by accident or for fun, never ran it through the whole workflow, never created a web page and decided to discard it. Why should this garbage be kept?

If you have re-imported a document or clicked on the Edit bookmark point, then a copy of the existing document is created and presented to you for editing. This current version, if you click Discard, will also be destroyed without a trace. If you want to interrupt the work and click Cancel, then the current version will not be destroyed, but you will find it on your desktop (albeit without any changes). If you have previously cached, then of course the changes in the current version are also present on the desktop. If you continue editing the document and click Discard, everything is gone. Everything refers to the current copy. The document is unaffected and so are the web pages. The web page doesn't change until you click Save and Go. This is true at least for the web page on the development system. Then the current version is also stored in the archive in such a way that you cannot discard it.

There is also a Discard button on the desktop. The button removes the copy from the workflow, but (as of 8/1/2022) not from the archive. I.e., if you click on Edit in the bookmarklet, the copy you started will be offered to you for further editing.

Another rather rare case: You want to delete only the English version from the live system, but not the German one. The easiest method is to edit the page and delete the English file name. Then you unlock the document.

Special workflow

To be able to display some special features, we have defined a special workflow. So a rubric with this special workflow does not deliver a green page as input template, but mostly a selection of what you just want to generate. In this workflow you can generate SSI-files, CSS-files or .htaccess-files among others.

Most of the time, that's what you want, and that's why you go there. But it can also happen that you get there by accident, namely when you read in the right column that a blablabla.ssi is pulled in here. The file is clickable. In a new tab, you can edit the SSI file. You are then in the other workflow and will usually find a CK editor there as well, with which you can make the desired changes.

If you create CSS files, you should have CSS knowledge. You can then make the file available via the JavaScript field of the meta information.

Rules and laws

You already know one rule that you should follow, the CD. The corporate design is prescribed by the rectorate and should be adhered to. If you don't comply with it, the rectorate will scold you and you should then change it. That is not so tragic.

Another rule is set by Google. These are rules you should also follow if you want your page not only to be found, but also to rank as high as possible. Very few readers have the patience to dig through to the 10th page for the keyword where your pages are first mentioned. The university site is very old and changing. Google likes that sort of thing. But other sites are getting older and changing continuously as well, so there's competitive pressure there as well. Competitive pressure that you may not even be aware of. For example, if you search for university, then Carola Ruperta is no longer the first choice as long as you don't tell Google that you are in Heidelberg.

As you can read in the imprint, the rector is legally liable if you commit any of the following transgressions. He is not very amused about it. Imprint is a good keyword. All pages must have an imprint. But not in every case the rector is actually liable. The correct imprint can be entered by the administrator in the rubrics, and need not concern you as an editor.

With the privacy policy, for which there is also a legal basis, the matter is already different. Of course, the administrator provides the general statement in the sections. If you deviate from it on the individual pages, then you are responsible for the addition. For example, you might deviate if you direct visitor data to Facebook because you think you need to link a facebook-owned icon or automatically pull a Twitter message into the page without asking the page visitor if they want that. You can create forms and ask for data and not specify anywhere how you intend to handle the data. If in doubt, ask the university's privacy officer.

Facebook may be thrilled if you include one of their icons in your pages, but not every right holder of an image sees it that way. I'll call it copyright law, it's a bunch of laws that play a role here when you insert someone else's ideas or values into your page. You should be aware of these laws. This applies not only to images and videos, but also to texts. In university, you should know how and under what premises, you are allowed to quote texts from others.

But even with your own pictures, caution is required. If individuals are recognizable in the images, then it is your responsibility to ensure that you have verifiable consent from the person pictured that he or she wants to be visible on the World Wide Web. The professor's wishes are of no interest whatsoever. The law for universities in Baden-Württemberg states which data of colleagues you are allowed to publish, if it is necessary then. If it is not necessary, then even these data are taboo.

After all, you should also take into account your visitors. And for this there is a law that stipulates that the web presence must be barrier-free. Accessible not only for visitors with the latest technical equipment and all senses, but especially for those who do not have exactly that. Contradictions must be taken into account. An audio file with which you want to do a favor for the blind may well be a hurdle for a deaf visitor. And even the consideration of old technical equipment is not an argument for transferring personal data insecurely. Here it is always necessary to find a compromise.

We provide some JavaScript applications (you can find them in the documentation) that you can use when designing the content. If you use your own JavaScript applications, please make sure that you do not include any hidden information from other servers outside the university. If such scripts change, you have no control over what a third-party provider does with their scripts. You still bear the responsibility. This is independent of copyright and privacy laws. If you automatically load any scripts onto the computers of visitors to your website, then you should make sure that they do not cause any damage in the future.

There are always new regulations and judgments that should be taken note of, and by no means is this list complete, but only a brief outline to point out the problem. While it is common knowledge that there is a lot of garbage on the web. If you put information on the web in the context of the university, then you should always be skeptical. Being skeptical not only helps with the legal issues, but also prevents your pages from looking untrustworthy. If someone comes along and thinks it's good if you should put the UB's opening hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on your institute library page, then it's no mistake to check with the UB to see if those hours are even correct. As editors, you have responsibilities, live up to them.

Help and support

You can find Imperia documentation alongside this script. It is organized by subject area and also includes many images.

Imperia itself offers a topic-based help. You will find a round, white icon with a black question mark in the top right corner of Imperia pages. The Imperia help is actually very well-structured. Unfortunately, we occasionally deviate from the standard, so that then some help leads to nothing. In particular, we would like to refer to the explanations of the image manipulation options in the MAM help.

So far, there has also been a training for editors on the one hand and administrators on the other. The training for editors should be congruent with this script. The advantage would be that it included supervised practice, which is difficult to realize in a script.

If all this leaves any further questions, then of course you have the right to contact via mail to the address website-services@urz.uni-heidelberg.de. For example also if you want to have deleted documents which are in the old media database. Please understand that we do not correct default settings made by the administrators at the request of the editor. In this case, please contact the Imperia administrator. The same applies if you need reinforcement in the editor activity. Only the administrator can appoint new editors.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Latest Revision: 2023-07-10
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