GitLab

An earlier version of this feature proposal is available at #207 (closed)

In order to support media assets in books, Editoria needs a new 'Asset Manager' interface. Assumptions:

• Assets will be limited to static images and videos
• Assets are assumed to be 'camera ready' (e.g. do not need to be cropped, optimized or edited in Editoria)
• A restricted set of formats will be accepted in the initial version

This proposal begins with suggested modifications to the existing image support in the Editor.

Users can already add, change and remove images and captions via the Editor. They also need to be able to:

• Add images from the Asset Manager (as well as directly from their computer, which they can already do), so a modification to the Editor's toolbar will need to be made to launch an interface that lets the user choose an image from the Asset Manager.
• Users can launch the Asset Manager interface by clicking (or double clicking or right clicking) on an image in the Editor.
• A visual indicator will alert users to any "problems" with the image (e.g. it has not yet passed rights checking, or is not an acceptable resolution). In this mock-up, we've added a red border highlight to the image as the indicator. The user corrects these problems via the Asset Manager, and can discuss the problem(s) via sidebar commenting on the image and/or its caption.

The Asset Manager

The asset manager has two views: detailed and summary.

• The detailed view is pictured above, and reveals all metadata, status and other information related to each media asset.
• The summary view would, by default, show only the images and their captions so that editors can quickly verify that all images have a caption and that the captions are consistent. The summary view may also be customized to show additional data by selecting the dropdown arrow next to the Summary selector.

In addition to thumbnail visual representations of each asset, and a linked indicator of the location(s) where the asset appears (if anywhere), the asset manager tracks and displays the following information. Presses may configure additional items, and can also determine which of the following items are required, what state or value for each item is required, etc. The asset manager will also display a prominent visual indicator (Large green checkmark or red exclamation point) so users can tell at a glance whether each asset is "ready." The visual indicator either updates automatically based on whether required information is present, or perhaps is simply toggle-able by an editor.

• Decorative vs. Substantive (decorative assets don't require as much accessibility attention)
• Title
• Creator(s)
• Caption
• Alt. text
• Long description
• Captioning file(s)
• Alternate audio track(s) (e.g. languages, described audio)
• Asset source
• Asset owner(s) / Copyright holder(s)
• Copyright restriction(s)
• Permissions secured for print
• Permissions secured for digital
• Permissions evidence document(s) (file upload)
• Resolution
• Color profile
• File size
• Alternate version(s) (e.g. static image for videos, tactile image, thumbnail, monochrome, downsampled for e-pub, etc.)

Each item might also have a "Notes / Comments" button that spawns a modal for recording conversations. It should also have a visual indicator if any of the notes or comments are un-resolved or require attention.

Modal for complex information

Some information may be too complex to fully represent in the Asset Manager's detailed view -- especially rights clearance information. In this case, a modal pop-up should be utilized to manage the granular information, and the asset manager should display a simple summary, such as a small green checkmark to indicate that everything in the modal passes press requirements, or a red exclamation to indicate something needs attention. This same modal would be used for the notes / comments described above, and likely also for an asset "editing" interface (e.g. cropping) that may be made available in the future.

Notes:

• Content Management & Data Asset Management Systems (DAMS) exist (e.g. Nuxeo). It's possible we don't have to start from scratch with this.
• It'd be great if some fields (e.g. Creator) had an auto-complete function that drew from other items, so if several items had the same Creator, it'd be easy to enter that information.
• Manifold has a spreadsheet-based batch process that we may be able to utilize.
• Stretch goal 1: Author-inserted asset call-outs included in the manuscript automatically pull in appropriate assets based on their file names.
• Stretch goal 2: Search and facet the images ("I want to see all images with problems." or "I want to see all images created by Karen Dean.")