DocumentationAEM 6.5User Guide

Manage collections managing-collections

Last update: Wed Nov 15 2023 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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A collection is a set of assets within Adobe Experience Manager Assets. Use collections to share assets between users. The set can be static collection or a dynamic collection that is based on search results.

Unlike folders, a collection can include assets from different locations. You can share collections with various users that are assigned different levels of privileges, including viewing, editing, and so on.

You can share multiple collections with a user. Each collection contains references to assets. The referential integrity of assets is maintained across collections.

Collections are of the following types, based on the way they collate assets:

  • A collection that contains a static reference list of assets, folders, and other collections.

  • A smart collection that dynamically includes assets based on a search criteria.

Access the collections console navigating-the-collections-console

To open the Collections, in the Experience Manager interface, go to Assets > Collections.

Create a collection creating-a-collection

You can create a collection either with static references or based on a search criteria-based filter. You can also create a collection from a lightbox.

Create a collection with static references creating-a-collection-with-static-references

You can create a collection with static references, for example, a collection with references to assets, folders, collections, spin sets, and image sets.

  1. Navigate to the Collections console.

  2. From the toolbar, click Create.

  3. In the Create Collection page, enter a title and an optional description for the collection.

  4. Add members to the collection and assign appropriate permissions. Alternatively, select Public Collection to allow all users to access the collection.

    note note
    NOTE
    To enable the members to share collections with other users, provide the dam-users group read permissions at the path home/users. Give permission to the users at /content/dam/collections location to allow the users to view the Collections in pop up lists. Alternatively, make the user a part of dam-users group.

  5. (Optional) Add a thumbnail image for the collection.

  6. Click Create, and then click OK to close the dialog. A collection with the specified title and properties is opened in the Collections console.

    note note
    NOTE
    Experience Manager Assets lets you create review tasks for a collection similar to the way you create review tasks for an assets folder.

    To add assets to the collection, navigate to the Assets user interface. For details, see Add assets to a collection.

Create collections using dropzone create-collections-using-dropzone

You can drag assets from the Assets user interface to a collection. You can also create a copy of a collection and drag the assets there.

  1. From the Assets user interface, select the assets you want to add to a collection.

  2. Drag the assets to the Drop in Collection zone. Alternatively, click To Collection from the toolbar.

    drop_in_collection

  3. In the Add To Collection page, click Create Collection from the toolbar.

    If you want to add the assets to an existing collection, select it from the page, and click Add. By default, the most recently updated collection is selected.

  4. In the Create New Collection dialog, specify a name for the collection. If you want the collection to be accessible to all users, select Public Collection.

  5. Click Continue to create the collection.

Create a smart collection creating-a-smart-collection

A Smart Collection uses a search criteria to dynamically populate assets. You can create a Smart Collection using only files and not folders or files and folders.

To create a smart collection, follow the steps:

  1. Navigate to the Assets user interface and click search.

  2. Type the search keyword in the Omnisearch box and select Enter. Open the Filters panel and apply a search filter.

  3. From the Files & Folders list, select Files.

    files_option

  4. Click Save Smart Collection.

  5. Specify a name for the collection. Select Public to add the DAM Users group with the Viewer role to the smart collection.

    save_collection

    note note
    NOTE
    If you select Public, the smart collection becomes available to everyone with the owner role after you create it. If you cancel the Public option, the DAM user group is no longer associated with the smart collection.

  6. Click Save to create the smart collection, and then close the message box to complete the process.

    The new smart collection is also added to the Saved Searches list.

    collection_listing

    The label of the Create Smart Selection option changes to Edit Smart Selection. To edit the settings of the smart collection, select Files from the Files & Folders list. Click the Edit Smart Selection edit smart collection option.

Add assets to a collection adding-assets-to-a-collection

You can add assets to a collection that contains a list of referenced assets or folders. Smart collections use a search query to populate assets. Therefore, static references to assets and folders are not applicable to them.

  1. In the Assets user interface, select the asset and click To Collection add to collection from the toolbar.
    Alternatively, you can drag the asset to the Drop in Collection area on the interface. Add the assets when the label of the region changes to Drop to Add.

  2. In the Add To Collection page, select the collection to which you want to add the asset.

  3. Click Add, and then close the confirmation message. The asset is added to the collection.

Edit a smart collection editing-a-smart-collection

Smart collections are built by saving a search so you can alter their content by modifying the search parameters of the saved search.

  1. In the Assets user interface, click the search option search option from the toolbar.

  2. With the cursor in the Omnisearch box, select the Return key.

  3. In the Experience Manager interface, open the Filters panel.

  4. From the Saved Searches list, select the smart collection you want to modify. The Search panel displays the filters configured for the saved search.

    select_smart_collection

  5. From the Files & Folders list, select Files.

  6. Modify one or more filters, as necessary. Click Edit Smart Collection.

    You can also edit the name of the smart collection.

    edit_smart_collectiondialog

  7. Click Save. The Edit Smart Collection dialog appears.

  8. Click Overwrite to replace the original smart collection with the edited collection. Alternatively, select Save As to save the edited collection separately.

  9. In the confirmation dialog, Click Save to complete the process.

View and edit collection metadata view-edit-collection-metadata

Collection metadata comprises data about the collection, including any tags that are added.

  1. From the Collections console, select a collection and click Properties from the toolbar.
  2. In the Collection Metadata page, view the collection metadata from the Basic and Advanced tabs.
  3. Modify the metadata, as necessary. To save the changes, click Save & Close from the toolbar.

Edit metadata of multiple collections in bulk editing-collection-metadata-in-bulk

You can edit the metadata of multiple collections simultaneously. This functionality helps you quickly replicate common metadata in multiple collections.

  1. In the Collections console, select two or more collections.

  2. From the toolbar, click Properties.

  3. In the Collection Metadata page, edit the metadata under the Basic and Advanced tabs, as necessary.

  4. To view the metadata properties for a specific collection, cancel the selection of the remaining collections in the collections list. The metadata editor fields are populated with the metadata for the particular collection.

    note note
    NOTE
    • In the Properties page, you can remove collections from the list of collections by canceling the selection. The collections list has all the collections selected by default. Experience Manager does not update the metadata of the collections that you remove.
    • At the top of the list, select the check box near Title to toggle between selecting the collections and clearing the list.

  5. Click Save & Close from the toolbar, and then close the confirmation dialog.

  6. To append the new metadata with the existing metadata, select Append mode. If you do not select this option, the new metadata replaces the existing metadata in the fields. Click Submit.

    note note
    NOTE
    The metadata you add for the selected collections overwrites the previous metadata for these collections. Use the Append mode to add new values to the existing metadata in the fields that can contain multiple values. Single-value fields get always overwritten. Any tags you add in the Tags field, are appended to the existing list of tags in the metadata.

To customize the metadata Properties page, including adding, modifying, deleting metadata properties, use the Schema editor.

TIP
The bulk editing method works for assets available in a collection. For the assets that are available across folders or match a common criteria, it is possible to bulk update the metadata after searching.

Search collections searching-collections

You can search collections from the Collections console. When you search with keywords in the Omnisearch box, Assets searches for collection names, metadata, and the tags added to the collections.

If you search for collections from the top-level, only individual collections are returned in search results. Assets or folders within the collections are excluded. In all other cases (for example, within an individual collection or in a folder hierarchy), all relevant assets, folders, and collections are returned.

Search within collections searching-within-collections

In the Collections console, click a collection to open it.

Within a collection, Experience Manager search is restricted to assets (and their tags and metadata) within the collection that you are viewing. When you search within a folder, all matching assets and child folders within the current folder are returned. When you search within a collection, only matching assets, folders, and other collections that are direct members of the collection are returned.

Edit collection settings editing-collection-settings

You can edit collection settings, such as title and description, or to add members to a collection.

  1. Select a collection, and click Settings in the toolbar. Alternatively, use the Settings quick action from the collection thumbnail.

  2. Modify the collection settings in the Collection Settings page. For example, modify the collection title, descriptions, members, and permissions as discussed in Adding Collections.

  3. To save the changes, click Save.

Delete a collection deleting-a-collection

  1. From the Collections console, select one or more collections and click delete from the toolbar.

  2. In the dialog, click Delete to confirm the delete action.

    note note
    NOTE
    You can also delete smart collections by deleting saved searches.

Download a collection downloading-a-collection

When you download a collection, the entire hierarchy of assets within the collection is downloaded, including folders and child collections.

  1. From the Collections console, select one or more collections to download.

  2. From the toolbar, click Download.

  3. In the Download dialog, click Download. If you want to download the renditions of the assets within the collection, select Renditions. Select the Email option to send an email notification to the owner of the collection.

    When you select a collection to download, the complete folder hierarchy under the collection is downloaded. To include each collection you download (including assets in child collections nested under the parent collection) in an individual folder, select Create separate folder for each asset.

Create nested collections creating-nested-collections

You can add a collection to another collection so that you create a nested collection.

  1. From the Collections console, select the desired collection or group of collections, and click To Collection in the toolbar.

  2. From the Add To Collection page, select the collection in which to add the collection.

    note note
    NOTE
    The most recently updated collection is selected by default in the Add To Collection page.

  3. Click Add. A message confirms that the collection is added to the target collection in the Select Destination page. Close the message to complete the process.

NOTE
Smart collections cannot be nested. In other words, Smart collections cannot contain any other collection.

Saved searches saved-searches

In the Assets user interface, you can search or filter assets based on certain rules, search criteria, or custom search facets. If you save these as Saved Searches, you can access them later from the Saved Searches list in the Filter panel. Creating a saved search also creates a smart collection.

saved_searches_list

Saved searches are created when you create a smart collection. Smart collections are automatically added to the Saved Searches list. The Saved Searches query for the collection is saved in the dam:query property in CRXDE at the relative location /content/dam/collections/. There are no limits to the searches that you can save and on the saved searches displayed in the list.

NOTE
You can share smart collections in the same way as you share static collections.

Editing saved searches is the same as editing smart collections. For details, see edit a smart collection.

To delete saved searches, follow these steps:

  1. In the Assets user interface, click search search option .

  2. With the cursor in the Omnisearch field, select the Return key.

  3. In the Experience Manager interface, open the Filters panel.

  4. From the Saved Searches list, click Delete next to the smart collection that you want to delete.

    select_smart_collection

  5. In the dialog, click Delete to delete the saved search.

Execute a workflow on a collection running-a-workflow-on-a-collection

You can run a workflow for the assets within a collection. If the collection contains nested collections, the workflow also runs on the assets within the nested collections. However, if the collection and the nested collection contain duplicate assets, the workflow only runs once for such assets.

  1. Open Assets > Collections. To execute a workflow on a specific collection, select it.
  2. Open Timeline rail. Click chevron up and click Start Workflow.
  3. In the Start Workflow section, select a workflow model from the list. For example, select the DAM Update Asset model.
  4. Enter a title for the workflow and click Start.
  5. In the dialog, click Proceed. The workflow processes all the assets in the selected collection.
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