A publication synchronizes the state of the Live Server with the state of the Content Management Server. All actions such as setting up new versions, deleting, moving or renaming files, withdrawing content from the live site require a publication to make the changes appear on the Live Server.
CoreMedia makes a distinction between the publication of structural and of content changes:
Content-related changes are changes in document versions such as a newly inserted image, modified links, text.
Structure-related changes are moving, renaming, withdrawing or deleting of resources. So it becomes possible to publish structural changes separately from latest and approved document versions.
For every publication a number of changes is aggregated in a change set. This change set is normally composed in the course of a publication workflow. The administrator and other users with appropriately configured editors can also execute a direct publication, which provides a simpler, although less flexible means of creating a change set.
Change Set in Direct Publications
When performing a direct publication, the change set is primarily based on the set of currently selected resources or on the single currently viewed resource. As the set of resources does not give enough information for all possible types of changes, three rules apply:
You cannot publish movements and content changes separately. Whenever applicable, both kinds of changes are included in the change set.
When a document is marked for deletion or for withdrawal, new versions of that document are not published.
If the specific version to be published is not explicitly selected, the last approved resource version is included in the change set.
There are also some automated extension rules for the change set, which modify the set of to-be-published resources itself. These rules can be configured in detail. Ask your Administrator about the current settings.
When new or modified content is published and links to an as yet unpublished resource, the unpublished resource is included in the change set. Depending on the configuration, also recursively linked documents can be included in the change set. Target documents that are linked via a weak link property are not included in the change set.
When the deletion of a folder is published, all directly and indirectly contained resources are included in the change set.
When the withdrawal of a folder is published, all directly and indirectly contained published resources are included in the change set.
When the creation, movement, or renaming of a resource in an unpublished parent folder is published, that folder is included in the change set.
Preconditions
Preconditions for a successful publication are:
all path information concerning the resource has to be approved too: if the resource is located in a folder never published before, this folder has to be published with the resource. So, add it to the change set or publish the folder before.
withdrawals and deletions must be approved before publication.
all documents linked to from a document which is going to be published have to be already published or included in the change set. This is because a publication that would cause dead links will not be performed. This rule does not apply for weak link properties.
a document which is going to be deleted must not be linked to from other documents or these documents have to be deleted during the same publication. This rule does not apply for weak link properties.
| Status and action on the Content Management Server | Effect on the Live Server on publication |
|---|---|
|
A version of the document does not yet exist on the Live Server. The document is not marked for deletion. You approve the version. | The approved version is copied to the Live Server. |
|
The last approved version of a document already exists on the Live Server. The document is not marked for deletion. You start a new publication without any further preparation. | No effect on the Live Server. |
|
The document is published and is not marked for deletion. It therefore exists on both servers. You rename the document and approve the change. | The document is renamed. |
|
The document is published and is not marked for deletion. It therefore exists on both servers. You move the document and approve the change. | The document is moved. |
|
The document is published. It therefore exists on both servers. No links to this document exist. You mark the document for withdrawal and approve the change. | The document is destroyed on the Live Server. |
|
The document is published. It therefore exists on both servers. No links to this document exist. You mark the document for deletion and approve the change. | The document is destroyed on the Live Server. The document is moved into the recycle bin on the Content Management Server. |
|
The document is published. It therefore exists on both servers. Links to this document from other published documents exist. You mark the document for deletion and approve the change. | The deletion cannot be published, since an invalid link would be created. A message is displayed in the publication window. Remove the link in the other document and publish again. |
|
The document is published. It therefore exists on both servers. Weak links to this document from other published documents exist. You mark the document for deletion and approve the change. | The document is destroyed on the Live Server. The document is moved into the recycle bin on the Content Management Server. |
Table 6.23. Publishing documents: actions and effects
Table 6.24. Publishing folders: actions and effects
Special cases
Please keep in mind that:
Older versions cannot be published.
Example: if a version No. 4 had already been published it is not possible to publish version No. 3 thereafter. To do so, create a version No. 5 from No. 3.
During a deletion, a resource that has not been published yet is moved to the recycle bin immediately.
In addition, consult the previous tables for effects of a publication depending on the state of the resource. For all examples it is assumed that you have appropriate rights to perform the action.
Withdrawing Publications and Deleting Resources
There is only one fundamental difference between withdrawal of publications and deletion: a withdrawal affects only the Live Server, whereas the deletion of a resource - folder or document - causes the resource to be moved into the trash folder on the Content Management Server.
Before a withdrawal or deletion can be published as described before, a mark for withdrawal or for deletion must be applied using the appropriate menu entries or tool bar buttons. In the case of folders, the contained resources are affected, too. If you have marked a resource for deletion and withdrawal, then the deletion will be executed.
When a folder is marked for deletion, all contained published resources are marked for deletion, too. Not published resources are immediately moved into the recycle bin without requiring you to start a publication.
When a folder is marked for withdrawal, all contained published resources are marked for withdrawal, too.
When a mark for withdrawal or deletion of a folder is revoked, this also affects all contained resources with the same mark.
If you use direct publication and approve a folder that is marked for withdrawal deletion, that approval is implicitly extended to the contained resources that are also marked for withdrawal or deletion.
Disapprovals extend to contained resources in the same way.
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