When we first released WebManager 6, we added a host of new features to help turn content into tagged assets which can be used throughout your site. The new asset management system in WebManager helps us deal with other types of assets very easily.

What do we mean by “assets”?

Websites are full of assets of differing types. Content assets (such as pages, press releases, or portfolio projects) are one type. File based assets such as images, flash presentations, documents, and videos are another type. A CMS needs to be able to maintain both types in a useful way both for the administrator and for site visitors.

The Back End

The Common Goal WebManager Asset Management system allows administrators to upload file based assets and manipulate them in various ways. All assets have configurable and customizable meta information which can be associated with them and used both in searches from within the CMS and the front end of the site.

Along with setting configurable meta information for file based assets, site administrators can also see information about those assets from within Common Goal WebManager. If an administrator wants to know all of the places an image is used, they can pull that information up with a few clicks. This information can be used when faced with a situation where an image has to be pulled from the site and all affected pages have to be dealt with.

There is similar functionality to help with updating an existing asset. From within the asset manager, an administrator can update the image referred to by a given asset and it will automatically update on all pages it appears on throughout the site.

Tracking and reporting is important as well and Common Goal WebManager provides the ability to pull up a list of all assets and see which ones are viewed most frequently within a given time range. This can help me make decisions on whether to call more or less attention to a given asset.

The Front End

Configurable meta information opens up many options on the visitor facing side of the site. If an administrator wants to tag uploaded photographs as being taken during a certain period of time, they can specify ranges in the CMS and associate uploaded assets with these ranges. This can be built into a front end interface allowing site visitors to filter photos by time period, a great feature for a multimedia library section of a site.

Additionally, meta information can be something like the creator of a given asset. The multimedia library could then allow searches by creator, giving a site visitor more flexibility in how they find what they are looking for.

How does this make your life easier?

As a content administrator, this system eases some of the everyday tasks of site maintenance. Rather than having to remember file names, the asset manager shows previews of all assets from right within the editing window and you can always change meta information or delete images without the worry of breaking pages.

Interested in a real live demo of the asset manager and the rest of Common Goal WebManager 6’s new features? Give us a call at 1-617-338-8922 and we’ll set it up!