Descriptive data templates

A descriptive data template is a prepared set of descriptive data of media files. We manage our own templates in the menu under Content administration → Descriptive data templates; they can be used in the following places

before uploading new media files (on the Upload video/audio page) — the chosen template is applied automatically to all the uploaded files
while uploading a media file, in the dialog (on the Upload video/audio page) — the chosen template is applied once to the form in question
when editing the descriptive data record in the media detail (on the Content administration → Media → Edit → Descriptive data tab) — the chosen template is applied once to the form in question
in Media administration as a bulk operation (on the Content administration → Media page) — the template is applied to all the selected media files

⚠ Applying a template overwrites the original descriptive data irreversibly, including with those fields that the template has empty. We therefore use it before we start writing our own texts.

The listing of templates

In the listing we see our own templates — the ID, the name of the template, the dates of creation and last edit and the Active flag. Clicking the name of the template or the Edit button opens an existing template for editing, and the Delete button removes the template.

Setting up a new template

We set up a new template with the New template button in the top right. The template form contains the Template name, under which we will be choosing it, and then the same fields as the descriptive data of media: the name, description, tags, optional tags, spoken audio and its language, the authors, the author’s e-mail and workplace, the licence, the year of publication and the note. We fill in only what the template is supposed to pre-fill.

⚠ The Active checkbox decides whether the template is offered for use. An inactive template stays in the listing, but does not appear in the Apply template offers — it is useful for templates that are still being worked on or temporarily not in use.

⚠ The templates created in this agenda are our own and are offered only to us, as My templates. Templates common to the whole portal are set up by its administrator and we find them in the offers as Public templates.

Substitution tokens

Into any text field we can place the code of a token, which will be replaced after the template is applied with a value from the context of the media file in question. The following are available:

{filename} — the name of the uploaded file without the extension
{filetype} — the type / extension of the uploaded file
{file} — the full name of the uploaded file including the extension
{date} — the current / today’s date
{datetime} — the current / today’s date and time
{username} — the name of the logged-in user
{userid} — the ID of the logged-in user

An overview of the tokens is also given directly in the header of the template form, as a reminder.