Structuring folders for imported articles

You can use the Import Article command in the Folio Builder panel to import articles from the desktop. To import files properly, you must follow the structure rules and file naming conventions to determine what is included in a folio.

• To import multiple articles simultaneously, create a folio folder that consists of multiple article folders. When you select Import Multiple Articles, navigate to the folio folder that contains article subfolders.

• Article folders for dual-orientation folios must contain two InDesign documents. Create one document with an _h suffix (such as “article1_h.indd”), and one with a _v suffix (such as “article1_v.indd”).

• Article folders for single-orientation folios must contain only one InDesign file with an _h or _v suffix.

• Each article folder can contain a PNG file for table-of-contents (TOC) thumbnails. If this file is missing, the toc image is generated automatically. For best results, keep your image assets in a Links subfolder rather than in the article folder so that a PNG image is not mistakenly used for the TOC.

When setting up the folder structure, you can use various methods to organize your article files. Files you link to in InDesign do not have to be in the article folder—they can be in any folder where InDesign can find them.

Keep filenames and folder names simple. Avoid using special characters.

If you’re importing multiple articles into a single-orientation folio, make sure that each article folder contains only one document. The InDesign files still require an _h or _v extension in single-orientation folios. You cannot combine single-orientation and dual-orientation articles in a folio.

The metadata sidecar.xml file is an optional method for ordering articles and applying metadata when you import the files. Use a text editor or an XML editor to create a sidecar.xml file with metadata for each article. Save the sidecar.xml file in the root folio folder.

Valid <isAd>, <isFlattenedStack>, and <isTrustedContent> values are “true” and “false.” The <isFlattenedStack> value determines whether Horizontal Swipe Only is turned on, and <isTrustedContent> determines whether Allow Access to Entitlement Information is turned on for an HTML article.

Valid <smoothScrolling> values include “always,” “portrait,” “landscape,” and “never.” The default is “never,” which means scrolling snaps to pages.

You can use either <byline> or <author> for the Byline metadata.

For <section> entries, specify a string of characters, such as “Lifestyle.” Section values are valid only for v23 folios and later.

The order of the <entry> sections determines the order of the articles in your project when you create your project or when you update it. If an article’s folder name does not appear in the sidecar, it is moved below those that are listed. The order of items within each <entry> is insignificant.

If you want to use the sidecar.xml file to update your article metadata or change the order of articles, you can use the Folio Builder panel to import the sidecar.xml file.

This method works only for folios uploaded to the server, not for local folios.