Creating and Managing Content Fragments

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Content Fragments allow you to design, create, curate and use page-independent content.

The number of communication channels is increasing annually. However, you (probably) do not want to use exactly the same content for all channels - you need to optimize your content according to the specific channel.

With content fragments you can:

• consider how to reach target audiences efficiently across channels
• create and manage channel-neutral editorial content (including for example, text, images, video)
• build content pools for a range of channels
• design content variations for specific channels.

Content fragments are:

• Stored as Assets:
  • Content fragments (and their variations) can be created and maintained from the Assets console.
• Used in the page editor by means of the Content Fragment component (referencing component):
  • The Content Fragment component is available to page authors. It allows them to reference the required content fragment.
    

Content Fragments are a content type that:

• Contains one or more:
  • Text elements
    
  • References to associated assets (for example, images, videos, other fragments)  
• Are independent from the delivery mechanism (i.e. page, channel).
  
• Can contain variations of master elements to adjust fragment text according to the specific editorial or channel reuirements.
• Have a hierarchical structure:
  
  • Content fragment: parent node 
  • Elements: child nodes 
• Are defined by a Fragment Template.
  

Content fragments are made up of:

• Fragment Elements
  • Text assets.
  • Dedicated nodes in the repository, as child nodes of a fragment's parent node. 
  • Typically text, with unique functionality, design and layout, requiring unique components. 
  • Defined in the fragment template (cannot be defined when authoring the fragment, but can be selected for use).
• Variations
  • Renditions of fragment text that are specific to editorial purpose; can be related to channel but is not compulsory, can also be for ad-hoc local modifications. 
  • Can be defined during fragment authoring or pre-defined in fragment templates.  
  • Stored in the fragment, to help avoid scattering of content copies.
    
• Fragment Paragraphs
  • Blocks of text, within an element or variation, that are separated by vertical spaces (carriage return) 
  • In rich text mode, a paragraph can be formatted as a header, in which case it and the following paragraph belong together as one unit.
    
  • Enable content control during page authoring, 
• Fragment Metadata
  • Use the Assets metadata schemas.
  • Tags can be created when you create and author the fragment, or added later by editing the fragment properties. 
• Associated Content
  • This is content external to, but with editorial relevance for, a fragment. Typically images, videos or other fragments. 
  • Associated to fragments via collections. Associated collections enable curation of content that is relevant to the fragment. 
  • Collections can be associated to fragments via templates, as default content, or by authors during fragment authoring. 

To create, edit and use content fragments you also need:

• Collections
  
  • Assets (DAM) Collections are the basis for the Associated Content of fragments.
• Fragment Template
  • Defines the structure of a fragment (title, number of text elements, tag definitions, variations, associated collections).
  • Template definitions require a title and one text element; everything else is optional. The template defines a minimal scope of the fragment and associated default content if applicable. Authors can later extend a fragment beyond what is defined in the template.  
  • Does not define channels (at least not directly). It defines variations that can be used for channels. Channels themselves (delivery) are defined and controlled by components.
• Content Fragment Component
  • Responsible for layout and delivery of a fragment; i.e. channels. 
  • Fragments need one or more dedicated components to define layout and deliver some or all elements/variations and associated content.
    
  • Dragging a fragment onto a page in authoring will automatically associate the required component.

Content fragments are related to and use:

• Channel
  • Typically this refers to the delivery mechanism, either as the physical channel (e.g. desktop, mobile) or as form of delivery in a physical channel (e.g. the "product detail page", "product category page" for desktop, or "mobile web", "mobile app" for mobile). 
  • Fragments become specific to channels through components. Without components fragments are independent of delivery.
    

A fragment, with its elements and variations, can be used to create coherent content for multiple channels. When designing your fragment you need to consider what will be used where.

For example when creating a detailed newspaper article for desktop, the corresponding mobile page, the front page lead-in, the Facebook entry and the Twitter post:

• Title
  
  • Element used in multiple Variations.
  • Used on all channels.
• Text
  • Element used in one (or more) variations.
  • Used on the detailed article view only.
• Overview text
  • Element used in one (or more) variations.
  • Used on the front-page lead-in.
• Teaser text
  
  • Element used in one (or more) variations.
  • Used on all channels.
  • Twitter has the strictest limitations (limitation of 140 characters).
• Main picture
  • Associated Content.
  • Used on the website channels, but not on social media.
  • Same picture is used in different sizes depending on the channel (e.g. desktop, mobile, etc).
    
• Twitter picture
  • Associated Content.
  • Not part of the article itself; but is used by the initiating tweet and on Facebook (i.e. social media channels).
• Related articles
  • Element used in one (or more) variations.
  • Links to other articles.
  • Only used on the detailed article view.
• Tags
  • First tag/topic is mirrored at the top of the article.
  • Only used in the detailed article view.
• (Other) Meta data used
  • Author (incl. Twitter account) article view, Facebook

In the console a range of actions are available for your content fragments, either directly, as quick actions or from the toolbar (after selection):

• Select for further action:
  Reveals the toolbar with applicable actions.
  
• Open for Edit
  Allows you to edit the fragment content together with its elements, variations, associated content and metadata.
• View Properties
  Allows you to view and/or edit the metadata.
  
• Share
  Share a link to the asset.
  
• Add to Collection
  Add the asset to a collection.
  
• Download
  
• Copy/Paste
  
• Move
• Publish/Unpublish
• Delete

To edit your fragment:

If your content fragment has been created from a template that defines multiple elements, then you can select the element you want to edit. Use the dropdown selector in the toolbar:

You can edit the fragment content (for the appropriate element and/or variation) using the following formats:

• Rich Text
• Plain Text
• Markdown

Rich text editing allows you to format:

• Bold
• Italic
• Underline
• Paragraph style: Paragraph, Heading 1/2/3
  
• Alignment: left, center, right
  
• Bulleted list
• Numbered list
• Indentation: increase, decrease
• with Undo/Redo options too.
  

Plain Text allows for rapid entry of content without formatting or markdown information.

This allows you to format your text using markdown. You can define:

• Heading Notation
• Paragraphs and Line Breaks
• Links
• Images
• Block Quotes
• Lists
• Emphasis
• Code Blocks
• Backslash Escapes

Variations allow you to take the Master content and vary it according to purpose (if required).

To create a new variation:

To delete an existing variation:

1. Open your fragment and select Edit.
2. Select the Variations tab.
3. Select the required variation.
4. Select the delete option (in the left side panel).
5. Confirm the Delete action.

Associated content provides the connection so that images and other media content can be used with the fragment when it is added to a content page. This also helps reduce the time required to search for the appropriate asset.

To make the association you first need to add your media asset(s) to a collection. Once that is done you can:

You can view and edit the metadata (properties) for content fragments:

Content Fragments must be published for use in the publish enviroment. They can be published:

• After creation; from the Assets console.
• When you publish a page that uses the fragment; the fragment will be listed in the page references.
  

To delete a fragment:

1. In the Assets console navigate to the location of the content fragment.
2. Select the fragment.
   The Delete action is not available as a quick action.
   
3. Select Delete from the toolbar.
   
4. Confirm the Delete action.
   
   1. If the fragment is already referenced in a page you will then see a warning message and required to confirm that you want to proceed with a Force Delete. The fragment, together with its content fragment component, will be deleted from any content pages.
      

While editing your content fragment AEM automatically creates versions to ensure that prior content can be restored if you cancel your changes:

1. When a content fragment is opened for editing AEM checks for the existence of cookie-based token that indicates whether an editing session exists:
   
   1. If the token is found, the fragment is considered to be part of the existing editing session.
   2. If the token is not available and the user starts editing content, a version is created and a token for this new editing session is sent to the client, where it is saved in a cookie.
2. While there is an active editing session, the content being edited is automatically saved every 600 seconds (default).
   
   1. The auto save interval is configurable using the /conf mechanism.
      Default value: see /libs/settings/dam/cfm/jcr:content/autoSaveInterval.
3. If the user clicks X to cancel the edit, the version created at the start of the editing session is restored and the token is removed to end the editing session.
4. If the user selects to save the edits (check mark or tick), the updated elements/variations are persisted and the token is removed to end the editing session.