Editing Page Content

Once your page is created (either new or as part of a launch or live copy) you can edit the content to make the updates you require.

Content is added using components (appropriate to the content type) that can be dragged onto the page. These can then be edited in situ, moved or deleted. The actual mechanics of editing a page depends on the UI you are using.

The page toolbar offers access to the appropriate functionality, dependent on the page configuration.

The toolbar available when editing a page holds the following options and information:

• Toggle Side Panel
  This opens/closes the side panel, which holds the Asset and Component browsers.
  
• Emulator
  Can be used to emulate the look-and-feel of the page on another device (mobile).
  
• Page Information
  Provides access to information about the page and actions that can be taken on the page; including, for example, viewing and editing page information, publishing/unpublishing the page.
  
• ContextHub
  Opens the context hub.
  
• Page Title
  This is purely informational.
  
• Select another mode
  Allows you to select another mode; for example edit, scaffolding, targeting, developer.
  
• Preview
  Allows you to select preview mode; this displays the page as it will appear when published.
  
• Annotate
  Allows you to add annotations to the page; for example, when reviewing a page. After the first annotation, the icon will switch to a number indicating the number of annotations on the page.

The component placeholder is an indicator to show where a component will be positioned when you drop it - above the component you are currently hovering over.

You can add a new component by using the component browser. The component placeholder shows you where the component will be positioned:

You can add a new component by using the Drag components here box of the paragraph system:

You can also add a new component to the page by dragging an asset from the assets browser. This will automatically create a new component of the appropriate type (and containing the asset).

This is valid for the following asset types (some will be dependent on page/paragraph system):

To create a component by dragging one of the above asset types:

Selecting a component will open the toolbar. This provides access to various actions that can be performed on the component (actions will be shown as appropriate).

• Edit (pencil)
  Dependent on the component type this will allow you to edit the content of the component. Often a toolbar will be provided.
• Configure (spanner)
  Dependent on the component type this will allow you to edit and configure the properties of the component. Often a dialog will be opened.
• Copy (two sheets of paper)
  This will copy the component to the clipboard ready for pasting. After the paste action the original component will still remain.
  
• Cut (scissors)
  This will copy the component to the clipboard ready for pasting. After the paste action the original component will be removed.
• Delete (trash can)
  This action will require your confirmation, before the component is deleted from the page.
• Insert Component (plus symbol)
  Open the dialog to add a new component.
  
• Paste (clipboard) (visible when you have a component in your clipboard)
  This will paste the component from the clipboard to the page. Whether the original remains, depends on whether you used copy or cut.
  With the touch-optimized UI you can paste to the same, or a different page; if you paste to a different page that was already open before the cut/copy operation you will need to refresh that page.
• Multi-select (two boxes within a frame)
  This allows you to select multiple components at once.

There are two methods of adding and/or editing content in components:

• Open the component dialog for editing.
• Drag and drop an asset from the assets browser to directly add content.

You can open a component to edit the content using the Edit (pencil) icon of the component toolbar.

The exact edit options will depend on the component (and for some components all actions will only be available in full screen mode). For example:

For specific component types you can drag and drop assets from the asset browser directly into the component to update the content:

For all components the full screen mode can be accessed with (and exited from):

For example, the Text component:

To move a paragraph component:

Inherited components can be the product of various scenarios, including:

• Multi site management
• Launches (when based on live copy).
• Specific components; for example the Inherited Paragraph System within Geometrixx.
  

You can cancel (then re-enable) the inheritance. Depending on the component, this can be available from:

The Live Copy Status page mode allows you a quick overview of the live copy status and which components are/are not inherited:

• Green border: Inherited
• Pink border: Inheritance has been cancelled

For example:

Annotations allow reviewers and other authors to provide feedback on your content. They are often used for review and validation purposes.

There are now two methods for previewing page:

• Preview Mode - a quick preview in situ
  
• View as Published - a full preview that opens the page in a new tab

When editing content you can preview the page using the preview mode. This mode:

• Hides various edit mechanisms to give you a quick view of how the page will appear on publish.
  
• Allows you to use links to navigate.
• Does not refresh the page content.

When authoring with the touch-optimized UI, the preview mode is available using the icon at the top right of the page editor:

The View as Published option is available from the Page Information menu. This opens the page in a new tab, refreshes the content and shows the page exactly as it will appear in the publish environment.

AEM allows you to lock a page, so that no-one else can modify the contents. This is useful when you are making a lot of edits to one specific page, or when you need to freeze a page for a short while.

A page can be locked from either:

Once locked the console view information is updated and when editing a lock symbol is shown in the toolbar.

Unlocking a page is very similar to locking the page - once the page is locked the lock options are replaced by unlock actions.

Additionally the toolbar of the page editor shows a lock symbol. This provides both a visual indication that the page is locked and quick access to the unlock action.  

The following icons allow you to undo or redo an action. These are shown in the toolbar when appropriate:

The sidekick is a key tool when authoring pages with the classic UI. It floats when authoring a page, so it is always visible.

Several tabs and icons are available, including:

• Components
• Page
• Information
• Versioning
• Workflow
• Modes
• Scaffolding
• Client Context
• Websites

These provide access to a wide selection of functionality; including:

• selecting components 
• showing references 
• accessing the audit log 
• switching modes 
• creating, restoring and comparing versions
  
• publishing, unpublishing a page
• editing page properties 
  
• scaffolding
  
• client context  

After you open the page, you can start to add content. You do this by adding components (also called paragraphs).

To insert a new component:

This is comparable to Inserting a Component using the Assets Browser - Touch-optimized UI, just using the Content Finder instead.

To edit an existing paragraph, do one of the following:

• Double-click the paragraph to open it. You see the same window as when you created the paragraph with the existing content. Make your changes and click OK.
• Right-click the paragraph and click Edit.
• Click twice on the paragraph (a slow double-click) to enter the in-place editing mode. You will be able to directly edit the text on the page, instead of inside a dialog window. In this mode, you will be provided with a toolbar at the top of the page. Just make your changes and they will be automatically saved.

To move a paragraph:

To delete a paragraph:

As when Deleting a Component you can use the context menu to copy, cut and/or paste a component

Inherited components can be the product of various scenarios, including:

• Multi site management; also in combination with scaffolding.
• Launches (when based on livecopy).
• Specific components; for example the Inherited Paragraph System within Geometrixx.
  

You can cancel (then re-enable) the inheritance. Depending on the component, this can be available from:

Annotations allow other authors to provide feedback on your content. This is often used for review and validation purposes.

For the classic UI there are two icons in the bottom border of the sidekick:

For larger scale edits of the same phrase a Find & Replace menu option allows you to search for, and replace multiple instances of a string, within a section of the website.

AEM allows you to lock a page, so that no-one else can modify the contents. This is useful when you are making a lot of edits to one specific page, or when you need to freeze a page for a short while.

To lock a page:

To unlock a page:

Use the following keyboard shortcuts while the content frame of the page has focus:

• Undo: Ctrl-z (Windows) or command-z (Mac)
  
• Redo: Ctrl-y (Windows) or command-y (Mac)
  

When you undo or redo the removal, addition, or relocation of one or more paragraphs, flashing (default behavior) highlights indicate the affected paragraphs.  

AEM stores a history of actions that you perform and the sequence in which you performed them. So, you undo several actions in the order that you performed them. Then, you can use redo to re-apply one or more of the actions.

If an element on the content page is selected, the undo and redo command applies to the selected item, such as a text component.

The behavior of the undo and redo commands is similar to that in other software programs. Use the commands to restore the recent state of your web page as you make decisions about content. For example, if you move a text paragraph to a different location on the page, you can use the undo command to move the paragraph back. If you then decide again to move the paragraph, use the redo command.

You can use undo and redo for the following types of page changes in both UIs:

• Touch-optimized UI
• Classic UI
  

Both allow:

• Adding, editing, removing, and moving paragraphs
• In-place editing of paragraph content
• Copying, cutting, and pasting items within a page

The following are also available in the classic UI:

• Copying, cutting, and pasting items across pages
• Adding, removing, and changing files and images
  
• Adding, removing, and changing annotations and sketches
  
• Changes to Scaffold
• Adding and removing references
• Changing property values in component dialog boxes.

Form fields that form components render are not meant to have values specified while authoring pages. Therefore, the undo and redo commands do not affect changes that you make to the values of those types of components. For example, you cannot undo the selecting of a value in a drop-down list.