COMPOSITE – USER MANUAL

 Composite Netsystems 2007

Composite A/S
Nygaardsvej 16, 2 sal
DK-2100 København Ø
Denmark
Phone: +45 39 15 76 00
Fax: +45 39 15 76 01
Website: www.composite.net
Email: info@composite.net
Content
1 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................4

1.1 COMPOSITE AT A GLANCE........................................................................... 4

1.2 ABOUT THIS MANUAL ................................................................................. 4

1.2.1 USER ROLES IN THE SYSTEM ............................................................................... 4
1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................ 5

2 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITE ................................................................ 6

2.1 A TEMPLATE BASED WEB PAGE................................................................... 6

2.2 A DYNAMIC WEB PAGE................................................................................ 7

2.3 GETTING STARTED ...................................................................................... 8

2.3.1 THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF COMPOSITE ...................................................................... 8
3 PAGE ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................. 9

3.1 PREFACE ...................................................................................................... 9

3.1.1 WHAT LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED BY THE USER .............................................. 9
3.1.2 WHAT TO EXPECT TO GAIN FROM THIS CHAPTER ....................................................... 9
3.2 HANDLING PAGES .....................................................................................10
3.2.1 THE PAGE STRUCTURE IN COMPOSITE .................................................................. 10
3.2.2 PAGE SECURITY ............................................................................................. 10
3.2.3 PUBLISHING AND APPROVAL OF PAGES ................................................................. 10
3.3 EDITING A PAGE .......................................................................................11
3.3.1 CREATING A NEW PAGE .................................................................................... 11
3.3.2 CONTROL OF THE PAGE LOCATION IN PAGES ........................................................... 13
3.4 CONTENT EDITOR .....................................................................................14
3.4.1 WHAT IS THE CONTENT EDITOR? ....................................................................... 14
3.5 EXERCISES ................................................................................................17
3.5.1 ADDING A NEW PAGE....................................................................................... 17
3.5.2 THE CONTENT AREA EXPLAINED ......................................................................... 18
4 MEDIA ADMINISTRATION.........................................................................22

4.1 MEDIA ARCHIVE IN GENERAL...................................................................22

4.1.1 WHAT IS A MEDIUM?....................................................................................... 22
4.1.2 WHY A MEDIA ARCHIVE? .................................................................................. 22
4.1.3 WHY LIMITED ACCESS? .................................................................................... 22
4.2 HANDLING MEDIA.....................................................................................22
4.2.1 FEATURES IN THE MEDIA ARCHIVE ....................................................................... 22
5 ADMINISTRATION ....................................................................................25

5.1 USER ADMINISTRATION ...........................................................................25

5.1.1 USER ADMINISTRATION IN GENERAL ..................................................................... 25

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 5.1.2 ADMINISTRATION OF USERS .............................................................................. 25
5.1.3 ADMINISTRATION OF USER GROUPS ..................................................................... 27
5.1.4 USER GROUPS AND PRIVILEGES TO WEBSITE AREAS ................................................... 29
6 TEMPLATES AND PLUG-INS ......................................................................30

6.1 WHAT DOES A TEMPLATE CONSIST OF? ...................................................30

6.1.1 PREDEFINED IDENTIFIERS ................................................................................. 31
6.1.2 THE USE OF PLUG-INS IN TEMPLATES .................................................................... 31
6.2 TEMPLATES AND TEMPLATE GROUPS .......................................................31

6.3 CONNECTING PLUG-INS TO TEMPLATE GROUPS......................................32

6.4 LIMITATION IN THE SELECTION OF AVAILABLE TEMPLATES ..................32

7 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................34

APPENDIX A. QUICK REFERENCE TOOL MENU .................................................35

A.1 BUTTONS IN PAGES .......................................................................................... 35
A.2 BUTTONS IN THE CONTENT EDITOR ....................................................................... 35
APPENDIX B. QUICK REFERENCE SHORTCUTS.................................................37
B.1 SHORTCUTS IN COMPOSITE ................................................................................. 37
B.2 SHORTCUTS IN THE CONTENT EDITOR ..................................................................... 37
B.3 OTHER SHORTCUTS IN COMPOSITE ........................................................................ 39

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 Chapter

1
1 Introduction

1.1 Composite at a Glance

A website has become more and more popular as a company’s window to the world. An
Increasing number of people prefer seeking information on the Internet as opposed to
using traditional sources. At the same time websites are dynamic entities that demand
continuous updating.
Websites with beautiful design but poor contents are unfortunately all too common. This
is either due to the existing information, which is hopelessly outdated or due to fact that
the most basic information exists only to avoid the aforementioned problem of updating.
The aim is a website that is timeless – alas, the result is too often an outdated one.
This is the motivation for the development of this application, Composite. Composite
functions as an integrated part of the website and consists of a public component and an
administration component. The administration component is directed towards the
company’s own employees who are working with information and ensures that they can
continuously update the website. When a web solution has been implemented and a
design that can represent the company for a long time has been established, Composite
makes easy updating possible. Text, pictures and active elements can be easily updated.
The language of Composite’s user interface is in English by default, but it may be set up
with other languages (for instance with a German or Norwegian user interface).

1.2 About this Manual

In order to ensure easy use of this manual it is divided into sections, which means you
only have to read parts relevant for the tasks at hand. However, to understand the
structure completely it is necessary to know the various user roles available in Composite.

1.2.1 User Roles in the System

Different users may be given different privileges in the system. Some may have access to
create new pages or edit already existing pages, but without the privilege to publish
them on the website. Other users may approve and publish new and edited pages.
In this way it is possible to maintain a central control of the website, even though several
people are working simultaneously in various parts of the site without communicating
with each other.

Here follows a short summary of the user roles in Composite. A user may well
have several roles.
Editor: A person with privileges to edit specific pages
Content Manager: A person with privileges to approve and publish pages in an
area. The Content Manager is also an Editor

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 Media Manager: A person with privileges to manage the media archive. It is
often a person with graphical skills.
Webmaster: A person with the overall objective of structuring and building the
website and shape the templates (see also chapter 6). The Webmaster must
have a good knowledge of constructing web pages.
Administrator: A person with privileges to grant user access to Composite and
editing privileges to various areas of the website. The administrator may also edit
template groups and plug-ins. This role is usually administered of a person from
the technical department.

The user manual has been structured in the following chapters:

Chapter 2 – Introduction to Composite
Gives a basic description of the functionalities in Composite. This chapter is
relevant to all users

Chapter 3 – Document Administration
Describes the options for Editors and Content Managers.

Chapter 4 – Media Administration
Describes the options for Media Administrators

Chapter 5 – User Administration
Describes the options for User Administrators

Chapter 6 - Templates
Describes the options for Webmasters and Administrators

Several of these chapters are concluded with a number of exercises that may help new
users get started in Composite.

1.3 System Requirements

In order to be able to use Composite, the following system requirements must be met:

Windows 95 or higher

Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher

Minimum 32 MB RAM – preferably 64 or more

An internet connection

Please note that no extra software is required on the users’ computers. Composite itself
lies as an integrated part of the website located on the webserver. This means, in
principle, that updates may take place from any computer in the world that matches the
system requirements specified above.

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 Chapter

2
2 Introduction to Composite
This chapter gives a basic description of Composite. It is relevant to all
users.

2.1 A Template Based Web Page

A modern web page can have a very complex structure. This may make it easier for
users of the page but not for those who have to maintain it. To solve this problem,
Composite makes it possible to take the complex content and place it in a template.
In this context a template is a predefined model for the structure of a web page with
regard to the composition and content of that page. The template contains the
information not to be edited directly.
Below is an example of a page based on a template without the content.

Picture 2.1-1 – Example of a template

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The white area in the example above is the content area. This is the area where the
Composite Editor can create and add content or edit already existing content. The
content area may be compared to a basic text editor such as WordPad. In this area text
may be created and edited, while images and elements may be inserted from various
programs such as Microsoft Excel. The content area will be described in section 3.4.
There will typically be a choice of several templates to use with a page. The Webmaster
determines the number of templates, their appearance and functionality. (Read more
about the typical tasks of a Webmaster in chapter 6).

2.2 A Dynamic Web Page

A dynamic web page is a page with active content. An example could be an active menu
bar (as shown to the left in the Image 2.2-1 - Overview of dynamic elements), a box
showing the latest news, a search function, a print function, etc.

Image 2.2-1 – Overview of dynamic elements

The active elements can be updated and thus changed. The elements are predefined
within a particular web page, but the content can be changed. As an example: The web
site might not sustain the same structure throughout its lifetime; Menu items may be
changed and replaced by others. Another example could be a reservation of a field for
news, where the company wants to publish the most important events on a certain day
of the week. These examples are just to mention some of the options that exist when the
work includes active elements.
In Composite those active elements are called plug-ins.
The various plug-ins are often an integrated part of templates of all sorts. Hence, it is the
template of a page that determines whether a page operates with plug-ins and which
ones.
The template parts that are not active elements are referred to as fixed elements.
These are the parts of the structure of a page that cannot be changed, as they take part

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in the document’s recognizable structure. The fixed elements include parts as e.g. the
logo, company information, etc.

2.3 Getting Started

Before you start, you have to be designated as a user in Composite and obtain user
privileges. This will be taken care of by the Composite administrator.
Once you have been created as a user in Composite, you can open your browser
(Internet Explorer 5.0 or newer) and write a specific web address in the address bar. The
Composite administrator can inform you of the address.
The system may be set up so you may use the same username and password as you use
for Windows login. However, the system may also be set up in a manner requiring you to
log in with a special username and password (so-called “form-authentication”, cf. the
section entitled ‘User administration’ below).
Then you are ready to get started.
Please note that in order to be able to use all features your browser should allow pop-up
windows.

2.3.1 The First Glimpse of Composite

The picture below describes three basic concepts: The document, the toolbar and the
tab.

The toolbar

The document

The tab

Picture 2.3-1 – Three basic concepts: The page, the toolbar and the tab.

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 Chapter

3
3 Page Administration
This section explains the possibilities you have as Editor or Content
Manager

3.1 Preface
3.1.1 What level of knowledge is required by the user
In general, being an editor or Content Manager does not require more Computer
knowledge than that of an ordinary user. However, it will be a big advantage to have a
basic understanding of word processing.

3.1.2 What to Expect to Gain from this Chapter

The aim of this manual is to enable anyone to perform basic editing of web pages in
Composite, as well as giving a fundamental understanding of the application, the main
elements and functions. The focus is placed on the work and understanding of:

Text editing

Inserting images and arranging them alongside text

Inserting other files such as Word documents, PDF files, Excel spreadsheets,
etc.

Hyperlinks internally (to pages or files located in Composite) or externally (to
pages located on the internet outside Composite)

Deleting, moving and copying of pages

Publishing and approving pages

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3.2 Handling Pages
3.2.1 The Page Structure in Composite
Once Composite is open, the Pages tab
appears on the left side of the window.
You may think of Pages as a map of the
site. It is in many ways similar to the
‘Explorer’ functionality on the Start
menu in Windows.
Please note that by default only 4 tabs
are shown. The remaining tabs are
indicated by a number, indicating how
many tabs are available. You may select
one of the tabs not shown by clicking
the number and selecting the desired
tab. Also note that if you choose to
work in any of those tabs not shown
this tab will then be shown as the first from the left. This means that by default the latest
employed three tabs are shown.
The Pages tab displays the hierarchical structure of the site, indicating which webpages
are parent pages and which are subpages. In Pages you may control the structure of the
site, and administer the pages in general. Pages tab is in other words the place to create,
edit, delete, move or copy a page.
Once a page is selected (done by clicking its page icon with your mouse, which in turn
changes the color of the page icon to green), you can work with the page via the buttons
on the toolbar.
There are two different icons for the pages in Pages. They are indicated as an ordinary
page or as a book . The book icon indicates that the page has one or more
subpages. These can be viewed by clicking the , placed in front of the icon. In this
regard it is important to emphasize that pages with a book icon are also ordinary pages,
which can be edited like any other page.

3.2.2 Page Security

In order to be able to work in Composite, you must be added as a user. Different users
can be assigned different privileges in the system. Hence the Content Managers have
always full control of the website. The most common setting is to give editing privileges
to those with access to Composite, but with the access restricted to the relevant areas
only.
This way it is possible to give various editing privileges on different levels, protecting the
most sensitive areas of the site as they are only to be edited by Content Managers.
Your privileges in the system define whether the various editing options are available. If
you do not have access to a function, the button will be inactive and grayed out.

3.2.3 Publishing and Approval of Pages

In Composite everything must be approved in order to publish.
A page may have three levels of status:
1. Working copy
2. For publication
3. Public

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