Manage file properties and use version control

 

Applies To: Dynamics Marketing

Important

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing has been discontinued and is no longer available. All customer data related to this product has been permanently deleted from all Microsoft servers and is no longer available for extraction. This documentation is being provided for historical purposes only.

Each file uploaded to Microsoft Dynamics Marketing has a set of properties that define descriptive information, security settings, a thumbnail image, and more. The Properties page for a file also provides access to special features, like version control and file markup.

Prerequisites

To work with folders, files, and libraries, you must have some or all of the following privileges, depending on which features you need:

• Edit/View Files: Provides access to the file browser window, including the Properties pages for the folders and files listed there.

• Edit/View Library: Provides access to the file browser window (but only to folders published as libraries) and the library browser window. You’ll also need this privilege to publish folders as libraries.

• Edit/View Markup: Provides access to file markup features.

More information: Work with user accounts and staff contacts

Open a file’s properties page

To open the Properties page for a file, go to Assets & Media > Files > Files and open the file browser. From there, find the file you want to work with, then right-click it and choose Properties from the context menu (you can also open the Properties page by choosing the file name in the list). See also Find, organize, and upload files in the file browser.

Manage file metadata

At the top of the file Properties page you’ll see a collection of fields that hold metadata about the file. Basic metadata is always visible, but there is also a collection of detailed metadata that you can choose to view or hide while working on the page.

Note

Both the basic and detailed metadata are version specific. If you have enabled version control, then the values you see are for the version shown at the top of the version column; these will change if you pick a different version. You can store completely different values for all metadata for each version (other than Status).

Basic metadata

The basic metadata is always visible at the top of the file Properties page. The following table summarizes the settings available here.

Setting	Description
Status	Assign a status for the file. This value can be useful for sorting and filtering your records and for supporting internal processes or policies. Your admin can customize the values available here; see Create custom drop-down values and folders for details about how to customize drop-down values. (Category type = File Status.) Important Unlike all of the other metadata settings, Status is shared by all file versions.
File Name	This is the name of the file, as it is shown in the file browser. By default, this is the name of the file you uploaded. If you activate a previous file version, then this name also changes to match the name of the selected version (if you specified a version-specific name). Note Dynamics Marketing removes the following characters to ensure cross-platform compatibility: /, \, :, *, ?, <, >, %, |, &, and +. Warning Don’t use periods (.) in file names anywhere other than before the file-type extension (for example myfavoritefile.jpg). All text after the first period is removed from the file name in the file browser, so a file named “my.favorite.file.pdf” will be renamed to “my”.
Description	Enter a description of the file and how to use it.
Active	Select this check box to make the current file active; clear it to deactivate the file. Active files always appear in the file browser and are available for use in other parts of Dynamics Marketing. Inactive files are usually hidden in the file browser and aren’t available elsewhere. When you delete a file, it’s not actually deleted; it’s just set to inactive. In the file browser, you can show or hide inactive records in the list.
Final	When you use version control, select this check box while the final version is selected from the version column. If another version is already marked as final, then your new setting will replace that one.
Restrict download	Select this check box to prevent some approvers or reviewers from downloading the file. When marked, only users with Edit permission for the file can download it. Users with View permission can preview the file, but can't download it (or change this check box setting). For more information about file permissions, see Manage security settings for files and folders.
Version Control	Select this check box to enable version control for the file. If you upload a new file while this check box is cleared, your new file is added to the top of the version column, and the previous version is retained. If you upload a new file while this check box is cleared, the previous version is permanently replaced with the new one.

Detailed metadata

To view or hide detailed metadata for your file, click Details below the basic metadata settings. The following table summarizes the settings available here.

Setting	Description
Type	Assign a type for the file. This value can be useful for sorting and filtering your records and for supporting internal processes or policies. Your admin can customize the values available here; see Create custom drop-down values and folders for details about how to customize drop-down values. (Category type = File Version Type.)
Category	Assign a category for the file. This value can be useful for sorting and filtering your records and for supporting internal processes or policies. Your admin can customize the values available here; see Create custom drop-down values and folders for details about how to customize drop-down values. (Category type = File Version Category.)
Published Date	Enter the date the file was published.
URL	Displays the URL for accessing the file-properties page you are currently viewing. You can copy this URL and share it with colleagues, customers, approvers, or others who need quick access to this page. This value is read only. Tip The fastest way to send an email with a link to the current file-properties page is to click the Email button provided here. The link is automatically added to your email message body and the file is added as an attachment.
Created By	Initially, this is set to the name of the contact that uploaded the currently-selected version of the file, but you can change this at any time.
Create Date	This read-only value is set to match the date the current version of the file was uploaded.
Expiration Date	Enter the date after which the current version of the file should no longer be used. Tip You can configure the system to automatically send files on an approval workflow the day they expire. This lets other users decide whether to delete, replace, or keep the file. For details, see Set up file options for digital asset management.
Published URL	This field only appears for files that are stored in a published library folder. It shows the direct download URL for the current file. You can copy this URL and share it with colleagues, customers, approvers, or others who need quick access to this file. This value is read only.
Physical Attributes, Graphic Attributes and A/V Attributes	Use these settings to provide more details about the currently-selected file version. Your admin can customize the values you see in the various drop-down lists. See Create custom drop-down values and folders for details about how to customize drop-down values. The relevant categories for the settings here are: File Version Color Space, File Version Height x Width Unit, and File Version Length Unit.

Add file markup and comments

Use file markup to add comments, notations, callouts, and more to your uploaded files. This feature is useful when collaborating on file development and approval.

Click Markup  in the version column to read and add markup to the currently-active file version. For complete details about the markup feature, see Mark up files during development and approval.

Users included in an approval workflow can also add markup as part the approval process (see also Manage review and approval routing).

Tip

Another way to add notes to a file is with the Notes related-information tab. These notes are not version specific and can be added to all file types, including those not otherwise supported by the markup feature. The notes feature for files is similar to notes features for other entity types in Dynamics Marketing; see also Notes.

Version control

When version control is enabled for a file, Dynamics Marketing saves all uploaded versions of the file and shows each version in the left column of the file Properties page. The current version is at the top of the column, and all of the metadata shown in the right column refer to this version. To reactivate an old version, select its thumbnail image in the left column; this brings the old version to the top and also updates the metadata to match the previous version. File markup is specific to each version.

To enable version control for a file, go to the file’s Properties page and select the Version Control check box. Depending on your site settings, this option might be enabled by default for all new files (see also Set up file options for digital asset management).

To add a new version of a file:

1. Go to the Properties page for the file you want to work with.

2. Make sure the Version Control check box is selected.

3. Click Upload  in the version column.

4. Use the file-upload dialog box to choose the file you want to upload.

5. Your new file version now appears at the top of the version list.

Warning

If you upload a new file when the Version Control check box is cleared, then your new file will completely replace the old version, which will be permanently deleted.

Subscribe to a file to get alerts

If you want to receive alerts when a file changes status or gets updated with a new version, then add yourself to that file’s subscription list.

1. Open the file’s Properties page.

2. Click Subscribe  on the right column toolbar.

3. Open the Subscribe/Alert related-information tab and confirm that your name now appears on the list.

Important

To receive alerts related to the files you subscribe to, you must enable each relevant alert. For details about subscribing to these and other types of alerts, see Work with alerts.

Note

You can also use the Subscribe/Alert related-information tab to add or remove yourself and other contacts to and from the subscription list. You must use the tab to remove yourself from the list (the Alert button only adds you).

Thumbnail files

A thumbnail is a small, graphical representations of a file. When you upload files, Dynamics Marketing creates a thumbnail for each file. Dynamics Marketing can create thumbnails for many file types, including Word, PowerPoint, PDF, GIF, JPEG, videos, and so on. If the thumbnail is missing, click Process File to reprocess the thumbnail image.

Note

Dynamics Marketing can't generate thumbnails for Microsoft Excel workbooks, which also means that mark-up features aren't supported for Excel workbooks. Excel workbooks are shown using a generic icon rather than a thumbnail.

Related files

Use the Related Files related-information tab to link files to each other. For example, you may want to relate all the files that use the same license image. If the license expires, this makes it easier to find all the files.

Download a low-resolution version of a file for placement

Click the For Placement Only (FPO) button to download a full-size (in cm), low-resolution version of the file. Because FPOs are low resolution, their file sizes are small and can be manipulated quickly, but the dimensions match the final image so designers can use them in the early stage of the layout process.

See Also

Manage your digital assets
Browser support for digital asset management
Set up file options for digital asset management
Find, organize, and upload files in the file browser
Manage folder properties and publish folders as libraries
Manage security settings for files and folders
Mark up files during development and approval
View and analyze file usage