The FirstSpirit™ user interface

All functions at a glance, at all times

Immediately after starting the FirstSpirit™ RichClient the editor is in the clear cockpit: Apart from the everyday menu functions and an icon bar, the cockpit contains three areas, which the user can use to display their own individual needs:

• On the left is the tree-structured view of all objects. This list is sorted by object types.
• In the middle is the editor's actual work area. Here they can essentially make all changes.
• The integrated preview is located on the right. The editor receives immediate feedback after each action: What effects do their changes have on the website or the automatically generated PDF document?

Controlled access

Content types in the tree

In the data management, FirstSpirit™ strictly divides the content from its structure and display. In this way, the media-neutral stored data can be output in virtually any format - e.g. as a website, RSS newsfeed or as a printable PDF/X-3 document with an independent layout.

Editors and administrators - depending on their defined permissions - can work in the following areas:

• Page Store:
  Page-based content is generated and managed by the editors here on the basis of the available templates. The constituent parts of the pages can be prepared from the given set of section types, individually and yet within the scope of the corporate identity and the corporate design.
  Individual pages, and even sections, can be used (referenced) within the produced output as many times as required.
• Content Store:
  Information which is subject to strong structuring, for example product data, job advertisements and press releases, are created within the FirstSpirit™ Content Store. The advantage of this is that easily defined queries can be used to, for example, output a data record in diverse variations at different places within the website.
• Media Store:
  FirstSpirit™ also contains comprehensive media asset management. This is where the editorial team maintains all pictures, graphics, videos, audio files, office and PDF documents.
  Diverse editing functions are available to the picture editor - a highlight is the ability to directly cut pictures to size.
• Site Store:
  The hierarchy, i.e. the navigation, is deposited in the Site Store. One or several pages from the Page Store can be referenced to each menu item and therefore displayed in the frontend.
  Drag & Drop is naturally available, as in all the other areas too, for example, to move whole sub-trees within the navigation with a single action - while the link consistency is of course retained!
• Template Store:
  Template developers work in the Template Store to model the required templates, database schemata and workflows. A large number of tools make the developer's work easier, so that extensive implementations are generally not necessary.
• Global Store:
  Within this area the editor defines, for example, the external editors with which they can edit media directly from FirstSpirit™ and following completion can write it back into the revision-based repository of FirstSpirit™.

The work area

From the individual start page (Home) through to definable work areas

Convenient user prompting, data input in type-checked forms and individualised views of the existing objects: FirstSpirit™ always provides editors with optimum conditions in their work area, to enable them to master their daily tasks.

Everything under control

Integrated preview including content highlighting

No matter where you move the mouse, whether in the tree view, the work area or within the integrated preview browser on the right-hand side: A click of your mouse immediately shows you which element is being maintained in which place within FirstSpirit™.

• Click within the website and a frame is drawn around the selected object and the relevant content object is displayed in the left-hand tree view. The corresponding input form immediately appears in the work area, and the correct input field where changes can be made is coloured.
• If you select an object in the tree view, the corresponding page is displayed in the integrated preview and the form is visualised in the work area.
• Selecting within the work area also causes a frame to be drawn around the corresponding object in the preview.

Content management couldn't be any easier!

FirstSpirit™ never forgets!

The revision-based repository

The media-neutral data management of FirstSpirit™ is designed so that all changes to all objects can be clearly traced and undone. This is done by creating so-called revisions of all objects. The revision number can then be used, for example, to restore an internet page.

The historicization

The look back into the past

The revision-based repository of FirstSpirit™ is what makes it possible to successfully look back into the past. For example, a finished internet site consists of the following elements, separately managed in FirstSpirit™:

• Page templates, section templates, format and link templates:
  These templates define the appearance of pages, sections, formatting and links.
• Media used:
  An internet site often contains company logos, pictures, graphics, videos and download documents.
• Navigation:
  Each navigation item is assigned at least one page content.
• Page content:
  This is usually the content maintained by editor, consisting of continuous tests, tables, link lists, etc.

Because a revision number is appended to all these objects, FirstSpirit™ can search for all objects valid at any time in the past and therefore compile the page in precisely the same way as it was published at that time. The historicization naturally takes into account all templates, logos and even attached documents and database content!

What has changed?

Visualisation of the differences between individual versions

Apart from the ability to restore all system states of the past, the editor is also provided with a convenient function with which they can directly compare individual versions with each other.

It doesn't matter what type of object is involved, the editor simply has to open the version history and any two versions - a direct comparison of both versions is then displayed, including visual highlighting of all differences.

Especially where minor changes have been made, or for translation processes, this is an ideal tool for immediately identifying revisions from one version to the next.

Graphically to your goal

Creating new databases

The revolutionary data source (content) technology of FirstSpirit™ is the ideal solution, if a large amount of highly structured data is to be managed in FirstSpirit™ and output in a large variety of different way. Databases are graphically modelled within FirstSpirit™, so that a form-based maintenance interface is then available to editors.

The data deposited in this way - for example, product information, press releases, job offers, etc. can then be formatted and output via diverse templates and using queries created by the editor themselves.

Intelligent access to existing company data

Connect up external databases in a few minutes

Existing databases can be connected up to FirstSpirit™ in a few minutes. The information pool, which exists outside of FirstSpirit™ and is maintained externally, is also available to the content management if necessary.

This connectivity is also graphically established in the user interface of FirstSpirit™ with a few clicks of the mouse:

• External databases are made available to the FirstSpirit™ server by means of JDBC (Java Database Connectivity).
• Which of the connected up databases is to be accessed is specified for each FirstSpirit™ client.
• The database is interfaced in the client and is therefore displayed to the editor through the maintenance form, or on request, is released for editing.
• The external data can be used in diverse ways via the templates and freely definable queries

Making databases visible

Templates define the output

The internally defined databases and the externally interfaced information can be prepared for output in diverse ways using FirstSpirit™ template technology.

Apart from selection of specific data by the editor, setting filters and using predefined and configurable queries, fully automatic publication is also possible: In this case, the editor only has to maintain their own master data - FirstSpirit™ does the rest. In this way, articles can be published in a controlled way, products can be automatically published in the corresponding product category and a teaser on the latest corporate news can be added to the homepage.

Assuring quality

Workflows allow individual process control

FirstSpirit™ has a graphic workflow modeller to enable customer-specific particularities to be taken into account in the quality control. This means the required workflows can be generated in the easiest possible way and can be executed directly in FirstSpirit™.

The following exemplary features are available:

• Workflows are graphically modelled
• Activities can be performed manually and automatically
• Permissions can be deposited for each workflow step
• Integrated, configurable notification
• Personalised task lists for each editor

Immediately edit pictures

Integrated editing functions make picture material easier to use

FirstSpirit™ has a powerful, fully integrated Media Store. As a special feature here, the editor can edit picture material to their own needs even without external programs. For example, picture sizing, mirror and rotate functions are available - and not only in the Media Store but also, for example, when pictures are selected for use, during searches for media for a photo gallery.

Diverse functions make daily work far easier:

• Automatically generated resolutions:
  Several picture resolutions can be defined for each client. Unless specified otherwise by the editor, FirstSpirit™ scales the original to the respective size.
• Media Import:
  Apart from Drag & Drop, a powerful Media Import Wizard is also available for importing media, so that even large databases can be accepted, conveniently and structured.
• Integrated picture editing:
  Simple modifications to pictures in the Media Store can be made directly in FirstSpirit™, for example, picture sizing. Here it is also possible to defined for each resolution, whether the sizing is free or takes into account defined aspect ratios.
• External editing:
  Existing, professional tools can also be used directly from FirstSpirit™: The editor specifies in their own personal settings, which software is to be used for which type of media.
• Automatic scaling:
  FirstSpirit™ calculates the required resolutions, fully automatically. The picture editor can simply place the high-resolution original picture in the Media Store, they then no longer have to bother about use of the correct, scaled down resolutions.
• Virus scan and limiting the upload:
  On request, media which the editors transfer into the Media Store can be checked for viruses and limited to approved formats and file sizes.
• Versioning:
  The following applies to all forms of media: All changes are versioned and old versions can be restored at any time.
• Multi-lingualism:
  Media can be selectively managed, multi-lingually.
• Metadata:
  The metadata of a medium to be managed can be freely defined, so that all the relevant information such as copyrights and usage periods can be analysed.

The required objects always within grasp

Convenient search functions

FirstSpirit™ provides editors with powerful search functions to enable them to quickly find the required information within the editing system.

Apart from full text search, which clearly lists all hits and highlights the searched for texts in colour, among other things, search for meta data and input elements are also available.

In addition, the search function can also be configured and combined in diverse ways within the FirstSpirit™ Media Store:

• Search in the hierarchy (sub-trees can be included and excluded)
• Search for file names, attributes and metadata
• Definition and parameter setting for a large number of search criteria