SubscribeUnderstanding the EditLive! for IWWCM Installer
I've been out and about recently talking to quite a few of our IBM WCM clients both in person and on the phone. In talking to many of you I found that there were lots of you out there who are not sure of the easiest way for maintaining an EditLive! for IWWCM install. Fortunately we've got a few simple hints and tips that will help make your work easier.
Throughout this set of articles I'll be explaining how to get the most out of EditLive!, it's installer and how to make the basic system admin related to EditLive! for IWWCM much simpler.
The EditLive! for IWWCM Installer
Before I get into any tips about how to tweak EditLive! for IWWCM, I'd like provide some background on EditLive! for IWWCM's installer. When I say "installer" I really mean it in the loosest sense of the word. For the most part the installer for EditLive! for IWWCM just runs a script that copies the files needed to run EditLive! into the relevant directories. In fact, for Portal 6.0 and above that's all it does. For those using an earlier version of Portal the installer does some very basic configuration settings and then performs the copy operations.
What this means is that the installer can be tweaked to your needs so that you've got your own personal EditLive! installer. Why is this useful? Because this will make system admin much easier when installing certain iFixes and migrating your EditLive! settings from one environment to another.
The EditLive! for IWWCM Package
The installer package is slightly different for Portal 6.0 and Portal 5.1.0.x. For those who have experienced both versions of IWWCM you would have noticed there were some significant changes between these versions and the editor APIs that we use didn't escape those changes. While it's the same editor functionality for your users, under the hood the integrations are really quite separate and you can see that in the installers, so I'll go through them separately. Here's a link for those who want to skip straight to the IWWCM 6.0 information.
The IWWCM 5.1.0.x Package
Once you extract the downloadable package you'll see three directories, the important directories for this installer at the root directory and the ephox/editlivejava folder. I'd also recommend taking a look at the docs folder. It's the documentation folder and, while it doesn't have any affect on the install process, it is full of useful info.
The Root Directory
There are two important files here.
Firstly the build.properties file:
You will need to edit this file. This file sets almost all the important properties for the installer, including where to install EditLive! for IWWCM. You'll find a complete run down on what each property does in the PDF install guide documentation also contained in the root folder.
The properties in this file must be set at install time. If you want to change these properties at a later date you need to do a re-install. While that might sound daunting now, after reading these articles you'll see how simple that actually is.
You'll also find the sites.properties file here:
This file enables you to create a mapping between a given CSS file and a site area so that the content in EditLive! can be styled accordingly. Unless you have vastly different stylesheets for different site areas I'd not recommend taking advantage of this feature as it has some limitations that impact the saving of documents (you can read them in the documentation). As an aside, the stylesheet and editor interaction are greatly improved in Portal 6.0 thanks to some extra APIs from the WCM team.
The sites.properties file can be changed at any time.
The ephox/editlivejava Directory
This directory contains the actual rich text editor source files. There's just one important file here and that's standard_eljconfigxml.jsp and it controls EditLive!'s toolbar, menu and other configuration properties. It's also where you will need to install your EditLive! for IWWCM license.
If you've read the article about specifying different configuration files for different users in IWWCM 5.1.0.x you'll already be familiar with this file. Basically, if you want to do any customization to how EditLive! looks or how it reacts to any non-IWWCM specific functionality then this is the place to change it.
The standard_eljconfigxml.jsp file can be changed at any time.
The IWWCM 6.0 (and above) Package
By the time IWWCM 6.0 was released IBM had been working with Ephox to improve the editing experience and APIs for integrating rich text editors. As a result the IWWCM 6.0 integration is simpler in it's configuration and yet provides more functionality. One really important distinction between the IWWCM 6.0 and the IWWCM 5.1.0.x integrations is that the properties (other than the install directory property) can be set at run time, so you don't need to reinstall the editor to make a change to the integration's behaviour.
The important directories for this integration are the root directory and the web/res/editlivejava directory.
The Root Directory
The build.properties file is the only important one here and inside you will find the one important setting - the Portal install directory. Once you've set this you're ready to install EditLive! for IWWCM.
The web/res/editlivejava Directory
This directory contains all the configuration information for EditLive! for IWWCM.
By default EditLive! for IWWCM will be configured according to the settings in the sample_eljconfig.xml.
If you're using the default install of EditLive! for IWWCM then this is where you will need to install your license key as well as configure the menu, toolbar and other EditLive! settings.
You'll also find the ephox.config.properties.sample or ephox.config.properties file in this directory.
Removing the "sample" from the file name (giving ephox.config.properties) will turn on EditLive! for IWWCM's role based customization linking the configuration of EditLive! to the roles of users within Portal/IWWCM.
Once you've turned on this functionality this file provides the important mapping between roles and configuration files. I'll provide more detail about how these configuration settings work in a future article. For those who want to look into this now, you'll find more details in your install guide found in the docs folder (just open the index.html file).
Summary
Thanks for sticking with me through all that detail. Hopefully by now you understand the structure of the installer for EditLive! for IWWCM and the operations it performs. Most importantly, you now know which are the key files for your EditLive! for IWWCM install.
I'd recommend that you bookmark this article as much of the information in this series of articles is going to relate to how we can work with these files and the installer to make the configuration and maintenance of your EditLive! for IWWCM install much easier. So this is going to be a good article to refer back to.