Imagen Features Update August 2020

Keeping track of incoming content from a range of sources can keep media managers on their toes – particularly if it’s coming from outside the organisation. That’s why we’ve added a streamlined review and approval process for busy administrators.

It starts with an Imagen Ingest workflow, which can be used to place content in quarantine before it’s made more widely available. Individuals who have been allocated the ‘approver’ role are notified when new content hits the Imagen platform. They are then able to quickly approve or deny the addition of the new video, image, audio, or document file.

The system is highly configurable so any approved content can then take on a default set of access permissions – which could make it publicly available, or only to be seen by specific groups or individuals.

For more information check out our Review and Approval Feature Focus resource.

Managing large media libraries often starts with metadata. Our new XML import wizard gives you an easy way to convert data from legacy archives into new Imagen records or import a large batch of new content. 

Tens – or even tens of thousands of metadata records – can now be uploaded to Imagen via a handy drag and drop interface. New Imagen metadata records are created from the XML import file. 

Use the mapping feature to choose which legacy field in your XML file maps to an Imagen metadata field – e.g: The Overview field in the XML file maps to the Description field in your Imagen database.

If your XML file also contains a UNC path to the related content for each line of metadata, Imagen will also automatically bulk ingest your media for you – and you can even select the workflow to send it to.   

Imagen already stores a wide range of document types beyond standard rich media files. It’s not the natural home for Microsoft Office files, but sometimes it’s really handy to have those all-important scripts, spreadsheets and contact numbers to hand – alongside your media.

Not all PCs, Macs and Mobiles are set up to open and review Microsoft Word and Excel files so we convert those documents into PDFs during ingest. That means they can be viewed easily in any web browser using our PDF viewer. They can of course be downloaded if preferred. The Microsoft Word and Excel documents can be stored as individual Imagen database records – or as related resources alongside your media files.