Intelligent Media Server v6

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Your Intelligent Media Server enables you to make files available as URLs. If you are new to IMS please consider the Introduction to Publishing below.

When a file is published to a URL it can be accessed directly from a browser or email client without the need to create a copy of the file. This is a useful tool to help you manage use of assets across your websites and marketing campaigns. There is no need to download a physical copy of a file or to keep a physical copy on the webserver – all the photos, videos and audio files your website needs can be kept in IMS, published to a URL and the link embedded in your website or intranet pages and HTML emails.

You can also reformat and crop files within IMS before making them available as a URL (without affecting the master copy). We also provide a browsing tool that enables you to add a Get File button to your Content Management System (CMS) browse IMS and embed assets into CMS web pages.

Publishing Files from IMS

In many organisations websites and email campaigns use a dedicated store of assets on the webserver which largely duplicates the image store used by the rest of the organisation – by the marketing teams to produce other type of collateral. In the past this has been necessary not only because the files need to be accessible to the webserver, but also because the shape and size of the assets often needed to be changed to suit the web and this work would be carried out by web developers rather than the studio staff who would work in brochures and other publicity.

The ability to serve files on the web from an Intelligent Media Server can remove the need for a webserver to store a duplicate set of files. The ability to reformat files when they are published, means that multiple versions of the same image can be made available simultaneously, all based on a single master stored in IMS. For example, from one file in IMS you can create a thumbnail image on one page of your website, a banner on another page, another banner in a marketing email and a cover picture on your monthly newsletter in print and online - without the need to create physical copies of the file.

Using the publishing feature as described above can:

  • reduce the number of files an organisation has to manage
  • make it easier to find appropriate files and hence
  • increase the reuse of images and versions of image
  • reduce the amount of image editing and acquisition required and
  • increase brand consistency.

This is a powerful feature which we recommend you to consider deploying as part of your digital asset management strategy.

How to Publish

There are several different ways to publish files. Please click the links below for more information.

Using the Fetch File feature. With this method you do not need to be logged into IMS but can craft the URLs on which files are made available and specify a range of options and parameters to reformat the image as required. Using this method it is not possible to specify an embargo or expiry date and the fact that the file is published is not reported in IMS . This method is typically the choice for web developers.

Using the Download Wizard when you are logged in to IMS. This method provides all of the options available for publishing files including selection of predefined formats, cropping and specification of embargo and expiry dates. Using the Download Wizard you can publish a batch of files at the same time. Files published in the way are reported in IMS – you can find out which files are published and edit the published file and associated parameters at any time. This method will typically be used by Marketing and Communications staff and infrequent publishers.

Using the Share as Link option when you are logged in to IMS, you can quickly publish a file to a URL and share to a Facebook or Twitter page or with anyone to whom you give the URL. Files published in the way are reported in IMS – you can find out which files are published and edit the published file and associated parameters at any time.

Using the Share as a WebPage (VideoFilesOnly) option when you are logged into IMS allows you to publish the video to a page branded with your theme.

Using a CMS plugin. We produce plugins for Drupal or WordPress or you could create your own based on our Third Light Browser. This is not suitable for video files.

Using the API for advanced integration projects. Please use our dedicated Developer Exchange website to ask questions about the API or to learn from worked examples.

 

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