You can access the object edit interface from the main tabs "Content structure", "Media library" and "User accounts". This interface makes it possible to edit the actual contents of objects. In addition it allows you to manage the object's versions and preview the version that is being edited.

The object edit interface is also accessible from the "Setup" menu - "States". The following screenshot shows what this interface typically looks like.

The Object Edit Interface

The object edit interface usually consists of the following parts:

• Object information (1)
• Current draft (2)
• Existing Translations (3)
• The main edit window (4)
• When "Upload an image to a related object" is activated (5)
• Related objects (6)
•  Status of autosave if enabled (7)

When the object is a Frontpage, you will also see the following area:

Frontpage Layout

You can choose the layout and create blocks of information on the left and right size of it.

The "Object information" window

The "Object information" window reveals information about the object that is being edited. The following image shows how this window looks like.

The Object Information Window

The screenshot reveals the following about the object which is being edited:

• ID of the object
• Date of the object creation
• Date of the object modification
• The number of the publish version of the object

The "Manage versions" button brings up the version interface which makes it possible to administer the versions of the object that is being edited.

The "Current draft" window

The "Current draft" window reveals information about the version that is currently being edited. The following image shows what this window looks like.

The Current Draft Window

Every time an object is created or edited, eZ Publish will automatically create a new draft. A draft only contains the language that is being edited by the user. If a new object is being created or a new translation is being added to an existing object, then the draft will be empty. However, if an existing language/translation of an object is edited then the system will create a draft which contains this translation copied from the last published version.

This window simply reveals information about when the draft (which is being edited) was originally created, who created it and when it was last modified (stored). In addition, the window also reveals the actual version number of the draft.

Please note that the version number of the current draft differs from the version number of the published version (shown in the "Object information" window). The reason for this is because eZ Publish does not allow the editing of published and archived versions. It only allows you to edit drafts. When an object is edited, a new draft will be created and it is this draft that you will be able to edit.

The "View" button brings up the view interface which can be used to generate a preview of the content that is being edited without having to publish it. When the "Store and exit" button is clicked, the system will store the draft and exit the object edit interface. The draft will be available in the "My drafts" list located under the "Dashboard" tab. It can be re-edited at any time.

The "Existing Translations" window

The "Translate from" window reveals information about the existing languages and allows to select the language which the edited translation should be based on. The following image shows how this window looks like for an object that exists in the English and Norwegian languages.

The Existing Translations Window

If the user selects a language using the radio buttons located in this window and clicks the "View" button then the main edit window will be switched to a special "translator mode" in order to make it easier to translate an object from the selected existing language.

The "translator" mode

The main edit window can be switched to a special "translator mode" so that the actual content in the selected existing language will be displayed above all the attribute fields. This makes it easier to translate an object from an existing language into a new one.

The following image shows what this window looks like when a page is being translated.

The Translator Mode

The "Main edit" window

The main edit window is where you can modify the contents of the different attributes that make up the object which is being edited. For example, if a news article is being edited, this window will most likely allow you to change the title of the article, the intro text and the body. The attributes will be displayed in the same order as they were set up when the class (which defines the actual data structure) was created. Required fields will have additional text "required" in the label. The following image shows how this window looks like when a documentation page is being edited.

Note: From 4.7 onwards the icon bar with the commands for publishing and storing will always stay on top of your page, so that it will always be visible for you when editing and scrolling.

The Main Edit Window

In this case, the following attributes can be edited: "Title", "Short Title", "Author", "Summary" and "Body".

The "Send for publishing" button will attempt to validate the contents of the attributes and send the draft for publishing. If there are problems (for example invalid or missing data) then the system will indicate this using a yellow frame over the main edit window. If everything is okay, the draft will become the current/published version for the object and the previously published version will become archived. Since the draft only contains data for one language, the system will copy other languages from the last published version of this object to the draft when publishing it.

The "Store draft" and the "Store draft and exit" button make it possible to store the information that has been entered. This button is particularly useful when you're working on something and want to save your work from time to time. In addition, since eZ Publish will attempt to validate the input, this button can also be used to verify that the inputted data is correct according to the definitions that were set up when the class (the data structure definition) was created. Please note that the published version of the object will not change.

The "Discard draft" button makes it possible to get rid of the draft that is currently being edited. The draft will not be validated or stored, it will simply be thrown away. The "Show children" check-box can be used to show the child objects in the published version.

The "Disable editor" button means that you can close the editor panes if you don't need them.

Note: If you have the eZ Comments Extension installed you will get a check-box towards the bottom of the screen.

Note: If you edit date elements, the calendar allowing to pick the date will always be displayed in english even if you configured the interface in another language.

Enable Comments Check-box

With these you can manage commenting on this article. Please see the eZ Comments Extension documentation for more information on this functionality.

The "Related objects" window

In the related objects window you will find all the objects that are used on this content page, images that you use in an article will typically be stored here. You can add existing objects to the article, upload new objects or remove objects by selecting them and pressing "Remove selected".

The Related Objects Windows