Virtual Staging

Use Ektron’s approval process and scheduled publishing of content to manage when content goes live.

• Best choice when changes to templates and library files are infrequent
• No special implementation guidelines; just an installation on one server
• When upgrading this type of site, make a temporary copy of the site (both display layer and database) on a separate server to test the upgrade

Same Server, Same Database

• Production and development/staging sites use separate copies of Ektron but reside on same server and point to same database
• Ektron’s settings, managed content, and library files are identical between sites

To set up this configuration:

• To maintain file paths between sites:
  • Create separate websites in IIS.
  • Assign different ports to the production and development/staging sites. For example, the production site is http://www.example.com, and the development/staging site is http://www.example.com:8080.
• Both sites must use the same pathing relative to the Web root. For example, www.example.com\Workarea\applicationAPI.asp and dev.example.com\Workarea\applicationAPI.asp.
• Because both sites use the same database, editing and publishing content on one site affects the other site. As a result, the development/staging server always has the freshest content.
• Make the Ektronuploadedimages/ and uploadedfiles/ folders IIS virtual directories that point to the same physical directory.
• Template changes must be copied between sites. The best way to copy site templates and other assetan external file, such as a Microsoft Word document or image, stored in Ektron. It can be managed like native Ektron content.s is eSync. This is described in Synchronizing Servers Using eSync.
  • If eSync was not implemented and changes to these items are infrequent, you can manually copy them.

To test and QA an upgrade, make a temporary copy of the site’s display layer on a separate server connected to the development/staging database.

If the development/staging database is the master, back it up before upgrading.

Same Server, Different Databases

• Production and development/staging sites use separate copies of Ektron’s display layer, reside on same server, but point to different databases
• Changes to content, configuration, or library files made in one site must be copied to other site

To set up this configuration:

• To maintain file paths between sites:
  • Create separate websites in IIS.
  • Assign different ports to the production and development/staging sites. For example, the production site is http://www.example.com, and the development/staging site is http://www.example.com:8080.
  • Separate the databases for isolation.
  • One database is the master, and the other is a copy
  • Only edit content in the site connected to the master database
  • Remove the Ektron login page from the site connected to the copy database
• To copy the Ektron database, your best choice is Ektron’s eSync feature. This is described in Synchronizing Servers Using eSync.
• If you have not implemented eSync, copy site content using a replication tool for the database.
  • SQL Server 2008 SDK Replication: See SQL Server Replication
• Library files—Make sure the Ektron uploadedimages/ and uploadedfiles/ folders IIS virtual directories point to the same physical directory.
• Templates and other file system assets—The best way to move these is eSync. If that was not implemented and changes to these items are infrequent, you can manually copy them. For automated replication, use a product such as Microsoft Application Center.
• Upgrading Ektron—To test an upgrade, make a temporary copy of the site’s display layer on a separate server connected to the development/staging database. If the development/staging database is the master, back it up before upgrading.

Separate Servers, Same Database

• Production and development/staging sites reside on separate servers, which point to the same database.
• Ektron settings, content, and library files are identical between sites.
• Changes to templates must be copied between servers.

To set up this configuration:

• Configure Ektron’s Load Balancing feature to copy uploaded images and files between the servers.
• The best way to move site templates and other assetan external file, such as a Microsoft Word document or image, stored in Ektron. It can be managed like native Ektron content.s is eSync. This is described in Synchronizing Servers Using eSync.
  • If that was not implemented and changes to these items are infrequent, you can manually copy them. For automated replication, use a product like Microsoft Application Center.
• When upgrading Ektron:
  1. Back up the file system of the development/staging server.
  2. Make a temporary copy of the production server database.
  3. Switch the development/staging site to use the copy.
  4. Test and QA the upgrade on the development/staging server.

Separate Servers, Separate Databases

• Production and development/staging sites are installed to separate servers and point to different databases
• Changes to content, configuration, or files must be copied between sites.

To set up this configuration:

• Both sites must have the same pathing relative to the Web root, for example, www.example.com\Workarea\applicationAPI.asp and dev.example.com\Workarea\applicationAPI.asp.
• Separate the databases for isolation.
  • One database is the master, and the other is a copy
  • Only edit content in the site connected to the master database
  • Remove the Ektron login page from the site connected to the copied database
• The best way to copy site templates and library files is eSync. This is described in Synchronizing Servers Using eSync.
  • If that was not implemented and changes to these items are infrequent, you can manually copy them. For automated replication, use a product like Microsoft Application Center.
• To copy the Ektron database (containing HTML and XML content), your best choice is Ektron’s eSync feature.
  • If you have not implemented eSync, copy site content using a replication tool for the database, such as SQL Server 2008 SDK Replication. See SQL Server Replication
• Make sure the Ektronuploadedimages/ and uploadedfiles/ folders IIS virtual directories point to the same physical directory.
• When upgrading Ektron:
  1. Back up the file system of the development/staging server
  2. Make a temporary copy of the production server database
  3. Switch the development/staging site to use the copy
  4. Test and QA the upgrade on the development/staging server

Analytics

• See Running Google Web Analytics and Templates View.

Connection Strings

For SQL Server—Use this connection string to define an SQL server.

• name—ektron.DbConnection
• providerName—System.Data.SqlClient
• connectionString—this part of the connection string contains the following element.
• server—the name of the database server to which Ektron is installed. If installed locally, the value is localhost. This value is set during installation, at the Host screen.
• database—use the name of the database.
• Integrated Security—use True or False. True—use integrated security.
• user—If required, specify the username used to connect to the DSN. This user account must have at least read and write permissions to the database.

  NOTE: This value can be blank if you are using Windows authentication.

• pwd—If required, specify the password for the username given. It should match your database name.

  NOTE: This value can be blank if you are using Windows authentication.

  IMPORTANT: After changing any database settings, you must stop and restart the Ektron Windows Service. See Also: Handling Background Processing Functions with the Ektron Windows Service

appSettings

• ek_appName—The name of the application, CMS400. You typically would not change this value.
• ek_appPath—This element is prefixed by the ek_sitePath value and describes the location of the workarea folder. This file stores external applications (such as eWebDiff), templates, and the images folder.
• ek_appImagePath—The folder that stores the images within Ektron, such as toolbar icons. Only change this value if you need to move the images folder to another location. This value is prefixed by the value set in the ek_appPath variable. By default, ek_appPath is set to webroot/cms400Min/workarea/. So, by default, this folder is set to webroot/cms400Min/workarea/images/application/.
• ek_appXSLTPath—The folder that stores XSLTExtensible Stylesheet Language Transformationss. Only change this value if you need to move the XSLT folder to another location. This value is prefixed by the value set in the ek_appPath variable. By default, ek_appPath is set to webroot/cms400Min/workarea/. So, by default, this folder is set to webroot/cms400Min/workarea/Xslt.
• ek_buildNumber—This value is set by the installation program. You typically would not change it.
• ek_cmsversion—This value is set by the installation program. You typically would not change it.
• ek_LDAPMembershipUser—Integrate membership users with LDAPLightweight Directory Access Protocol; permits access to distributed information. or Active Directory. Set the value to True for Membership Users to be authenticated using LDAP/AD.
• ek_RedirectFromLoginKeyName—Provides a mechanism to return from the login page to the previous page, specify the query string key-name. By default the value is RedirectUrl. Currently, the redirect works in 2 instances.
  1. When a user tries to use a forum but is not logged in, it sends them to a login page and returns them. The value in this key used in conjunction with the ek_RedirectToLoginURL key sends the user from a forum page to a login page and back to the previous page.

     For example, a user tries to reply to a forum post, but the user is not logged in. The user is sent to the login page and then returned to the original page.

  2. When a user sends a private message to another user or group administrator from the SocialBar server control, the user is returned to the page where the user clicked private message once the message is sent.

     For example, you visit a community group’s page and click Private Message Admin. You are directed to the private message screen. When you click post, you are returned to the community group’s page. For additional information, see Server Control Reference.

• ek_RedirectorInstalled—Turns the redirector on or off. Turning the redirector on enables the option of aliasing the URL of your website. The default is False.
  • True—Aliasing turned on
  • False—Aliasing turned off

  See Also: Creating User-Friendly URLs with Aliasing

• ek_RedirectorManualExt—Set a comma-delimited list of Web page extensions for which you will create aliased pages. For example, .aspx,.htm,.html. By default, the list contains.aspx. See Also: Creating User-Friendly URLs with Aliasing

  NOTE: You can enter one or more extensions. Each extension must begin with a period, and the last extension must be followed by a comma (,).

• ek_RedirectToLoginURL—The URL of the login page to automatically redirect to when a site visitor is not logged in as a user or membership user.
• ek_sitePath—The location of Ektron relative to the Web root. This value is set during installation at the Site Path Directory screen. If you move Ektron to another folder, you must update this value.
• ek_TreeModel—Choose whether or not to use Ajax for the folder tree in the Workarea.
  • 0—use the legacy folder tree in the Workarea.
  • 1—use Ajax for the folder tree in the Workarea.

    NOTE: This key has been removed from the web.config file. However, you can still use this key by adding it between the <appSettings> tags. For example, <add key=”ek_TreeModel” value=”0”> changes the folder tree in the Workarea back to legacy.

• ek_workareaDateFormat—Choose how you want to display dates in some areas of the Workarea.
  • long—for example, Tuesday May 21, 2013
  • short—for example, 5/21/2013
• ek_xmlPath—The location of the xmlfiles directory. The ek_sitePath path is prefixed to this location. You would only change this value if you want to move the location of the xml files relative to the Web root.
• GoogleMap—Enter connection information for using Google Maps with the Mapping feature in Ektron. See Also: Map
• VirtualEarthMap—Enter connection information for using Bing Maps for Enterprise with the Mapping feature in Ektron. See Also: Map

Images

These images appear before the user signs in, so cannot be stored in the database. Update as needed. Their location is set in the ek_appImagePath variable. See Also: ek_appImagePath.

• ek_Image_1—close button
• ek_Image_2—small login button
• ek_Image_3—big login button

SMTP server configuration

See Installing Ektron

• ek_SMTPPass—The password set up to send and receive email
• ek_SMTPPort—The port your system uses to retrieve email
• ek_SMTPServer—The server that processes email
• ek_SMTPUser—The username set up to send and receive email

Mail Format

• ek_MailFormat—The format of the email created in Ektron.HTML generates email in HTML format, while Text generates plain text email.

SSL Support

See Setting Up Ektron

• ek_SSL_Port—SSL port used by Web server.
• ek_UseSSL—Determines if server will use SSL for security

Active Directory Server Configuration

See Using Active Directory with Ektron

• ek_ADAdvancedConfig—Enable Active Directory advanced configuration.
• ek_ADEnabled—Whether Ektron uses Active Directory support.
• ek_ADPassword—Password for the Active Directory server.
• ek_ADUsername—User name for the Active Directory server.
• ek_AUTH_Protocol—The directory access protocol used with the Active Directory feature. The default value is LDAP. Other protocols are GC (global catalog) and WINNT.

Menu Settings

• ek_MenuDisplayType—Determines the appearance of the content menu that appears within every content block after the user signs in.

  NOTE: This setting only works if ek_UserMenuType is set to zero (0).

  • 0—Horizontal—menu icons are arranged horizontally
  • 1—Vertical—menu icons are arranged vertically and include the tooltip text
• ek_UserMenuType—Determines the appearance of the content menu that appears within every content block after the user signs in.
  • 0—New dynamic menu—only appears when user moves cursor over content block
  • 1—Old classic menu—always appears
  • 2—Menu without borders—a silver pin head appears above content that has a menu available. Hovering over this pin produces a menu.

  See Also: Working with Ektron Content

Multilingual Settings

• ek_DefaultContentLanguage—Sets the 4 digit, decimal representation of the default content language. For example, American English is 1033. See Also: Setting the Default Language
• ek_EnableMultilingual—Enable or disable multilingual content support.
  • 1—enable
  • 0—disable

  See Also: Enabling/Disabling Support for Multiple Language Content

• ek_ServerURL—Mainly used in Web services to determine a remote server location. For example, in a Web farm environment, the content server can reside in a remote location. In this case, the developer’s content is replaced with this value, so all <img src=””…/> and <href…. references point to server named here instead of the local one.

Machine Translation

Lets you enter the path to the Google Translation Service API key. See Also: Enabling Machine Translation

Miscellaneous Settings

• ek_assetPath—The folder that stores assetan external file, such as a Microsoft Word document or image, stored in Ektron. It can be managed like native Ektron content.s. Only change this value if you need to move the Assets folder to another location. Note that this value is prefixed by the ek_appPath value. By default, ek_appPath is set to webroot/CMS400Min. So, by default, this folder is set to webroot/CMS400Min/assets.
• ek_BatchSize—The number of files that can be uploaded at one time. The default is 4, but it can be any non-negative number.

  NOTE: Users can upload any amount of files. The system handles them 4 at a time.

• ek_CacheControls—Enable or disable caching for Ektronserver controla server control uses API language to interact with the CMS and Framework UI to display the output. A server control can be dragged and dropped onto a Web form and then modified.s. See Also: Caching with Server Controls
  • 0—Disable
  • 1—Enable
• ek_EditControlMac—Defines the editor used by a Macintosh operating system user.
• ek_EditControlWin—Defines the editor used by a Microsoft Windows operating system user. Choice are:
  • ContentDesigner—Use the eWebEdit400 editor. This editor does not require an ActiveX installation on the user’s computer.
  • eWebEditPro—Use the eWebEditPro editor. This editor requires an ActiveX install on the user’s computer.
  • Aloha (default)—This editor is installed by default. See Also: Editing in Ektron
• ek_EnableMessageBoardEmail—Set to True to enable e-mail notification when a user posts a message to a user or community group’s message board. If true and a user posts to another user’s message board, the board's owner is notified. If true and a user posts a message to a community group’s message board, all group members are notified. This setting does not affect content messages. See Also: Sending Notifications to a Community
• ek_helpDomainPrefix—The path to the help files. By default, help files are located on an external server and the path is

  http://documentation.ektron.com/cms400/v[ek_cmsversion]/webhelp

  Change this path if you install help files on local servers. See Also: Installing Help Files on a Local Server.

• ek_InvitationFromEmail—The “From” email address used when a user sends an Invitation. Invitations are emails that are sent to non-system users asking them to join your site. See Also: Invite server control.
• ek_LinkManagement—This setting determines if Ektron uses linkit.aspx when inserting a quicklink. By default, it is set to false. If set to true, when a user inserts a quicklink, Ektron inserts a special link instead of a quicklink. A special link determines the correct quicklink to use when a site visitor clicks it. For example, a user adds a content block to folder A. A quicklink to that content is a.aspx?id=10. Later, if an administrator changes the folder’s template but doesn’t update the quicklink within the content block, the quicklink is broken. To avoid this problem, enable link management.
• ek_LogFileName—Path to the log file name for the message queue
• ek_loginAttempts—Ektron has a login security feature that, by default, locks out a user after 5 unsuccessful attempts to log in. See Also: Getting Started with Ektron
• ek_LoginScreenWidth—The width of the login screen in pixels. You may need to widen the screen if you are using Active Directory and database names are long.
• ek_PageSize—This setting determines the maximum number of items that can appear on a page before it “breaks.” When a page breaks, additional entries appear on another screen, and the following appears near the bottom of the list:

  Page 1 of 2

  [First Page] [Previous Page] [Next Page] [Last Page]

  NOTE: The above text changes depending on the page you are viewing.

• ek_QueueName—Path to the message queue.
• ek_ShowWorkareaRetErrorReferrer—Choose whether to enable referrer debug information on the RetError.aspx page.
  • True—enable
  • False—disable
• ek_ToolBarFormatTag— This setting only applies after a user signs in to your site. Change this setting if the colored border that surrounds content looks wrong. (The border color indicates the content’s status.) By default, <table> tags create the border. If the border looks wrong or inappropriate, change setting to div. If you do, <div> tags are used to draw the border instead of <table> tags. This change typically solves the problem.
• ek_WorkareaLibSearchResultMode—Sets the Workarea Library search-results mode.
  • text—returns a text only version of the library search results.
  • mixed—returns text and images associated with library search results.
  • graphical—returns a images associated with library search results.
• ek_XliffVersion—Define the XLIFFXML Localization Interchange File Format; for exchanging localization data. version to use when exporting files. See Also: Exporting Content to XLIFF
• WSPath—Determines the location of the Web services page used by the server controls at design time.

system.diagnostics

• LogLevel—Enter a numeric value that determines the level of message logging. By default, diagnostic messages are logged in the Event Log. Choices are:

  1—Error: log errors.

  2—Warning: log errors and warnings.

  3—Information: log errors, warnings and informationals.

  4—Verbose: Everything is logged.

ektronCommerce

See Conducting eCommerce

• ek_ecom_ComplianceMode—When set to true, your site is Security Compliant. This means the Workarea is encrypted in an SSL session and Logging is started.
• ek_ecom_DefaultCurrencyId—Select the default currency and enter its Numeric ISO code. This should be done before creating your product catalog. See Also: The Default Currency

  WARNING! Do not change the default currency or measurement system after your eCommerce site is live.

• ek_ecom_TestMode—When set to true, payments are sent to a test gateway instead of the actual one.
• ek_MeasurementSystem—Select whether to use English or Metric measurements for your packages. See Also: Configuring Packages

mediaSettings

See Also: Managing Multimedia Assets

• application/x-shockwave-flash—Define the relationship between the Shockwave Flash mime type and the Flash player.
• audio/mpeg—Define the relationship between the MPEG audio mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• audio/x-ms-wma—Define the relationship between the MS-WMA mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• audio/x-realaudio—Define the relationship between the realaudio mime type and the Real player.
• audio/x-wav—Define the relationship between the WAV mime type and the Windows Media, Quicktime and Real players.
• audio/x-wav-default—Define the relationship between the WAV default mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• Flash-CLSID—The class ID for the Flash player.
• Flash-Codebase—Location of the code base plug-in for Flash player.
• Quicktime-CLSID—The class ID for the Quicktime player.
• Quicktime-Codebase—Location of the code base plug-in for Quicktime player.
• Realplayer-CLSID—The class ID for the Real player.
• Realplayer-Codebase—Location of the code base plug-in for Real player.
• video/mpeg—Define the relationship between the MPEG video mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• video/quicktime—Define the relationship between the Quicktime mime type and the Quicktime player.
• video/x-avi—Define the relationship between the AVI mime type and the Windows Media, Quicktime and Real players.
• video/x-avi-default—Define the relationship between the AVI default mime type and the Quicktime player.
• video/x-msvideo—Define the relationship between the msvideo mime type and the Windows Media, Quicktime players.
• video/x-msvideo-default—Define the relationship between the msvideo default mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• video/x-ms-wmv—Define the relationship between the MS-WMV mime type and the Windows Media Player.
• video/x-realvideo—Define the relationship between the realvideo mime type and the Real player.
• WindowsMedia-Codebase—Location of the code base plug-in for Windows Media Player.
• WindowsMedia-CLSID—The class ID for the Windows Media Player.

Miscellaneous

• HttpHandlers—This section sets how the URL Aliasing feature handles URLs with certain extensions. If you have any extension you do not want aliased, add it below the following line using the same syntax.
  add verb="*" path="*.png" type="URLRewrite.StaticFileHandler,
Ektron.Cms.URLRewriter" />
• maxRequestLength—This setting determines the maximum size of files that can be uploaded to your server. The default setting is 204,800 kilobytes, or 200 MB. Enter the desired value in kilobytes. To convert megabytes to kilobytes, go to OnlineConversion.com.
• session state—mode—determines the storage option for session data. Ektron supports all session-state modes listed in this article: Session-State Modes.

Before You Migrate

• Ektron requires a physical installation of the product. If you do not have physical access to the machine, someone with access to the machine must run the install. For more information, see Installing Ektron.
• After you install Ektron, verify that it is properly installed by using the starter site. By default, the sample website is located at the following address on the machine to which Ektron is installed.

  http://localhost/siteroot/default.aspx

  If you can browse the starter site and it works properly, Ektron is properly installed.

  Best Practice 

  You should keep a working version of the starter site to help you debug problems. For example, if you encounter errors on your site, you can refer to the starter site to see if the same errors occur. If they do, that may indicate a problem with the installation. If they do not, the installation is probably OK and an external factor is causing the problem.

Setting Up Your New Site

NOTE: You can use the Site Setup utility to perform these tasks by choosing Start > Programs > Ektron > CMS400 > Utilities > Site Setup. See Installing a Site.

1. Copy Application Core Files—Copy the application core files from the siteroot/workarea folder into your site’s folder. These files operate the workarea, library, and content functions.
2. Set up the Database—Because the content is stored in a database, you need to create one. To learn how to set up a database, see Setting up a Database.
3. Modify Application Parameters—After you install and create the Ektron database, modify the web.config file that installed to the directory to which you installed Ektron. Edit that file and update the information between the <ConnectionString> tags to point to your: server, database, user, and pwd.

   NOTE: If you are using SSL, the settings you need to modify are explained in Installing Ektron.

4. Create a Login Page—You can either copy the one from the starter site or create your own. See Also: Login server control
5. Log In
   1. Browse to the login page you created and click Login. A login dialog box opens asking for a username and password.
   2. Enter the default username (admin) and password (admin) and click Login. You are logged into Ektron.
6. Modify Configuration Settings—After you log in, click Workarea. From there, you can modify the configuration settings.
   • Setting Up Active Directory—If plan to use Active Directory, configure this now. The settings for Active Directory can be found in the Settings > Configuration folder. Refer to Using Active Directory with Ektron.
   • Modifying the Setup Screen—The Ektron setup section is located under the Settings > Configuration folder. The setup section lets you configure items such as your license key, style sheet support, max summary size, and default language. See Getting Started with Ektron.
   • Setting up Metadata—Ektron includes extensive metadata support. Settings for metadata definitions can be found under the Settings > Configuration folder in the Workarea. You can have as many metadata definitions as needed. See Working with Metadata for more information.
   • Setting up Smart Forms—You can also set up your Smart Forms. You create XML files externally or via the Data Designer. Next, a Smart Forman Ektron-defined Web page that contains XML (hidden from the end user) to display content, and receive, verify, and save user input. is assigned to content blocks and folders. See Working with Smart Forms for additional information.
7. Create Ektron Users—If you are not using Active Directory support, add your users manually. The maximum number of users is determined by your license key. For instance, if you purchase a 10-user license, you can enter 10 users. If you exceed the licensed number of users, you may get locked out of Ektron. Every user must belong to a group. When you first add a user, the user is automatically added to the Everyone group. You can create more user groups and add users to them as desired. For more information, see Managing Users and User Groups.
8. Configuring Content and Forms Folders—Next, create folders to organize content blocks and forms. Create as many folders as you want. Each folder level can go as deep as you want. See Also: Planning Your CMS Folder Structure

9. As you create folders, you can assign a default template and style sheet. The default template is used when a new content block is created and Ektron creates a Quicklink that points to the new content block. If you do not provide a default template, it is inherited from the parent folder.

   After creating the folders, assign permissions and approvals to them. Permissions can be assigned to a user or a user group. The same is true for the approval process.

   Best Practice 

   Limit permissions for the “Everyone” group, as this gives every user permissions to content. Similarly, limit the “Everyone” group’s inclusion in the approval chainA series of users or user groups who must approve content before it can be published. to restrict which users can publish content.

10. Create your Templates—Now you can create your templates. Templates contain the look and feel of the site. Masthead, navigation, and footer graphics are all part of the template. Use server controla server control uses API language to interact with the CMS and Framework UI to display the output. A server control can be dragged and dropped onto a Web form and then modified.s to insert Ektron content into a template. For a list of server controls, see Working with Ektron Server Controls.

    Best Practice 

    Because dynamic templates include URL parameters, make each main landing page and other important pages static tags. This makes it easier for you to remember if you need to provide that link to someone.

    For instance, each main landing page from your home page could use the static tag. Then, as you go deeper into that section, subsequent pages use a dynamic tag.

11. Migrate or Create Content—You can create or migrate your content. If you are migrating content from an existing site, add a new content block, and cut and paste the content into the Ektron editor.

    NOTE: All images and files must be uploaded and inserted into the content separately.

12. Deploy the content—Deployment from development to production is as simple as moving the files over. To properly deploy your new Ektron website:
    1. Copy all assets (templates, images, files, and so on) from your development box to your production machine.
    2. Move the database. You have 2 choices
       • point your data source on the production machine to the database you were using.
       • copy the database, move it to your production box, and point a data source to that.
13. Optionally, For email notification to work in Ektron, make sure the SMTP service is setup and running in IIS, and that it points to a valid mail server. See Installing Ektron for additional information.

Prerequisites

• All sites reside on the same server
• Each site requires a multi-site license key. To purchase additional licenses, contact Ektron sales.

Advantages of multi-site configurations:

• The URL can indicate the nature of the site to visitors
  • www.example.com
  • support.example.com
  • forums.example.com
• All sites can share a single database
  • common content, but appear within their own site and templates
  • the library of images and files. These files can be stored once; authors can insert them into content from any site.

Automatic Multi-Site Setup

IMPORTANT: Before creating a multi-site configuration, you must have installed an Ektron website. All installed folders must remain in that site. The original site cannot have virtual folders.

1. Create each new site in IIS. Convert each site folder to an application. See http://www.iis.net/learn/manage/creating-websites.
2. Run the Multi-Site Setup Wizard.
   1. Double click C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400vxx\Utilities\MultiSiteInstall\Multisite.exe.
   2. Use the pulldown to select the site you created in Step 1.
   3. Select your host.
      —Image—

      

   4. Enter a path to the new site.
      —Image—

      

   5. Identify your main website; that is, the site to which this multi-site is being added.
      —Image—

      

   6. When prompted to add a multi-site key, click Yes.
   7. Enter a license key for the new site. This step copies the new site's license keys to the database.
   8. Enter information about the new site's database.
   9. Follow the remaining screens in the wizard.
3. Assign multi-site capabilities in Ektron.
   1. Log in the Workarea.
   2. Click Content.
   3. Click the site root folder.

      NOTE: Site folders must reside within the site root folder.

   4. On the View Contents of Folder screen, create a new top-level site folder for each site by choosing New > Site.
   5. Assign site folder properties as you did for the root folder. The Multi-site Configuration fields appear on the lower section of the screen.
      —Image—

      

   6. In the Staging Domain field, insert your staging domain.
   7. In the Production Domain field, insert your production domain.
   8. Click Add Folder. Within Ektron, new sites are indicated by a globe icon.
      —Image—

      

Manual Multi-Site Setup

Ektron provides a utility (Multisite.exe) that automatically completes Steps 1 and 2 for you. If you run this utility, you only need to complete Step 3. The utility is located C:\Program Files\Ektron\CMS400vxx\Utilities\MultiSiteInstall.

1. Create New Folders in the File System.

   IMPORTANT: Before creating a multi-site configuration, you must have installed an Ektron website. All installed folders must remain in that site. The original site cannot have virtual folders.

   1. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot folder.
   2. Create a new folder for each site.
      —Image—

      

   3. Copy the following Ektron files and folders from the original site to the new, multi-site folder.
      • all individual files (not subdirectories)
      • all .config files in all directories under the site root
      • these subdirectories:
        • bin
        • WorkArea
        • widgets
        • App_Code
        • AssetManagement
        • App_GlobalResources
   4. Within each new site folder, open the web.config file and update the ek_sitePath and WSPath elements with your Ektron site path.

      For example, if your Ektron site is in the website root, enter slash (/). If it is in a subdirectory of the website, enter the subdirectory name. For example, if the website root is C:\inetpub\wwwroot and you have a subdirectory called CMS400Min, enter CMS400Min as the site path.

2. Create new sites in IIS. Convert each site folder to an application. See http://www.iis.net/learn/manage/creating-websites.
3. Create Virtual Folders in IIS.

   In IIS, for each new website, create one new virtual folder for the following shared folders:

   • assets
   • privateassets
   • uploadedfiles
   • uploadedimages

   These folders are created when you install Ektron. If you did a normal installation, they reside under the site directory. For example, C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\siteroot\uploadedimages.

   To create virtual versions of these folders, see the following section.

   Creating virtual folders in IIS 7

   Creating Virtual Folders in IIS 7

   1. In IIS, select the new site folder you created.
   2. Right click the mouse and choose Add Virtual Directory.
      —Image—

      

   3. Identify the corresponding subfolder in the root folder.
      —Image—

      

   4. Follow this procedure for all folders: assets, privateassets, uploadedfiles, uploadedimages.
4. Set file system permissions on new folders.
   1. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the new folder(s) you created in Setting Up Development and Staging Environments .
   2. Right click the folder and click Properties.
   3. Click the Security tab.
   4. Click Advanced.
   5. Check Include Inheritable Permissions from this object's parent.
      —Image—

      

5. Install the aspnet_isapi.dll file.
   Installing the aspnet_isapi.dll file in IIS 7

   Installing the aspnet_isapi.dll File in IIS 7

   1. In the Connections window, select your application.
      —Image—

      

   2. Make sure that the Features view is selected.
   3. Double-click Handler Mappings.
      —Image—

      

   4. Click Add Wildcard Script Map.
      —Image—

      

   5. The Add Wildcard Script Map dialog appears.
      —Image—

      

   6. In the Executable field, browse to C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_isapi.dll.
   7. Enter a name.
   8. Click OK.
6. Assign multi-site capabilities in Ektron.
   1. In the Workarea, click Content.
   2. Click the site root folder.

      NOTE: Site folders must reside within the site root folder.

   3. Create a new top-level site folder for each site by choosing New > Site.
   4. Assign site folder properties as you did for the root folder. The Multi-site Configuration fields appear on the lower section of the screen.
   5. In the Production Domain field, insert your domain.
   6. Save the screen. In Ektron, new domains are indicated by a globe icon.
      —Image—

      

Before Adding a Website

Adding a website to a server requires careful preparation before running the Website Creation Wizard. Consider these recommendations.

• Review the methods of hosting multiple websites, and determine which one is appropriate for your environment.
• Multiple websites can use the same IP address. But if you decide to use a unique IP address for the new website, obtain a static IP address from your organization or ISP. Then, configure the server’s TCP/IP settings.
• If you use a host header name to identify the new website, select a unique name. On a private network, the host header can be an intranet site name. But on the Internet, the host header must be a publicly available Domain Name System (DNS) name, such as support.microsoft.com. Register a public DNS name with an authorized Internet name authority.
• Update your name resolution system (typically DNS) with a new record that contains the new IP address and site name. For more information, see Domain Name Resolution in IIS help.
• Standard Internet services use TCP port 80 by default. It is not recommended to use any other port for HTTP services.

  If you use a non-standard TCP port number to identify a new website for special situations (such as a private website for development/testing), select a TCP port number above 1023. In this way, the number does not conflict with well-known port numbers assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. (For more information about IANA and port assignments, see List of TCP and UDP port numbers.)

• Use Windows Explorer to create a home directory for the content. Create subdirectories to store HTML pages, image files, and other content as needed.

  To organize home directories for multiple websites on one server, create a top-level directory for all home directories, then subdirectories for each site.

  You can create a home directory

  • on the local server
  • as a uniform naming convention (UNC) path on a network share
  • as a URL that redirects clients to a different Web server

  You can also create virtual directories that map to physical directories. For more information, see “Setting Home Directories” and “Using Virtual Directories” in IIS help.

• Determine whether to generate the website’s identification number incrementally or from the website name.
• Create a home page that clearly identifies the new site.

Adding a Website

IIS provides 2 methods for adding a new website.

• The Website Creation Wizard
• The iisweb.vbs command-line script

IMPORTANT: You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer to perform the following procedure (or procedures), or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, log on to your computer using an account that is not in the Administrators group, and then use the Run as command to run IIS Manager as an administrator. From the command prompt, type runas /user:administrative_accountname "mmc %systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\iis.msc".

appcmd add site /name: string /id: uint /physicalPath: 
  string /bindings: string

Load Balancing Library Images and Files

Library load balancing is important when your configuration consists of 2 or more websites that share one database. Library files are not saved in the database but in the site root folders uploadedfiles and uploadedimages.

To support load balancing, library files on all servers must be identical. To maintain this state, whenever a user uploads an item to the library, it is replicated on all other servers. After following the setup instructions, whenever an image or file is added to the library of one server, it is copied to the corresponding folder on other servers in the configuration.

1. Open the file C:\Program Files\Ektron\EktronWindowsService40\Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40.exe.config using a word processor such as Notepad.
2. Set the value of the LibraryLoadBalanced property to 1.
3. Set the value of the LoadBalServerCount property to the number of servers in your load balance cluster.
4. Save the config file.
5. Restart the Ektron Windows Service.
   —Image—

   

See Also: Handling Background Processing Functions with the Ektron Windows Service

Load Balancing Assets

Asset load balancing is important when your configuration consists of 2 or more websites that share one database. Ektron balances requests to work with assetan external file, such as a Microsoft Word document or image, stored in Ektron. It can be managed like native Ektron content.s from multiple servers by ensuring that each server has a copy of every asset.

After setting up asset load balancing, any asset added to one server is copied to the corresponding folder on other servers in the configuration. There is no limit to the number of servers that can be load balanced.

The following list shows the load balance settings summary on all servers.

• <webroot>\AssetManagement.config
  • LoadBalanced=1
  • (0 to disable)
• c:\Program Files\Ektron\Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40\Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40.exe.config
  • LibraryLoadBalanced=1
  • LoadBalServerCount=x

Where x is the number of servers in load balanced configuration

To set up load balancing for assets, follow these steps on all servers that are load balanced together.

1. Within the site root folder, open the AssetManagement.config file using a word processor such as Notepad.
2. Change the value of the LoadBalanced element to 1.
3. Save the config file.
4. Open the following file using a word processor such as Notepad:

   C:\Program Files\Ektron\EktronWindowsservice40\
Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40.exe.config

5. Set the value of the LibraryLoadBalanced property to 1.
6. Set the value of the LoadBalServerCount property to the number of servers in your load balance cluster.
7. Save the config file.
8. Update these files for each server in the load balance cluster.
9. Sign on to Ektron. This action sets up the load balance software in the database.

Refreshing Load Balanced Files

Prerequisite

You must be a member of the Administrators group.

Asset and Library files may become out-of-date or lost due to equipment failures, power outages, or other events. In addition to your Load Balance system, Ektron provides a way to refresh the files contained in the DMS Assets folders and Library Files and Images folders.

NOTE: Open Port 8732 on load balanced servers for load balancing refresh to work properly.

IMPORTANT: Previously, Ektron used Port 6079 for communication between load balancing servers. Starting with version 8.01, this port is no longer used and can be closed in your firewall.

To refresh the load balanced files:

1. In the Workarea, go to Settings > Configuration > Load Balancing. The page looks like this.
   —Image—

   

2. Click Start. A status screen appears.
   —Image—

   

3. Verify that the status screen shows servers you expect to be refreshed. Server name WS10155 is circled in the example.

   IMPORTANT: If you click Start and the screen quickly returns and files do not refresh, or if a server is missing from the status list, check your Load Balancing settings in Ektron.ASM.EKtronServices40.exe.config.

4. Click Close when finished viewing the status.

Load Balancing Status

To check the Load Balancing Status, click the Scroll button.

The Status screen shows the Load Balancing screen showing either the previous refresh or the current refresh in progress.

SMTP Error Messages

When submitting a form or a content block in an approval process, if you get an error message listed below, it is generated by the SMTPSimple Mail Transport Protocol; an internet standard for electronic mail. server on which you set up the mail system, not by Ektron.

• The Transport failed to connect to the server. [CBR SendMail R1] [CBR R65] [DIO R 36]
• The server rejected one or more recipient addresses. The server response was: 550 5.7.1 Unable to replay for yourname@example.com [CBR SendMail R1] [CBR R1] [DIO R36]

Automatic email Notification

Ektron's automated system sends email to proper users when an action has been, or needs to be, performed. See Also: Customizing Ektron email with Variables.

Email is generated when any of the following actions takes place.

• Submitted to be published—email sent to next approver
• Submitted to be deleted—email sent to next approver
• Published to website—email sent to author
• Declined to be published or deleted—email sent to author

To be notified of these actions, the following must be set:

• In the Application Setup screen
  • a valid System E-Mail Address was entered
  • the Enable Sending of System Notification Email box is checked

    See Also: General Tab

• In the Edit User screen, for each user to receive notification email
  • a valid E-Mail Address was entered
  • the Disable Receiving of Workflow and Task Email box is unchecked

    See Also: Managing Users and User Groups

The Tasks feature also has automatic email notification. See Setting Up Task Types and Categories for Filtering Task Reports.

Customizing Ektron email with Variables

Ektron can send email notification to users, informing them that actions have taken place or are requested of them. For example, a content contributor receives an email that the contributor's content was published. These emails are stored in resource files, where each email consists of one string for the subject and one for the body. To learn about editing the resource file, see Translating the Workarea.

Each message is called in the presentation layer by its message title. Ektron does not support HTML email, however the message text is fully customizable.

The body of an email can include variables, located between @ symbols. Ektron replaces them with the information for that instance of the email. For example, @appContentTitle@ in the following sentence is replaced with the email’s title.

• Before: The content “@appContentTitle@” has been deleted.
• After: The content “Home Page Content” has been deleted.

You can customize the emails, move the variables, add text, rewrite and reorganize.

• Before: “@appContentTitle@” has been deleted from the XYZ website.
• After: “About Us” has been deleted from the XYZ website.

Carriage Return/Line Feeds are represented by @appCRLF@. These cause the email to move down one line. For example:

• Before: The content was approved.@appCRLF@Thank you!
• After: The content was approved.

  Thank you!

Sending Instant email

In addition to automatic email, Ektron lets you email a user or user group from many screens. An email icon () next to a user or group name or on the toolbar indicates your ability to do this. Screens in the following Ektron features support instant email.

• Tasks
• Approvals
• Reports

When you click one or more user/group names then the toolbar's email icon, the email screen appears.

NOTE: The email software must be configured for your server. See Enabling Email Notification.

When the email screen appears, the following information is copied from Ektron into the email.

• To—User you selected to receive email. If the user does not have a valid email address, an error message appears. If you then insert a valid address, the email is sent. If you specify a group to receive the message, as long as one group member has a valid email address, all group members with valid addresses receive the email. You can edit and add recipients.
• From—User signed on to Ektron. You cannot edit this field.
• Subject—If the email message is linked to content, its title appears. You can edit this field.
• Body of message—If the email message is linked to content, a content link appears. You can edit this field.

Logging into an Ektron Website

To sign on to an Ektron site:

1. In your Web browser, navigate to the URL of your Ektron website. Your system administrator provides this.
2. Click the Login button. The Login dialog box appears.
   —Image—

   

   

3. Enter your username and password.

   If you are using one of Ektron’s sample sites, you can use any of 3 standard users that demonstrate Ektron’s flexible user-permissions model.

   • Administrator—Username: admin; Password: admin; Permissions: All
   • Standard user—Username: jedit; Password: jedit; Permissions: Basic (for example, add/edit content, manage library files, and so on)
   • Membership user —Username: jmember; Password: jmember; Permissions: Read-only permission to private content
4. Click the Login button. The Web page appears. When you are logged in, the content is either surrounded by a border or has an access point () in the top left corner of the content.
   —Image—

   

Logging Out

1. Click Logout from the content menu, or on the Web page. The Logout confirmation box appears.

   

2. Click Logout. You return to the Web page from which you logged out. However, it is in standard view, not Ektron view.

Restricting Login Attempts

Ektron has a login security feature that locks out a user after 5 unsuccessful attempts to log in on one computer. You control login security by changing the ek_loginAttempts element in the web.config file.

IMPORTANT: If you want your Ektron eCommerce feature to comply with PA DSSPayment Application Data Security Standard; for software vendors that develop payment applications. certification, the ek_loginAttempts value must be between 1 and 6.

• any number between 1 and 254—The number of unsuccessful login attempts after which the user is locked out
• 0—Lock out all users
• -1—Disable feature; unlock all locked users
• -2—Lock out Ektron users only; membership users can log in

You can control the following capabilities.

Managing Passwords

This section's topics relate to managing passwords.

<modules>
  <add name="MyDigestAuthenticationModule"
type="Ektron.ASM.EkHttpDavHandler.Security.DigestAuthenticationModule,
    Ektron.ASM.EkHttpDavHandler" />
  <add name="ScriptModule"
    type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions,
    Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral,
    PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" preCondition="integratedMode" />
  <add name="EkUrlAliasModule" type="UrlAliasingModule" 
    preCondition="integratedMode" />
</modules>

Creating a Custom Password Strategy

The Ektron password validation provider lets developers create custom password validation strategies for Ektron. These providers can enforce custom password rules inside the system, beyond the out-of-box capabilities.

This section explains how to create a custom password validation provider for Ektron.

1. Create a class library project in Visual Studio.
2. Import the namespaces you need. Add references to:
   • Ektron.Cms.Commerce
   • Ektron.Cms.Common
   • Ektron.Cms.ObjectFactory
   • Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation.dll
   • System.Configuration
   • Ektron.CMS.User
   • Ektron.CMS.DataRW
3. Add the following using statements.

   using System;
   using System.Collections;
   using System.Configuration.Provider;
   using Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation;
   using Ektron.Cms;
   using Ektron.Cms.Common;
   using Ektron.Cms.Commerce;
   using Ektron.Cms.Commerce.PasswordValidation.Provider;
   using System.Collections.Generic;
   using System.Text;
   using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

4. Change the namespace to Ektron.Cms.Extensibility.Commerce.Samples, rename your class to CustomPasswordProvider, and inherit from the Ektron.Cms.Commerce.PasswordValidation.Provider.PasswordValidationProvider class and the Ektron.Cms.Commerce.IPasswordValidation interface.

   namespace Ektron.Cms.Extensibility.Commerce.Samples
   { public class CustomPasswordProvider : 
     Ektron.Cms.Commerce.PasswordValidation.Provider.PasswordValidationProvider, 
     Ektron.Cms.Commerce.IPasswordValidation

5. Add the following constructor.

   #region constructor, member variables
   public CustomPasswordProvider() { }
   #endregion

6. Add GetRegexFor methods required by the PasswordValidationProvider base class. These methods return the RegExregular expression; an alias that creates a pattern. For example, blogs.aspx?blogmonth=3&blogyear=2012&blogid=41 can be a RegEx blogs/2012/03/41. From that, a site visitor can infer blogs/2012/03/40 to see the previous post, or enter blogs/2012/03 to see all March 2012 postss that will validate passwords in Ektron for specific user types.
   • GetRegexForMember—Returns one or more regular expressions used for client side validation of membership users, along with corresponding error messages to be used when client-side validation fails.
   • GetRegexForAuthor—Returns one or more regular expressions used for client side validation of Ektron authors, along with corresponding error messages to be used when client-side validation fails.
   • GetRegexForCommerceAdmin—Returns one or more regular expressions used for client-side validation of eCommerce administrators, along with corresponding error messages to be used when client side validation fails.
   • GetRegexForAdmin—Returns one or more regular expressions used for client-side validation of Ektron administrators, along with corresponding error messages to be used when client side validation fails.

   NOTE: This example enforces a minimal requirement for authors/members, and adds a length and diversity requirement for administrators.

   #region public methods
   public override string GetRegexForAdmin()
   { return "[/.{7}/, Password must contain at least seven characters]
       " + ",[/[0-9]+/, 
     Password must contain at least one number]
       " + ",[/[a-zA-Z]+/, 
     Password must contain at least one alphabetical character]
       " + ",[/^[^ \t'\"%#]+$/, 
     Password cannot contain spaces, tabs, single-quotes, 
       double-quotes, percent-signs, or pound-signs]";
   }
   public override string GetRegexForAuthor()
   { return "[/.{1}/, Password too short]" + ",[/^[^ \t'\"%#]+$/, 
     Password cannot contain spaces, tabs, single-quotes, 
       double-quotes, percent-signs, or pound-signs]";
   }
   public override string GetRegexForCommerceAdmin()
   { return "[/.{1}/, Password too short]" + ",[/^[^ \t'\"%#]+$/,
     Password cannot contain spaces, tabs, single-quotes, 
       double-quotes, percent-signs, or pound-signs]";
   }
   public override string GetRegexForMember()
   { return "[/.{1}/, Password too short]" + ",[/^[^ \t'\"%#]+$/,
     Password cannot contain spaces, tabs, single-quotes,
       double-quotes, percent-signs, or pound-signs]";
   }
   #endregion

7. Implement the ValidateFor methods, which use the regexs to validate passwords. We use the generic function Validate to which we pass parameters.

   public override ValidationResults 
     ValidateForAdmin(string password)
     { return Validate(password, GetRegexForAdmin());
     }
   public override ValidationResults 
     ValidateForAuthor(string password)
     { return Validate(password, GetRegexForAuthor());
     }
   public override ValidationResults 
     ValidateForCommerceAdmin(string password)
     { return Validate(password, GetRegexForCommerceAdmin());
     }
   public override ValidationResults 
     ValidateForMember(string password)
     { return Validate(password, GetRegexForMember());
     }
   protected ValidationResults 
     Validate(string password, string regexErrorMessage)
     { ValidationResults results = new ValidationResults(); 
       string regex, errorMessage; 
       string[] parts; 
       string[] raw = regexErrorMessage.TrimStart('[').TrimEnd(']')
         .Split(new string[] { "],[" }, StringSplitOptions.None); 
       foreach (string combined in raw) 
       { parts = combined.Split(new string[] { "/," }, 
           StringSplitOptions.None); 
         regex = parts[0].Trim('/'); 
         errorMessage = parts[1].Trim().TrimStart('"').TrimEnd('"'); 
         if (!Regex.IsMatch(password, regex)) 
         { results.AddResult(new ValidationResult(errorMessage, 
           this, "", "", null)); 
         } 
        } 
     return results;
     }

8. Tell the system whether to enforce password expiration on users. There are 2 requirements.
   • PasswordExpirationEnabled—Enabled password expiration globally, which allows the RequiresPasswordExpiration to be called.
   • RequiresPasswordExpiration—Returns whether password expiration is enforced for a user.

   NOTE: The system handles password expiration dates. Setting PasswordExpirationEnabled and RequiresPasswordExpiration tells Ektron to check and enforce those values.

   NOTE: When compliance mode is on, password validation cannot be disabled.

   public override bool PasswordExpirationEnabled()
   { return RequestInformation.CommerceSettings.ComplianceMode;
   }
   public override bool RequiresPasswordExpiration(long userId)
   { return (userId == 1);
   }

9. Build the project, and copy the assembly to the Ektron site's bin directory.
10. Register the provider, and direct Ektron to use it. The siteroot/web.config file lets you manage password providers within Ektron.
    • Locate the passwordValidationProvider section in the web.config file.
    • Add a reference to the class created earlier in the <providers> key.
    • Change the defaultProvider attribute, as shown below.

    <passwordValidationProvider 
      defaultProvider="CustomPasswordProvider">
    <providers>
      <add name="CustomPasswordProvider" 
        type="Ektron.Cms.Extensibility.Commerce.Samples
          .CustomPasswordProvider, CustomPasswordProvider" />
    </providers>
    </shipmentProvider>

Logging in through Facebook

Facebook Login, an alternative to Ektron's standard login, lets users log in using their Facebook username and password instead of creating an Ektron username and password. Here is an example of Facebook Login control.

This control lets Membership and Ektron users log into an Ektron website. If users have an Ektron user profile, they can be prompted to link the Facebook username and password with that profile.

Facebook Login allows log in only—it provides no other Facebook features, such as viewing profiles or sending messages.

NOTE: The Facebook Login feature does not support Active Directory.

The OnTrek starter site includes a samples of a Facebook Login.

NOTE: The user experience is enabled only after a developer sets up the feature. See Also: Setting Up Facebook Login

If a user clicks a Facebook Login button but is not logged into Facebook, the following screen appears.

When you complete this screen or if you are already logged into Facebook, you are forwarded to a page that prompts you to register with or log into Ektron.

This screen asks if you have a membership account. If so, do you want to connect this Facebook username and password with the Ektron account? If you agree, you will access your membership account via the Facebook Login with Facebook credentials from now on. If you do not have a membership account, complete the lower half of the screen. This is the same screen that new members use to create Ektron accounts. From then on, you can click the Facebook Login button to log into Ektron using a Facebook username and password.

When you log out of Ektron, that action does not log you out of Facebook. Conversely, if a user logs out of Facebook, you are not logged out of Ektron.

NOTE: Facebook often caches information in your browser. If you see JavaScript errors or other odd behavior, clear the browser cache, close all browser windows, and try again.

General Tab

• Version—This number shows the Ektron version and build numbers. This number is important to know if you place a call to Ektron Support.
• License Key(s)—Enter the license key sent to you from Ektron.
• Default Application Language—Select a default language for Ektron. This user’s language determines the screens and messages that appear in Ektron. In the user profile, you can set any user’s language to system default. Each user set to system default uses the language assigned here.

  NOTE: Do not confuse the default application language with the ek_ DefaultContentLanguage variable in web.config. For more information on that, see Working with Multi-Language Content.

• System E-mail Address—Enter a valid email address. This address will appear in the From field in the notification emails. See Also: Installing Ektron
• Enable Sending of System Notification Email—Check this box of you want notification emails to be sent when triggering actions occur. See Also: Enabling Email Notification
• Server Type: Staging Server—Check this box if you want your library links to refer to the staging server domain, as opposed to the production server domain. This would help you verify that the linked items exist on the staging server. See Also: Automatic Multi-Site Setup

  NOTE: Checking this box disables the Web Alerts feature on your server.

• Asynchronous Processor Location—If your site uses the Web Alerts feature, enter or update the location of the asynchronous processor Web Services file. The default location is “[none specified].” See Also: Setting Up Message Queuing and the Asynchronous Processor
• Enable Office documents to be published in other format—Check the box to allow Ektron to render Office documents in PDF format. When a checked, PDF generation is available for individual folders.See Also: Generating PDF Content
• Enable CMS to create file system folders for library assets—Check the box if you want to create physical folders on your file system server that match the Ektron library folder tree. See Also: Creating File System Folders with Ektron
• Builtin User—Edit the username and/or password for the built in user. By default, the username and password combination is builtin/builtin.

  WARNING! Ektron strongly urges you to change the default password assigned to the builtin user. Opportunities to do this are presented during installation and in the above field.

Editor Tab

IMPORTANT: Editor tab settings apply only to the eWebEdit400 editor.

• Preserve MS-Word Styles—When Microsoft Word content is pasted into the editor, it removes some Word styles by default. Check this box if you want to prevent the editor from removing them.

  NOTE: Ektron does not recommend enabling this feature.

• Preserve MS-Word Classes—Similar to styles, when Microsoft Word content is pasted into the editor, it removes some Word classes by default. Check this box if you want to prevent the editor from removing them.
• Enable Font Buttons—Checking this option displays the following font-related buttons on the editor toolbar:
  • Font Face
  • Font Size
  • Font Color
  • Font Background Color
• Accessibility/Section 508 Evaluation—If your editor is eWebEdit400:

Workarea Tab

The following fields change the default Web page after sign-in and the default Workarea page. The default values are automatically applied to all new users, and to all existing users when you upgrade. Normally, you can modify these values for any user via the Edit User screen. But, you can force these values on all users, removing the ability to personalize them.

• Landing Page After Login—If you want one page in your website to appear after users sign in, enter the URL to that page. You can click Select Page to browse to the landing page. The last published version of the page appears. If the page has never been published, nothing appears. By default, the page from which the user logged in reappears.

  IMPORTANT: If you are logging in from the OnTrek sample site, this field is ignored. OnTrek has its own landing page after login, regardless of this setting.

• Set Smart Desktop as Start Location in the Workarea—If you want the Smart Desktop to appear as soon as a user enters the Workarea, click this box. By default, the user sees the Smart Desktop after sign in. If you leave this box blank, when a user enters the Workarea, the folder of the content specified in the user profile at the Landing Page after login field is displayed.
• Force Preferences to all users—To force these settings on all Ektron users, check this box. If you do, users can see the values in the user profile screen but not change them. If you leave this box blank, users can personalize these values in their User Profile.
• Enable Verify Email—Check this box if users should be notified whenever they subscribe to an email notification list. See Also: Creating a Web Alert Email Message

  IMPORTANT: When using the Checkout Server Control on an eCommerce site, the Enable setting must be unchecked. Otherwise, new users will receive an error message when they sign-up using this control. See Also: Checkout

• Enable PreApproval Group—Use this field to enable Automatic Task Creation. See Also: Setting Up an Automatic Task for Pre-approving Content

System Tab

Use this button to clear Ektron's cache, which recycles the application pool. For example, you updated the web.config file but cannot yet see the changes.

Under certain circumstances, Ektron's support group may instruct you to click this button.

Administrators would use this button if they cannot access the hosting servers yet need to reset their website. The button is an alternative to submitting a request to their IT department or hosting company.

Impact on Ektron

After you click Restart, the first request takes longer than usual since the application needs to recompile. Subsequent requests should be processed normally.

To minimize the impact on site visitors, visit your home page immediately after the restart, so that your request is the first "hit."

See Also: Managing Application Pools in IIS 7

Creating File System Folders with Ektron

If this option is enabled, each time you create a new content or library folder in Ektron, a corresponding physical folder is created on the file system to organize library files on your file server. The following image shows a library folder tree and its corresponding system folder structure.

NOTE: If you are upgrading, the installation does not create sample website folders on the file server. You must add these folders manually. However, all folders that you create are also created on the file server when enabled.

Disabling PDF Generation

By default, PDF generation is enabled. To disable it within the EWS configuration file:

1. On the server to which you installed Ektron, open C:\Program Files\Ektron\EktronWindowsService40.
2. Open Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40.exe.config.
3. Find this line:
   

   <add name="PdfFileRead" 
     type="Ektron.ASM.EktronServices.PdfFileManagerRead.PdfFileManagerReadService,
     Ektron.ASM.EktronServices40" IntervalSeconds="101" Enabled="true" />

4. Set enabled to false.

Viewing the EWS Activity Log

The EWS has an Activity Log that tracks all related events. To view detail for any event, double click it.

• Windows 7: Computer Management > System Tools > Event Viewer > Ektron Log
• Windows 2008: Server Manager > Diagnostics > Event Viewer > Ektron Log

A common source of errors is that the service cannot find Ektron sites, because they have not been created yet, as shown in the sample below.