Collections

Collections are a complex content type available only by request. They are useful for gathering contents located in different parts of a portal that match a specified search criteria and displaying them together in one location.

If available, a Collection folder appears in the navigation pane along with other folders.  However, it displays the result of an automatically-updated, pre-defined search of the portal contents rather than the items placed in the folder.  The News and Events folders, available on many portals, are examples of a Collection folder.  Any content can be added to regular folders and group spaces, but only contents that match a pre-specified search criteria are displayed in a Collection folder.  The search executes when the folder is opened, so the links in any Collection folder are always updated to include the most recently saved content items.

Add a Collection

  1. To add a Collection folder to a site, contact IMS to have that option enabled.
  2. Navigate to the parent folder for Collection and select Add new > Collection from the toolbar.
  3. On the Add Collection form, enter the required Title and optional Summary.
  4. Define the Search terms for the criteria used to find matching contents on the site.  Multiple criteria can be added.  The options are separated into three categories:  Metadata, Text, and Dates.
    • Metadata – Search for items by metadata, data about the content, such as:
      • Creator – The content author.
      • Location – The portal location of a specific folder or content item.
      • Type – The content type.
      • Review state – The content state such as Private or Published.
    • Text – Search for items that contain a specific text in the:
      • Title – The content title.
      • Searchable text – The text in the content titles, summaries, and bodies, and in some uploaded files such as PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and text files.
    • Dates – Search for items by a specific date, before/after a date, or a date range based on:
      • Creation date – The date a content was created.
      • Modification date – The date a content was last modified.
      • Event start date – The start date of an Event content type.
      • Event end date – The end date of an Event content type.
  5. Set the Sort on order.  Select from multiple date types, title, creator, state, or no sort order.  The default order is in ascending order unless the Reversed Order box is checked.
  6. Use the Preview box to review the items that match the specified criteria and to determine whether the search terms are defined correctly.
  7. Use the Limit field to specify the maximum number of items to display, and the Item count field to specify the number of items per batch.
  8. If planning to use the Table Listing Display to list the items matching the search criteria in a table format, select the fields to display for the Table Columns.  Otherwise, the standard Ordered Listing is used to display the items.
  9. Use the Text field to add and format any content to appear before the search results.
  10. Click Save.
  11. Publish the Collection so it can be viewed by others.