The Asset Manager enables you to upload your own images and documents to add to your messages. Not only can you add images, but you can manage and edit them as well. Essentially, the Asset Manager can become your Communications Professional library.

Access directly

Regardless of whether you're using MD1/TD1 or MD2/TD2, you can access the Asset Manager directly in the Admin interface.

1. Navigate to Messages > Asset Manager.
2. Click Show.

Access from TD2/MD2

In either TD2 or MD2, you can access the Asset Manager when working with images and documents.

Images

On the Design tab:

1. Add or edit a layout or story with an image.
2. Select the image to open the Image Properties panel.
3. On the Content tab, click choose another image to open the Asset Manager.

4. Here, you can select an image for your template or message or you can click Upload a new file to upload a new one.

Documents 

On the Design tab: 

1. Add or edit a layout or story with text.
2. Highlight some text and click Insert/Edit Hyperlink.

3. Select Document from the hyperlink menu.
4. Click Select Document to open the Asset Manager.

Access from TD1/MD1

In either TD1 or MD1, you can access the Asset Manager when working with images and documents.

Images

After adding or editing a layout or story:

1. Click the Insert/Edit Image button in the editor toolbar.
2. Click the folder icon to the right of the Image URL field.

Documents 

After adding or editing a layout or story:

1. Highlight some text and click Insert/Edit Hyperlink.
2. Select Document from the Hyperlink Type menu.
3. Click the folder icon to the right of the File field.

Working with files

Let's look at the various ways you can work with your files in Asset Manager.

NOTE: Asset Manager functionality is limited when working with it while editing templates or messages. The full functionality discussed in this section is only available when you have accessed Asset Manager directly from the Admin interface (Messages > Asset Manager).

Organize your files with folders

It's likely you'll be working with a lot of files over the course of your marketing automation efforts. To help keep these files organized in Asset Manger, creating folders to store them by type, purpose, etc., is recommended.

NOTE: Storing all of your files in the same folder (e.g., the main asset folder) may result in increased load times when using the Asset Manager. This is another reason to organize your files in multiple folders.

Create folders

You can create folders at the main level or within another folder.

1. Navigate to the location where you want to create a folder (either at the main level or another folder).
2. Click Create > Folder.
3. Give the folder a name.
4. Click Create.

All of your folders are listed at the top of the files list. Click a folder to view its files.

Move files to another folder

To move an existing file from one folder to another:

NOTE: When you move an image file, the URL path for that image also changes. This poses no problem if you haven't yet inserted a file into a template or message; however, if a file is being used, refer to the Repairing broken image links section below to learn how to fix them.

1. Check the box associated to a file to select it.
2. Click Manage > Cut.

3. Click a folder to access it.
4. Click Paste.

Upload files

TIP: The main thing to keep in mind when uploading files is making sure you have navigated to the folder where you want to store it before uploading.

1. Navigate to the folder where you want to store the file.
2. Click Upload.
3. Browse for the file on your computer or network.
4. Click Open to upload the file.

Delete files

WARNING: Before deleting a file, make sure it's not currently being used in a template or message!

1. Navigate to the folder where the file resides.
2. Check the box associated to the file to select it.
3. Click Manage > Remove.

File view

Asset Manager lets you view your files in one of two ways: as a text list or thumbnail view. Click the associated button at the top to select your view.

As you'd expect, thumbnail view is often better for finding and viewing images, while list view displays additional details about your files, like their file size, type, and modification date.

Search

At the top right is a search field; enter a search term and click the magnifying glass icon or press Enter to view any matching results.

NOTE: To clear the search and view the original list, delete your search term and press Enter.

Sort

In addition to searching, sorting your files is another way to help locate and manage them more efficiently. You can choose from four sorting filters:

• Select Name to sort your files in alphabetical order, by name.
• Select Size to sort your files by their file size, from smallest to largest.
• Select Type to sort your files by their file type (e.g., .jpgs, .pngs, etc.).
• Select Modification date to sort your files by their upload date or last modification date.

Common assets

In addition to all of the files you upload, Communications Professional also provides a library of free buttons, graphics, and other stock images for you to use in your messages.

To access these assets:

1. Click the Common folder on the left-hand panel.
2. A list of folders displays; click one of these folders to view its common assets.

Repairing broken image links

If you move an Asset Manager image file from one folder to another, the URL path for that image changes. This poses no problem if you haven't yet inserted an image into a template or message; however, if a file is being used, you may find that these files are not loading in your messages. This is because everything is linked directly from the Asset Manager.

NOTE: Be mindful when testing images with potential broken paths in a message. If you have the image cached in your browser, it may appear to load just fine. To ensure that your messages test correctly, clear your browser cache first.

There are two ways to repair links from the Asset Manager:

Method 1 - Upload the image again in the template or message

With this method, you simply re-upload the image while editing a template or message. This establishes a new path to the image.

Because this only fixes the path for a single instance of an image, this method is suitable if an image isn't used across many templates and/or messages.

NOTE: If you use TD2/MD2, this is the only method available to you.

Method 2 - Update the URL manually (TD1/MD1 only)

Manually updating the URL is a slightly more involved but excellent option when you don't want to reinsert an image multiple times in multiple locations. While you'll still need to manually re-upload the image once to get the updated URL, for each additional copy of the image you want to update (in one message or across several), you can simply paste the updated URL.

If the image is used extensively across templates and/or messages, this method saves time by eliminating the need to reinsert the image over and over again.

1. Edit the layout or story containing the image.
2. Select the image and click the Insert/Edit Image icon.
3. Click the folder icon to the right of the Image URL field to browse for and re-upload the image
3. In the Image URL field, copy the corrected image URL.

4. Click Insert to save your changes.
5. Navigate to, and paste, the URL in each additional template and/or message with that image.

Archived messages

Once a message is sent and archived, image links in that message cannot be updated. Knowing this, plan carefully before doing a major image file cleanup. You may opt to live with a less than optimal file management structure for a while until the likelihood of contacts accessing older messages decreases to a negligible amount.

Alternatively, you can create a new folder hierarchy for newly uploaded images, but leave the old structure in place until a later date in the future. This all depends on the reason for doing the file clean-up. If slow performance is slowing down your team, because thousands of images are in the root folder level in Asset Manager, you may need to move forward with this cleanup because the productivity of your team is of greater importance than the visibility of some images in really old messages.

To summarize, archived messages, which act as a snapshot of your sent messages, are not updated with new image paths. If an image is removed from its initial folder within Asset Manager, and that message is viewed, this rendering of the image will fail.