Reference Materials

FAQ
Glossary

Start Here

Sign-in to OnRamp
Pre-Tutorial Setup Process

Introduction

• Introduction to OnRamp

Content Management

• Introduction to Content Management

• Adding Content
  • Choosing a Location
    • Where am I allowed to create records?
    • Browsing to a Collection
  • A Word About States
  • Creating a Record
    • Selecting the Document Type
    • Entering Required Metadata and Saving
    • Where's my new record?
    • Editing a Saved Record
    • Entering Metadata and Saving
  • Content Beyond Metadata
    • Adding Related Links
    • Viewing and Editing a Saved Record
    • Uploading Files
  • Giving Feedback
  • Getting Feedback
  • Modifying Content
    • Removing Uploaded Files
    • Modifying Metadata
    • Modifying Related Links
    • Modifying Uploaded Files
  • Publishing a Record
  • Viewing a Record

• Locked Records
  • What to do if a record is locked?
  • How to release a record?

• Common Problems
  • Lost Edits with Purge
  • HTML in the Title or Abstract/Summary
• Deleting a Record

Advanced Content Management

• Creating a Place for Content
  • Creating a Community
  • Creating a Collection
  • Creating a Sub-Collection

• Advanced Editing Content
  • Moving Content to a Different Collection

• Introduction to Security
  • Who can set security?
  • What can have security settings?
  • How do I set security?

Distribution System

• Introduction to Distributing Content
  • Types of Destination

• Managing Destinations
  • Creating a Destination
  • Configuring a Destination
  • Ranges

Lesson: Selecting a Document Type

About Document Types

Records of all document types can hold...

• metadata
• text content
• related links
• uploaded files

What distinguishes the various document types is the predefined metadata fields. For example, a Journal Article has metadata fields to hold the page numbers (Start Page and End Page) of the article, Podcast has metadata field to hold the length of the running time (Length), while Generic Document doesn't have any of these fields.

With the primary focus of OnRamp being Content Management, many projects find that Generic Document and Image document types are sufficient for holding content and basic metadata. If your project has more extensive metadata requirements, try out some of the other document types to see if they meet your needs. If you can't find a document type or if you have special content that can't be handled with an uploaded file or in the predefined fields, contact the OnRamp manager at systems AT nsdl.org.

Caution:

Select the document type with care. A record cannot be converted from one document type to another. The only way to change document types is to create a second record of the new document type, copy over the metadata, related links, and uploaded files. Afterward the unwanted record can be deleted.

Before you start

Be sure you are in the Tutorial Collection. If not, follow the steps in Browsing to a Collection before beginning this section of the tutorial.

IMPORTANT:

You will see the list of all records in this collection including records others have created using this tutorial. For this reason, as you create records, it is recommended that you prefix the Title with your initials or some other unique identifier so you can find your record once it is created. Browse through the list of records to determine what you will use as a prefix. If your initials exist, try appending a number (ex. if your initials are lmd, and lmd and lmd1 are already in use, then use lmd2.)

Note:

You have the ability to modify any of the records in the Tutorial Collection. But please be kind to others who are also working their way through this tutorial by not changing any records that you didn't create. All your fellow users will be appreciative of your consideration.

Begin Creating

1. If not already logged in, you will need to Sign-in.
2. In the droplist just under Parents: Tutorial Community, select Generic Document from the droplist.
3. Click the Create button.

Before we continue, I have three important words to say to you personally... Abandon Workflow, Abandon Workflow, Abandon Workflow. Ok, I guess it was six words. Here's why I say this...

IMPORTANT:

If at any point you decide to stop creating the record, DO NOT navigate away from the creation page using the Back button or one of the navigation links. Instead select the Abandon Workflow button. Otherwise, the new record hangs around in limbo. See Releasing a Locked Record for more information on what to do if you forget to Abandon Workflow.