Publications

A publication is a compilation of independent, version-controlled objects from the Content Manager repository, which is combined with additional information that determines how the content should be assembled and published. A publication exists in the repository as a Publication object and is the one object that contains all the other objects making up a given deliverable.

A publication's special role in Tridion Docs requires a specific behavior and characteristics compared to other objects.

Basic elements of a publication

  • Each publication must have at least one map, a root map, which is located at the top of the publication's content hierarchy. This root map contains all the other maps and topics.
  • The publication's context includes the information about variables and conditions.
  • The publication's baseline determines which versions of individual objects to use.
  • Each publication typically defines one or more outputs, that is, the formats to which you can publish the publication, such as Dynamic Delivery, PDF, a Help format, and so on.

Working with publications

How you work with publications in Tridion Docs depends on the specific user interface you are using.

  • In Publication Manager, you can manage and control publications, including baselines, personalization elements, publishing outputs and publication life cycles.
  • In Organize Space, you can perform a variety of tasks at the publication level, including translation, versioning, publishing and managing work on a publication version.
  • Some functions are available in both Organize Space and Publication Manager, and some are available only in one of the two.
  • In Draft Space, you see the content of the publication as a simplified, single document. The complexities of the baseline and context are kept behind the scenes.

Versioning publications

Publications can have multiple versions, same as other objects; however, there are some important differences.. When you create a new version or branch for an object, such as a topic, the new version as well as all the old ones are available in Publication Manager for you to select. For the publication object however, you have to explicitly open a specific version in Publication Manager. If you need to work on two different versions of the same publication, you open both separately and each appear in their own Publication Manager window.

Publication output status

There is no status for the publication object itself, like for the other objects. Instead, each output format you created for the publication has its own status. This is because the publication status is related to the publishing process, and each output can have a different publishing state. Also, unlike for the other objects, you do not change the status yourself, it updates automatically depending on the actions you take.

Releasing publications

Topics and other objects in a publication can be individually released. With everything released, a status of "Release Candidate" becomes possible for the publication. Once the publication is a "Release Candidate," you can then release and freeze the publication. Note that releasing a publication output also freezes the publication's baseline, which makes it possible to always know which version of each object was used for the publication.