Editing a topic in an XML editor

Editing topics is the most common activity for an author. The easiest way to do it is by checking out the topic in an XML editor directly from Publication Manager.

Before you begin

This task requires that:
  • You opened a publication in Publication Manager, and this publication contains at least one topic that is not released.
  • An Authoring Bridge has been installed and your favorite XML editor is set as default editor. This includes the SDL Tridion Docs menu in the editor's menu bar and opens your editor automatically from Publication Manager.

About this task

This task applies to changes you make to a version of a topic that is in a Draft status type. You can find more on object status in Updating a released topic.

Opening the topic from Publication Manager makes the content visible in your editor in a read-only state. To be able to edit the content, you need to check out the topic. This means that you lock the topic so that no one else can modify it at the same time.

Procedure

  1. Find the topic you wish to edit in the left-hand pane of Publication Manager.
  2. Right-click the topic's name and select Check Out. The topic opens in your editor in edit mode.
  3. Modify the content as needed.
  4. Close the topic in your XML editor.
  5. In the check out dialog, select:
    • Check in current object? to check in this topic with your changes.
    • Make available in local storage? to check in this topic without the changes but save the changes on your computer.
    Undo checkout? will cancel your changes and check the topic back in.
  6. Select OK in the additional dialog if any.

Results

Your changes now replace the old content in the topic you modified. There is no change in the map that contains the topic, or in the publication that contains the map: they still reference this topic with its current content. Things differ when you check out a released topic.