Livingdocs contains a Media Library that solves management and delivery of Images and Videos. There are different pieces that can be used to cover custom needs per project.
This guide will walk you through setting up a basic Media Library for your project with Images and Videos support, you will learn about some details along the way.
At heart, the Media Library is based around configured Media Types. You might be familiar already with the concept of Content Types. Media Types are very similar.
You can configure as many different Media Types as you want. Usually you want to have at least 1 for Images (in fact, if you don’t define one yourself, there is one added automatically at runtime).
See the mediaType reference for a full reference of the mediaType configuration options.
When you have configured mediaTypes, you will get buttons to let users insert Images and Videos from the Document Editing Toolbar automatically.
The Main Navigation will automatically hold entries for Images and Videos as well if you have a liItem: 'mediaLibrary' entry in your mainNavigation config.
Images
Server Config
First, you need to make sure your Media Library can store images.
Image Services
To render images in documents, Livingdocs uses so called Image Services. You need to configure one in your project to make use of images in documents.
Basic Media Type
Let’s setup a mediaType for the images first. You add it to your project config in an array at the top-level property mediaTypes.
//media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'image', // one mediaImage must have the handle 'image', additional ones can be named as you like
type: 'mediaImage',
info: {
label: 'Images', // used in dashboards generated for this mediaType
description: ''
},
metadata: [ // any metadata configuration as you know it from contentTypes already
{
handle: 'title',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true, // if a metadata property is required, the user will see a form to enter the metadata during upload
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a title',
maxLength: 200,
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'description',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'credit',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true,
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a source',
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'namedCrops',
type: 'li-named-crops',
config: {
index: true,
namedCrops: [
{
name: 'mobile',
isOptional: true
},
{
name: 'desktop'
}
]
},
ui: {
label: 'Named Crops'
}
}
],
editor: {
// the dashboard seen by users when opening Images/Videos from the document editor
dashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{
filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'
}
]
},
// the dashboard opened through the main navigation
managementDashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{
filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'
}
]
}
}
}
IPTC extraction
Since many image files (especially those you get from image agencies) hold metadata defined by the IPTC standard, you want to configure extraction for certain metadata fields, so your users don’t have to manually type them.
You do this by adding the exifExtraction property to the mediaType. See the list of all IPTC fields and how to configure them.
The exif extraction will run when an image is imported through the Import API or when a user uploads an image through the UI. The user has the chance to manually change the extracted Metadata before the image is stored in the Media Library.
It’s allowed to have multiple mappings for one metadataPropertyName, the first property with content wins.
// media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'image',
type: 'mediaImage',
exifExtraction: {
mappings: [
{metadataPropertyName: 'title', field: 'Title'},
{metadataPropertyName: 'description', field: 'Description'},
{metadataPropertyName: 'credit', field: 'Credit Line'}
]
},
}
Named Crops
With Livingocs, you can manage multiple crops per image by using Named Crops. This works as follows:
- You can define the crops associated with an image in the Media Library.
- Users have the ability to edit these crops during the upload process or directly from the Media Library management dashboard.
- Whenever an image is used in a document, the associated crops are duplicated into the document and can be locally modified within the document itself.
We recommend configuring Named Crops using one the following naming schemes:
- Configure Named Crops with names based on usage, such as
desktopandmobile. - Configure Named Crops with aspect ratio names, such as
16:9and4:3.
In this guide, we will be following naming scheme 1.
To get started, first register all Named Crops in the designSettings of the project configuration.
projectConfig.designSettings: {
// ...
namedCrops: [
{
handle: 'mobile',
label: 'Mobile',
description: 'this image will be shown on small screens',
// on small screens, having exact same ratios across all images is not that important
// we let the user pick one but change freely
recommendedRatios: ['1:1', '16:9']
},
{
handle: 'desktop',
label: 'Desktop',
description: 'this image will be shown on wide screens',
// for large screens, we want consistent 16:9 image ratios, the user can't change that
imageRatios: ['16:9']
},
{
handle: 'sm-teaser',
label: 'SM Teaser',
description: 'this image will be shown on wide screens',
// for social media, we might want to use a different crop, but the ratio is fixed
imageRatios: ['16:9']
}
],
// ...
}
Subsequently, you can reference and enable them on image directives and image metadata properties. Specifically, Livingdocs supports Named Crops in three places:
- On media types with
li-named-crops. - On image directives with
doc-image. - On metadata properties with
li-image.
Each of these use cases will be covered in the remainder of this section.
Media Types
In order to define default crops for images in the Media Library, you must configure a metadata property of type li-named-crops. This plugin enables users to set crops during image upload and subsequently within the Media Library.
The default crops are automatically copied into documents when an image is inserted (technically copied to a doc-image directive). This allows users to modify the crops for the specific usage of the image within the document. It’s important to note that changes to the crops in the Media Library won’t affect the usages in doc-image once the crops have been copied.
To specify which default crops to store in the Media Library, you must configure a metadata property of type li-named-crops within the metadata config of a mediaType of type mediaImage. The crops support the following configuration properties:
name: Corresponds to thehandleof the registered Named Crop.isOptional: Allows the crop to be set optionally.
// media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'image',
type: 'mediaImage',
// ...
metadata: [
// ...
{
handle: 'namedCrops',
type: 'li-named-crops',
config: {
// configure all the namedCrops defined in the designSettings
// that you want to keep a default within every mediaLibrary image for
namedCrops: [
{
// the mobile crop is optional, the user can add it at will
name: 'mobile', // name references the handle of a namedCrop in the designSettings
isOptional: true
},
{
// the desktop crop will always be defined after upload
// the user can't remove it but only change according to the
// configuration in the designSettings
name: 'desktop'
},
{
name: 'sm-teaser',
isOptional: true
}
]
},
ui: {
label: 'Named Crops'
}
}
],
// ...
}
Image Directives
Named Crops specified on image directives doc-image define the crops of images embedded in documents. They inherit already defined crops from Media Types, as discussed before.
You can configure crops on image directives in namedCrops in the doc-image directive of the image component in the design. They support the following configuration properties:
name: Corresponds to thehandleof the registered Named Crop.isDefault: Sets this crop as the main crop incomponent.content.${directiveName}.crop. As a result, it is rendered as the image preview in the editor. Only one crop per image directive can be marked as the default, and it cannot simultaneously be marked asisOptional.isOptional: Allows the crop to be set optionally.isDefaultIfSet: If the crop is defined, it overrides the default crop by setting it as the main crop incomponent.content.${directiveName}.crop. As a result, it is rendered as the image preview in the editor.
module.exports = {
name: 'image',
label: 'Image',
iconUrl: `https://livingdocs-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/magazine-design/assets/images/icons-components/icon_image.svg`,
directives: [
{
name: 'image',
type: 'image',
// for images in documents, only the desktop and mobile namedCrops
// are used, the desktop is the default (shown in the document)
// the mobile crop can be added by a user at will
namedCrops: [
// the name references the handle of a namedCrop in the designSettings
{name: 'desktop', isDefault: true},
{name: 'mobile', isOptional: true, isDefaultIfSet: true}
]
}
],
html: dedent`
<div class="m-asset-image m-asset-image--numbered">
<div class="m-asset-image__image">
<img class="responsive-img" doc-image="image">
</div>
<div class="m-asset-image__options">
<div class="a-asset-input" doc-editable="caption">Caption</div>
<div class="a-asset-input" doc-editable="source">Source</div>
</div>
</div>
`
}
Metadata Properties
Lastly, Named Crops can also be configured on metadata properties of type li-image. These properties also inherit previously defined crops from Media Types. A potential use case for such metadata images could be defining teaser images or social media share images.
The configuration is found in the metadata configuration of a contentType. The crops support the following configuration properties:
name: Corresponds to thehandleof the registered Named Crop.isOptional: Allows the crop to be set optionally.
module.exports = {
handle: 'regular',
documentType: 'article',
// ...
metadata: [
// ...
{
handle: 'teaserImage',
type: 'li-image',
config: {
namedCrops: [
{name: 'desktop'},
{name: 'mobile', isOptional: true}
]
}
},
{
handle: 'socialMediaTeaserImage',
type: 'li-image',
config: {
namedCrops: [
{name: 'socialMediaTeaser'}
]
}
}
// ...
],
// ...
}
Focal Point Cropping
Focal point selection is supported on li-named-crops and li-image whenever multiple crops are present.
Where automatic cropping struggles
Each crop starts with an automatic crop, choosing the default aspect ratio. This does not always lead to ideal results.
This image of a chapel in front of the famous Matterhorn in the swiss alps is a good example where automatic crops would normally struggle.
The Mobile crop defines an upright aspect ratio of 3:4. By default, the 3:4 crop is centered within the original image.
But in this case, it cuts off both subjects.
Focal Point Mode
With the cropping tool opened, click on Set Focal Point to go into focal point selection mode. In this mode, all possible crops are showing a live preview on the right side, also those that where not yet added in the previous view. On the left side, the original image is shown with slightly faded colors and a circle indicating the current focal point position.
By default, the focal point is the center of the image. This is also true if the focal point is not defined at all.
Changing the Focal Point
Let’s say we’d like the Matterhorn to be our main subject in this image.
While in focal point mode, click on the subject inside the left image to update the focal point.
Notice how the previews on the right side are updated. The 3:4 Mobile crop looks a lot better now.
We changed our mind and we’d like to put the focal point on the nice chapel. Just click on it and observe how the previews are changing. For best results, use the previews to fine-tune the focal point by making slight adjustments.
Apply the Focal Point
Once you’re happy with the previews, click on Apply Focal Point. This will bring you back to the normal crop view.
Hint: After you’ve made changes to the focal point, don’t forget to click on Save. When clicking on cancel or closing the window without saving, focal point changes are lost.
Backwards Compatibility
Focal point cropping is fully backwards compatible and does not need or have any configuration.
Images can now have a focalPoint property with x and y coordinates.
However, each image starts with no focal point defined.
It will only be set if a user explicitly selected a focal point.
In all other cases, the automatic crop calculation falls back to the center crop as it was before release_2022-11.
Videos
Videos work in a similar way to images. The solution still has some shortcomings you need to be aware of:
- No render strategies or video services like you know them from images are available yet. That means the system works well if you render from the JSON in the delivery, but not so well if you let Livingdocs do the rendering to HTML.
- As with images, you don’t want to deliver the original Video file to your customers directly but have some kind of transcoding to different formats and sizes. There is no integrated solution to this in Livingdocs yet.
Nevertheless if you find solutions to these problems outside of Livingdocs, you can very well make use of the Video Management System already.
Server Config
You need to make sure your Media Library can store videos.
Basic Media Type
Let’s setup a mediaType for the videos. You add it to your project config in an array at the top-level property mediaTypes.
//media-types/video.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'video', // one mediaVideo must have the handle 'video', additional ones can be named as you like
type: 'mediaVideo',
info: {
label: 'Videos', // used in dashboards generated for this mediaType
description: ''
},
metadata: [ // any metadata configuration as you know it from contentTypes already
{
handle: 'title',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true, // if a metadata property is required, the user will see a form to enter the metadata during upload
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a title',
maxLength: 200,
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'description',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'credit',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true,
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a source',
index: true
}
}
],
editor: {
// the dashboard seen by users when opening Images/Videos from the document editor
dashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'}
]
},
// the dashboard opened through the main navigation
managementDashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'}
]
}
}
}
Poster Image
For Videos, you want to have a poster image displayed in your Video Player before the Video starts playing. Livingdocs provides a metadata plugin to manage this image.
When configured, a UI to manage the image is provided.
You can even select a specific frame of the video by pausing the player and selecting the current frame as the poster image.
Images stored with this metadata plugin will contain one crop in the aspect ratio of the video file automatically. A user can change the zoom and position but not the aspect ratio of that crop.
Poster Images are stored withing the Media Library as images when uploaded through the poster image metadata plugin or a frame of the video is selected. You probably want to configure a separate mediaType for these, since there are different requirements to the metadata.
mediaType for the images
Don’t forget to add this the the mediaTypes in your project config.
// /media-types/poster-image.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'posterImage',
type: 'mediaImage',
info: {
label: 'Poster Images'
},
hidden: true, // This makes sure these images are not shown in the regular Image Library
metadata: [
{
handle: 'title',
type: 'li-text'
}
]
}
li-poster-image metadata plugin
Now you can add the li-poster-image metadata plugin to your video mediaType:
//media-types/video.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'video',
type: 'mediaVideo',
// ...
metadata: [
// ...
{
handle: 'posterImage',
type: 'li-poster-image',
ui: {
config: {
uploadMediaType: 'posterImage' // this is the handle of the mediaType used for uploaded images
}
}
}
],
// ...
}
External Transcoding Service
A Transcoding Service can be used to convert a Video into different formats and resolutions. Livingdocs lets you connect to an external Transcoding Service using a metadata plugin that manages the transcoding state.
When configured, the transcoding state of a Video is shown in the UI.
Initial state:
After transcoding:
li-transcoding-state metadata plugin
Add the li-transcoding-state metadata plugin to your video mediaType:
//media-types/video.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'video',
type: 'mediaVideo',
// ...
metadata: [
// ...
{
handle: 'transcoding',
type: 'li-transcoding-state'
}
],
// ...
}
Transcoding Service implementation
An external transcoding service can be connected to Livingdocs as follows:
- Use webhooks to get notified about transcoding requests.
- Use the public API (mediaLibrary GET) to fetch information about a transcoding request.
- Use the public API (mediaLibrary PATCH) to update the transcoding state.
This data structure is used to track transcoding state:
{
"metadata": {
"transcoding": {
"commands": [{
"assetKey": "de2bc74bea-3",
"commandId": "1980b544cfc2",
"createdAt": "2021-03-01T12:34:56Z",
// One of ["requested", "acknowledged", "inProgress",
// "done", "error"]
"state": "inProgress",
// optional, 0 - 100
"progress": 42,
// optional
"errorMessage": "Error: Unsupported video resolution."
}],
"transcodings": [{
"assetKey": "de2bc74bea-3",
// Just an example; defined by external system
"versions": [{
"format": "video/mp4",
"url": "https://example.com/example-w500.mp4",
"size": "mobile"
},
{
"format": "video/webm",
"url": "https://example.com/example-w500.webm",
"size": "mobile"
}]
}]
}
}
}
Transcoding happens in the following sequence:
- When a user clicks “Start processing”, a new
commandwithstate: "requested"is created. - The transcoding service gets notified via webhook and can report transcoding progress by setting
stateandprogress/errorMessage. - When transcoding is done, the transcoding service is expected to set
statetodoneand add an entry to thetranscodingsarray.
Files
You can also manage other files than videos and images with the Livingdocs Media Library as well.
Server Config
You need to make sure your Media Library can store files.
Basic Media Type
Let’s setup a mediaType for the files. You add it to your project config in an array at the top-level property mediaTypes.
//media-types/file.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'file', // one mediaFile must have the handle 'file', additional ones can be named as you like
type: 'mediaFile',
info: {
label: 'Files', // used in dashboards generated for this mediaType
description: ''
},
// any metadata configuration as you know it from contentTypes already
metadata: [
{
handle: 'title',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true, // if a metadata property is required, the user will see a form to enter the metadata during upload
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a title',
maxLength: 200,
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'description',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
index: true
}
},
{
handle: 'credit',
type: 'li-text',
config: {
required: true,
requiredErrorMessage: 'Please provide a source',
index: true
}
}
],
editor: {
// the dashboard seen by users when opening from the document editor
dashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'}
]
},
// the dashboard opened through the main navigation
managementDashboard: {
displayFilters: [
{filterName: 'liDateTimeRange'}
]
}
}
}
Metadata Translations
First, you have to configure the available languages in the system as described here
Add Plugin to Enable Translations
As a next step, you have to add the li-metadata-translations metadata plugin to enable the Translations behavior for the media library.
//media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
metadata: [
{
handle: 'language',
type: 'li-metadata-translations'
}
]
}
Translatable metadata properties
Now you can configure any metadata property in a mediaType to be translatable by the user like this:
//media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
metadata: [
{
config: {
translatable: true
}
},
]
}
Translatable assets (image/video/file)
If you want to allow users to define different assets per language on a Media Library entry, you have to specifically allow this per mediaType like this:
//media-types/image.js
module.exports = {
handle: 'image',
type: 'mediaImage'
// ...
asset: {
// this allows to set another asset per translation once
translatable: true,
// this allows for existing assets to be changed by the user
replaceable: true
},
//...
}
Caveats
- With
release-2021-06, usingli-named-cropsmetadata plugin onmediaImagetypes in combination with asset translation has some suboptimal behaviors. This will be improved in a future release. - Both
translatableandreplaceablemight need handling in your delivery regarding caching, fallback resolution when rendering different languages etc. You need to be aware of this and find solutions. Setting these assets triggers amediaLibraryEntry.updateevent on the Events API and the webhooks in the same way as updating the metadata does.
