Self Service Directory Guide

The Directory Listing shows all of the directories that are available on your website.

 

Search directories using text or topics (the directories are tagged with ad-hoc topics).

Simple Directory:

 

The Simple directory template can contain steps (videos, images, documents) and a link to their articles.

 

If there’s a Comment And Rating Profile added to the channel, users will be able to add a comment on the directory via the ‘Add New Comment’ field.

 

Note: the Simple Directory does not include tabs (which are generated based on the Category Topic selected on the individual article).

 

Advanced Directory:

 

The Advanced Directory is focused on being an agency, which uploads different types of content, such as news, press releases and media.

 

Contrary to the Simple Directory, the Advanced Directory has an added element: tabs.

 

These are generated based on the directory articles' category topic.

 

If an article is tagged with the “News” category topic a News tab will be shown on the directory.

Directory Product Template

 

This template uses 2 columns.

 

This template includes the related Directory entry and is not as wide as the Advanced template.

 

With this template, you can show a special offer text within a date range.

 

Directory Article Template

 

This is a 1 column template.

 

It does not have the related Directory entry on the right hand side, but you can add this using the manually related Design Element.

 

The main image, video player, text, etc is wider on this template.

The setup is broken down into 2 parts: 

 

1. First create the main Directory Channel, configure the Directory Profile and Directory Step Profile to allow clients to update their company information and add media items.
2. Optionally, set up the Directory Articles Channel and configure the Directory Articles Profile to allow clients to create articles within their own directory.

 

Please refer to the following guides: Directory Setup Guide and Directory Articles Setup Guide.

 

The rest of this guide details how to set up an approval process via a Workflow Profile to the specified Directory channel.

If you wish for your Clients to create their own directories and/or directory articles, and have them go through an approval process, you can do so by adding a Workflow Profile to the specified Directory channel.

 

A Workflow Profile allows you to configure settings for content creation and publication. It includes options for hiding certain panels and fields, setting security groups and managing notifications.

 

1.- Content Edit Lock Down: This includes settings like "Hide Publication," which hides the Publication Panel in the Article Detail screen during edit mode. This panel includes fields such as Creator, Account, Publish Start, Publish End, Embargo End, Syndication, Live, Private, and Moderated.

 

2.- Security Groups: You can set different security groups for content creation and publication. For example, the Creation group might be set to "Contributor," while the Publish group might be set to "Editor." This ensures that the appropriate restrictions are applied to users based on their roles.

 

3.- Notifications: The Workflow Profile also includes a Notifications panel where you can enable or disable notifications for various events, such as content submission or approval. You can customize the text of these notifications to suit your needs.

 

Seting up the Workflow Profile:

 

1.- Set up the Creation security group for your Clients

 

Control > Security > Security Groups> (Add)

 

This group will allow your Clients to create and submit directories and articles for approval before they go Live.

 

2.- Set up the Publish & Archive security group for your Clients

 

The users in this group will be able to review and approve/publish the directories and articles.

 

Note: users in the Publish and Archive security group will need the Publishing Workflow and the Publishing Workflow User system security right in order to access the Inbox screen to moderate the content.

 

Tip: you can add those security rights whilst creating the security group

 

3.- Add the security groups to the new workflow profile

 

Control > System > Workflow Profiles> (Add/Edit)

 

4.- Directory Lock Down (Control)

 

• Hide Online Directory Options: Select to hide from users

 

5.- Directory Self Service (Display Side)

 

Further down the workflow profile screen there is the Directory Self Service panel.

 

This panel has two settings:

 

• Show Add Directories: Select this to allow users to add their own directory entry. The add button would appear on the Directory Listing screen
• Hide WYSIWYG: Select this to hide the WYSIWYG tool on all text fields. If selected, users would see a text-only field

 

For 'Show Add Directories, the add button would appear on the Directory Listing screen.

 

For 'Hide WYSIWYG', the users would see a text-only field.

Settings > Workflow Profiles

 

Structure > Channels > Channel Edit > Profiles > Workflow Profile

 

Once setup, you will need to associate the specific Workflow Profile to the Directory or Directory Articles channel so that the submission and approval process can be implemented.

 

 

When a Client adds a directory or a directory article they will see the Save as Draft and Submit buttons.

 

The Client can either save the item as a draft or submit for review/approval.

 

The items that have been Submitted, set as Draft, Approved and Rejected will be listed on the Manage Directories screen.

 

Note: a user cannot edit or delete an article once it has been submitted or approved

 

Workflow Profile and Buttons

 

The Live and Save buttons will appear or not, depending the user's role and if there's a Workflow Profile associated to the channel.

 

1.- With a Workflow Profile

 

Creators/Contributors will only see the "Save As Draft" and "Submit" buttons. The "Live" checkbox will be absent.

 

Editors (those who review and publish the article ) will see the "Save & Publish" button. Clicking on that button will automatically make the article Live. The "Live" checkbox is hidden.

 

2.- Without a Workflow Profile

 

Only the "Save" button will be displayed. The user needs to manually check the "Live" checkbox to make the article live.

 

This logic ensures that the publication process is streamlined based on the presence of a Workflow Profile and the user's role in the content creation and approval process.

Once a directory or an article has been submitted, the Admin will see the item on the Inbox screen:

 

Control > Content > Inbox

 

The approval or rejection can also occur on the items detail screen.

 

When the Admin approves the item, it becomes Live immediately.

 

If the Admin rejects the items, a modal appears with the option to send a notification to creator.

Set the type of content (Video, Image, Document, etc) together with the amount and size that a Client can upload by means of the Directory Step Profile.

 

Control > System > Directory Step Profiles> (Add/Edit)

 

Set the content type and media format, number of upload per format and the size limit for each.

 

This will be reflected on the Clients directory media options.

 

Please see the Directory Setup Guide for more information.

Set the amount of topics that a Client can tag their directory with by means of the Directory Profile > Topic options.

 

Control > System > Directory Profiles> (Add/Edit) > Topics Limit

 

Please note that this limitation is applied to the article profile set to the directory channel.

 

Provide a name for the tier (i.e. Diamond), establish the (child) topic limit (i.e. 10) and apply the related security (this will be a previously created Content Security Right, i.e. Diamond Limit).

 

Once you have set the topic limits you can apply the Directory Profile to the specified channel/section:

 

Once saved, your Client will see the article profile reflected on the Directory edit screen.

Set the amount of topics that a Client can tag their directory articles with, together with the amount of articles they can upload, by means of the Directory Articles Profile.

 

Control > System > Directory Article Profiles> (Add/Edit) > Directory Article Limit

 

Similar to the Directory Profile, the Directory Articles Profile allows you to define how many articles a Client can upload and the amount of child topics available to them on the Category Topic dropdown.

 

Example:

 

You’ve set the Diamond tier to have a Directory Article Limit of 10.

 

The amount will be reflected on the Articles add/edit page.

 

The topic limitation will also be reflected on the add/edit page.

Control > Structure > Sections> (Add/Edit) > Security >  Default Article Security Clearance

 

Control > System > Workflow Profiles> (Add/Edit) > Restrictions & Duplicates > Auto Assign Security

 

When your contributors or users add a directory entry or a directory article, the self-service workflow applies the security clearance set on the section where they are created to the directory or article.

 

Please bear in mind that if the Directory or Directory Article channel has a workflow profile in place, and the workflow profile has the 'Auto Assign Security' option enabled, the Security Clearance set in the workflow will be applied to the item.

 

The above will supersede the security set on the section.

Control > System > Workflow Profiles> (Add/Edit) > Notifications

 

The Notifications panel on the Workflow Profile provides several options that you can enable and disable, such as notifying Publishers once the content has been submitted, or notifying the Creator of its approval.

 

Also customise the text on the notification.

For a better user experience, the Self Service workflow adds a status label on the directory and article entry.

 

This helps the user know what the status of the new directory or directory article.

 

The Self Service workflow also shows a rejection message on top of the entry and article.

 

Your contributors and/or users can see the message note on the screen while working on it.

The Directory, Directory Article and Workflow profiles all have Text Items.

 

These allow you to customise the labels, buttons and messages that are shown to users.

 

The Text Items panel is located at the bottom of the screen. You can also customise the Text Items via de App Bar.

Users have the ability to message the Supplier by means of the Contact Supplier button.

 

If you click on that button, Affino will take you to the My Messages screen so you can get in touch with the supplier.

The directory infrastructure received two operational improvements that don't change how you set up or use a directory but do affect day-to-day reliability:

 

• Temporary directory cleanup - staging files generated during directory operations are now removed automatically when the operation completes, preventing the slow accretion of orphan files that previously needed manual cleanup.
• Smart directory download spacing - concurrent directory downloads are now spaced to avoid overlapping I/O, which improves consistency for sites with high directory-download volume.

 

Neither change requires reconfiguration. Existing directory setups continue to work unchanged. The improvements apply automatically to all directory-type guides including those linked under the Source links below.

Default to moderator review for the first 30 days. Self-service spam is common in early launches; review catches the worst patterns before they propagate.

 

Keep the listing form short. Self-service forms with 15+ fields have 70%+ abandonment rates. If your schema needs that much detail, split into a quick-create flow + a "complete your listing" follow-up.

 

Use Tracking Link settings to measure listing engagement. Self-service contributors abandon listings that get no traffic; data-driven feedback ("your listing was viewed 47 times") increases retention.

 

For member-only directories, gate the Add flow behind a Security Group. Anonymous self-service is rarely the right pattern.

Submit-for-review and Save-as-Draft are separate states. A contact who clicks Save expects their listing to be visible later but it isn't published yet - they need to come back and Submit. The UI distinguishes the two but contacts often don't notice.

 

Moderator-rejected listings remain in the contact's account. Rejection doesn't delete; the listing stays as Draft for the contact to revise. Operators expecting rejection to clear the slot will see the queue accumulate.

 

Self-service contributors can edit their published listings without re-review unless the Profile is configured to re-queue on edit. A contact can publish clean copy then revise it to spam. Lock edits to re-review for sensitive directories.