Bulk Future Activation Scheduling of Assets and Pages

[BrianStager]

AEM Community,

   Hoping someone can point in the direction of some sort of tool within AEM (6.5) that can assist our team with bulk scheduling assets (images, documents) and site pages for future activations.  We do use the activate later feature and can set that up asset by asset, page by page, but looking to see if there is a way to do this but at a bulk level.  

  Not sure if this can be done by using Projects in AEM, or Launches (though can't seem to figure out how to add assets to a Launch).  

  Appreciate any insights the community can provide!

Brian

[ManviSharma]

Hi,

To schedule bulk activation of assets and site pages in AEM 6.5, you can use Projects or Launches.

- Projects allow you to manage and schedule activations for multiple assets and pages together.

- Launches are primarily used for site structures but can include assets as well.

[BrianStager]

Thanks and I've only seen where Launches allow you to select pages and not assets.  Happy to use Launches but we can't seem to find out how to select assets and the documentation only refers to pages. Appreciate any pointers about how to include assets. 

[Tanika02]

Hello @BrianStager 

Did you tried Bulk Editor to schedule assets and site pages for future activations?

• Navigate to the Assets console by accessing the URL: http://localhost:4502/assets.html/content/dam.
• Select the assets (images, documents) that you want to schedule for future activation by clicking on the checkbox next to each asset. If you want to schedule site pages, navigate to the Sites console instead and select the desired pages.
• Click on the "More" dropdown menu in the top-right corner and select "Bulk Editor."
• In the Bulk Editor dialog, you'll see a grid view representing the selected assets or pages.
• In the grid view, select the "Activate" checkbox for each asset or page that you want to schedule for activation.
• In the "Activation" column, specify the desired activation date and time for each asset or page. You can enter a specific date and time or use the calendar picker.
• Once you have set the activation date and time for all the assets or pages, click on the "Activate" button at the bottom of the Bulk Editor dialog.
• A confirmation dialog will appear. Review the selected assets or pages and the activation schedule, and click "OK" to proceed.

[BrianStager]

Thanks and it looks like Bulk Editor was depreciated in 6.4

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-manager-65/administering/operations/bulk-editor.h.... 

You can select multiple assets and do a publish later, but we have situations where you have to select assets that span different folders.  That creates multiple "publish later" workflows.  Looking to see if there is something easier for the team. 

Appreciate the response! 

[Tanika02 · Accepted solution]

Hello @BrianStager  - 

That's right!

An alternative approach which might help you select multiple assets and do a publish later, but without having situations that creates multiple "publish later" workflows could be a custom workflow

Here's a high-level overview of the workflow design:

a. Start Step: Add a start step to initiate the workflow.

b. Asset/Page Selection: Add a step to select the desired assets/pages from different folders. You can use the "Dynamic Participant Step" or "Custom Process Step" to execute custom logic to select assets/pages programmatically based on your requirements.

c. Schedule Activation: Add a "Suspend for X Days" step to delay the workflow for the desired activation time. Configure the suspension time to match your scheduling requirements.

d. Activation: Add a "Workflow Process Step" or "Custom Process Step" to activate the selected assets/pages. You can leverage AEM's built-in activation APIs or develop custom code to perform the activation programmatically.

e. End Step: Add an end step to mark the completion of the workflow.

1. Configure Workflow Step Properties: For each step in the workflow, configure the necessary properties. This includes specifying the asset/page selection criteria, activation settings, and any other relevant parameters required by your custom workflow logic.

2. Save and Publish the Workflow Model: Save the custom workflow model and publish it to make it available for use.

3. Initiate the Workflow: To select assets/pages from different folders and schedule their activation, you can initiate the custom workflow on the desired assets/pages. Here are a couple of approaches:

   a. Asset/Page Level: Navigate to the Assets console (http://localhost:4502/assets.html) or Pages console (http://localhost:4502/sites.html) and select the assets/pages individually. Then, start the workflow on each selected asset/page by choosing the "Start Workflow" option from the context menu.

   b. Folder Level: If you want to select assets/pages from multiple folders, you can use the "Bulk Workflow" feature. In the Assets or Pages console, select the folders containing the assets/pages you want to activate. Then, use the "Bulk Workflow" action to apply the custom workflow to the selected folders. This will start the workflow on all the assets/pages within those folders.