Build Custom Templates for Articles

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

After you have developed your desired custom fields, you can begin to create custom templates for your articles.

Custom fields can be used for any of data object pages, Term Type templates, Policy templates, or article pages. This article focuses on articles templates.

To work with article templates:

  1. Log in to Alation as a Catalog Admin or Server Admin.

  2. If you are a Catalog Admin, mouse over the settings icon on the right of the main toolbar:

    ../../_images/Screen_Shot_2018-10-16_at_2.17.18_PM.png

    In the menu that opens, click Customize Catalog:

    ../../_images/Settings_CatalogAdmin.png

    Note

    If you log in as a Server Admin, go to Admin Settings > Catalog Admin section > Customize Catalog to open the Customize Catalog page.

    The Customize Catalog page will open:

    ../../_images/CustomizeCatalog_Main.png
  3. Click the Custom Templates tab.

  4. Scroll to Article Templates.

  5. You can now select a template to edit or create a new template.

    ../../_images/CFF.png

After you save your template, you can use it to start creating articles.

Add a Custom Template

  1. Log in to Alation as a Catalog Admin or Server Admin.

  2. If you are a Catalog Admin, mouse over the settings icon on the right of the main toolbar:

    ../../_images/Screen_Shot_2018-10-16_at_2.17.18_PM.png

    In the menu that opens, click Customize Catalog:

    ../../_images/Settings_CatalogAdmin.png

    Note

    If you log in as a Server Admin, go to Admin Settings > Catalog Admin section > Customize Catalog to open the Customize Catalog page.

    The Customize Catalog page will open:

    ../../_images/CustomizeCatalog_Main.png
  3. Click the Custom Templates tab.

  4. Scroll to Article Templates.

  5. Click the add icon:

    ../../_images/UI_PlusIcon.png

    A New Custom Template editor opens on the right:

    ../../_images/Custom_article2.png
  6. In the New Custom Template editor, enter the Template Title.

  7. Select the Custom Fields to be included in the template. You can select multiple fields. When you save the template and later apply it to an article, on the catalog page of this article the Rich Text fields will be displayed in the main section, and all other field types will be displayed in the right-hand section of the page.

  8. Click the save icon on the top right of the editor to save your template:

    ../../_images/Custom_Save.png

    When saved, it will be displayed in the list of existing custom templates.

Edit a Custom Template

  1. Log in to Alation as a Catalog Admin or Server Admin.

  2. If you are a Catalog Admin, mouse over the settings icon on the right of the main toolbar:

    ../../_images/Screen_Shot_2018-10-16_at_2.17.18_PM.png

    In the menu that opens, click Customize Catalog:

    ../../_images/Settings_CatalogAdmin.png

    Note

    If you log in as a Server Admin, go to Admin Settings > Catalog Admin section > Customize Catalog to open the Customize Catalog page.

    The Customize Catalog page will open:

    ../../_images/CustomizeCatalog_Main.png
  3. Click the Custom Templates tab.

  4. Scroll to Article Templates.

  5. Find and click the custom template you want to edit. The editor will open on the right. You can edit the title and add and remove custom fields.

  6. Save the changes to the template by clicking the save icon:

    ../../_images/Custom_Save.png

Delete a Custom Template

  1. Log in to Alation as a Catalog Admin or Server Admin.

  2. If you are a Catalog Admin, mouse over the settings icon on the right of the main toolbar:

    ../../_images/Screen_Shot_2018-10-16_at_2.17.18_PM.png

    In the menu that opens, click Customize Catalog:

    ../../_images/Settings_CatalogAdmin.png

    Note

    If you log in as a Server Admin, go to Admin Settings > Catalog Admin section > Customize Catalog to open the Customize Catalog page.

    The Customize Catalog page will open:

    ../../_images/CustomizeCatalog_Main.png
  3. Click the Custom Templates tab.

  4. Scroll to Article Templates.

  5. Click the custom template you want to delete. The editor will open on the right.

  6. Click the delete icon on the top right of the custom template editor and confirm deletion:

    ../../_images/Custom_Delete2.png