Content Blocks & Components: The Parts of a Document

Topic Overview

This topic explains how Content Blocks are used to compose a document using standard publishing industry terms, understandable to anyone who has a little experience with print publishing.

We use the term components to refer to any combination of images, media, fonts and files that will be used in your document. Specifically components are a part of your document, not a structural or styling component.

1. Content Blocks
2. Project Components
3. Global Components

IGP:Digital Publisher provides extensive libraries of components and template blocks to speed the production process of documents which use sophisticated layout.

Global Components (GCs)

Global Components (GCs) are available from every book and may be useful within the organization for inclusion in a wide range of documents. These are organised by media type:

• Default Images. This directory allows you to store a collection of regularly used images. The default one-drop.jpg image is stored here by default, plus a number of other useful items. You can store any images you like here.
• Logos. You can use this directory to store standard business and imprint logos, banners, and other items that are used regularly in documents. Remember to store everything in both online and print resolution. 
• Rich Media. This directory is designed for the storage of regularly used rich media components.
• Download Files. This directory is designed for the storage of regularly used downloads. They can be any format: PDF, presentations, documents, etc. When you are using IGP:Digital Publisherto create online content you can immediately incorporate these into your Web page. These files are not of any use in a print document and cannot be included into the print output.
• Icons. If you have standard icons that are used repeatedly in different documents this is the place to store them so all authors and editors can access them at any time. The default installation comes with a collection of around 50 icons which you can use, or delete and replace with your own. If you make your own icons, remember to create print and online resolution images. 

Global Content Blocks (GCBs)

Global Content Blocks (GCBs) is a large library of pre-design blocks covering nearly every requirement in a wide range of documents. You have complete control over GCBs and any changes will reflect through to all users. You can upload new GCBs, delete unused or unwanted GCBs, or view the HTML code to copy them and make PCBs.

GCBs are the document personality items in the template system. A wide range of Content Blocks can be inserted into a document, which will pick up the correct layout of and characteristics from the document or layout templates. GCBs will inherit their behaviour and layout characteristics from the Document Template allowing you to quickly assemble and format complex and sophisticated documents. There are three types of GCBs, and each type does something different.

Content Blocks. You can insert numbered figures and tables, images, sidebars, computer code blocks.

Layout Blocks. You can create sophisticated multi-column layouts just by adding a Layout Block. 

Project Components (PCs)

Project Components are where you store the images, media and other items for a specific book. It allows you to upload and manage all of the graphical content for a specific publication in one place. This makes the book portable, and even when you add global components, copies will be placed into this directory.

Project Content Blocks (PCBs)

Each newly created document has Project Content Block storage allocated. This will be empty when you start a new document unless your template designer has included template specific PCBs. You may need PCBs to customize certain blocks in a specific book. 

PCBs are particularly useful for text books where there may be a larger variety of note boxes, and other call-out structures, all of which need a distinctive custom style, and where the initial design effort is considerable.

Every custom PCB must have (should have) matching CSS either in the main templates, or in the Titles and Headers (TAH) spot customization CSS available from the Project Components.