TutorialLearn by doing

Run your first adaptation project

In this tutorial, we’re going to run a project that takes templates all the way to approved adaptations in the DAM. An adaptation project keeps the whole job in one place: the templates, the adaptations made from them, their review, and their publication. By the end, you’ll have published approved adaptations to the DAM and closed the project.

This is part 6 of 6 in the project manager tutorials. Previous: Review and publish your first adaptations.

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you need:

  • A user role with at least the Creator role for Templates and for Assets, both under Adaptation Studio, which lets you create adaptations from templates. The Standard User role preset includes both. Each role’s permissions are listed in User role presets and permissions.

  • Access to Collaboration Hub projects. This doesn’t come from a user role: your administrator grants it through a group, and group names vary between workspaces.

  • At least one digital template you can use.

  • A colleague who can review the adaptations, as decision maker, during step 6.

What you see here depends on your workspace’s configuration. Adaptation projects, their workflow stages, and the transitions between them are set up for your workspace. If CA Project isn’t offered when you create a project, contact your administrator.

What we’ll create

We’ll create a project called Tutorial spring adaptations, tag it with keywords, and add a template to it. We’ll make one adaptation and a small batch from that template, send them for review, and amend any that are rejected. Finally, we’ll publish the approved adaptations to the DAM and close the project.

The tutorial takes about 30 minutes, including the videos, plus the time your reviewer takes to respond, in seven steps:

Step 1: Create the project

Every adaptation project starts from the project dashboard.

Create an adaptation project (36 s)

We’re going to create the project and open it.

  1. From the left navigation, select Projects.

  2. Select Create Project, then select CA Project from the list.

  3. In the project name field, enter Tutorial spring adaptations.

  4. Select Create.

The project opens on its project page.

The project page (46 s)

You’ll notice that:

  • The project name appears at the top left, with a project number beside it. Quote that number if you ever contact support about the project.

  • The transitions panel at the top right displays the project’s current stage.

  • The lower half of the page is where you enter project information and, later, create adaptations.

Step 2: Add keywords

Keywords added to the project are passed on to every adaptation it produces. That means the approved adaptations are already tagged when they reach the DAM, so local markets can find them.

Add keywords to the project (39 s)

We’re going to tag the project, then move it to the stage for adding templates.

  1. In the Keywords panel, choose one keyword from each relevant category, such as a market and a campaign.

  2. Select Confirm.

  3. In the transitions panel, choose the transition to the Add Templates stage, and select Go.

You’ll notice that the transitions panel now displays the Add Templates stage.

Step 3: Add a template

Templates are added to the project, and adaptations are then made from them inside it.

Add a template to the project (57 s)

We’re going to add one template.

  1. Select the Templates tab on the left.

  2. Select Add Template.

    The template picker opens.

  3. Search for your template by name, or with keywords.

  4. Select the checkbox on the template, then select Add.

You’ll notice that the template now appears in the project’s Templates tab. To remove a template added by mistake, select the template, select , and then select Confirm.

Step 4: Create adaptations

We’ll make one adaptation first, then a small batch.

Create an adaptation in the project (1 min 5 s)

  1. In the Templates tab, select your template, then select the paintbrush icon.

    The template editor opens, with a preview on the left and the template’s fields on the right.

  2. Fill in the fields. If the template has a text field, enter Spring is here.

  3. Select Create Asset.

The adaptation is stored in the project’s Resources.

Create a batch in the project (1 min 50 s)

  1. In the Templates tab, select your template again, then select the branching icon.

    The batch editor opens, with one row per adaptation.

  2. Add two rows. In the text field, enter Summer is here in the first and Autumn is here in the second.

  3. Fill in any other mandatory columns, using the same value in both rows.

  4. When the ready message appears, select Create Assets, then Validate, then Create.

You’ll notice that the project’s Resources now hold three adaptations: the single one, and the two in the batch. They stay in the project until they’ve been reviewed.

For further information, refer to Produce your first batch of digital adaptations.

Step 5: Send the adaptations for review

Adaptations in a project must be reviewed and approved before they can be published.

We’re going to send all three for review, with your colleague as decision maker.

  1. In Resources, select the three adaptations.

  2. Select Create Review.

  3. Name the review Tutorial spring adaptations review, set a deadline, and create it.

  4. Add your colleague as a reviewer, and change their role to decision maker.

  5. Select Save, then Start Review, then Confirm.

Your colleague receives an email inviting them to the review. Ask them to approve two of the adaptations and reject one, so you can practise amending in the next step.

For further information, refer to Create and run a review. For a full walkthrough, follow Run your first project review.

Step 6: Amend rejected adaptations

When your colleague has made their decision, you receive an email, and each adaptation is marked with its outcome.

Find rejected adaptations (38 s)

We’re going to find the rejected adaptation and make a new version of it.

  1. In Resources, find the adaptations from the review.

    Approved adaptations have a green Approved status pill, and rejected ones have a red Rejected pill.

  2. To display only the rejected one, use the state filter.

Amend a single adaptation (1 min 3 s)

  1. Select the checkbox on the rejected adaptation, then select Edit Adaptation.

    The template editor opens.

  2. Make the change your colleague asked for, then select Create Asset.

You’ll notice that:

  • The amended adaptation has a new version number.

  • Its status is now New asset, ready to review again.

To display its version history, select the amended adaptation, then select Edit next to Current Version.

If the rejected adaptation belongs to the batch, amend it through the batch instead.

Amend a batch (1 min 33 s)

  1. Open the batch’s menu and select Edit Batch.

  2. Change the rejected row, then select Create Assets.

  3. Choose to update the existing adaptations, then select Validate and Create.

    Updating replaces the rejected adaptations. Creating a new batch would leave them in place alongside the new ones.

Send the amended adaptation for review again, as in step 5, and ask your colleague to approve it. Only the latest approved version of each adaptation is published.

Step 7: Publish and close the project

With every adaptation approved, the project is ready to publish.

Publish and close the project (35 s)

We’re going to publish the approved adaptations to the DAM and close the project.

  1. In the transitions panel, choose the publish transition, and select Go.

  2. Confirm that you’ve reviewed all the adaptations.

  3. When the page refreshes, select Complete.

You’ll notice that:

  • The approved adaptations are uploaded to the DAM, tagged with the keywords from step 2.

  • Any adaptation that is still rejected is left out.

  • The project is closed, and you can no longer add templates or create adaptations in it.

If you need more adaptations later, choose Return instead of Complete. That reopens the project for more templates and adaptations.

To check the result, open Content Portal and search for one of your adaptations by name, or filter by a keyword from step 2.

The finished project

Here’s what we’ve built:

  • Project: Tutorial spring adaptations, tagged with keywords and now complete.

  • Adaptations: one single adaptation and a batch of two, made from one template inside the project.

  • Review: a review with one rejection, amended and approved on the second round.

  • Where they are: in the DAM, tagged with the project’s keywords.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to:

  • Create an adaptation project and add keywords to it.

  • Add a template to a project.

  • Create single and batch adaptations inside a project.

  • Send adaptations for review from a project.

  • Find and amend rejected adaptations, singly and in a batch.

  • Publish approved adaptations to the DAM and close the project.

Understanding Collaboration Hub explains how projects and the content workflow fit together.