Managing your DAM

Updated October 28, 2021 18:35

Regardless of size, an unmanaged DAM can quickly get messy. Someone needs to own the DAM, look after it, and support the people who use it.

5 things to know about managing NetX

Your DAM admins are the front line for end-user support.

As application experts, your DAM admins should develop a process for replicating, troubleshooting, and resolving issues if any should arise. DAM admins are responsible for escalating issues to NetX Support and for communicating feedback to end-users. You can encourage your users to submit inquiries via the built-in Contact form. We recommend that your main DAM admin, plus a backup or two, hold accounts for NetX Support.

The NetX Knowledge Base is a comprehensive resource.

Everything a NetX DAM admin needs to know about using and managing NetX is available online. You can repurpose knowledge base content into customized help materials for your organization's end-users, or your users may also access the Knowledge Base with no login required. If you can't find what you're looking for, NetX Support and your NetX Account Manager are there for you too.

A wide range of system use information is available for reporting

View general usage and system information or export specific queries via the Statistics module. The dashboard can be configured to show the most popular assets or keyword terms, while the asset detail usage tab tracks how each asset has been used.

Everyone wins with a neat and tidy DAM!

DAM systems don't manage themselves. A periodic review of your DAM should be carried out to validate configurations and workflows against your current use cases. Check for relevance and accuracy in your attributes, user groups, folders, and permissions. Use statistics or poll your users to find out if controlled vocabulary values need to be added, changed, or removed. Assets, share links, and users can all be set to automatically expire.

Continuing education leads to continuing success for your DAM.

Keep your users engaged and ensure your NetX admins are there to help everyone make the most of your DAM. Revise your help materials as the NetX product and your workflows evolve. Hold training sessions for new, and existing, employees alike. Review your original user stories and interview colleagues to ensure your configuration continues to meet the needs of your stakeholders. Be a DAM cheerleader!

Best practices

Down with some downtime.
NetX product upgrades and some configuration changes require scheduled downtime for your site. Most SaaS sites can be automatically upgraded on a monthly schedule or you can coordinate ad-hoc upgrades with NetX Support. Be sure to notify your end-users as the downtime will interrupt any processes that are running. See Release Policy for details and upgrade best practices.

Save searches, save time.
Configure saved advanced searches to help monitor assets and metadata and send notifications when assets should be reviewed, updated, archived, or deleted. Saved searches are dynamic – they update automatically as relevant assets or data changes in NetX – and can be shared with your team. Use descriptive titles for your saved searches to remind you of the criteria used in the search.

Cataloging counts.
Search will only be as good as your cataloging efforts. Asset metadata should be reviewed from time to time to verify data integrity and ensure values are correctly and consistently applied. Attribute Grid Editor or Exporting Attribute Data to a CSV file can help when you need to review metadata in bulk. Use "no value" or "any value" criteria in an attribute value Advanced Search to identify gaps in metadata.

For the IT crowd.
Custom hostnames, email setup, SAML or LDAP configurations, and other integrations may require support from your IT department. Skilled IT staff are essential for self-hosted implementations. See On-premise Administration articles for best practices in an on-premise environment.

How-to articles

The NetX DAM User Guide is aimed at your Browser, Consumer, and Producer level users.
NetX user articles have more in-depth information for all user levels.
Configuration and other advanced topics for NetX admins and IT staff are found in the NetX Admin section.
On-premise administration articles contain valuable info for system admins of self-hosted installations.

Some problems may be resolved by clearing the browser cache or browser history – always try this first.
Encourage end-users to submit concerns and feedback to you via the contact form.
An admin user may log in as any user to help with troubleshooting issues (make sure your browser allows pop-ups).
Review our Support Ticket Best Practices before submitting a ticket to NetX Support.
Some ancillary files are not included in NetX backups. SaaS customers should review the NetX SaaS Data Retention Policy for details.

Tips and tricks

When batch editing assets in a selection, remember to ALWAYS click the X to clear your selection after performing an action and before making a new selection.

The filter box is available in many contexts throughout NetX. Start typing to quickly find the info you seek, like a subfolder name, user name, or a search facet value.

Right-click on a folder name in the tree to access the folder actions menu. Use List all to display the assets of all subfolders in a single gallery view.

Right-click on any thumbnail in the gallery view for the asset actions menu. This is the only way to remove assets from a collection.

Use the Reimport action when you want to replace an individual asset but retain its metadata (instead of deleting and importing the asset as new).

Use the Resync action when you need to regenerate proxy files or update the search index for a single asset or selection.

Rebuilding the Search Index may be required if you have issues with search. Always do this in off-peak hours.

Talk to us!

As NetX becomes integrated into your core business, you may discover new requirements or changes to your current workflows — or you might just like to suggest ways that NetX can improve. Don’t hesitate to reach out — we love hearing from our customers!

The NetX Ideas Portal is a space where you can create, discuss, and vote for product enhancements with other NetX users. Our product team is listening!
Check out Labs to test drive brand-new features and let us know what you think.
Contact NetX Support to get help from our friendly team of support engineers.
Join our User Research Program to give feedback and help drive the future of NetX.
Need anything not covered by support? Your dedicated NetX Account Manager is here to help.

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