Folders in NetX are the starting point to organize assets for browsing and to control access for users.
- In what ways are your assets similar and how can they be grouped?
- Who will be browsing for assets and what will they be looking for?
- Do you have sensitive items that certain users shouldn't have access to?
5 things to know about NetX folders
Best practices
Keep it simple.
Take some time to develop a unified and predictable taxonomy that will help your users quickly find assets. Your folder structure doesn’t need to be very complex — that’s where searching and filtering on attributes come into play.
Use clear and consistent names.
A clear folder naming convention makes browsing and search easier. Beware of illegal or problematic (non-ASCII) characters in folder names. There is a maximum 100 character limit for folder names.
Flatten it out.
A flat structure makes uploading and organizing content more efficient and less frustrating for users to browse through. Avoid going more than 3-4 levels deep in a folder hierarchy, or more than 100 folders on the same level.
Security matters.
The folder tree only displays the folders a user has permission to access. Recursive folder permissions keep administration simple and isolating restricted content reduces the complexity of your permissions.
Avoid frequent reorganization.
Frequent moving of folders can confuse users and requires time to reindex. Plan for a logical folder structure that's also flexible enough to grow and evolve along with your organization. Start with a solid foundation, but don't get too hung up on accounting for every future possibility.
How-to articles
- Learn about browsing the folder tree in the NetX DAM User Guide.
- See Managing Folders to learn how to create, delete, and edit folders.
- Beware of illegal characters in folder names.
- Folders can be configured as Search Facets.
- Collections and Saved Searches can take the place of folders for ephemeral groups of assets.
- See Organizing assets for how to move, add, or remove assets from folders.
Tips and tricks
An Admin-only Trash folder is recommended instead of deleting assets. The delete action is permanent and cannot be undone, so consider a workflow that moves assets to a folder with Admin-only permissions. Assets can then be permanently deleted after a certain amount of time passes.
Consider a separate Portals folder structure to easily identify the assets that are visible in your portals. See Configuring Portals for recommendations.
A dedicated folder structure for Upload Requests can help your asset import workflows. Think of this as a staging area where newly uploaded assets can be approved and cataloged prior to being released to their permanent folders.
BEFORE YOUR NEXT ONBOARDING MEETING
- Meet with your Core Team to draft a solid initial folder structure.
- Think about your groups of users and the folders they can and can't access.
- Use the Folders Onboarding Worksheet to plan your folder structure or try building your structure directly in NetX.
- Be prepared to discuss your approach with your Onboarding Specialist.
Up next...
Learn about Metadata and Searching.
BEFORE YOU IMPORT ASSETS
Discuss the plan for your initial ingest with your Onboarding Specialist.
Review our File Ingest Policy and read about File and Data Ingest.