Self Help Desktop Studio - Functionalities for Importing Content
Several functionalities for importing content are provided in the Desktop Studio to make it easier for you to start writing content for new Self Help projects or to add new content quickly to existing projects.
- Archive import: Used to initialize a new Self Help project from an AAR archive of an existing Self Help project.
- Folder import: Used to import different types of documents in one go.
- FAQ import (Frequently Asked Questions): Used to import question/answer procedures in one go from an Excel file.
The Archive import
The Archive import is used to import the contents of a new Self Help project from an AAR archive of an existing Self Help project.
Menu access
Desktop Studio > File menu > Import > Archive
Folder import
From: Self Help versions Autumn 2020 and later
See Quick Start tool for versions Oxygen and onwards
The Folder import is used to import different types of documents, e.g. Word, PDF, PPT, XLS, images, etc. in one go to a new Self Help project.
- The structure of the new Self Help project will be identical to the tree structure of folders and subfolders in the file explorer.
- Word files are automatically imported as procedures. The other files will be imported as resources.
- The Self Help project can be created as an individual project or it can be directly integrated in an existing project.
Example
Import a project organized in folders and subfolders to Self Help. Each subfolder contains two Word files ([a] Example….docx and [b] Example….docx) and an image file (Index.png).
| Content in the file explorer | Import in the Desktop Studio |
|---|---|
 |  |
Notes
- The new Self Help project can be published immediately after the import.
- When you import a Word file, a procedure containing a Page step will be created. Page breaks are used to generate the creation of new steps automatically.
| A single page ==> One step | Three page breaks ==> Three steps |
|---|---|
 |  |
Caution
- If the folder import is canceled before the new Self Help project is generated:
- The Self Help project will not be created.
- The archive will be created on the workstation if the Save Archive option was selected.
Best Practice
- Insert page breaks in your Word files to create steps automatically in Self Help procedures.
Menu access
Desktop Studio > File menu > Import > Folder
Screens description
Step 1
Source Folder: Name and path of the folder to be imported in the file explorer.
Save Archive: Used to indicate if an AAR archive should be generated for the new Self Help project (box is checked) or not (box is not checked). If the box is checked, the Archive Folder and Archive File Name fields will become active.
If the Save Archive option is selected:
- You must select the folder where the archive will be saved.
- If you do not specify the Archive File Name field, the folder name to be imported will be used, e.g. the folder selected in the Source Folder field.
- The format of the default archive name is as follows: <Archive name>-<Writer name>-<Creation date / hour>-<Writer login>.aar
example archive folder = NewAppGlossary; <Writer name> = Smith
- <Archive name> = Glossary ==> full name of the archive = Glossary-Smith-20201118_190136-jsmith@easyvista.com
- Unspecified <Archive name> ==> full name of the archive = NewAppGlossary-Smith-20201118_190136-jsmith@easyvista.com
- If the import is canceled in step 2, the archive will still be generated.
Create New Project: Used to indicate if the folder should be imported to a new Self Help project or if its contents should be added to the current Self Help project selected in the Explorer pane. If the box is checked, the field for entering the Self Help project name will become active.
- If a new Self Help project is to be created, its default name will be the folder name displayed in the file explorer.
Step 2
Validation Status: Status in the content validation workflow to be applied to all imported objects, i.e. procedures and resources.
- By default, the Draft status is applied. This corresponds to the Keep statuses value selected by default.
Note: Fields not available for use.
List of user metadata definitions and Force the import anyway: Displayed when content is to be imported to the current Self Help project.
FAQ import (Frequently Asked Questions)
The FAQ import is used to import question/answer procedures in an Excel file in one go to a new Self Help project.
- The structure of the new Self Help project will be based on the folders specified in the Excel file. See the description.
- Each row in the Excel file will automatically be imported as a procedure in the corresponding folder.
- The Self Help project can be created as an individual project or it can be directly integrated in an existing project.
Example
Import an Excel file containing procedures on how to use Word to Self Help
| Content of the FAQ Excel file | Import file in the Desktop Studio |
|---|---|
 |  |
Notes
- The new Self Help project can be published immediately after the import.
- When you import an Excel file, each row in the file will be imported as one procedure, each containing one Page step.
- You can specify metadata in the Excel file. It will be imported and automatically associated with each procedure.
- Translatable data for each language must be imported in the same way for all languages defined in the Desktop Studio. If required, you can modify it in the Desktop Studio.
Caution
- Each FAQ import will result in the creation of a new Self Help project. You cannot just import the new content added since the last version of the file.
Best Practice
- To avoid errors when creating your Excel file, we recommend that you download the Excel template containing the correct column headers below.
- To import images or files, use the Folder import.
- The Excel file contents will be imported as raw data to procedures. You can use HTML tags to format the data in the Excel file.
| HTML-formatted text in the Excel file | Result in Self Help |
|---|---|
 |  |
Menu access
Desktop Studio > File menu > Import > FAQ
Screens description
Step 1
Source File (xlsx): Name and path of the Excel file to be imported in the file explorer.
Save Archive: Used to indicate if an AAR archive should be generated for the new Self Help project (box is checked) or not (box is not checked). If the box is checked, the Archive Folder and Archive File Name fields will become active.
If the Save Archive option is selected:
- You must select the folder where the archive will be saved.
- If you do not specify the Archive File Name field, the folder name to be imported will be used, e.g. the folder selected in the Source File field.
- The format of the default archive name is as follows: <Archive name>-<Writer name>-<Creation date / hour>-<Writer login>.aar
example
- <Archive name> = Glossary ==> Glossary-Smith-20201118_190136-jsmith@easyvista.com
- Unspecified <Archive name>; source folder = NewAppGlossary ==> NewAppGlossary-Smith-20201118_190136-jsmith@easyvista.com
- If the import is canceled in step 2, the archive will still be generated.
Create New Project: Used to indicate if the folder should be imported to a new Self Help project or if its contents should be added to the current Self Help project selected in the Explorer pane. If the box is checked, the field for entering the Self Help project name will become active.
- The default name of the new Self Help project is the name of the source folder.
Step 2
Validation Status: Status in the content validation workflow to be applied to all imported objects, i.e. procedures and resources.
- By default, the Draft status is applied. This corresponds to the Keep statuses value selected by default.
Note: Fields not available for use.
List of user metadata definitions and Force the import anyway: Displayed when content is to be imported to the current Self Help project.
Description of the FAQ Excel file
A FAQ Excel file is a workbook containing one or more sheets.
Result in the Desktop Studio
(1) Name of the Excel file: Name of the level 1 folder (root of the Self Help project).
(2) Name of the sheet: Name of the subfolders.
(3) Each row in the sheet: Procedure containing one Page step whose content is described in detail in the columns.
| Column | Type | Description / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columns containing the description of procedures | |||
| Name | Text | Nom de la procédure
| |
| Content | Text | Content of the Page step in the procedure.
| |
| Description | Text | Description of the procedure. | |
| Alias | Text | Alias attributed to the procedure.
| |
| Columns containing general metadata for procedures | |||
| Category | Text | Category to which the procedure belongs. | |
| CategoryDescription | Text | Description of the category to which the procedure belongs. | |
| Subcategory | Text | Sub-category to which the procedure belongs. | |
| SubcategoryDescription | Text | Description of the sub-category. | |
| MetaDescription | Text | HTML meta tags associated with the procedure | |
| Viewable | Boolean | Used to indicate whether or not the procedure should be indexed by the search engine.
| |
| Columns containing specific metadata for virtual agent procedures | |||
| Keywords | Text | List of keywords associated with the procedure displayed in a tag cloud. When you click one of the keywords, this will return one or more procedures. See the description
| |
| DialogFriendly | Boolean | . See the description
| |
| AgentFlag | Text | This defines how virtual agent procedures are run. See the description
| |
| AlternativeIntents | Text | This indicates the alternative ways of asking a given question that will open a virtual agent procedure. See the description
| |
Procedures
How to import an archive
Step 1: Create the archive of an existing Self Help project
1. Open the Desktop Studio in edit mode.
2. Select File > Import > Archive in the menu.
Step 2: Create the new Self Help project from the archive
1.
How to perform the mass import of documents to Self Help
Step 1: Select the folder to be imported
1. Open the Desktop Studio in edit mode.
2. Select File > Import > Folder in the menu.
The window for importing a folder will appear.
3. In the file explorer, select the folder containing the documents you want to import in the Source Folder field.
Step 2: Specify the parameters for the Folder import
1. (optional) Specify the information for creating an AAR archive.
- Select the Save Archive option.
- In the file explorer, select the folder where the Self Help archive should be generated in the Archive Folder field.
- (optional) Specify the archive name to generate the full name of the archive.
Note: By default, the name of the archive folder will be used.
2. (optional) Specify the information required for importing content to a new Self Help project.
Note: By default, the folder will be imported to the current Self Help project selected in the Explorer pane.
- Select the Destination: Create New Project option.
- (optional) Enter the Self Help project name.
Note: By default, the name of the folder in the file explorer will be used.
3. Click Generate.
Step 2 of the import will appear.
Step 3: Import the folder to Self Help
1. Select the status in the content validation workflow to be applied to all imported objects, from the Validation Status drop-down list.
2. Click Import.
3. Check that the contents displayed correspond to the folder contents to be imported.
Note: You can click Cancel to cancel the folder import.
- The folder will not be imported.
- The AAR archive will be created if you selected the Save Archive option.
4. Click OK.
- The folder contents imported to Self Help are identical to the folder in the file explorer.
- The tree structure in the Explorer pane will be refreshed.
- The folder will appear in the current Self Help project if the Create New Project box is not checked. Alternatively, it will appear in a new Self Help project if this box is checked.
- Word files will be imported as procedures containing Page steps. The other files will be imported as resources.
- The status of objects will be initialized to the status specified.
- The AAR archive will be created if you selected the Save Archive option.
How to import an FAQ project
Step 1: Select the Excel file to be imported
1. Open the Desktop Studio in edit mode.
2. Select File > Import > FAQ in the menu.
The window for importing an Excel file will appear.
3. In the file explorer, select the folder containing the Excel file you want to import in the Source File (xlsx) field.
Step 2: Specify the parameters for the FAQ import
1. (optional) Specify the information for creating an AAR archive.
- Select the Save Archive option.
- In the file explorer, select the folder where the Self Help archive should be generated in the Archive Folder field.
- (optional) Specify the archive name to generate the full name of the archive.
Note: By default, the name of the archive folder will be used.
2. (optional) Specify the information required for importing content to a new Self Help project.
Note: By default, the folder will be imported to the current Self Help project selected in the Explorer pane.
- Select the Destination: Create New Project option.
- (optional) Enter the Self Help project name.
Note: By default, the name of the folder in the file explorer will be used.
3. Click Generate.
Step 2 of the import will appear.
Note: Select the Skip Archive creation confirmation option to skip this step and generate the new Self Help project immediately.
Step 3: Import the Excel file to Self Help
1. Select the status in the content validation workflow to be applied to all imported objects, from the Validation Status drop-down list.
2. Click Import.
3. Check that the contents displayed correspond to the Excel file contents to be imported.
Note: You can click Cancel to cancel the Excel file import.
- The folder will not be imported.
- The AAR archive will be created if you selected the Save Archive option.
4. Click OK.
- The Excel file contents imported to Self Help are identical to the folder in the file explorer.
- The tree structure in the Explorer pane will be refreshed.
- The Excel file contents will appear in the current Self Help project if the Create New Project box is not checked. Alternatively, it will appear in a new Self Help project if this box is checked.
- Rows in the Excel file will be imported as procedures, each containing one Page step.
- The status of procedures will be initialized to the status specified.
- The AAR archive will be created if you selected the Save Archive option.