Viewing content item usage
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The content usage panel makes it easy for planners and content producers to track the editions and slots that contain a piece of content. Available from the content form, the panel allows you to keep track of where each version of a content item is used and which slots contain the content.
If you update a content item and want to update it in one or more editions or slots, then you can choose to update selected editions directly from the content form using the update editions feature. Alternatively you can easily navigate to each edition from the usages panel.
The content item usage panel
To display the usage panel for a content item, open the content form by choosing "View" from the item's menu in the Content Library, and select the "Usage" icon as shown in the image below.
The usage panel will open, listing each of the editions to which this content has been added and, if it's added to a slot, the slot that contains the content. The list is grouped by events.
In the example below, the "Great looks for winter banner" has been added directly to 3 editions and to the "Home page main content slot" in the "January sale edition".
Planned status
If you hover over an edition or slot in the list, two additional icons are displayed: planned status and properties. Clicking the planned status icon will show the status of the selected edition, as well as its start and end date, name, the event that contains it and the slot to which the content is added. An edition will only be shown in the list if it is in a draft state, or has been scheduled. Published and expired editions can no longer be edited and so are not included in the list.
In the example below, the "October promo" edition is in "Draft" mode so it can be updated. If the edition was scheduled, then the planner would need to unschedule it in order to update the edition with a new version of the banner.
Properties
Clicking the properties icon will display a window including the item's created date. This is the date that this version of the content was added to the edition. You can find out more details about how to add content to an edition in the adding content to editions and adding content to slots pages in the scheduling section.
Viewing events, editions and slots
You can open any event, edition or slot shown in the usage list, by hovering over and clicking its name when highlighted. You'll be taken to the event, edition or slot that you selected.
In the example below "Home page feature slot" is highlighted. Clicking the slot title will take open this slot in the "November pop up edition".
The "November pop up edition" details window is now displayed, with the "Home page feature slot" open. Because this edition is scheduled, you'd need to unschedule it in order to edit the slot's content.
Viewing the usage of linked content
For nested content, such as a carousel containing a one or more carousel slides, or a grid consisting of a number of images, the content usage window will only show usages of the top level content and not the items it contains.
For example, the "Winter carousel", as shown below, contains three carousel slides. The content usage panel for the carousel shows that it has been added to the "feature page carousel slot" in the "january sales" edition.
If we open the usage panel for one of the content items included in this carousel, a message is displayed explaining that there are no usages. The usage information is displayed for the carousel itself and not for the items it contains.
