Uploading assets is a quick and easy process - first of all you use the left hand navigation frame to enter the Upload area and then you can either use the 'add files' browse option or simply drag and drop files into the grey box.

Once you've added files you will see a progress bar as they are uploaded to the server - you will need to keep your browse window open for this to complete as there is a connection between your local computer and the Asset Bank server.

After the upload process has completed you can select the button to progress to the 'add metadata' stage.

You should try to enter as much information about the asset as you can, as the more descriptive the metadata the easier it will be for users to find the image when they perform a search. Fields marked with * are mandatory and fields marked † are required for completeness. 

There are some radio buttons before the final 'Submit' button which allow you to choose the manner in which your asset is uploaded to the system:

• Submit to live: On pressing Submit, the item will immediately be live in the system.
• Submit for approval: The item will be passed to an administrator for approval before going live in the system.
• Keep in my uploads: The item will not be visible in the system but will be stored in your unsubmitted items, until you are ready to submit it to live. You can edit the metadata and submit these files to live/approval from the My Uploads/Edits page.

If you are uploading a large number of assets then the system may take some time to process the metadata and display the assets within the system. In this case you will see a message box displaying progress. Once this process has started (i.e. you can see the message box stating assets are being uploaded) then you can navigate off the page or close the browser and the process will continue.

Bulk Upload

If you are uploading multiple files or a .zip file containing multiple files then the process is the same as above, except it is worth taking the following points into consideration:

• Uploading a .zip file will prompt you to choose between uploading it as a single asset, or to extract the zip and upload each file within it as a separate asset.
  
  
• Any metadata you enter will be applied to all of the uploaded assets. This means that some mandatory attributes (e.g. Title) may not be mandatory for bulk uploads.
• Instead of seeing a preview of the asset at the top of the page there is a checkbox at the top of the page that will allow you to use the filename of each asset as the Title. 
• When the bulk upload is complete you will be invited to perform a Batch update on the selected assets. This is a useful way to add data that is specific to the individual asset rather than the whole group. 

FTP Upload

If you need to upload a very large number or size of assets then uploading through a browser may not be a suitable option. In this case, Asset Bank supports FTP upload as a way of getting your assets on to the server. If you want to preserve an existing folder structure, or are using embedded data mapping, this method may be the best solution. We can assist with this process and therefore recommend you get in touch if you need to use this feature.