E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS

The e-mail submission capability of WebSite Director (WSD) allows you to submit a request by sending an e-mail to one or more designated e-mail submission addresses. WSD allows users to provide a rich set of request Properties in the body of e-mail submissions, thereby providing the same flexibility to e-mail contributors that the WSD user interface allows to content contributors from their browsers.

If you do not want e-mail contributors to provide environmental information, you may choose to create different e-mail "aliases" for different submission environments. For example: "submit-doc@company.com" for Document submissions or "submit-template@company.com" for Template submissions.

When the e-mail body does not contain any request Properties, e-mail requests will be placed in the default workflow stage assigned for the Approval Class, based on the following:

  • The "Default Approval Class for Document Submissions" or "Default Approval Class for Template Submissions" specified on the System Configuration screen, or
  • If no default approval classes are assigned on System Configuration, the WSD "Default" Approval Class. See Maintain Approval Classes .

If there is no attached file, the body of the e-mail message will be submitted as the request's contents; comments will include the e-mail message body, preceded by the e-mail "From, Date, and Subject" header information.

If the e-mail message includes an attached file, two EMAIL requests will be sent to the designed WSD workflow stage. Both e-mail messages will have the same "Subject" line.

  • One EMAIL request will have the filename 0002.txt; the comments will include the e-mail message body, preceded by the e-mail "From, Date, and Subject" header information. This request can be discarded.
  • The second request will have the filename of the attached file; the contents of the file will be submitted as the request's contents; the comments will include the e-mail message body, preceded by the e-mail "From, Date, and Subject" header information.

Note: If there is more than one attached file, a separate request will be generated for each file.

Setting Request Properties in the Body of E-mail Submissions

Your e-mail contributors can set certain request properties in the e-mail message body, using one line per request property. Each property must begin on a new line in the format:

WSDProperty: <property>=<value>

Where <property> is the name of a WSD request property (such as "description" or "layout") and <value > is the value to be assigned to that property. The following 2 examples show the minimum properties required if you submit an e-mail request with meaningful identification information:

    None or only one attachment:
    WSDProperty: type=modify
    WSDProperty: filename= /products/widgets/widget_3322.html< /FONT> < /FONT> < /FONT>
  • Multiple Attachments
     WSDProperty: type=add
    WSDProperty: dir=/products/widgets/images

The following table lists all valid request properties that can be used by e-mail contributors and their associated values:
Document Request Properties (for use with: WSDProperty: category=Document)
Property Name Description Values and [Example]
type Request Type ADD, MODIFY, COPY, MOVE, RENAME, or DELETE
[WSDProperty: type=ADD]
stage StageID Workflow stage where request will be submitted (use "View Source" of "Maintain Stages" screen in "System Administration" for list of valid "stage" values)
[WSDProperty: stage=0]
app_class or appclass Approval Class ID WSD Approval Class identification number to be assigned to this request (use "View Source" of "Approval Classes" screen in "System Administration" for list of valid "app_class" values)
[WSDProperty: app_class=1]
dir Directory Path Specifies destination directory where content will be published. (contains path relative to Document Root in filesystem format. Delimeters: Unix=/ and Windows=\) Use this when you are submitting multiple attachments for the same directory.
[WSDProperty: dir=/products/widgets/images]
name or filename Document Filename Specifies source/destination filename for ADD, MODIFY, and DELETE requests. This is the source (from location) for COPY, MOVE, or RENAME requests. (contains path relative to Document Root in filesystem format. Delimeters: Unix=/ and Windows=\) Use this when you are submitting no or only one attachment.
[WSDProperty: name=/products/widgets/widget_3322.html]
newname or newfilename New Document Filename Specifies destination filename where content will be published. Used only in COPY, MOVE, or RENAME requests.(contains path relative to Document Root in filesystem format. Delimeters: Unix=/ and Windows=\)
[WSDProperty: newname=/products/widgets/new_3322.html]
Note: COPY, MOVE, or RENAME requests must be submitted individually!
title Document Title Quoted Text String [WSDProperty: title="Document Title"]
description Description Quoted Text String [WSDProperty: description="Product components"]
keywords Keywords Quoted Text String [WSDProperty: title="Document Title"]
author Document Author WSD Username of Author responsible for this content.
[WSDProperty: author=pmanager]
maintainer Document Maintainer WSD Username of Maintainer for this content.
[WSDProperty: maintainer=editor1]
submitter Request Submitter WSD Username of Submitter for this content.
[WSDProperty: submitter=myusername]
header Page Header Template Filename (Does not contain directory path)
[WSDProperty: header=corporate_header.template]
footer Page Footer Template Filename (Does not contain directory path)
[WSDProperty: footer=corporate_footer.template]
layout Page Layout Template Filename (Does not contain directory path)
[WSDProperty: layout=product_description.template]
 
Template Request Properties (for use with: WSDProperty: category=Template)
Property Name Description Values/Availability
type Request Type ADD, MODIFY, COPY, MOVE, RENAME, or DELETE
[WSDProperty: type=ADD]
stage StageID Workflow stage where request will be submitted (use "View Source" of "Maintain Stages" screen in "System Administration" for list of valid "stage" values)
[WSDProperty: stage=0]
app_class or appclass Approval Class ID WSD Approval Class identification number to be assigned to this request (use "View Source" of "Approval Classes" screen in "System Administration" for list of valid "app_class" values)
[WSDProperty: app_class=1]
name or filename Template Filename Specifies source/destination filename for ADD, MODIFY, and DELETE requests. This is the source (from location) for COPY or RENAME requests. (contains path relative to Template Root in filesystem format. Delimeters: Unix=/ and Windows=\) Use this when you are submitting no or only one attachment.
[WSDProperty: name=/templates/header/corporate_header.template]
newname or newfilename New Template Filename Specifies destination filename where content will be published. Used only in COPY or RENAME requests.(contains path relative to Template Root in filesystem format. Delimeters: Unix=/ and Windows=\)
[WSDProperty: newname=/templates/footer/new_footer.template]
Note: COPY or RENAME requests must be submitted individually!
description Description Quoted Text String [WSDProperty: description="Product Template"]
author Template Author WSD Username of Author responsible for this template.
[WSDProperty: author=tmanager]
maintainer Template Maintainer WSD Username of Maintainer for this template.
[WSDProperty: maintainer=editor1]
submitter Request Submitter WSD Username of Submitter for this template.
[WSDProperty: submitter=myusername]
 

If you do not set any WSD properties in the body of your e-mail, the new request generates the following information, as displayed on the request's  Properties screen: 

  • Request: - EMAIL: <subject line from e-mail>  
  • Request Type: - EMAIL (this should be changed to ADD, MODIFY, MOVE, RENAME, or DELETE before the request is approved to the next stage). 
  • Filename - If the e-mail message includes an attached file, this is the file name of the attached file with no path. If there is no attached file, this field will be blank. You must prepend the necessary path information before the request can be published. 
  • Subject - The e-mail subject line description. 
  • Submitted By: WSD attempts to match the sender's e-mail address with that of an authorized WSD user. 
    • If a match is found, the user's name is inserted in the Submitted By: field  
    • If WSD cannot match the e-mail address with an authorized WSD user, Submitted By: will be the sender's e-mail address
  • Author: WSD examines System Policies for the "Default Author to Submitter:" setting.  
    • If that policy is turned on, the "Submitted By:" value is also placed in the Author: field 
    • If that policy is not turned on, Author: will be shown as UNKNOWN
  • Maintainer: WSD examines System Policies for the "Default Maintainer to Submitter:" setting.  
    • If that policy is turned on, the "Submitted By:" value is placed in the Maintainer: field 
    • If that policy is not turned on, Maintainer: will be shown as UNKNOWN
If the document you are adding/updating via e-mail uses a Page-Layout Template, your e-mail contributor can use an abbreviated format of template tags to provide information for insertion into the page-layout template associated with the e-mail submission. Each tag should begin on a new line in the format:
  • <!--[name=<field-name>]--> (used for all field types except type=IMAGE, and type=HYPERLINK)
    <Content to be placed in <field-name>....>
    <!--[END]-->
  • <!--[type=IMAGE name=<field-name>]-->
    src="<name/location of selected image>"
    <!--[END]-->
  • <!--[type=HYPERLINK name=<field-name>]-->
    href="URL to referenced content"
    <!--[END]-->

For additional information regarding Page-Layout template tags, see the  Template Language tutorial.

WSD's E-mail Submission Module (wsdsavemail)  

E-mail submissions are handled by the wsdsavemail module. The wsdsavemail module acts as a filter for incoming e-mail messages. The wsdsavemail module works with any mail system that can pass received mail to the standard input of a filter program. 

Windows NT Servers  -To submit content via E-mail directly into WSD under Windows NT you must have a mail server installed on your Windows NT server that can pass received mail to the wsdsavemail module. The mail server and WSD must be active in order to receive e-mail submissions. If your Windows NT mail server does not provide this capability or you do not have a mail server installed,  we recommend using the FTGate Mail Server from Floosietek Ltd (see Mail Servers below).E-mail aliases pointing at WSDSAVEMAIL on the NT server must be installed for each type of e-mail submission allowed. See discussion under UNIX Servers below.

UNIX Servers-For the UNIX platform, wsdsavemail was designed to work with the sendmail mail processing system that is included with most UNIX systems. To set up sendmail to use the WSD wsdsavemail module, you need to configure a sendmail "alias" that forwards mail to a particular e-mail address on to the wsdsavemail module. For most sendmail installations, you should add an alias by adding the following entry to the /etc/aliases file:

submit-doc@mycompany.com "|/usr/www/cgi-bin/wsd/wsdsavemail" 
submit-template@mycompany.com "|/usr/www/cgi-bin/wsd/wsdsavemail TEMPLATE
submit-editing@mycompany.com "|/usr/www/cgi-bin/wsd/wsdsavemail 1
submit-template-editing@mycompany.com |/usr/www/cgi-bin/wsd/wsdsavemail 1 TEMPLATE"

  • The first part of the line specifies the e-mail address that will receive the e-mail submissions (for example, submit-doc@mycomany.com) 
  • The vertical bar character redirects the e-mail message to the standard input of the wsdsavemail program. 
  • The domain part of the e-mail address should be the machine name or virtual name of the web server (i.e., the full path to the wsdsavemail program so that sendmail can find the program when processing the message). 
  • Following the domain name is the optional <stage id> which indicates the relative position of the workflow stage into which the submission shhould be placed (for example - 1).
  • The last part of the line specifies the request category for the submission: DOCUMENT (default) or TEMPLATE.
After saving the updated /etc/aliases file, you should issue the "newaliases" command to update the sendmail alias list. If you are not familiar with setting up e-mail aliases, check the sendmail documentation for your system to see if it works differently from the instructions given above.

If the above alias was set up on the machine known as www.mycompany.com, the full e-mail address for submitting requests by e-mail to WSD would be: 

"submit-doc@mycompany.com"
Mail Server for Windows

If you don't have a Windows NT mail server, you can download and license FTGate from FloosieTek.To download and install FTGate, complete the following steps:

  1. Create a <temporary mail server install directory> for FTGate. 
  2. Go to the FTGate Mail Server Download page. 
  3. Point to one of the available links to download the 2.3 mb file into the <temporary mail server install directory>. 
    • Note: FTGate will not work with directory names containing spaces, or if there are quotes around the directory names.
  4. Run the downloaded FTGate Mail Server self-installing program. 
    • The Server Install Program starts up.
  5. Follow the instructions on the wizard.  
  6. When the release notes screen displays, click Next. 
    • You can run FTGate as an application or as a Service.
  7. Select the FTGate Service Version and Help File 
  8. Specify the directory into which FTGate will be installed. 
      Note: Please remember to specify an FTGate installation directory that does NOT contain any spaces in the directory path. For example: 
        c:\MailServer\FTGate
  9. Follow the instructions to select a program group for the desktop. 
    • The install program will display an SMTP Gateway screen Under Gateway machine: 
      • If you plan to use this mail server for more than WSD, or you want to support outbound mail with this server, type the IP hostname of machine to which outbound mail is to be routed. 
      • If this mail server will only be used for WSD, put in the IP hostname of the current machine.
  10. Under "Directory in which to spool incoming mail...", specify a directory to store incoming mail messages. 
  11.  Select one of the following: 
    • If this server is connected to a LAN, select "Use a direct LAN connection" (should be the only viable selection). 
    • If you are using dialup, select "Use a dialup router or proxy server," and if you select dialup, enter the dialup profile.
  12. Enter the Primary Domain Name of the server Postmaster Account. 
  13. Enter the mailbox name and password for the mail system administrator. 
  14. After you receive the "Setup was successful" message, click Close. 

You must create a batch file named wsdsavemail.bat to be used in Step 8 of Configuring FTGate below. The batch file must contain the following:
 

Line 1:"<full path of the WSD savemail program>"   <   %1
For example: "c:\Program Files\WebSite Pro\WebSite\wsd\wsdsavemail.exe" < %1
Line 2: If you want to delete the mail message after it's been submitted to WSD, add the following as line two:
DEL %1
Then you must configure FTGate to Run as an NT Service
  1. Go to the folder named FTGate. 
  2. Double-click Start FTGate NT Service. 
  3. Double-click Mailbox Manager. 
    • The FTGate Mailbox Manager Window displays the list of mailboxes in the system.
  4. Click Add to add a new Mailbox. 
    • The Add Mailbox or Alias window displays.
  5. Type the Mailbox/Alias name that you want submitters to use to when submitting documents via e-mail. 
    • For example: submit-doc
  6. Click Robot as the Mailbox Type (this is the type of mailbox that passes incoming mail to an external program). 
  7. Click Create... 
    • The Robot mailbox configuration window displays.
  8. Go to the bottom of this window under "Command" and type the following: 
      "<full path to the WSDinstalldirectory>\<batch file name>"  %FILE%
      For example: "d:\Program Files\WebSite Pro\WebSite\wsd\wsdsavemail.bat" %FILE%
  9. This line passes the file name of the incoming mail message as a parameter to the batchfile.
  10. Click OK. 
  11. Click OK on Mailbox Manager. 
  12. Exit FTGate.
Before you allow users to begin sending e-mail submissions to WSD, test your setup by submitting several types of e-mail submissions with your mail server. This will also allow the individuals responsible for completing the Document Info screen  information for the e-mail submissions to become familiar with this process.
    Note: The WSD e-mail submissions process has been tested with many mailers, including Eudora, MS Outlook, Netscape, and Microsoft Exchange. If you are not using one of these mailers, please include the following e-mail submissions in your testing:
    • Plain-text e-mail message with no attachments 
    • E-mail-message with a single attachment 
    • E-mail message with multiple attachments
    If you encounter any problems using your mailer to send e-mail submissions, please contact us at wsd-support@cyberteams.com . 

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