Extensis Portfolio Web Client Guidance to Remote User Teams

We often talk about the importance of a single source of truth for digital asset management. But accessing that single source of truth needs to be easy — no matter where you are. The Portfolio Web Client interface has been designed from the ground up to provide remote users with quick and easy access to large content libraries. It also provides them with powerful tools to facilitate easy downloading, batch conversion, drag and drop uploading, and bulk tagging.

Portfolio's Server-Side AutoSync technology allows for the automatic monitoring of "Watched Folders" residing within direct-attached drives or selected SMB file shares. And teams are sure to experience hassle-free workflows when interacting with large content repositories, thanks to lightning-fast, predictive QuickFind search technology, and the ability to instantaneously display thumbnails and high-resolution previews.

Whether your team has been remote from the start or has just recently made the switch, there are a few tips we have for ensuring that all your users have a great experience, save time, and get the most value out of the Portfolio Web Client — wherever they may be.

• Web Browser + Connection Speed — Chances are that one of your top reasons for implementing Portfolio was to save time. Luckily, your team can continue full speed ahead, unless a slow internet connection is slowing them down. Ensure that users are connecting using current versions of Google Chrome (preferred), Microsoft Edge (Chromium), Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari — with at least a 10 Mbps bi-directional connection to the internet. Users who have just recently started working remotely should verify their connection speeds with a standard Speedtest. Note that users with slower internet should still be able to connect, but a "sluggish" experience within the Portfolio Web Client Interface will likely not meet long-term usage expectations.
• Drag & Drop Uploading  — Content creators with Publisher access to one or more Portfolio Catalogs can easily upload content residing on their local workstation. Our simple drag and drop functionality lets users quickly and easily upload content within a selected Watched Folder structure. Note that the selected complex folder structures will also be recreated within Portfolio's Watched Folder structure during the upload process.
  
  
• Batch Metadata Editing — Sometimes, your users will need to edit metadata for a large variety of assets. Instead of tackling them one at a time, they can use Portfolio's new Batch Edit dialog. Batch editing is ideal for projects requiring large asset selections with multiple field value edits. It provides users with advanced metadata editing capabilities — including the ability to add or remove specified values, clear all values, and search and replace values.
• Metadata Exporting / Importing — Portfolio's Export Field Values tool empowers users to selectively download asset metadata as tab-delimited text. It’s suitable for import into various business systems and/or viewing within spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel. The Import Field Values tool provides the ability to quickly import metadata (originating from other workflow processes and/or systems) via tab-delimited text to existing assets.
• Downloading + Batch Processing / Cropping + Converting — Once users have located their desired content, the Portfolio Web Client provides the ability to quickly download selected originals as well as Batch Process assets in a variety of target formats, color modes, resolutions, and sizes. Portfolio's recently enhanced Preview tool now includes the ability to selectively crop, download, and convert a portion of the preview content with the added capability of Deep Zoom within high-resolution geospatial content, such as MrSID files.
• Managed Uploading — For business workflows where assets may need to be uploaded and tagged in a more controlled fashion, Portfolio provides a Managed Upload feature. It can be enabled for selected catalogs which display a customizable dialog during the asset uploading process — including relevant notes and highlighting mandatory metadata fields, prior to permitting the finalized upload job.