Using an option selection element

An option selection element can only be added to an authoring template. You create a predefined set of values for content creators to select from when creating a content item or site area.

1. Open or create an authoring template.
2. Click Manage Elements .
3. Select Option Selection as the element type.
4. Enter a name. Do not use double-byte and non-ASCII characters.
5. Enter a display title to use as the title of the element displayed indexes and forms.
6. If you have created a text provider plug-in for a multi-locale site, you can also select the text provider and enter a key to look up a string from the selected text provider. The text provider displays a different display title for each language it has been configured for. The text entered in the Display Title field is only used if an appropriate display title is not available from the selected text provider, or if the text provider is not available.
7. Click OK. The option selection element is added to your form.
8. Go to the Default Content tab.
9. Go to the option selection element you created.
10. To display the element as a required field select Identify this as a required field.
11. To hide a field on the content form from all users select Hide field. You must specify a default value if the field is a required field.
    Note: Administrators and managers can choose to display hidden fields and elements in an item by clicking Show hidden fields.
12. Select whether to allow content creators to be able to select multiple options, or just a single option. If using multiple select, you can also specify the minimum and maximum selections a content creator can make.
13. Select an option type:
    1. Select Use Taxonomy if you want to select categories from a taxonomy.
       • Select All available categories if you want your content creators to be able to select any category.
       • Select Selected Categories Only if you want to specify which categories will appear in the option selection element. The categories you select and any of their children will be available for selection by content creators.
       • Select Include selected categories in the item's profile if you want the categories selected by a user to be added to the item's profile.
         Note: Some options will allow users to select a taxonomy in the option selection element. Although a user can select a taxonomy, the selected taxonomy will not be added to the item profile. Only categories directly selected by users will be added to the item profile.
    2. Select User Defined to define a set of options. Type the options in the user defined field, one on each line, in exactly the order you want them to appear on the content form.
14. The options can be displayed as either radio buttons, a drop-down list or a paged table. You can also select to "automatically select the most appropriate option". If there are five options or less, radio buttons are used. If there are more then five, but less than twenty-one, a dropdown list is used. If there are more than twenty options, a paged table is used.
15. Select the users or groups you want to grant edit access to a field or element by clicking Add Editors.
16. Select the users or groups you want to grant view access to a field or element by clicking Add Viewers.
17. Type field specific help into Field help text. This displays the element in the content form.

    If you have created a text provider plug-in for a multi-locale site, you can also select the text provider and enter a key to look up a string from the selected text provider. The text provider displays a different help text for each language it has been configured for. The text entered in the Field help field will then only be used if an appropriate help text is not available from the selected text provider, or if the text provider is not available.

18. Save the authoring template.