Using Metadata in the WebUI

Egnyte provides powerful built-in metadata capabilities that allow the users to efficiently set metadata properties on a large number of files and folders and enable quick searching of content based on metadata.  See this article for an overview of metadata features.

Administrators can create sections for metadata to allow their users to add and edit metadata for files and folders within the WebUI. The metadata properties are displayed in the file details and the folder details pane. The metadata can be used for searching in order to make finding related folders and files even easier. In this article, we'll cover how to create new metadata using the WebUI, how to edit and delete existing metadata, and how users can add metadata to files and folders.

Skip Ahead to...

Create Metadata

Add Metadata Sections to Folders (Limited Availability)

Remove Metadata Sections from Folders (Limited Availability)

Edit or Delete Metadata

Add Metadata to Content

Create Metadata

Admins can use the following steps to create new Metadata sections.

1. Select the Menu icon and click Settings from the drop-down. 
2. Choose the Metadata tab and click the Add New Section button.
3. Enter a name for the New Metadata Section.
   
   
   
   
4. Choose a scope for the New Metadata Section (Limited Availability). The scope can be one of the three values below.
   • Global - This metadata section is applicable to all files and folder 
   • Folder scoped - This metadata section is only applicable to items in the specific folders (and their subfolders) 
   • Filetype scoped - This metadata section is only applicable to specified filetype(s)
     
     
5. If Folder scoped is chosen, then the admin can optionally select one or more folders to associate with this section.
   
   
   
   
6. If Filetype scoped is chosen, the admin must choose at least one filetype from the dropdown list.
7. Choose whether inheritance should be enabled on this section. Note that inheritance can only be enabled at creation time. This property cannot be changed after the section has been created. See this article for a description of Metadata inheritance.
8. Enter the following property values for the new section. Up to twenty properties can be added to any given section.
   
   1. Property Name: Create a name for the property (required).
   2. Description: Provide additional details about the property (optional).
   3. Type: Select a type for the property (required). See descriptions of the types below:
      • Integer - A whole number
      • Decimal - Integer and non-integer numbers
      • String - A string of arbitrary characters
      • Date - Past, present, or future date
      • Dropdown with options - Provide predetermined options for users to select from
        
        
9. Once all of the needed information has been entered, click Save.

Add Metadata Sections to Folders (Limited Availability)

After a folder scoped Metadata Section has been created, an admin or a folder owner can associate the section with a folder by following these steps:

1. Go to folder listing view.
2. Click on the More menu and choose Folder Details and Options.
   
   
   
   
3. On the resulting pop-up dialog, click on the Associate metadata sections menu and choose the section that you would like to associate with this folder.
   
   

Remove Metadata Sections from Folders (Limited Availability)

An admin or a folder owner can dissociate a section from a folder using the same dialog box as above. In order to remove the association between a Metadata Section and a folder, perform the following steps: 

1. Go to folder listing view.
2. Click on the More menu and choose Folder Details and Options.
3. Click on the Remove option next to the section that you want to remove.
   
   
   
   
4. Note that if a value has been set for a property in a section, and that section is removed from the folder, the value of that property is not automatically deleted. Instead, the property is moved to Unassociated metadata sections.
   
   
5. The unassociated properties can be used for searching and filtering, just like any other metadata.

Edit or Delete Metadata

Admins can use the following steps to edit or delete existing Metadata sections.

1. From Settings  Choose the Metadata tab and click the Edit icon or the Delete icon. 
   
   
   
   
2. If you selected the Edit icon, make the necessary changes to the metadata section name or properties, including deleting a specific property, and click Save.

   You cannot change the section scope or inheritance after a section has been created.

   
   
   
   
3. If you selected the Delete icon, you will need to confirm that you want to remove this section by typing in a confirmation message and clicking Remove section.
   
   
   

Add Metadata to Content

Admins and users can use the following steps to edit Metadata in documents.

1. Navigate to the file or folder you want to add metadata to and open the Details section.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Find the section you want to edit and click on the Edit icon.
   
   
   
   
3. Add content and click Save.