How image uploading works for the EditLive! editor

EditLive! support the uploading of local images inserted into the editor either directly or via import from Microsoft Word.

Disable HTTP Only cookies

The Image Upload feature in EditLive! requires the disabling of the HTTP Only cookies setting for Connections. This setting defaults to turn HTTP Only cookies on in IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.0 and higher.

Insert Local Images

EditLive! supports the insertion of images local to a user's machine. Image upload is available in all IBM Connections applications that use EditLive!.

How to insert local images

Users can insert images as follows:

Using the Insert Image dialog box, which is accessed via the Insert Image menu items and toolbar buttons
Dragging-and-dropping into the editor from Microsoft Windows Explorer.
Note: Drag-and-drop is not available on OSX.
Copying-and-pasting from a Microsoft Word document .

Imported and Edited Images

Images that are imported from Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and screen captures or that are created and modified via EditLive!'s built-in image editor are temporarily stored on a user's hard drive. These images are then uploaded to the IBM Connections server when the content item is saved, previewed or saved as a draft.

Dialog boxes

For image upload, EditLive uses either an IBM Connections or an EditLive! dialog box.

Wikis and Blogs use the IBM Connections dialog.
Profiles, Forums, Activities, Edit Community, and Events use the EditLive! dialog.

Where images are uploaded to

In Wikis, Blogs, and Activities, images are added as an attachment to the content item.
In Community descriptions, Events, and Profiles: images are added to the Files application.

When are images uploaded?

If images are uploaded using the Connections built-in dialog boxes, then they are uploaded immediately.
If images are added to EditLive! using the copy-and-paste action, drag-and-drop, or the EditLive! dialog boxes, then they are uploaded when the content item is saved.
If any of the EditLive! image-editing tools are used to edit an image, then the edited image is uploaded when the content item is saved.

Storing images in the Files applications

As previously described, EditLive! for Connections relies on the use of the IBM Connections Files application for image upload in some applications. Images uploaded to Files are always uploaded to the current user's My Files area within the IBM Connections Files application. The access permissions of uploaded images are determined by whether the instance of the application is being accessed from within a Community or not.

Note: The IBM Connections Files application must be installed and available on the /Files context root on the web server for image upload to function in all IBM Connections applications other than wikis and blogs. If the IBM Connections Files application is not available, then images will not be uploaded for applications other than wikis and blogs. When the content is saved and viewed in these applications, broken images will appear in place of the inserted image. In this case, it's best to turn off functionality related to image upload using the allowUploadToFilesApp setting.

Within Communities

For content within application instances within a Community, images are uploaded as private and shared with the relevant Community. These images are tagged with editlive and will have their file names prefixed with editlive-.

Note: Due to limitations within the IBM Connections security model and the Files application, images uploaded within a moderated community are required to be uploaded as public.

Outside Communities

Images are uploaded as public images and are denoted using the metadata tag editlive and will have their file names prefixed with editlive-.

Note: In some environments it may be undesirable for images to be uploaded to the Files application, for example, when the Files application is not available or the administrator does not want images to be made public under any circumstances, even within public application instances. In these situations Image Upload and the related functionality mentioned previously can be turned off through the allowUploadToFilesApp JavaScript configuration setting. For more information see Changing the EditLive! Configuration.