Add Insert Image dialog from XML Author/Editor to WebAuthor

[mknebel]

In standalone Oxygen, the Insert Image action opens a dialog where you can select an image file, add a title and define relevant attributes:

image.png

Depending on whether you add a title, a <fig> element with an <image> is created or only an <image> element. This logic works great in nearly all cases.
However, in WebAuthor, a much simpler version is implemented:

WebAuthor_Insert_Image.png

People are using WebAuthor as primary editing tool more and more. Therefore it would be great if we could have the same functionality in WebAuthor as we have in standalone. The use cases would be to a) be able to add a title so that the image gets automatically wrapped in a figure and b) to set some attributes like width. This would greatly help authors that are not DITA and XML experts and currently might have a hard time inserting images the way it is expected.

[cosminef]

Hello,

We have logged an internal issue (WA-9066) for the use case you described and added your vote to it. To help us understand how to prioritize it, could you tell us how users are affected by the current image insertion method in Web Author?

Best,
Cosmin

[mknebel]

Hi Cosmin,

Sorry for the very late reply, I never got an e-mail notification for your answer and did not check my post again.

The authors in question are non-trained contributors that need to be able to add content on their own. According to the information architecture they are supposed to always add a title to their images, so ideally they should be able to do that in a dialog that is similar to the one in standalone Oxygen.
Right now, if they click the "Insert Image" button in the topic body the image ends up in a <p>, which is valid, but not what we want.

They would need to manually wrap the image inside of a <fig> element, which can be difficult if they don't know what they are looking for. Also, they partly work from within a CCMS interface that does not provide the Content Completion dialog for contributors, which means you have to find the Insert Elements dialog via the context menu first.

We have a separate action as a workaround that inserts the <fig> element, but this is not the preferred user experience.

The expected behavior for the Insert image button in Web Authors should be:
- If the author adds a title, automatically create a <fig> element with a title and place it in a valid location
- If the author does not add a title, then just add <image> and place it in a valid location

Hope this makes it clearer,
best regards
Marion

PS: do you have any updates regarding the internal ticket in the meantime?

[cosminef]

Hello Marion,

Thank you for your feedback.

At the moment, this issue has not yet been scheduled for development. We have noted your requirements, and once it becomes available, we will notify you here on the forum.
Alternatively, we can continue the discussion via email at support@oxygenxml.com if you would like to be notified by email.

Best,
Cosmin

[mknebel]

Hi Cosmin,

I think it is fine if I just look in here from time to time. But if you would like to have further input regarding out use cases, please feel free to contact me directly via e-mail.

Best regards
Marion