Metadata is descriptive information attached to digital assets that makes them searchable, organized, and contextual. It includes characteristics like title, author, creation date, file format, size, keywords, and more. Metadata enhances the organization, discoverability, and overall management of digital assets, enabling efficient search, filtering, and categorization.
Metadata is essential for enabling efficient search and filtering across large asset libraries. Without it, users must rely on filenames or manual browsing, which is time-consuming. Metadata enriches assets by offering valuable context that supports accurate discovery, reporting, and better understanding of when and how to use the content.
Metadata answers the "what, where, when, how, and who" about a digital asset. It is foundational for structure, governance, and usability.
Metadata can be broadly categorized into:
Custom metadata is defined using metafields. Each metafield captures specific information using one of the following field types:
Metadata Profiles define what metadata and components are visible on an asset. They include:
Every asset must have a metadata profile (unless no profiles exist). This ensures consistent metadata structure across different types of content. Metadata Profiles can also define which fields are mandatory.
Beyond custom metafields, the platform provides its own metadata. This comes in two forms.
These are captured by the platform and always present on an asset:
System metafields are built-in fields that behave like custom metafields but are provided by the platform rather than created by your organisation. They include:
Important: A system metafield must be added to a Metadata Profile before it appears on an asset. This is the most common reason a field seems to be missing – if your team cannot set a language, add an alert note, or record copyright on an asset, check that the field is included in the profile that asset uses.
Languages are the one system metafield with their own configuration. Administrators create and manage the available languages in Asset Settings > Languages, where each language is defined and given its flag. As above, Language must then be added to a Metadata Profile before users can assign it.
Metadata can be assigned at folder level as well as on individual assets. When a folder has metadata assigned, assets uploaded into that folder inherit those values automatically, which removes a large amount of repetitive entry for teams that organise content by campaign, product, or project.
Two behaviours are worth understanding:
Folder metadata is an optional feature enabled by an administrator, and is not available on the root of the Library. Assets cannot currently be searched or filtered by folder-assigned values specifically, and folder metadata cannot be bulk-edited across multiple folders.
How dates, times and numbers are displayed is controlled in Site Settings for the workspace and in My Profile for an individual user, under Date & Time. Only supported formats are accepted:
H:i, H:i:s, h:i a, h:i:s ad/m/Y, m/d/Y, Y/m/d, d-m-Y, m-d-Y, Y-m-den-US, de-DE, no-NOCombined date and time display can also be configured. Entering a format outside these lists is rejected.
The Metadata item in the Library navigation offers an alternative to folder browsing. It is hidden when a workspace has no metafields and no tags configured, and access to it is controlled by a permission, so not every user will see it. If you expect the Metadata view and cannot find it, contact your administrator.
Most files contain embedded metadata in EXIF, IPTC, or XMP formats. The platform can extract this information upon upload, providing technical data like camera model, exposure settings, geographical location, and file creation details. This helps auto-populate some standard metadata fields.
Metadata plays a crucial role in: