Managing content dependencies

Magnolia helps you manage dependencies between pages and assets so you can avoid breaking links when editing or deleting content. You can preview incoming links before making changes and see dependency warnings during deletion. This ensures you understand the impact of your actions and helps maintain content integrity.

Use the View links action to check where a page or asset is referenced before you make changes such as editing or deleting it. The dialog lists incoming links and shows each referrer’s publication status, so you can quickly assess impact.

The action works with both simple and four-eye workflows, and is enabled by default in the Pages and Assets apps. Your administrator can enable it for other content apps if needed.

To view incoming links:

  1. Select a page or asset.

  2. In the action bar, click View links.

    View links dialog

  3. In the dialog, review the list of items that reference the selected item.

Consider this scenario:

  • A folder contains three assets.

  • Each asset links to the same page.

When you view links for each asset individually, the dialog shows one incoming link (the page). If you select the folder and view links, the dialog still shows one incoming link.

This is because the dependency is counted as one distinct link (the page), not as the sum of links from each asset in the folder.

When you mark a page or asset for deletion that’s linked to other pages or assets, a confirmation dialog appears. The dialog highlights potential broken links so you can confirm or cancel the deletion.

By default, this functionality is enabled in the Pages and Assets apps.

The dialog is triggered when you mark the following for deletion:

  • Pages linked to other pages, such as through child-parent relationships or internal teaser components.

  • Assets referenced in pages.

  • Folders containing any of the above.

The confirmation dialog includes a Links column that shows the number of affected links for the selected item. When deleting a folder, the column shows the total number of affected links for all items in the folder.

Marking an item for deletion confirmation dialog

  • They are only enabled by default in the Pages and Assets apps. Dependencies are only checked between pages and assets, not against other content apps. For example, if you delete an asset used in the Tours app, no warning appears. Your administrator can configure this to include additional content apps if needed.

  • When you mark an asset for deletion that’s contained in a page already marked for deletion (but not yet permanently deleted), Magnolia doesn’t show dependency warnings. The UI doesn’t highlight that the asset is still linked within the yet-to-be-deleted page. If the page is later restored, this may result in a broken link.

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