Features

Media

Reusable images, videos, audio, logos, and documents

Sepiafarbener Foto-Negativstreifen
Unsplash License — Mathias Reding

Everything you'd expect from a modern media management system for web content.

Media types

  • Images with predefined cropping formats, including options for header images and teasers
  • Dedicated variant for profile pictures
  • External videos added simply via URL
  • Audio files
  • Files (e.g. PDFs) available for download
  • Logos (including SVG support)
  • Variant for sponsor logos (with URL)

Controlled reusability

In OpenCulturas, images and other media are typically grouped in a dedicated tab during content creation. The "Add media" button opens a modal layer where users can either select from existing media or upload new files directly.

When multiple images are allowed (e.g. for a slideshow), they can be uploaded in one step. Alternative text and license information can be added, and multiple images selected for insertion—all saved and placed at once. The order of media can then be adjusted by dragging and dropping preview thumbnails.

Access and permissions

Users can access and edit media they have uploaded. Additionally, they can use media published under a "free" license. For example, the Landscape Association of Southern Lower Saxony commissioned a photographer to document cultural sites in the region and makes these images available to all users on kulturis.online under a Creative Commons license.

Image editing tools

Images can be uploaded once and used in various formats (with optimized sizes) for different purposes. Cropping can be defined directly during upload—for instance, in a 2:1 format for headers, 16:9 for teasers, or in a freely selectable crop (e.g. for use in a gallery).

Sometimes images uploaded from smartphones appear rotated. These can be rotated in 90-degree increments until correctly oriented.

Creator and license information

Structured data capture includes:

  • License (Creative Commons licenses, licenses from common stock providers with free usage rights, or "All rights reserved" as fallback)
  • Author (name and URL)
  • Source (name and URL)

In the media library, filtering by license groups is supported.

  • Preview area with the current crop highlighted, tabs for 16:9, Free format, and 2:1
    Image crop

    Crop images directly for preset aspect ratios

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — OpenCulturas
  • Section in an editing mask: License information with a license selection field and input fields for source (text and URL) and author (text and URL)
    License information

    Capture license information in a structured way

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — OpenCulturas
  • Video editing form with fields for name, URL, and license information
    Remote video edit form (CMSG)

    From each preview image, an edit link takes you directly to the input mask.

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — CMS Garden /mju
  • Edit form for a sponsor logo with fields for name, image, URL, and a platform sponsor toggle
    Sponsor logo form (Theatris)
    All rights reserved

Media library

The media library is not only used during content maintenance—it can also be accessed independently, utilizing the full available screen width. You can choose between a gallery view with larger preview images and concise information, or a flexible, sortable table view with more detailed information.

A search field (searching by partial title) and several filters make it easier to locate existing files.

Outlook: We are working on a widely applicable tagging system for media, designed to support filtering within extensive media libraries. A promising concept already exists at CMS Garden.

  • Medienübersicht mit quadratischen Vorschaubildern (je 6 nebeneinander). Unter den Vorschaubildern mit Auswahlfeld stehen kurze Titel. Oberhalb des Vorschaubereichts: viele vorausgewählte Filterfelder
    Medienübersicht: elaborierte Filter

    Medienverwaltung: Beim CMS Garden wird die Verschlagwortung von Medien verprobt. Die seltener benötigten Filter sind in einen aufklappbaren Bereich gewandert.

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — CMS Garden /mju
  • Medienübersicht mit quadratischen Vorschaubildern (je 6 nebeneinander). Unter den Vorschaubildern mit Auswahlfeld stehen kurze Titel. Oberhalb des Vorschaubereichts: Filterfelder
    Medienübersicht: Galerie-Ansicht

    Medienverwaltung: Galeriedarstellung der Bibliothek

    Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International — OpenCulturas
  • Tabelle mit Auswahlfeld, Miniaturbild, Medienname, Typ, Autor:in, Veröffentlichungsstatus, Aktualisierungsdatum und Aktionen-Buttons. Oberhalb mehrere Filterfelder.
    Medienübersicht: tabellarische Ansicht

    Medienverwaltung: tabellarische Übersicht

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — OpenCulturas
  • Tabellarische Medienübersicht mit ausgewählten Zeilen-Checkboxen, am unteren Rand steht 50 ausgewählt mit der Möglichkeit, die Auswahl auf alle 295 zu erweitern, als Aktion ist Feldwerte ändern ausgewählt.
    Medienverwaltung: Stapelverearbeitung

    Gemeinsame Informationen können über eine Stapelverarbeitung bei den Medien ergänzt werden

    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — OpenCulturas /mju

Slideshows

Users can add any number of images and videos to their profile, location, or event. These are displayed in a slideshow format. The slideshows are accessible and can be operated via swipe gestures on smartphones and tablets.

Sponsor logos can be added to locations, events, and project pages, and are also displayed in a "slider". By default, up to three logos are shown side by side, and if there are more, they can be scrolled through.

The display options of the Swiffy Slider used are extensive and can be configured on a dedicated settings page, copied as a URL, and simply "dropped off" in OpenCulturas.

Downloads

For files offered as downloads, a special display format is used. The visually distinct links include a download icon and provide information about file type and size, as well as language and accessibility details if available.

Montage: Erfassungsmaske mit ausgewählten Dokumenten, daneben Seiten-Ausschnitt mit Titel Jetzt Mitglied werden und drei Download-Links für Satzung und Co.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — OpenCulturas /mju

Select documents from the media library, set their order, and save—your download section is ready.

Multilingual support

In multilingual setups, alternative texts and captions should be translatable. OpenCulturas goes one step further: if an image contains text elements (e.g. a text graphic), a different version of the image in the target language can be used. Media entries can be translated individually. For example, when a German-language article is translated into English, the featured image is automatically displayed with the translated alternative text—or even with a version containing the text in English.