Data Structure Outline

Here is an outline of the different data types in the format described above and their properties:

Data type	Properties	Client object location	Server entity location
Living Story	Id Title URL Summary List of themes List of content	com.google.livingstories.client.LivingStory	com.google.livingstories.server.dataservices.impl.LivingStoryEntity
Theme	Id Name Living story id	com.google.livingstories.client.Theme	com.google.livingstories.server.dataservices.impl.ThemeEntity
Content Element	Id Living story id Type HTML content Importance Update timestamp Location Source List of contributors List of themes List of associated content elements Optional properties based on type	com.google.livingstories.client.BaseContentItem	com.google.livingstories.server.dataservices.impl.BaseContentEntity
User	Id Email address Nickname Is admin Default story view setting List of living story data: living story id last visit time is subscribed to email	-	com.google.livingstories.server.dataservices.impl.UserEntity

Content elements can exist without having a living story id. There are certain types of content elements that are general and don't belong to a particular living story, but can be used in multiple. A good example of this are people. People can play a role in multiple stories. So they can have a general entity that doesn't have a living story id that describes them in general and then another story-specific entity for a particular story they are playing a role in that talks more about their role in that story. Another category of people who won't have a living story id are contributors because they can contribute to multiple stories.

Content Types

The Content Items can be of various different types and other than the common properties described in the table above, they have some special properties depending on the type.

Content type	Explanation	Types	Other properties	What does the "HTML content" field contain for this type?	Notes and special behaviors
Event	A development in the story	-	Update Summary Start date End date (optional)	Details of the development that don't fit into any of the other content types.	Always displayed in the main update stream. Appears as "News" in the filter column.
Narrative	A long-form piece that expresses an opinion or investigates an issue. May or may not be tied to a particular new development in the story.	Feature Analysis Investigation Profile Editorial Op-Ed Letter to the editor Review Column Op Ed Column	Headline Summary Date	The full body text of the narrative.	Displayed as an update in the stream if it is not linked from any other event or narrative. If it is linked from another event or narrative, then it is displayed within the block of the containing element and not as a top-level update in the main stream. Content of this type is divided into 2 filters on the story page: "Features" and "Opinion". Narratives of types Editorial, Op-Ed, Letter to the editor, and Op-Ed Column are considered 'Opinion' and the rest are 'Features'.
Background	Information not directly related to the story, but essential for understanding the context. Can also be used for concepts that are important to understanding the significance of the story.	-	Concept Name (optional)	The text of the background or explanation of the concept.	If a concept name is assigned to the background element, the concept name is auto-linked in the HTML content of all other content. If the user clicks on the concept name wherever it appears on the story page, they are shown a pop-up with the text of the concept.
Asset	Multimedia, documents and external links.	Image Video Audio Graphic Document Link	Caption Preview image URL	The HTML to render the video, audio, link, document, etc. Except for images, where the HTML content should just be a URL to the full image.	The preview images for photos, video and graphics are shown in the stream and multimedia filtered views. Clicking on them opens a lightbox that shows the full version.
Player	A person or organization that is playing an important role in the story.	Person Organization	If there is no story id: Name Aliases Photo If there is a story id: Parent player entity id	If there is no story id, it represents general bio or profile information for a person or organization. If there is a story id, it represents an explanation of the specific role that the person or organization is playing in that story.	Also used to represent authors, photographers and contributors in the system. The player entities for contributors don't have an assigned living story. A player with a living story id always has to have a parent player entity assigned that has no living story id. The players for stories inherit properties such as names, aliases and photo from the parent. Names of players are automatically linked in the content. Clicking on the name brings up a pop-up with a brief explanation of their role in the story. And a link to take the user to a page that gives the full bio information about that player along with other content related to them.
Reaction	The reaction of a person or group to a new development in the story.	-	-	Content of the reaction	-
Quote	A direct or indirect quote.	-	-	Content of the quote along with who said it	-
Data/Fact	Numerical data or facts associated with the story.	-	-	HTML for how the data should be rendered.	-

Comment by rockey.n...@gmail.com, Mar 14, 2010

I can't see content type 'Data' in 'Select Content Type' dropdown..What am I missing?

Comment by nehasi...@google.com, Mar 15, 2010

The 'data' content type is called "Fact" in the dropdown. We unfortunately have 2 names for this content type that we use interchangeably in the code. I have updated the documentation on this page. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Comment by rockey.n...@gmail.com, Mar 21, 2010

Thanks Neha for getting back to me

Comment by patrick.hawks, May 1, 2010

Why aren't Assets allowed dates?

Comment by alie...@gmail.com, Dec 22, 2010

How can one get the timeline to appear in the background section of a Story ?

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