In the Tridion cms content is being stored in folders. The folders are similar to folders in file systems, they contain both subfolders and components. However if you wish to publish the content of an entire folder you will have to traverse all subfolders yourself in order to select and publish the components manually. Not exactly a job for volunteers.
Fortunately there is something called the Tridion API which allows you to write a (power)tool which takes care of traversing a folder hierarchy and republishing all the content in it. This will reduce the effort of republishing an entire folder to an acceptable level and give any script kid a huge sense of accomplishment.
Alas a tool like this is not very friendly to the users of the Tridion cms. They will ask why it is impossible to publish a folder in the same manner they can publish a structure group. The answer to this question is unknown to me at this point in time. Perhaps one of the Tridion employees reading this blog can enlighten me on this subject (and approve my comments on ideas.sdltridion.com).
Unfortunately changing the Tridion content manager explorer is not for the faint hearted. Which made this exercise an ideal initiation rite for any intern lounging about hoping to be accepted as an employee of ‘the firm’. In the zip-file you can find his Odyssey including the patched files for Tridion 5.3 (Dutch). The files come from the tridionweb folder on the CM server. They are not fit for any purpose use at your own peril (create a backup etc) and nobody, except perhaps the person installing these files, will be liable for any damages.
Kudo’s should be addressed to Oskar uit de Bos. If you think this is a useful addition to the Tridion content explorer please vote for the idea posted by Wouter van Vegchel and maybe sdl Tridion will implement it someday.
PS if you use a language other then Dutch you will need to add the following lines to your language file(TridionwebResource####ContextMenu.xml):
<resource id=”18000″ ref=”actFolderPublish”>Publish Folder</resource>
<resource id=”18001″ ref=”actFolderPublish”>UnPublish Folder</resource>