Managing Parent and Child Channel Settings

Summary

This page explains how to manage settings across multiple channels using the Parent and Child channels functionality:

• relationship between parent and child channels

• how settings are inherited

• how to customize these settings for specific child channels

Relation between Parent and Child Channels

Parent Channel - is a primary channel whose settings can be passed down to other channels.

Child Channel - is a secondary channel set up to inherit settings from a designated parent channel. Only child channels can inherit settings.

Relations between parent and child channels are governed by a few simple rules:

• Parent to Child Flow: Setting changes made in a parent channel are automatically passed down (inherited) by its child channels.

• One-way Inheritance: Any settings changed in a child channel do not carry over to the parent channel.

• Inherited settings can still be customized: All settings inherited by a child channel can be customized individually for each child channel.  This allows adjustments for specific needs, like country-specific behaviour or language differences, while retaining baseline settings from the parent.

• Child channel customization can be reverted to parent channel defaults: Any customized setting in a child channel can be reverted back to inherit the current setting from its parent channel.

Identifying Parent and Child Channels

Parent and Child Channels in Channel Editing

Parent and child channels are grouped together in hierarchical order.

Parent channel can be easily identified by Type.

Parent and Child Channels in Channel Selection

Just like in the installer, parent and child channels are also displayed in groups in the channel selection.

Child channels are indented slightly and grouped under their parent.

Child Channels in Edit View

When editing settings within a child channel for functions that support multi-channel inheritance, unique icons will appear next to the settings to indicate their inheritance status.

Working with Inherited Settings in Child Channels

Only child channels can inherit settings. All Multi-Channel compatible functions will inherit the parent channel's settings.

If a child channel is selected in one of Multi-Channel compatible functions, all of its settings will be tagged with special symbols. These symbols are only used for and therefore only visible in child channels.

The Multi-Channel symbols appear in one of two constellations:

• Above a list of settings: allows you to filter the list for inherited, customized, new or deleted settings.

• Next to individual settings: denotes the status of the setting (inherited, customized, deleted) and allows for customization within the child channel.

Initially, all settings a child channel inherits are locked. To customize them:

1. Select the desired child channel and ensure configuration editing is enabled

2. Find the setting  to be customized and make sure it is tagged with the   symbol. If it isn't, the setting is not inherited, but has been modified before.

3. Click the   symbol. It should turn into a   symbol. Customization is available now

The customized setting is now exempt from inheritance. Any changes made to the parent channel will only carry over, if the setting is reset to the inherited version.

This option is only available for functions, which allow the deletion of entries. For example in the settings for the Search algorithm, inherited settings can only be customized or reset, not deleted.

To delete an inherited setting for the currently active child channel, follow these steps:

1. Select the desired child channel and ensure configuration editing is enabled

2. Find the setting to be deleted and make sure it is tagged with the   symbol. If it isn't, the setting is not inherited, but has been modified before.

3. Click the   symbol on the right. The will change into a   symbol and the setting in question will be struck out.

The customized setting is now exempt from inheritance. Any changes made to the parent channel will only carry over, if the setting is reset to the inherited version.

Any customized or deleted setting is now exempt from inheritance. To revert it and reset to the inherited version:

1. Select the desired child channel and ensure configuration editing is enabled

2. Find the setting you wish to customize and make sure it is tagged with the   or   symbol (otherwise it is an inherited setting).

3. Clicking the   or   symbol, or alternatively, click   . After confirmation in the pop-up dialogue, the setting will be reset to the   symbol.

The edited setting is now again inherited from the parent channel. Any changes made to the setting in the parent channel will carry over to the child channel.

Some functions (e.g. Thesaurus, Preprocessor, Stop Words, etc.) allow you to add new settings for child channels. These are exempt from inheritance and tagged with a symbol.

List of Inherited Settings