40 Working with Start Menu Items
Each option in a start menu is a start menu item. A start menu item names the type of asset a user can create, copy, or search for. For example, the New start menu shown in New Menu in the Admin Interface belongs to the Admin Interface and shows 16 start menus items to the user authorized to work with the items. The user can create assets of the types listed in the menu.
In the Admin Interface, start menu items are shown in a list when users click New or Search in the button bar.
You configure the start menu items to determine the following about the assets that are created with them:
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Which roles on which sites have access to the start menu item. Specifying roles controls which content providers can create or search for assets of this type on the specified sites.
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Field/value pairs. You can supply values for certain fields so that those fields are automatically filled in whenever a content provider creates an asset with the shortcut.
For example, for basic assets, it can be useful to have the start menu item set a pre-determined value for the Dimension, Description, End Date, Start Date, Subtype, Template or User fields (or some combination). If your basic assets have associations that can be different based on the subtype of the asset, be sure to create start menu items that set a subtype for new assets so that the only the appropriate associations appear in the New form.
For flex assets, it is useful to have start menu items that set the flex definition for new flex assets so the content providers have fewer steps.
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Which workflow process to assign by default to new assets created with the start menu item and the users who participate in that workflow process.
Start menu items also determine whether certain operations can be performed on an asset type that is listed in a tree (in the Admin interface). If an asset type is shown on a tree, but there is no start menu item created for it, the only options listed in the right-click menu for the asset type are Refresh, Edit, and Inspect. To have the New option included in the right-click menu, a New start menu item must be created for the asset type.