Story
Magnolia offers me a list of all digital assets used on a site. In fact, if I have configure multiple sites, I can restrict that list to only show me the assets of a particular site. I'm also free to search for assets using various filters.
I may retrieve infos on the renditions defined for a particular asset. For every rendition, I get a preview and meta data such as the format it uses. Of course, I may select one the renditions and directly work with them: I can edit a rendition, if I have the necessary rights and remove it. I can also add new renditions to an asset right from here.
Alternatively, I may switch the list to show me the list of all renditions of all assets instead. This view is great as I can easily sort all items which I may actually use on pages by various attributes such as the asset type and the current status.
Description of desired behavior
The list of assets
The list view shows all assets as a flat list. If the asset set supports folders, the list nevertheless ignores the hierarchy defined by them and shows all assets of all levels at the same time. The list view is very convenient to sort all existing assets using one of the criteria shown by columns.
The list view shows the asset status (published, changed and published, unpublished), but also indicates, if the asset is currently in a workflow.
Note that since assets are grouped by asset sets, a list always shows the assets of one particular asset set. You may not retrieve a list of all assets in all asset sets at once.
Display all renditions of an asset
Every asset with at least one rendition features a little triangle (or similar element), which can be clicked to view its renditions. The renditions of an asset are shown in-place inside the tree - the panel showing them moves down the other entries below when it appears.
Renditions are shown with typical data allowing to identify them such as a format string combining both their format, resolution, and color info (or whatever is appropriate for the asset type). It should also be clear if a rendition is currently published or not, and whether it is being currently worked on in a workflow. For rows showing renditions, the column layout of the surrounding tree does not apply, but information should appear well aligned between rows and possibly to the row showing the asset as well.
Selecting a rendition
Rendition rows must be selectable. Selecting a rendition shows a preview and the list of actions applicable to it in the sidebar. The information shown by the preview is similar to details shown on an asset, but focuses on rendition information instead.
It's ok to allow a user to select both renditions and assets at the same time, even though the actions and preview view may then not show much of interest and mostly disabled actions only.
Showing the renditions only
By default, the list view shows the list of assets. You may open an asset to show its renditions. A switch in the toolbar allows to switch the list to show the (flat) list of all renditions instead. This comes in handy if you would like to sort renditions by one of the criteria offered by the table columns or if you'd like to restrict the list to only show items you an actually place on a page (that's what renditions are for).
A separate column textually links back to the asset a rendition belongs to, but there's no direct way to select an asset or view its details. However, if you select a rendition, that rendition stays selected when you switch back to the list of assets so you may easily retrieve additional details on the asset from there. Likewise, if I select an asset, then switch to the list of renditions, all renditions of that asset are selected.
Search and filter the list of assets
A search function similar to the one available for pages is existing for digital assets as well. A simple text filter searches on the name of the asset in case the list shows mainly assets, but also searches on rendition names if it shows renditions. Advanced search queries can be constructed as well, allow to filter by type, format and various other attributes defined in the meta data of an asset.
Note that since assets are grouped by asset sets, a search is always only run on the assets of one particular asset set. You may not search all assets of all asset sets in one go.
Filter list by site
The advanced search settings of the page list allow to restrict the assets displayed to only include those of a particular site. This largely depends on how multi-sites are configured in a setup; if site definitions exist, such a filter shall be available as well.