You can install LightRocket Media Manager on any Linux server, either locally (internally) or externally with a commercial hosting service.

If you install LightRocket Media Manager on a local machine, you'll need to ensure our technicians have secure remote access so we can setup, maintain and update your system.

If you are an administrator on the LightRocket system, you will notice a prominent green 'publish' button placed in various locations on the archive management page. 

You can publish a file (or files) by selecting it and then clicking on the green publish button (at which point it will turn red...simply click again to unpublished a published file)

Publishing a file means it will become visible/searchable on the front end of your system which is the public facing online interface of your platform. If you have an open archive, published files can be retrieved and viewed by any visitor to your online archive. 

But publishing a file doesn't mean it has to be 'public'. You can use LightRocket's 'set access' functionality to limit access to a published file (or files) thereby making it (them) visible only to those with corresponding authorisations. 

We are committed to ensuring you get the most from your LightRocket Media Manager platform. Once your system is installed and validated, it should run smoothly. But from time to time gremlins can emerge, especially when the system is updated.

Similarly there will be times when you need some advice or support from our team. You can also get more from a tool like LightRocket Media Manager by defining a strategy that matches your organisation's unique requirements.

Our support team can help you draw up that strategy, providing advice on custom work flows and helping imagine the best ways your LightRocket system can work for you.

The annual support and upgrades package costs just US$ 2,400. 

Our support team is available online or by phone during normal office hours and often beyond. We'll try and get back to you right away but our service pledge is to ensure you have a first level response within 24 hours. 

LightRocket's unique visibility meter indicates how easy a file will be to find in your archive. Visibility is determined by how many recommended 'file info' fields are complete. 

The more recommended fields you complete, the better your visibility indicator will be.

LightRocket recommends at least 5 file info fields be completed namely: captions, keywords, country/location, date, credit/copyright.

Admins can restrict access to selected files.

Select the file(s), choose the 'set access' option in the drop down list that appears under 'actions'. In the pop-up choose the level of access you wish to set.

This means that only registered users with corresponding access permissions will be able to view or view/download (depending on permissions granted) the file(s) for which access has been set. 

Click here to view a video tutorial on this topic

Admins can grant access rights in the in the user management area. 

By default we offer two levels of access - 'internal' and 'confidential' - but these can be renamed and you can add additional filters if you wish. 

There are two basic types of users on the LightRocket system: contributors and clients. Indeed you will see these two options on the registration page. 

Contributors are users who will upload files into the system. Typically these would be photographers, staff members reporting from the field or indeed any individual who wishes to upload material to your archives. 

Note too that any user you wish to make into a system admin will first need to register as a contributor. This is because admins need to have the ability to upload to the platform. 

Client users are those may wish to create and share lightboxes or download files from your system. This could be members of your comms team, designers or media contacts seeking imagery to illustrate a story about your work.