Import media from a URL

To import an image from a web address, give Sonta the image's https address and the entry and image field it belongs to. Sonta downloads it into the Asset Library and attaches it in one step: it replaces the picture in an image field, or is added to the end of a gallery.

Requirements

• A role that can manage the Asset Library.
• The entry exists, and its collection has an image or gallery field. See Attach an asset to an entry.
• A public address for the image that starts with https.

Steps

1. Copy the image's address. A dealer adding a vehicle photo from the manufacturer's media page copies the direct address of the image itself, not the page it sits on.
2. Choose the entry and the field. An image field holds one picture; a gallery holds several in order.
3. Import. Sonta downloads the image, stores it as an asset, and attaches it. In an image field it replaces the current picture; in a gallery it is added at the end.

For many images at once, an agent can run the same import in bulk; see Bulk media import.

Why an import fails

If anything goes wrong, nothing is half-written: the field stays as it was, and the failure is named.

• The address is not allowed: it does not start with https, or it points at a private or internal network.
• The download failed: the page was not found, access was refused, the server failed, it timed out, or it redirected too many times.
• The file is not usable: it is not an image, it is in an unsupported format, it is too large, or it could not be read.
• The target is wrong: the entry or field does not exist, or the field is not an image or gallery field.

Notes and limitations

• Formats. JPEG, PNG, and WebP only.
• Each address is downloaded once. Importing the same address again in the same business reuses the asset already in the library instead of downloading a second copy.
• No automations fire. Attaching an image this way is a plain data update; automations watching the entry do not run because of it.
• Address length. Up to 2,048 characters.

Related

For what the library is and how assets are shared across entries, see What the Asset Library is. To upload files from your device, see Upload a file or image.