alberta sitecore user group creating exceptional web …files.meetup.com/5659972/2nd ab sitecore...
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Creating exceptional web
experiences with Sitecore’s CMS
December 4th, 2013
Alberta Sitecore User Group
Sitecore 7
Authoring enhancementsAgenda
Evolving your website
Let’s chat
Introductions
Sitecore 7
Authoring enhancementsAgenda
Evolving your website
Let’s chat
Introductions
Sitecore 7 overview
1. What’s new in Sitecore 7?
2. What does this mean for developers?
3. What does this mean for authors?
Sitecore 7
Sitecore 7What’s new?
Core concepts
• Increased scalability & integration
o Faster
o Robust
• The rise of search
o Impacts developers and authors
o Transformation in thinking about content
o Not where is it, but what is it?
Sitecore 7
Developer changesSitecore 7
Developer changes for Big Data
• Think search!
• Using ‘ContentSearch’ namespace
• You can forget about your old friends
o GetItem, GetField, Page Editor
• Testability!
o POCO, Interfaces & LINQ
• More later…
Sitecore 7
Content author changesSitecore 7
99 Problems (Content authors remix)
• Websites have a lot data
• Too complicated to organize
• Hierarchies don’t always work (for navigation or authors)
• Authors managing web content + data
Sitecore 7
Introducing item buckets
• Search-powered
• Simplifies large volumes of data into a single node
• Simplifies authoring
• Simplifies organization
• New ways to interact with items (stay tuned)
Sitecore 7
Taxonomy before item buckets
• Training
• US
• Oil
• Web
• In-Person
• Course
• Gas
• Green
• Canada
• Oil
• Gas
• Green
Sitecore 7
• Books
• A
• B
• Bee Book
• C
• Cat And The Hat
• Civil War
• Crime & Punishment
• D
• E
• Ender’s Game
• F
• G
• The Great Gatsby
Too complex Too simple
After item bucketsSitecore 7
When to use item buckets
• When content:
o Can be described in multiple ways
o Large volume
• Press releases
• Galleries
• Knowledge bases
• Blogs, stories, articles
Sitecore 7
Search in Sitecore 7
• Easier to authors to find items
• Find items in new ways
• Interact with items in new ways
• Search is everywhere!
Sitecore 7
Everywhere
• Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search! Search!
Sitecore 7
Search tabSitecore 7
Search from where you areSitecore 7
Multiple tabsSitecore 7
Filter with faceted SearchSitecore 7
Filter With Faceted SearchSitecore 7
Tailor the resultsSitecore 7
Quick actionsSitecore 7
ShortcutsSitecore 7
Advanced SearchSitecore 7
Bulk actions!Sitecore 7
Sitecore 7
Authoring enhancementsAgenda
Evolving your website
Let’s chat
Introductions
Today’s authoring enhancements
• Custom fields
• Extending workflow
• Alternative editors
Custom fieldsBaking from scratch
Custom fields
• Most authoring tasks are handled by Sitecore field types:
o Simple Types:
Text, Date, Checkbox, Image
o List Types:
Droplist, Multilist, Treelist
o Link Types:
Droplink, Droptree, General Link
Authoring enhancements
Custom fieldsAuthoring Enhancements
Custom fields
• Why use custom types?
o Smooth the authoring experience
o Reduce complexity of rendering logic
o Make business rules more apparent to authors
Authoring enhancements
Custom fields
• Examples
o Unbound Dropdown
o Field Sourced Tree List
o Many-to-Many Relationships
Authoring enhancements
Custom fields
• Unbound Dropdown
Authoring enhancements
Custom fields
• Field Sourced Tree List
Authoring enhancements
Custom fields
• Many-to-Many Relationships
Authoring enhancements
Extending workflowNotifications and interactions
Extending workflow
• Email notifications
• Workflow interactions
Authoring enhancements
Email notification
• Out-of-the-box email notification from workflow:
o Allows customized static text
o Limited variable tokens (path, language, version)
Authoring enhancements
Email notification
• More meaningful to the author/approver
o Custom tokens
o Dynamic text (comments, preview URL)
o Conditional text
Authoring enhancements
Email notification
• Example email
Authoring enhancements
Workflow interactions
• Publish to a preview server
• Link to approve or reject over email
Authoring enhancements
Alternative editorsMarkdown in Sitecore
Shape of content
• Two main way of entering content in Sitecore
o Single-line text
titles, labels, (simple content)
o Rich Text
HTML-based, WYSIWYG, flexible, complex content
Authoring enhancements
Rich text, defend yourself
• HTML is XML
• Simple, but not accessible, author requires knowledge
• Dan doesn’t even like to do it
• Dangerous (WHERE IS THAT OPEN TAG!?)
• But, it’s the best option we have.
• Alternatives?
Authoring enhancements
How About Markdown?
• Markdown is a more natural shorthand
• Simple, like how you’d write in Notepad
• Content-focused (not Design)
• Magically converted into HTML
Authoring enhancements
Markdown example 1
Alberta Sitecore User Group===========================
Welcome to our secound meet-up. Our topics for tonight include:
- Sitecore 7- Scalbility- Good People- Free Food
- Customizing Fields- Delivering Solutions
What’s New in Sitecore 7------------------------
One of the *biggests enchancements* in Sitecore 7 is its ability to scale with large volumes of data.
> Use a simple indent to create > A blockquote
• Customizing Fields
Authoring enhancements
Markdown to HTML
Alberta Sitecore User Group===========================
Welcome to our secound meet-up. Our topics for tonight include:
- Sitecore 7- Scalbility- Good People- Free Food
- Customizing Fields- Delivering Solutions
What’s New in Sitecore 7------------------------
One of the *biggests enchancements* in Sitecore 7 is its ability to scale with large volumes of data.
> Use a simple indent to create > A blockquote
<h1>Alberta Sitecore User Group</h1>
<p>Welcome to our secound meet-up. Our
topics for tonight include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sitecore 7
<ul>
<li>Scalbility</li>
<li>Good People</li>
<li>Free Food</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Customizing Fields</li>
<li>Delivering Solutions</li>
</ul>
<h2>What’s New in Sitecore 7</h2>
<p>One of the <em>biggests
enchancements</em> in Sitecore 7 is its
ability to scale with large volumes of
data.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Use a simple indent to create a
blockquote</p>
</blockquote>
Authoring enhancements
Markdown example 2
# Alternative Heading Styling
Let's see what on [Google](https://www.google.com) today.
### Reference an image:
![Reddit Logo](http://www.redditstatic.com/about/assets/reddit-alien.png)
| Tables | Are | Cool |
| ------------- |:-------------:| -----:|
| col 3 is | Right-aligned | $1600 |
| col 2 is | centered | $12 |
| zebra stripes | are neat | $1 |
<p>And you can still use HTML if you <strong>really like</strong it.</p>
• Customizing Fields
Authoring enhancements
Markdown to HTML 2
<h1>Alternative Heading Styling</h1>
<p>Let's see what on <a href="https://www.google.com">Google</a> today.</p>
<h3>Reference An Image:</h3>
<p><img src="http://www.redditstatic.com/about/assets/reddit-alien.png" alt="Reddit
Logo"></p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Tables</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Are</th>
<th style="text-align:right">Cool</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>col 3 is</td>
…
</table>
<p>And you can still use HTML if you <strong>really like</strong></p>
Authoring enhancements
Integrating Markdown with Sitecore
• Single-line text is a field type
• Rich-text editor is a field type
• So…
• Create a Markdown ditor field type!
Authoring enhancements
Markdown in the editorAuthoring enhancements
Markdown in the editorAuthoring enhancements
Ideal for…
• Blog posts
• Informational (Wiki, Facts, Instructions)
• News releases
• Internal communications
• Content bins
• Frequently authored, variable content
Authoring enhancements
Sitecore 7
Authoring enhancementsAgenda
Evolving your website
Let’s chat
Introductions
Engaging the business to
evolve your websiteAlso known as Governance
How is your site managed today?
• Ad-hoc requests (i.e. loudest voice, first in the queue, biggest
fire, C-suite mandate)
• Re-launch to re-launch (big bang overhauls)
• Planned releases (prioritized roadmap, funded regularly)
Engagement
Portal management and sustainmentEngagement
Support and maintenance
• Making sure your system delivers
when it should as it should
• “Keeping the lights on” to some.
But more than that…
o Service desk
o Support
o Infrastructure management
• Responsive to issues, building
trust within the business
Engagement
Release management
• Planned design enhancements,
functionality changes, or defect fixes
• Scheduled releases throughout the year
paired with analysis, design, development,
and testing
o A/B testing
o Analytics review
o Listening labs
o Content reviews and updates
• Ensure regular enhancements to your site
Engagement
Portal management
• Where are you going with your portal? What are your goals? How much do you want to invest?
• Focusing on driving toward business outcomes
o Visioning workshops
o Planning and road-mapping exercises
o Iterative problem solving activities
o Change management techniques
o Governance evolution
Engagement
What does your team look like?
• Steering committee: own budgets, priorities and outcomes,
report up
• Project team: work on releases and enhancements as well
as support
• Business representatives: engaged in making changes and
decisions
Engagement
Getting governance started
• Allow for project recovery (burnout)
• Line up the post go live team and governance structure before
launch
• Recruit fresh blood ;)
Engagement
But what if you don’t have any of this yet?
• First step: be proactive
– Change the conversation from reactive
– Understand biggest pain points the business faces
– Meet regularly and build a relationship around solving
problems
Engagement
But what if you don’t have any of this yet?
• Implement micro-enhancements to prove impact
– Take the listening and go guerrilla - just do it
– Share results, impact
– Arm yourself with data - simple ROI
• i.e. if we do xx we can shorten the sales cycle/save
time
Engagement
But what if you don’t have any of this yet?
• Educate as you go
– Governance is the most mis-understood word in
technology
– Educate about what the ideal governance plan looks like
– Move incrementally towards the plan with proof points/wins
– Share this model!
Engagement
Let’s chat!