designer-friendly ee
DESCRIPTION
Designer-friendly tips and tricks for working with ExpressionEngine and making your clients happy.Presentation for 3rd annual Engine SummitTRANSCRIPT
Some rights reserved
Designer-FriendlyEngine Summit May 29, 2012
Environments for Humans☺
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 2
Web Designer Writer Instructoremilylewisdesign.com
Co-host, EE Podcastee-podcast.com
Author, Microformats Made Simplemicroformatsmadesimple.com
Contributing author, HTML5 Cookbookoreilly.com/catalog/0636920016038
Email: [email protected]: ablognotlimited.comTwitter: @emilylewis
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Designer Friendly
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• User-friendly interfaces
• Standards-based front-end
• Organization and planning
What I’m Good At
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• User-friendly interfaces
• Standards-based front-end
• Organization and planning
What I’m Good At What I’m Not
• Programming
• Databases
• Servers and hosting
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 6
• User-friendly interfaces
• Standards-based front-end
• Organization and planning
What I’m Good At What I’m Not
• Programming
• Databases
• Servers and hosting
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Designer + EE = Advantages (?)
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 8http://flic.kr/p/4iFgSi
• ExpressionEngine
• Add-Ons
• User Experience
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Projects
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Plan of Attack
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Documentation
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• Process - installation, configuration, go-live
• EE dev - channels, custom fields, categories ... everything
• Server environment, version control
My Tools of Choice• Basecamp - basecamp.com
• Dev Docs - devot-ee.com/add-ons/dev-docs
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Basecamp
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• Installation
• Configuration
• Go live
• Everything in between
To-do List Templates & Projects
Project Management
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
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• Naming conventions
• Server environment
• Channels
• Custom fields
• Categories
• Templates
Project-specific Development
• Snippets
• Global Variables
• Add-ons
• File manager upload preferences
• Control panel customizations
eeinsider.com/articles/the-dreaded-documentation/
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
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Project-specific Development
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
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Project-specific Development
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Projects
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http://flic.kr/p/88pYrq
ExpressionEngine
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Installing/Upgrading
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• Remove files you don’t needee-podcast.com/episodes/time-saving-tips-techniques
• Upload compressed fileee-spotlight.com/tutorials/a-better-way-to-ftp-your-expressionengine-site-use-zip-files
• Expansion scriptngenworks.com/blog/ee-upgrade-script/
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
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Post-Installation Best Practices
• Rename system directory
• Move system directory above the web root
• Rename admin.php
expressionengine.com/user_guide/installation/best_practices.html
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
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Recommended Settings
mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
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Recommended Settings
mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Templates & Groups
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• Chunkingtrain-ee.com/.../02-chunking-up-the-main-template-into-a-collection-of-embedded-templates
• Limit embeds, try out Snippets and Global Variables*loweblog.com/downloads/ee-parse-order.pdf
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Templates & Groups
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• Smart conditionalsdevot-ee.com/add-ons/ifelse
derekallard.com/blog/post/simple-vs-complex-conditionals-in-expressionengine-templates
• Organization and naming conventions
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 23http://flic.kr/p/chdd4
Add-Ons
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Text Editors
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• v2.5 Rich Text Editor*vimeo.com/37280018
• Wygwamdevot-ee.com/add-ons/wygwam
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Playa
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Playa
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix & Playa & Wygwam
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
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Single Entry
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/single-entry
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Navigation
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• NavEEdevot-ee.com/add-ons/navee
• Structurebuildwithstructure.com
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Devot:ee Monitor
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devot-ee.com/add-ons/devotee-monitor
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 36http://flic.kr/p/4NWv4G
User Experience
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Custom Fields
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• HTML allowed
• Instructions on steriodsee-garage.com/nsm-publish-hints
Better Publish Forms
Good Field Labels & Instructions
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Custom Fields
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• VZ Addressdevot-ee.com/add-ons/vz-address
Better Publish Forms
The Right Fieldtype for Your Client
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Publish Layouts
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Better Publish Forms
eeinsider.com/blog/help-troubleshoot-publish-layouts/
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Title & Title URL Labels
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Better Publish Forms
devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Title & Title URL Labels
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Better Publish Forms
devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Main Menu Buttons
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Better Control Panel
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Access
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Better Control Panel
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• Modified install/upgrade
• Security changes
• Good templating practices
• Add-ons
• Dev Docs
• Matrix
• MX Title Control*
• VZ Address
• Wygwam*
• Devot:ee Monitor*
What I Will Always Do What I Might Do
• Low Variables
• Playa
• Single Entry
• NavEE/Structure
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How Far Do You Go
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Know Your Project!• Budget
• Timeline
• Functionality requirements
• Content authors - number, skill
• Publishing workflows
• Your own skill level
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• Document, document, document
• Plan, plan, plan
• Get out of your comfort zone
• Try add-ons
• Focus on user experience
http://flic.kr/p/5WrMdi
Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
More Info• NSM config bootstrap
ee-garage.com/nsm-config-bootstrap
• ExpressionEngine Site Strategy with Dev Docsexpressionengine.com/blog/entry/expressionengine_site_strategy_with_dev_docs
• EE, Fasterspeakerdeck.com/u/jacobrussell/p/ee-faster
• Parse Order and Low Variablesgotolow.com/blog/parse-order-and-low-variables
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More Info• Relationships with Playa
mijingo.com/products/screencasts/playa-relationships-expressionengine/
• Switcheedevot-ee.com/add-ons/switchee
• NSM override.cssee-garage.com/override-css
• Nerdery Themegithub.com/litzinger/Nerdery-Theme
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☺thanks
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