Empowering Content Editors - 7 Principles for Improving Author Experience

Presentation given at the 2019 ExpressionEngine Conference.

1. Empowering Content Editors 7 Principles for Improving Author Experience
2. Author Experience 2 H A P P Y CO G
3. Author Experience 3 H A P P Y CO G
4. The content author doesn’t care about your stack. 4 H A P P Y CO G
5. What is Author Experience?
6. #AX
7. Make the user of your CMS actually enjoy managing their content. 7 H A P P Y CO G
8. Author Experience Lead
9. 7 Principles
10. • What are we dealing with? • 7 Principles • Practical Demo • Q/A 10 H A P P Y CO G
11. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
12. Structured Data
13. 13 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
14. 14 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
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18. 18 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
19. 19 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
20. 20 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
21. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
22. Flexible Content Builder
23. 23 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
24. 24 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
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29. 29 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
30. 30 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
31. 31 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
32. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
34. 34 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
35. 35 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
36. 36 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
37. 37 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
38. 38 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
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40. 40 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
41. 41 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
42. 42 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
43. 43 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
44. 44 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
45. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
46. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 46 H A P P Y CO G
48. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 48 H A P P Y CO G
49. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS It’s theirs It’s their site, their content, their data, their experience. Make it the best it can be.
50. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Custom Branding Login page logo, site Icon, custom login background, and more.
51. 51 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
52. 52 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
53. 53 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
54. 54 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
55. 55 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
56. 56 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
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59. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Naming Conventions How do content editors refer to things?
60. 60 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
61. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 61 H A P P Y CO G
62. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Predictability From naming conventions to how interacting with elements function, make it the same across the site. Your content editors and other developers will thank you.
63. 63 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
64. 64 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
65. 65 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
66. 66 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
67. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 67 H A P P Y CO G
68. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Be a Content Entry User Test your setup…no, really — test it. Identify pain-points and solve them before your content editors even know about them.
69. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Add-Ons AX focused add-ons
70. E M P O W E RI N G C O N T E NT EDITORS 70 • Bloqs • Veto • CP CSS • Publish Notes • Low Variables • Structure • Zenbu ExpressionEngine AX focused add-ons
71. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Extending Plugins Take the AX to the next level
72. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Groups and Listing Tables Organize sections logically. Add appropriate columns to listing tables. Use tabs when creating entries.
73. Examples
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85. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 85 H A P P Y CO G
86. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Document For them, for you, for everyone.
87. 87 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
88. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Publish Notes A fieldtype for instructions.
89. 89 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
90. 90 H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
91. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Guide Plugin Global content editor documentation & inline entry documentation modal.
92. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 92 H A P P Y CO G
93. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Balance is Crucial
94. E M P O W E RI N G C O N T E NT EDITORS 94 • Don’t over engineer the project • Don’t use plugins for the sake of using plugins
95. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 95 H A P P Y CO G
96. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Content editors will test what you’ve setup for them and can be…
97. E M P O W E RI N G C O N T E NT EDITORS 97 • Confused • Not agree with the workflow • Think it is difficult
98. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 98 H A P P Y CO G
99. Create a Content Model
100. The content what?
101. STOP. 101 H A P P Y CO G
102. Close the Control Panel. 102 H A P P Y CO G
104. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
106. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS The Content Model or content planning document
107. What is it? 107 H A P P Y CO G
108. How do we make one? 108 H A P P Y CO G
109. What should it include? 109 H A P P Y CO G
110. What happens when we’re done? 110 H A P P Y CO G
111. What is it? 111 H A P P Y CO G A client deliverable spreadsheet, document, or other organized file that is a 1:1 mapping of ExpressionEngine terminology and thought processes that integrates with site designs and site information architecture.
112. How do we make one? 112 H A P P Y CO G Coda.io, Airtable, Google Sheets, MindNode
113. Everything needed to setup a ExpressionEngine site from scratch. What should it include? 113 H A P P Y CO G
114. It is the source of truth. New project milestones, changes, requests, must first be included and approved in the Content Model Document. What happens when we’re done? 114 H A P P Y CO G
115. Examples
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120. The Tool is not Important
121. Providing a Good Author Experience is a Mindset
122. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 12 2 H A P P Y CO G
123. EMPO WER I NG C ONT E NT EDITORS Demo
124. Flexible Content Builder Structured Data
125. 1. Make it Personal 2. Be Consistent 3. Be Proactive 4. Be Explicit 5. Be Prudent 6. Be Flexible 7. Make a Plan Principles 12 5 H A P P Y CO G
126. STOP. 126 H A P P Y CO G
127. Close the Control Panel. 127 H A P P Y CO G
128. Thank You
129. @KyleCotter
130. Q/A