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Designer-Friendly
Engine Summit May 29, 2012
Environments for Humans
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Web Designer Writer Instructor
emilylewisdesign.com
Co-host, EE Podcast
ee-podcast.com
Author, Microformats Made Simple
microformatsmadesimple.com
Contributing author, HTML5 Cookbook
oreilly.com/catalog/0636920016038
Email: [email protected]
Blog: ablognotlimited.com
Twitter: @emilylewis
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Designer Friendly
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
• User-friendly interfaces
• Standards-based front-end
• Organization and planning
What I’m Good At
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
• 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
• User-friendly interfaces
• Standards-based front-end
• Organization and planning
What I’m Good At What I’m Not
• Programming
• Databases
• Servers and hosting
✓
✓
✓
OB
OB
OB
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Designer + EE =
Advantages (?)
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
http://flic.kr/p/4iFgSi
• ExpressionEngine
• Add-Ons
• User Experience
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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
• 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
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Basecamp
• Installation
• Configuration
• Go live
• Everything in between
To-do List Templates & Projects
Project Management
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
• 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/
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
Project-specific Development
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Dev Docs
Project-specific Development
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Projects
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http://flic.kr/p/88pYrq
ExpressionEngine
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Installing/Upgrading
• Remove files you don’t need
ee-podcast.com/episodes/time-saving-tips-techniques
• Upload compressed file
ee-spotlight.com/tutorials/a-better-way-to-ftp-your-
expressionengine-site-use-zip-files
• Expansion script
ngenworks.com/blog/ee-upgrade-script/
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
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
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
Recommended Settings
mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Security
Recommended Settings
mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Templates & Groups
• Chunking
train-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
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Templates & Groups
• Smart conditionals
devot-ee.com/add-ons/ifelse
derekallard.com/blog/post/simple-vs-complex-conditionals-in-
expressionengine-templates
• Organization and naming conventions
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
http://flic.kr/p/chdd4
Add-Ons
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Text Editors
• v2.5 Rich Text Editor*
vimeo.com/37280018
• Wygwam
devot-ee.com/add-ons/wygwam
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix
devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix
devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Playa
devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Playa
devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Matrix & Playa & Wygwam
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Low Variables
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Single Entry
devot-ee.com/add-ons/single-entry
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Navigation
• NavEE
devot-ee.com/add-ons/navee
• Structure
buildwithstructure.com
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Devot:ee Monitor
devot-ee.com/add-ons/devotee-monitor
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
http://flic.kr/p/4NWv4G
User Experience
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Custom Fields
• HTML allowed
• Instructions on steriods
ee-garage.com/nsm-publish-hints
Better Publish Forms
Good Field Labels & Instructions
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Custom Fields
• VZ Address
devot-ee.com/add-ons/vz-address
Better Publish Forms
The Right Fieldtype for Your Client
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Publish Layouts
Better Publish Forms
eeinsider.com/blog/help-troubleshoot-publish-layouts/
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Title & Title URL Labels
Better Publish Forms
devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Title & Title URL Labels
Better Publish Forms
devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Main Menu Buttons
Better Control Panel
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
Access
Better Control Panel
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
• 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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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
?
How Far Do You Go
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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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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
• Document, document, document
• Plan, plan, plan
• Get out of your comfort zone
• Try add-ons
• Focus on user experience
http://flic.kr/p/5WrMdi
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
More Info
• NSM config bootstrap
ee-garage.com/nsm-config-bootstrap
• ExpressionEngine Site Strategy with Dev Docs
expressionengine.com/blog/entry/
expressionengine_site_strategy_with_dev_docs
• EE, Faster
speakerdeck.com/u/jacobrussell/p/ee-faster
• Parse Order and Low Variables
gotolow.com/blog/parse-order-and-low-variables
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
More Info
• Relationships with Playa
mijingo.com/products/screencasts/playa-relationships-expressionengine/
• Switchee
devot-ee.com/add-ons/switchee
• NSM override.css
ee-garage.com/override-css
• Nerdery Theme
github.com/litzinger/Nerdery-Theme
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Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit
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thanks