Crafting for the Author
7 Principles for Improving
Author Experience
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Author Experience
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H A P P Y CO G
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Author Experience
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H A P P Y CO G
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What is
Author Experience?
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#AX
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Make the user of your CMS
actually enjoy managing their
content.
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H A P P Y CO G
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Author Experience
Lead
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7
Principles
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• What are we dealing with?
• 7 Principles
• Practical Demo
• Q/A
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H A P P Y CO G
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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Structured Data
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H A P P Y CO G + C L I E NT NAME
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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Flexible
Content Builder
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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No content
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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No content
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
It’s theirs
It’s their site, their content, their data, their
experience. Make it the best it can be.
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Custom Branding
Login page logo, site Icon, custom login
background, and more.
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Naming Conventions
How do content editors refer to things?
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
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.
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
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.
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Plugins
AX focused plugins
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H A P P Y CO G + D O T A LL 2019 52
• CP Element Count
• Control Panel Nav
• Default Dashboard
• Element Map
• Entry Instructions
AX focused plugins
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• Environment Label
• Expanded Singles
• Field Labels
• Spoon
• Neo
AX focused plugins
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Extending Plugins
Take the AX to the next level
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Groups and Listing Tables
Organize sections logically. Add appropriate
columns to listing tables. Use tabs when
creating entries.
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Examples
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Document
For them, for you, for everyone.
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Guide Plugin
Global content editor documentation &
inline entry documentation modal.
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Balance is Crucial
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H A P P Y CO G + D O T A LL 2019 73
• Don’t over engineer the project
• Don’t use plugins for the sake of using plugins
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Content editors will test what you’ve setup
for them and can be…
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H A P P Y CO G + D O T A LL 2019 76
• Confused
• Not agree with the workflow
• Think it is difficult
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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Create a
Content Model
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The content what?
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STOP.
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Close the Control Panel.
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No content
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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No content
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
The Content Model
or content planning document
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What is it?
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How do we make one?
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What should it include?
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What happens when we’re done?
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What is it?
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A client deliverable spreadsheet, document,
or other organized file that is a 1:1 mapping
of Craft CMS terminology and thought
processes that integrates with site designs
and site information architecture.
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How do we make one?
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Coda.io, Airtable, Google Sheets, MindNode
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Everything needed to setup a Craft site
from scratch.
What should it include?
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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?
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Examples
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The Tool is not
Important
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Providing a Good Author
Experience is a Mindset
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G
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CRAF TIN G FO R TH E AUTHOR
Demo
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Flexible
Content Builder
Structured Data
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1. Make it Personal
2. Be Consistent
3. Be Proactive
4. Be Explicit
5. Be Prudent
6. Be Flexible
7. Make a Plan
Principles
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H A P P Y CO G