Pousada De Palmela

We had the SDL Tridion (Community) MVP retreat at the grand, gorgeous, and very accommodating Palmela Pousada.

Authentic castle meets modern accommodations when manual door locks ("it's really a key!") meet Eco-saving auto lights or high speed WiFi meet 10 foot thick walls. The only minor complaint is I suspect the castle walls still work so well that they blocked WiFi to my room.

Also, apologies to any guests that we bothered during our excited day-time discussions or late night celebrations at the bar.

Our event was a chance to appreciate those that contribute to our technical community. Having a once-in-a lifetime location such as Palmela makes all the difference.

I highly recommend a Portuguese Pousada for your corporate event or personal vacation. If you can, consider choosing the great staff and impressive locale of Palmela.

Obrigados!

Tridion Content Analysis: Part 5, The Answer

1. The Trivial Example and Question
2. Context
3. Inventory
4. Process
5. The Answer

Quick, how many schemas and templates do you see?

Tridion Content Analysis: Part 4, The Process

1. The Trivial Example and Question
2. Context
3. Inventory
4. Process
5. The Answer

In the previous posts, we saw the trivial Tridion article example then the context that make content type analysis challenging. We reviewed the content inventory details we need for design sessions. Now let's look at how we design from the top down (I owe Kelly Thompson for the catchy point that we design from the top-down but implement from the bottom-up).

Tridion Content Analysis: Part 3, Inventory

1. The Trivial Example and Question
2. Context
3. Inventory
4. Process
5. The Answer

In Part 1 of this Tridion Content Analysis series, we saw the trivial article example and knew something didn't quite fit. Part 2 explained why context matters. Let's clarify the details by taking a content inventory.

Tridion Content Analysis: Part 2, Context

1. The Trivial Example and Question
2. Context
3. Inventory
4. Process
5. The Answer

I've heard some Tridionauts admit they're capable of Tridion functional analysis but may not necessarily enjoy it. I actually enjoy the process, but Tridionauts and customers have asked me why it's such an involved process.

Tridion Content Analysis: Part 1, The Trivial Example

Learn how to better design SDL Tridion schemas and templates with a little Information Architecture (IA) page and content type analysis in this five-part series.

1. The Trivial Example and Question
2. Context
3. Inventory
4. Process
5. The Answer

Content Management System (CMS) consultants use Information Architecture (IA) to analyze your digital channel's content structure to define the content entry forms and templates. IA has the concept of content types, which are structured classifications of content such as article, image gallery, or recipe [see Dan Brown's excellent article (PDF) and another take by Steven Bradley].

Scalable Schema Fields

Content Management Systems often let you define authored fields as well as how they present to content authors.

For example, SDL Tridion allows number, date, and text fields as schema (content definition) field options. Text fields can present as:

• drop down list
• select box
• radio button
• check boxes
• tree (may not be as familiar as the others--use it to offer keyword selection organized into subcategories)

After four SDL Tridion functional projects in as many quarters, I wanted to make a tl;dr multi-post on schema and template design. In the meantime, here's three practical schema design tips "from the field."

Consider Keywords instead of Separate Schema Fields

Though you can definitely use "True/False" or "Yes/No" keyword options via a "Boolean Category," consider check boxes driven by a Category for future flexibility.

Instead of:

External Search:
[ ] True
[ ] False

Internal Search:
[ ] True
[ ] False

See if a single field of options make sense:

Search options:
[ ] External
[ ] Internal

This allows you to:

• simplify entry and consolidate template code with fewer fields
• add new functionality with a keyword change rather than a new schema field

Some catches:

• you can't have more than one default option (without an extension), though you could change the wording to make the unchecked option the default update: content types let you create whatever default selections you need
• you still need template logic to handle the various options

tl;dr

I mock my reputation, which precedes me by a 100 or so tweets, 200 blog posts, and 300-page, printer-killing documentation with this little graphic.

Mock book generated at the nifty 3D package online site.

tl;dr, my strength and weakness! I promise more pictures, diagrams, and code, less prose... someday, soon. Starting any moment now.

How about Verbs instead of Nouns for Publication Names?

My VM is now 50% more action-oriented.

Update 2013-Jan-06:

I might rework the ".5's," but I realized I didn't need the double digits.

Tip: Originally I cropped the "Content Management" out because I couldn't un-select it. To show your full BluePrint without a publication highlighted, just remove the locationId from the Query String (i.e. /WebUI/Editors/CME/Views/Dashboard/Dashboard.aspx#locationId=tcm:0) and refresh.