One of the things I’ve always been interested in that I find most critical to content management implementations, is the ability (or inability) of a CMS to accurately model your content. Systems vary widely in their ability to accurately reflect the real-world content that they’re intended to manage. For example: * How well does a CMS allow you to structure content? Does it have any ability to manage different content types? Through configuration, or through custom module development? * Can it structure content at all, or is everything an amorphous “page”? What are some common datatypes you might use to model content? What datatypes are offered by various systems? * Can a system automatically generate input forms for your content? Can it validate these input forms? How usable are the forms? * How well does a system allow you relate content to other content, and in what ways? * Can you content pick up properties or attributes from context? Does the content object’s “place” in the content structure of the site allow you to derive information about it? * Can a system allow you to easily compose content from separate component content objects? * Can a system let you have repeating properties? Can you create “subcontent” to represent parent-child relationships between content objects? Time spent on content modeling advance of a project is recouped many times over during the course of the project. However, the real time-savings comes after implementations when you begin to modify the system. Model your content poorly and you can paint yourself into a corner when you find that 20,000 pages haven’t been structured in such a way that you can find all press releases issued in October 2004 that mention your discontinued product line. This slide deck examines the theories and best practices behind structuring and modeling your content, an overview of how different CM systems handle this, and best practices to “future proof” your content and maximize its utility both now and into the future. This slide deck is non-technical – there are no code samples or information on programming. It is comprised of practical, real-world examples of content modeling problems, anecdotes about what has worked and what hasn’t, and a highly visual analysis of how different content management systems allow you to model content.

1. “Just put that in the zip code
field…”
The Ins and Outs of Content
Modeling
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

2. Content management integration and
consulting
Social networking integration
Custom design
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
http://blendinteractive.com/
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

3. 6 Evaluation Questions
For those of you shopping for a CMS and
comparing options.
5 Implementation Tips
For those of you implementing or
managing a CMS-based Web site.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

4. Content Modeling Definition #1
The process of converting logical
content concepts into editable,
storable, manageable, searchable
content objects by breaking them
down into smaller pieces and
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

5. Logical Content
This is the
desired end result
of a content
management
requirement.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

6. Content Object
An XML document
A database record
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

7. Wednesday, June 17, 2009

8. Wednesday, June 17, 2009

9. Content Fidelity
How closely does the content in your
CMS resemble the logical content
you planned on?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

10. Different systems have vastly
different content modeling
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

11. Evaluation Question #1
Does your CMS allow content
modeling or structuring at all?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

12. Why model content at all?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

13. Reason #1
Because different content types need
to be STRUCTURED differently.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

14. Content Structure Between
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

15. Content Structure Between
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

16. Reason #2
Because different content types have
to be EDITED and VALIDATED
differently.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

17. Automatic Form Rendering
Content edit form
in eZ publish
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

18. Input Form Validation
Canned and
custom validation
in Ektron.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

19. Reason #3
Because different content types have
to be DISPLAYED differently.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

20. Display Template Assignment
Template
assignment by
Page Type in
EPiServer
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

21. Reason #4
Because different content types have
to be MANAGED differently.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

22. Content types often act
as functional
Permissions
Workflow
Navigation
Search
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

23. URL Pattern Assignments
URL pattern
assignment based
on Content Type in
Drupal
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

24. Permission Assignment
Permission
assignments by
content type in eZ
publish
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

25. Reason #5
Because different content types need
to be SEARCHED and ORGANIZED
differently.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

26. Organization by Content
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

27. Content Type-specific Search
Parametric search
based a content
type in eZ publish
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

28. Problems due to inefficient and
inaccurate content modeling
By that point, it’s often too
late….
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

29. Types, Attributes, and
Datatypes
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

30. Content on most Web sites
can be roughly categorized
by type.
A type shares a common set of
attributes and is meant to represent a
single, logical boundary around
content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

31. Nomenclature
Content Type
Content Class
SmartForm
Page Type
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

32. Content Types
Content types in Drupal
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

33. Content types are made up
of content attributes.
An attribute is a single, logical piece of
information that, when combined with
other attributes, describes a type of
content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

34. Nomenclatu
re Attribute
Property
Field
Element
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

35. Content Attributes
Content attributes in
eZ publish.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

36. Content attributes have
datatypes.
A datatype restricts the type of
data the attribute may hold.
This enables validation and
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

37. Datatypes provide:
Validation
Editing interfaces
Computation
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

38. Attribute Datatypes
Content class
attributes in eZ
publish.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

39. Attribute Datatypes
Page Type
Properties in
EPiServer
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

40. Generic Custom Fields
Custom fields in
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

41. Datatypes and Sorting
Datatypes tell the
system how to treat
values while sorting.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

42. Common Validation Needs
String is required
String is numeric
String matches a "canned pattern" (email address, SSN, etc.)
String matches a regular expression
String falls within a list of valid values drawn from somewhere
else
String is unique to other content
Date is in the past/future
Date is in a specific range
File is of a specific type
File is within a specific size range
Value X is conditional on Value Y (if one is filled in, the other can’t
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

43. Content Modeling Definition #2
Content modeling is the process of
converting logical content concepts
into content types, attributes, and
datatypes.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

44. Implementation Tip #1
Think in terms of content types.
Consider the ways different content
will need to be edited, validated,
managed, searched and organized.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

45. Evaluation Question #2
Does it allow you to structure
content through configuration or
does it require you to write code or
modules?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

46. Code vs. Configuration
New Content Type in New Page Type in
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

47. Implementation Tip #2
Be careful in re-using content types
for logically different content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

48. Futureproofing is the
process of designing your
content model in such a
way that it can be adapted
to new situations with a
minimum of pain.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

49. Implementation Tip #3
To futureproof your content,
speculate on and list scenarios in
which the content might be used
now and in the future.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

50. A Really Bad Idea
Things that
shouldn’t be
there:
•Date
•Author
•Categories
•Location
•(perhaps)
Image
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

51. Implementation Tip #4
To futureproof your content, do not
entrap multiple logical attributes
into the same implemented attribute
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

52. Implementation Tip #5
Find the right balance. Don’t
overstructure your content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

53. Datatypes
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

54. Evaluation Question #3
What datatypes are available to
structure your content?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

55. Datatypes are the building
blocks of your content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

56. Strings
Simple and
formatted
strings in
WordPress
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

57. Dates
Date entry
interface in
Ektron.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

58. Binary Files
Binary file upload in
Drupal (top) and eZ
publish (bottom)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

59. Repeating Properties
A repeating data
table within an
Ektron content
object.
A one-column
Matrix datatype in
eZ publish.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

60. Evaluation Question #4
Can you write your own datatypes or
customize existing datatypes?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

61. Custom Datatypes
Custom
datatype in eZ
publish
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

62. Evaluation Question #5
How well does it manage relational
content modeling?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

63. DISCRETE content modeling is
structuring content within a
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

64. RELATIONAL content modeling
is structuring a content object
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

65. Relational Content Modeling
Page Link
attribute in
EPIServer
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

66. Relational Content Modeling
Multiple content
selection in EPiServer
and Ektron
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

67. Content Composition
Article is related to Articles
Title Articles
Title
Body Articles
Title
Body
Author Title
Body
Author
[…] Body
Author
[…]
Author
[…]
[…]
Author
was written by Bureau
First Name
Last Name Name
[…] […]
works for
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

68. Evaluation Question #6
How well does it handle hierarchical
content?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

69. Publication
Issue
Section
Article
Article
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

70. Content Trees
The content folder A pure content tree
structure in Ektron in eZ publish
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

71. Evaluation Question #6
Does it allow any inheritance of
content types or values?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

72. Content Type Inheritance
Movie Review Page Music Review Page
Title Title
Body Body
META Keywords META Keywords
META Description META Description
URL URL
Studio Number of Tracks
Director Genre
Cast Star Rating
Running Time
Star Rating
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

73. Content Type Inheritance
Movie Review Page
Studio
Director
Cast
Running Time
Web Page Star Rating
Title
Body
META Keywords
META Description
URL
Music Review Page
Number of Tracks
Genre
Star Rating
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

74. Content Value Inheritance
With a pure content tree, setting a value at a
specific point will cause content “below”
that point to inherit the value until
These content
objects will inherit
the value applied to
“News,” unless they
specifically override
it.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

75. Evaluation Questions
1. Does it allow the structuring of content?
2. Is it via code or configuration?
3. What datatypes are available?
4. Can you write or customize your own
datatypes?
5. How well does it handle relational content
modeling?
6. How well does it handle hierarchical
content?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

76. Implementation Tips
1. Think in terms of content types
2. Avoid reusing content types
3. Speculate on the future uses of
content
4. Do not combine logical attributes into
the same implemented attribute
5. Don’t overstructure your content
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

77. Blend Interactive
http://blendinteractive.com
Gadgetopia
http://gadgetopia.com
Content Management and IA Writing
http://blendinteractive.com/services/
cm/
Twitter
“gadgetopia”
Email
deane@blendinteractive.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009