Authoring Within a Content Management System The Content Management Story
Learning Goals Understand the roots of content management Define the concept of content Describe what a content management system does Describe what an information model is and how it is used in content management 2
Course Map Module 1: The Content Management Story The roots of content management What is content The information model Module 2: Content and Authors What is a content author? Writing for multiple media Separating content from format 3
The Content Management Story Connecting the Dots, er Data We Have Content! What is Content? Systematically Managing Content The Information Model 4
The Content Management Story Connecting the Dots, er Data
Connecting the Dots, er Data Computing with Applications Networking the Computers Internetworking Isolated Information 6
Computing With Applications Computers mainly process data Mainframes, minicomputers and personal computers all used applications to process data The result was more useful data 7
Networking the Computers People wanted to access the unprocessed and the useful data from remote computers And why not use the applications from remote computers, too? So, groups of computers were connected over LANs Network applications such as email also appeared 8
Internetworking Soon the desire for connectivity spawned acceptance of the Internet Protocols which can connect disparate networks People could communicate across a global network Data could be exchanged across the globe between similar applications 9
Isolated Information Spirit of connectivity ignored anything not considered data or communication Documents, spreadsheets, pictures, etc. were the domain of individuals, not information systems People began to wonder what solutions and inspirations were hiding in this isolated info 10
The Content Management Story We Have Content!
Decisions, Actions, Data Enterprises repeat the following sequence: Decide on a course of action Act on the decision Capture data about the action This can be a development project, sales activity, personnel decision anything Very often, the data includes descriptive data 12
What Drives the Decisions? What about the information that drives the decision - planning documents, meeting notes, market analysis, email threads supports the action marketing collateral, product manuals, training materials This information was found in computer files It was not data It was not managed 13
If It Is Valuable, Manage It If it drives decisions, it must be valuable If it supports actions, it must be valuable If it s valuable, it must be managed 14
So Let s Manage Our Documents Document management systems came into existence to manage the non-data files or documents Search mechanisms were built into these systems so users could find what they needed User found many variations of the same information 15
How Can We Reuse Information? Enterprises discovered that they were recreating the same information in different flavors Every new flavor was a new document They wanted to reuse information the way Manufacturers reuse components Enterprise data systems reuse data Software developers reuse small objects of code 16
Single Sourcing Technical communicators starting publishing multiple versions of the same information in 3 ways: Identical content, multiple media Customized content built from single source Dynamic customized content This was not a single source of documents, but a source of document components 17
So What Is It That We Need? More than just a smart library system like document management We need something that can: Store information in chunks, not documents Reuse chunks as well as create new chunks Publish chunks in different combinations for different media We need a content management system! 18
What Should It Do? Help us manage our knowledge Assist us in unifying our far flung content Help us find content Enable us to reuse content efficiently Allow us to publish in multiple media 19
The Content Management Story But What is Content, Exactly?
But What is Content, Exactly? Data, Information and Content Content Has Format Content Has Structure Functionality as Content 21
Data, Information and Content Data snippets of information without human meaning Content information with human meaning and context How can a computer built to handle data deal with content? By wrapping the content in data (metadata) 22
Content Is Not Data Data is still mainly numbers is usable by computers Content can include text, images, video, animation, and other computer files is in a form usable by humans 23
Content Is Information Plus Data If you add a status to a newsletter article (new, ready-to-publish, ready-to-delete), you have content. A computer can then use the status (metadata) to decide what to do with the article. Metadata makes the context and meaning of information explicit to a computer 24
Content Has Format Format for presentation Emotional effect: size, color, position, etc. Type of effect: type, layout or background Scope: character, paragraph, page, chapter, etc. Must be consistent Must be separated from content Can be considered a kind of metadata 25
Content Has Structure Makes your content easier to create, to manage and easier to automate Hierarchical structure is most common Categories Components Elements Creating a structure can be a large and difficult task 26
Types of Structures Divisional structure organizes content by categories (product reviews, press releases, etc.) Access structure organizes content by how the audience needs to access the content Management structure organizes content to be tracked and managed 27
Functionality as Content Web site functionality can be considered content Programming objects and code applets are served along with information, often by identical rules (metadata) Personalized functionality such as login applets, or user features based on account type are examples of functionality as content 28
The Content Management Story Unified Content Strategy Discussion
Unified Content Strategy Unmanaged content vs. content silos? Content management without unified content strategy? More benefits of content reuse? What type of reuse you have done or seen? 30
The Content Management Story Systematically Managing Content
Systematically Managing Content What is CMS Again? Types of content systems What does CMS Do? Collection System Management System Publishing System Metadata Keeps the Balance 32
What Is CMS Again? A hardware and software system A set of content types and processes A vehicle that enables an enterprise to connect its information to its constituents 33
Types of Content Systems Web content Transactional content Integrated document management Learning content Enterprise content Other content systems 34
Web Content Management Automates Web content creation, management and delivery Supports collaborative authoring, testing and controlled delivery Includes HTML authoring tool or web-based forms Web only and limited level of granularity 35
Transactional Content Manages the exchange of money through Web-based product catalogs (E-commerce) Capacity to interface with legacy systems (accounting, inventory, shipping, etc.) Web-based only Content sharing is usually one way 36
Integrated Document Management Manages enterprise documents, but some have moved to content elements as well Interface with many authoring tools and content images Strong on traditional CMS (audit trails, version control, access control, etc.) Granularity may be insufficient, no systematic reuse, or true Web content life cycle 37
Learning Content Manage Web-based learning materials Include tools to create simulations, animations, multimedia and other reusable e-learning content Usually can only develop content within the tool Few support sharing content from other CMS 38
Enterprise Content New vendor category Usually XML-based systems Focus on Web delivery with some print and PDF creation Some include e-commerce functionality 39
Other Content Systems Knowledge Management focus on discovery and reporting. Manage documents and data, not content elements Customer Relationship Management manage customer information allowing one face to customer. Sharing of information within enterprise varies by vendor 40
4 Big Things That a CMS Does Collect new and existing content in CMS repository Manage the stored content, system processes and administer the system Publish content from repository to Web and other media automatically Allows for the systematic reuse of content 41
Collection System Transform information into content components Authoring creation of new content Acquisition gathering of content from existing sources Conversion remove unnecessary information or apply new markup language Aggregation edit, componentize and tag with metadata 42
Management System Maintain repository and administer system Repository Content database Control and configuration files Administration Workflow system Connections to other enterprise systems 43
Publishing System Create publications with content components Publishing templates and services Static elements (text, media, etc.) Calls to publication services (necessary functions such as executing personalization rules or building navigation) Calls to enterprise services Connections to other enterprise systems 44
Types of Reuse Opportunistic when an author decides to reuse information Systematic when technology automatically reuses information Locked reuse, when content cannot be changed Derivative reuse, author can alter content Nested reuse, reusable elements contained in a single element 45
CMS Is a Balance of Entities Goals and Requirements Audiences Publications Content components Authors Acquisition Sources Workflow and staffing Access structures 46
Metadata Keeps the Balance It s the snippets of information (data) that let a computer catalog, store and retrieve your content It draws diverse classes of content into a coherent scheme It s the skeleton on which you hang your content 47
The Content Management Story The Information Model
The Information Model What is an Information Model? XML: extensible Markup Language Document Type Definitions Metadata 49
What Is an Information Model? A blueprint for writing, structuring and delivering reusable content A catalog of the enterprise s information products Identifies required and optional content elements Illustrates how to structure and reuse content 50
3 Levels of an Information Model Taxonomy Categories of information that become the attributes and values of your metadata Information Products or Types Authors use these templates to create consistent information products Content Elements Smallest chunks of content, assembled to create an information product 51
Taxonomy Means Categories Reflect the dimensions of the user community s attitudes and goals Metadata consists of all the values for the attributes in the Taxonomy 52 Attribute Value
Cookbook Recipe Example Attribute Primary Ingredient Ethnicity Role in a meal Special diets Metadata Value Beef, Lamb, Chicken, Fish Shellfish, Vegetables Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Irish, Thai, Vietnamese Starters, Soups, Salads, Main course, Desserts Low fat, Low salt, Low carb, Low cholesterol 53
Information Products or Types Templates for communications that ensure consistent structure Starting point for authors Could be a simple WORD template or defined by an XML Document Type Definition Contains elements or content units, some of which may be re-usable or re-used 54
Containers or Nested Elements Elements can be information or containers of information For example, a Body element can contain other elements (announcement, features, benefits, etc.) Announcement can contain paragraphs, ordered lists and unordered lists Elements can be required or optional 55
Model Components Semantic Information Base Information Metadata Architectural Information Production Information 56
XML: extensible Markup Language Specification for the creation of tag sets Based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) Not a set of tags like HTML You create the tags 57
Benefits of Defining Tag Names Tag names have meaning for you and your authors Names can reflect the content Tag names have nothing to do with formatting You can have as many or as few tags as you need 58
Benefits of Using XML Structured content Separation of content and format Built-in metadata Database orientation XSL style sheets 59
Document Type Definitions (DTD) XML version of Information Type Defines what content your information products can contain Both a template and a set of rules for automated publishing Can be very specific and flexible Content elements are XML tags 60
What Does Meta Mean? Meta from Merriam-Webster OnLine: occurring later than or in succession to situated behind or beyond later or more highly organized, specialized form of change : transformation more comprehensive : transcending Meta is best described by the word: about 61
What Does Metadata Mean? Meta-data is about data Or data about data It is what you need to use the content It is what you need to understand the content It is not the content 62
Early Metadata Library Card Catalog File Properties listed by operation system Size Date Modified Application Type Date Created Document management systems expanded these properties to include much more 63
Metadata In Content Management CMS is concerned with smaller content chunks Therefore, metadata describes entities smaller than a file (components, elements) CMS is also concerned with publication of smaller chunks Metadata describes how to present a content chunk 64
Types of Metadata Categorization Hierarchies Taxonomies Element Reuse Retrieval Tracking 65
Metadata Process Must be consistently applied to content Done by authors or editors Metadata guide can be helpful 66
The Content Management Story Summary
Connecting the Dots, er Data Computing with Applications Networking the Computers Internetworking Isolated Information 68
We Have Content! Valuable information (non-data) was stored in documents and was unmanaged Document management organized the volumes of documents, but was only half the story A new creation and publishing method was needed to allow the efficient reuse of information 69
But What is Content, Exactly? Data, Information and Content Content Has Format Content Has Structure Functionality as Content 70
Systematically Managing Content What is CMS Again? Types of Content Systems What does CMS Do? Collection System Management System Publishing System Metadata Keeps the Balance 71
The Information Model What is an Information Model? XML: extensible Markup Language Document Type Definitions Metadata 72