You Should Share More

As of now, I have 47 blog posts on this blog, 3 posts on TridionDeveloper, 3 videos, 1772 points on Tridion Stack Exchange from 27 questions and 44 answers for 2014.

When I first started sharing about Tridion, it was on a private forum with no blog posts. I doubted I had anything worth sharing.

After helping customers these past three years, seeing what others struggle with, and re-learning much of what I thought I knew, I realize a few things:

1. I have more to share, more to contribute, and maybe more chances to inspire others to share than my official role or title.
2. The more I explain, the easier it is to explain. Practice makes permanent.
3. No one will read it all, I'm not that special, and "few people that need my posts actually read them. But the ones that need them when they find them appreciate it."

But enough about me and my blah blah blogging.

You should share.
You are or can be a thought leader.
If you answer the same questions and keep getting the same questions, it's a sign. It means your answer isn't out there. Give it away. Or a small taste of it.

At least save yourself time and write it down... so you can reference yourself when you're next asked. Wait. If you answered it already, copy, paste, and revise it instead. If not answers, then share code, ask questions, make a podcast, or record a demo.

Educate. Share. Leave a legacy.

Don't wait for perfection. Share so small, you can't get it wrong.
Or aim so big that you can't possibly achieve your goal, but you'll make something epic anyway.

Recycle. Re-use. Good ideas need to be expressed, vetted, and revised. Bad ideas need to be expressed, vetted, and revised. Bad ideas transform into good ideas by being expressed, vetted, and revised.

Share what didn't work. Share the mistakes. The community doesn't want perfection. Parts of it want to know you and what you've done. Parts want to know what works and doesn't. Much of it just wants to get its job done.

Choice words at the right time make a difference. Encourage someone. Mentor someone. Mentor everyone or be a student of the World.

I'll say it again, as a past/current/future thought leader in your industry, you should share (more).

Edit: why do I care if you share? Because others shared when I needed help and sharing shaped my own career. Especially with my corner of the Web--Content Management Systems--I find knowing and engaging the Web is important to being a "Web" professional.

New to SDL Tridion?

Here's how to get started with SDL Tridion. But then what?

We sometimes learn our tools and trade from others or in formal training. For software systems we have services, documentation, support, and community-contributed online information. What happens when you inherit some system, though? For example, maybe you've been assigned as the SDL Tridion contact for either business or technical issues and you're not sure where to start.

Well, here's my list to someone stepping into such a role.

1. Review the official materials. Software purchases include a license agreement and support details as well as the original purchase order and any statements of work. This gives you the official agreement between the vendor (SDL in this case) and your company. This is part due diligence, but you might be surprised to find potential benefits in features that weren't implemented in "Phase 1."
2. Read your documentation. It's worth tracking down a few important pieces including:
• Functional Design (including the BluePrint diagram and design)
• Technical Design
• Architecture Design and related diagrams
3. Reach out to colleagues. They'll have background on the project, the business goals, and any challenges or opportunities they fixed or are looking to solve next.
4. Confirm with the stakeholder. Successful projects have executive sponsorship. Someone wanted and approved the system. In step 3 you might find a mix of feelings toward the system. For those wondering how/why it's different, first read this advice from former PS Principal-now-Product Manager Nuno Linhares. He points out, "Tridion IS different - and customers buy the software for those EXACT reasons that make it different."
5. Contact the vendor. Like other vendors, SDL tries to remain competitive by offering features that are in demand today as well as by anticipating or even leading in the "Next Generation" of solutions. I've seen software changed not because it wasn't capable but because users didn't get it or they didn't bother checking with the vendor for better ways to use it. Or worse is when companies buy several versions of the same type of software (multiple analytics packages, dozens of ways to create PDFs, etc). Analyst Robert Rose points out "yes you can" speak with the vendor.
6. Update your contact details for product support by submitting a ticket. (Tip: SDL is the company and SDL Tridion is the Web Content Management system)
7. Get started with the community at SDL Tridion World. Ask for a Tridion World ommunity account, which is separate from the details for Support tickets.

Then really get started by learning what's needed in your new role. If you can get an overview or training, great! Maybe I'll see you on site. But be sure to confirm are you:

• A (the) new developer for the platform?
• Vendor contact, handling questions down to tickets with the vendor?
• Serving a business or business analyst role

One final tip if you are part of the team managing the system:

I've taken for granted in setups where I was there from the start is I knew what we wanted to build. Coming into a new environment, you don't know what the challenges were or why a system was set up in a certain way. So you won't know what a specific field in Tridion does without checking simply because it depends on how the original team built it.

And that could be a surprise and possible opportunity for you with a change in "ownership" for something like Tridion. The forms, approach, architecture, and setup are meant to be managed as well as be flexible enough to meet your needs, back when it was first setup and now with you on board.

Welcome to the community, fellow Tridionaut. :-)

MVP Chat Part 2

Two years ago the MVP group chat was young and innocent. But at some point someone introduced "Sweary Tuesdays." Oh damn. We've also turned the geekery up a bit (hover over text for cypher translations or look them up yourself).

@wntr: It's F-in Sweary Tuesday!
 +Alvin Reyes: Oh hell no!
@nick: John, did you just try to answer that question on Trex? I'm way ahead of you, man.
+Nuno Linhares: fuvg, ebg13 ehyrf!
+Dominic Cronin: 聮聯耬 聦聵聣聫聥聲聳耬 聲聯聴耸耰耰耰 聲聵聬聥聳耡

Deal with the Shadowy Figure

Happy Halloween.

Question: How do you get KnewKnow to answer your question?

Answer: Post online, "This is so broken. How would you fix it?"

As a Tridion question, he is compelled to answer as part of some unholy contract he's made with some shadowy figure.

First, pick a "shadowy figure" of your choice.

"Please, make me a Tridion expert," pleaded KnewKnow to the shadowy figure. 

An ominous voice replied, "I shall grant your wish but when no one's looking, you will become a pair of chucks and will be compelled to answer all Tridion questions."

And that's the story of KnewKnow. [cue lightning and thunder... aww come on, I know it's nice weather here...]

More deals-with-the-shadowy figure. See if you can guess who's who.

1. An ominous voice replied, "I shall grant your wish but whenever someone says Java, you cannot resist."
2. An ominous voice replied, "I shall grant your wish but no one will intentionally listen to you in person. You will have to blog to share ideas."
3. An ominous voice replied, "I shall grant your wish but you will not be able to forget code you've written, especially if it's in .NET. Good or bad, it will forever be etched into your mind. You will also look quite young as those around you age like normal consultants."
4. An ominous voice replied, "I shall grant your wish but you will attract the attention of beautiful women possibly younger than you, but you won't realize they like you. After asking any technical question the answer will instantly come to you but only after you worry for exactly 3 seconds."
5. An ominous voice replied, "Wait, show me how you extended that extendable area in schemas, I've always wanted to do that!"
6. An ominous voice cracks, "No deal, man. I'm not a fool! You're already an expert! Please don't correct my TRex answers!"

Your turn. As the lucky and unfortunate hero in a similar tale of woe, what would the conditions of the deal be?

Answers in case you missed them: Mihai, me, The Huizard, a semi-anonymous "random" colleague and friend, the most interesting Tridionaut (Jaime), and the infamous Mr. P.  I'm excluding some well-worn inside jokes out of respect for my colleagues, audience patience, and my blogging quota.

SDL Tridion Humour Part 5

I'm taking a step back from the contextually-aware future and want to share some more Tridionaut fun.

The Random Tridion Blogger made a version of the
Success Kid meme congratulating The Huizard.
I updated it. 

Here's another take on D-Rex, the artistic creation of @wntr.

Another of @wntr's creations. We're still trying to figure it out.
I'm guessing it's something to do with either Jules' worst nightmares or dietary preferences.

I'm not sure where I was going with this. But I probably deserve posting it.

Mr. P's pizza!

Force Finish. Get it? No?

Maybe CMS_Borat could give me a good caption for this one.

"I, too, plan learn Tridion 2013 in 2016."

Enjoy!

Flaming Sword of Sharing (10% Chance to Proc)

It's obvious I share, but I have somehow acquired the (occasional) ability to help others recognize their expertise and/or to share online. Knowledge professionals are more likely to contribute to their profession's thought leadership after meeting me.

If you're familiar with D&D or MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) terminology, it's like I have a Flaming Sword of Sharing with a proc that lights the sharing fire in you.

At least three of my colleagues started blogs because of an internal speech I gave. Most of my colleagues in North America and some in Amsterdam started sharing after I joined (correlation doesn't prove causation, but maybe I can take credit for the inevitable here!).

One of these sharers has surpassed me. No, not in quantity, but in page views. Congratulations to Mihai for surpasing CreateAndBreak's page views. Maybe I'll catch up to him, who knows? Mr. Action Mihai Code-ariu's blog, Yet Another Tridion Blog is on fire.

It took me about 2 years to get to 79,419 page views. Mihai passed me in a little over a year. Who's next?

I'm sure hyper-connected Web-savvy millennials will eventually put our numbers to shame. Until then, wield your Swords of Sharing and let's ignite the SDL Tridion Technical community again.

Keep in mind it's not a competition (unless you happen to be me or Mihai). Page views is just one of many ways that demonstrates impact, you won't know your contribution to the community until you actually publish.

You're Too Close to Your Expertise

I'm surrounded by highly-qualified, problem-solving coworkers and friends that are sometimes blind to their own strengths and expertise. I think we have more to share than we realize.

A theme my company promoted this year was "Climb Higher." I like how the phrase evokes a challenge, we're scaling scenarios and reaching new heights. Maybe with all this work, I'll lose some of the "consultant gut" my technical account manager jokes about.

I'm ready to climb! But I also want to be sure we don't become victim to the "curse of expertise" by losing our audience. Should we chase expertise while ignoring what we already know and what we can individually contribute?

I'll Share When I'm an Expert...

I'm seeing this less among my immediate peers. Most share when they can and have ideas on what they'd like share. The challenge now is finding/making time or narrowing down topics (to which I point out you're already answering and helping customers all the time).

False Dichotomies...

It wasn't until one of my colleagues admonished me to "never apologize for not being technical" (guess who gave those encouraging words) that I started noticing Tridion expertise isn't all or nothing. It's not even functional versus technical. There are so many aspects to content management, in general, that it's challenging to really know it all (my post on the seven places for markup hints at this).

The landscape looks more like this, which means there is a lot of room to share what you know that others might not know.

Don't Shrink the Ring of Online Expertise!

Combining the two ideas from above, inspired this visual. As we each progress in our careers and development, we may forget what was hard or challenging. We may never be satisfied on the autodidact's path, but you know people need what you know every time you get those same basic questions specific to your expertise.

Rather than waiting to share deep knowledge and expertise when you're ready, maybe it makes sense to start from where we are? Or even better, start from where your audience needs you?

Climb Higher by Making the Climb Easier

So rather than just climbing higher, let's leave hints and guide posts behind for those that follow our paths. Or better yet, let's construct the easy paths ourselves and that we wished we had when we started.

Let's continue to craft an easy-to-follow landscape. Let's go higher not just not by climbing, but by building or growing mountains.

These cartoons were inspired by Dan Roam's Back of the Napkin (I know I should have done drawings instead), which was mentioned in The Art of Explanation (another excellent, recommended read). I'm using the SDL Buddy as a stand-in proxy for Tridionauts (Tridion practitioners), but any icon representing a member in your community will do.

Subscribe to Functional or Technical TRex Tags. Roar!

This is a (no longer) quick three-in-one post on a real question I've received, the evolving Tridion (not-all) Technical community, and a plug for DRex TRex.

1. The Practical Answer

Some of my colleagues have asked how to subscribe to Stack Exchage posts. Sounds simple and it is, but it's one of those things you have to dig around for.

1. As you click on tags on Tridion Stack Exchange (TRex), you’ll see the tag in the upper right part of the page.
2. Hover over it and subscribe or unsubscribe to email notifications for the tag.

It’s simple but not necessarily intuitive. There’s probably a bigger story here, but that’s all for point #1… for now.

2. The Observation

Yes! Tridion Stack Exchange covers both technical and functional topics. I can continue to keep up with the uber geeks in the community. With tags like "content-modeling" even content strategists that don't necessarily have Tridion backgrounds could ask/answer/join this community.

Can you guess who subscribed to the content-modeling tag?

3. A Plug for TRex

I asked how we can move from 271 visitors/day to 500 on Tridion StackExchange's (TRex) Meta site. So dear readers and search engine bots, be sure to visit TRex.

Oops, not D-Rex (photo courtesy of Content Broom's John Winter). "Roar!"

Tridion Stack Exchange aka TRex! Okay, so this isn't the official logo, go vote for the one you want.

Better yet, ask/answer/learn from others in the community and maybe make a small blog post on your thoughts about Tridion StackExchange for the search engine bots to find (come on, I know you have a blog).

Recognizable SDL Tridionauts: An Answerer, a Coder, a Community Builder, Mr P, and the Button Presser.

SDL itself has a few visible Tridionauts in the community. You might recognize them by their online behavior below.

KnewKnow

If someone concisely answers your Tridion question regardless of the channel (Linked-In, StackOverflow, or scribbled on a wall in a customer's war room), it might be Nuno Linhares. He will answer questions wherever he finds them.

KnewKnow thinks, "Ooh, a Tridion question."

Q? A.

Mr. Code-ariu

If you follow a link in someone's answer and find a Tridion code snippet as a reference, it might come from Mihai Cădariu. He will share interesting pieces of code that most often he writes himself.

Mr. Code-ariu thinks, "Ooh, Tridion code."

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How Long Should it Take?

This weekend, on the other side of the globe, a few colleagues debated how long it should take for a new editor to be ready to create content.

I received a text suggesting I blog about it, not realizing there was a bet on whether I would. Of course I'd blog about it, maybe not right then and there since it was the weekend and the laptop wasn't nearby (in the bathroom) at the time (too much info), but sure!

So here's the post, "Simple Content Update Instructions [for SDL Tridion authors]" written almost exactly a year ago.