Tridion Developer Summit 2016

Congratulations to Robert Curlette, the sponsors, and fellow presenters on another successful Tridion Developer Summit (TDS) 2016!

I want to share some quick observations as a presenter and fellow attendee as well as advice to those wanting to present or represent a vendor or partner. Oh and there'll be pictures at the end.

Context Matters, Especially for Developers

Tridionauts really love their IDEs. From DD4T to Alchemy GUI extensions to XView templating, implementers will find ways to do everything in their IDE of choice. Call our own Content Delivery API? Nope, they'll wrap it in DD4T. XML Configuration? Nope, they'll do that in a class in Alchemy (intellisense ftw!). Individual Template Building Blocks? Nope, instead maybe create a single Template Building Block (TBB) with the logic in its own MVC application in the Content Manager (TOM.NET) and call it XView.

By the way, our own DXA in Azure appeals this type of persona. As much as Tridionauts like Tridion, I see the work in these projects supporting the idea that Web developers want to develop. The product, extensions, and community work to make that easy.

Yes, I've Seen the Article. Did You Notice the Process?

"Have you seen this article in CMS Wire about SDL?"

"Why yes, you're the fourth person to mention it."

This post isn't about the content of the article or SDL's divestment news. For a good perspective on that, read a post referenced in the first article. This post is about a Linked-In feature, semantics, and possibly micro-formats.

So, how did you hear about the article? I don't see you mention the post about strategy shifts or this one about non-core units.

I suspect you heard about it through the Mentioned in the News (Linked-In) feature that promotes online news stories about people to their connections using an AI algorithm.

Here's what I (and maybe up to 500+ connections) saw. Note how the email automatically included:

• A link to the article
• The headline
• A link to the connection's profile

The article, the connection's profile, and an email.

There are also two ways users can influence in the interaction:

1. Wrong Person? In the email you can note if the person was incorrectly identified by Linked-In's algorithm
2. Notifying connections when you're in the news. As a Linked-In user, you can opt out of this feature as seen below.

I find this fascinating in a few ways.

1. Semantics. I'm not sure it's required to make the feature work, but the article uses microformats to mark the headline appropriately (itemprop="headline"). In addition to Google search results, this is a nice practical example of the more fuzzy term, semantics.
2. Concrete. I suspect many are seeing the email and are interested in content labeled, "News about [your connection]." It's refreshing to see a direct connection mentioned rather than another link-bait title. This falls under the tip of using concrete details to create "sticky" messages. 
3. Subtle AI. I also suspect few stop to notice the article doesn't actually link to your connection's Linked-In profile. An automated AI program determined the connection based on (plain) text in a news article and then grabbed the headline as well as a reasonable excerpt from the article. 
4. Tracked. The links and images have querystring parameters likely for analytics, tracking, and/or possibly personalization features on Linked-In (which isn't really surprising).
5. Not new. I'm late to the party. The feature was mentioned here and here.
6. What Share Link? Despite the sharing link in the email, I ran across the article in Skype and Slack chat. Long live copy & paste!
7. Creepiness averted. Offering user control is an important part of personalizing the customer experience.

So, what did you notice when you or someone else shared the story? Did your contact's name stand out? Did you congratulate him on being cited by an industry news source and/or discovered by Linked-In's algorithm? Or did you find this article in another way?

Maybe the content and news was compelling enough that you forgot about Linked-In?

Folder Practices with SDL Web/Tridion

I've been asked about folder best practices for SDL Web/Tridion a few times.

There is no single best practice for folders, though there are a few strategies that may fit you use cases based on what matters most to you. You manage folders mostly in the same way as any other system that organizes items, however, Tridion has three features that influence how you organize items:

• BluePrinting
• Different types of items (Components, Pages, Keywords, and External Content items)
• Authorization

The Functional Design training describes three basic ways to organize folders:

• By content type (schema)
• By channel / site
• By department or business unit

Most organizations use a mix of these approaches. You might also use dates to “archive” folders as well. These translate into familiar practices with corresponding trade-offs, starting with your top-level folders.

Congrats 2016 SDL Web Community Winners!

Congrats to the SDL Web 2016 Community MVP Winners!

Five quick tips for a successful year:

1. Enjoy the uber geek status. Be sure to get to the retreat if you can. It's awesome.
2. Keep sharing. Year two is harder than winning the first year.
3. Don't under-appreciate what you have to offer.
4. Don't get complacent or over-confident either. Winners aren't "the best," though the best often share.
5. Connect with others and encourage the next generation of sharers.

To previous winners that "fell off" this year, welcome to the alumni group. Here are thoughts back from 2012 on having MVP alumnus status. Big thanks to those that shared less but maybe mentored more.

For anyone else interested in this award, 2017 will be even harder for a few reasons:

1. Community members can get an SDL Web 8 developer license for research and sharing. The list is growing. Don't wait to get started.
2. Alchemy.
3. DXA.
4. DD4T.
5. The Next Big Thing in the Community (I've seen it. You're not ready for it. It's impressive.).

You may have read how to win my vote in a post from last year. That's old advice. To join the 2017 MVP class first join today's community. Then optionally see what everyone else is doing. And then share more than everyone else.