Tridion

Tridion GUI Background Color

I still remember in the old days how much effort you would have to put into giving different Tridion environments different colors. Not anymore in Tridion 2011! For those of you with a Tridion account, you can find the how-to on the Tridion LIve Documentation website: Skinning the Content Manager Explorer

Robert Curlette found one more missing style thing in his article.

Tridion 2011 Favorites

A functionality I actually have never used or really knew much about: Tridion Favorites. Robert Curlette is happy it is “back”, and apparently the first GUI extension question (and answer) has been posted on Stackoverflow already as well.

I am glad I know now about it as well! (and hopefully helped inform you as well!)

(Source: twitter.com)

Tridion 2011 Upgrade in 10 Easy Steps

After Robert Curlette created his 10 reasons to upgrade from Tridion 2009 to Tridion 2011 he has now created the upgrade in ten easy steps post!

The steps he used are as follow:

1. Read the install manual and upgrade manual.
2. Upgrade the Database
3. Upgrade the CMS
4. Test the CMS
5. Installing the Broker and Deployer
6. Test the Deployer
7. Test the Broker
8. Custom Pages and GUI Customizations
9. Event System
10. Templates

Check out his blog for more details!

(Source: twitter.com)

Razor templates with Tridion 2011 – Getting started

This time a Razor Templating blog entry from someone else than it’s maker ;-) Robert Curlette has clearly spent some quality time with the Razor Mediator and created this nice tutorial like post about him using the Razor Mediator.

He write down his top-10 of benefits:

• Lots of existing Razor code samples on the web
• Great Razor Mediator documentation
• Built on top of the official Microsoft Razor syntax engine. No custom coding or regex matches here! It’s all official! The Mediator is mostly a wrapper around Tridion’s object model with a few helper functions built-in.  Full .NET Framework available in Templates, including functions for Date/Time parsing.
• Built-in helper functions for iterating over Component Presentations by Template Name (new in 1.2)
• Smart rendering functionalities like auto-detecting RTF fields and calling ResolveXHTML for us.
• Easy to access Component Link fields and Embedded Fields – no more looking up the Embedded Field syntax in the reference guide!
• Logging to the Template Builder ouput window with @Debug(“”)
• Best template import system of any mediator – can import standard libraries from the config file and not need to include them in each template.  Inline imports allow us to import any type of code – from HTML to CSS, JS, and Razor snippets (imports added in 1.2)
• Clean syntax calls and requires less code than other mediators.  Less code = less typing = less bugs = happier.
• Includes its’ own installer – a first for any Tridion Mediator

Using a Tridion 2011 DataExtender to add a new metadata column to the GUI

The Tridion data extenders can really add a whole new layer of functionality to your basic Tridion implementation. Like the image of this post. You have a basic plug in the wall, but with a bit of smartness you give it a whole new meaning.

This DataExtender example by Robert Curlette really shows how you can add some great functionality to your content screen in the Tridion GUI. He leaves us with a warning of performance, though. This could mean a lot of extra overhead, so be careful with it.

Nice Job, though!

Robert Curlette has bundled all his previously created Blueprint GUI Extensions, with the use of his own nifty Tridion 2011 GUI Extension manual, and has branded it “Blue”. (How about BlueTools? ;-) 

Anyway, I have not yet even properly played around with user extensions, let alone this tool set. But, It has been added to the to-do list!

And, a job well done Robert!

(Source: twitter.com)

Tridion Workflow

It seems Chris Summer’s revelations about the new Workflow have started some nice discussions. A lot of people want to give workflow a proper chance and meaning in the workflow discussions and implementations.

Just to make my point I’d like to work with images. Looking at the main image of this post is what everyone hopes workflow will do to their content flow in the organization. Making every piece of content go into the appropriate lane and reach the destination without delay.

But, a workflow implementation can very easily cause the opposite (see image below). Content is waiting for actions by someone, which can easily become a big 

traffic jam of content. At this point solving the jam is more important than editing and reviewing each piece of content. This is usually the moment Workflow “temporarily” gets disabled or simplified.

Anyway, the future brings new hope! Now read some of the other blogs posted about Workflow:

Dominic Cronin:
- Will bundles be the saviour of Tridion workflow?

Alvin Reyes:
- Aint Got No (SDL Tridion) Workflow… Blues?

Chris Summers:
- Why we don’t use SDL Tridion Workflow

Robert Curlette:
- Workflow Dreamin’ 

Happy reading!

Tridion 2011 Broker Queries – Goodbye SearchFilter, Hello Criteria

Personally the most anticipated change in Tridion 2011. Finally sorting and filtering properly on custom Metadata in the Tridion Broker! I write “finally” because it has been a request/wish since the first time I used the Tridion Broker. (years and years ago ;-)

Robert Curlette made a good post showing the differences between the old way and the new way of filtering. He left out the sorting part in his example, but this is a good way to start of and do as he suggest.

Out with the old and in with the new!

Tridion 2011 UFOs and IdentifiableObjects

Robert Curlette is lifting a bit of the cloud on the so called IdentifiableObject in the Tridion Core Service. The Tridion Core Service methods return the IdentifiableObject method a lot and knowing more about this type and also how to cast it to a more specific type is very important to get a working solution.

It’s a good guide to get some more code samples and explanation about these “UFO” objects. Good job!

Robert Curlette has created an awesome Tridion 2011 GUI Extension Tutorial, which everyone should read who wants to do something with GUI Extensions in Tridion.

It is very detailed and it looks like a lot of work and effort was put into this. Great Job!