Content Strategy for WordPress

Destry · 2015-05-12 07:40:12

Say what you will about WordPress (I do), but this is a really smart piece of work by Stephanie Leary, Content Strategy for WordPress. If you’re still doing sites for clients and they demand or require WordPress, read this book, and make your clients read it too.

This is exactly the kind of thing that needs produced for Textpattern. Its unsung strengths in this respect around content modeling (particularly when 4.6 comes out) are what need communicated, and the people who need business websites in the modern age are who that message needs to reach.

There is too much worry about how to get developers onboard. As it’s been said time and again, developers are attracted to numerous other projects, and understandably so. You’re not going to sway them back here on a wish and a prayer. Textpattern needs a new growth strategy, and I think the key is showing how Textpattern can provide what the content age requires… Speak to the potential customers of a Textpattern site, the business owners. Show them how Textpattern can help them make sites that work for them in the structured content/mobile age. Show them how their communication efforts with their own customers will improve. Demonstrate how Textpattern can support a collaborative publishing process — an editorial workflow. Use metrics to show how building sites around such a model gives results.

It’s like playing chess right now: you have to think several moves ahead, and the end game is with the customers of the clients. When “consumers” start inquiring about Textpattern because of it’s abilities to address modeled content solutions, then developers will follow, because they can smell the money. We are in a content publisher/consumer’s market right now — largely thanks to Content Strategy — not a developers.

gaekwad · 2015-05-12 08:48:04

Nice find, Destry – thanks.

Bloke · 2015-05-12 09:58:51

Ace.

It seems to centre around custom fields as content nuggets. I’ve been procrastinating on that for far too long and need motivation. This might be it.

So here’s a deal. If I/we commit to a coding drive to deliver core unlimited custom fields across content types shortly, who’ll step up and write content strategy pieces on how to exploit them and what they mean for Txp as a platform?

Working alongside people to document the process as it’s developed is also a great way to make sure that the code covers as many bases as we can reasonably expect for people’s content needs. Plus, it helps beta test the code as people craft sites for the documentation examples, and fuels a feedback loop for features.

Who’s up for it?

Destry · 2015-05-12 10:27:10

Bloke wrote #290681:

If I/we commit to a coding drive to deliver core unlimited custom fields across content types shortly, who’ll step up and write content strategy pieces on how to exploit them and what they mean for Txp as a platform?

I’m in. I’ve been meaning to do something like that anyway when 4.6 came out. And we can use csf.community as a demonstration site too (and hopefully others, perhaps better at reflecting commerce). We have some interesting content types in development there, with more to come, perhaps. But right now it’s kind of ugly without the custom fields extension, and I haven’t got to the Write panel mods yet either, also waiting for 4.6 on that. I’d like to refactor all that before doing any demoing, but we can certainly start some documenting.

Destry · 2015-05-12 11:31:58

While we’re somewhat on the topic of forward development around content, here’s a good recap of what people (companies/customers) are looking for now, or will be more with time (remember, a chess game; thinking ahead).

Future-proof your content

And this goes back to the kinds of things Stephanie (and others) write about with respect to content modeling. But in this case, remember that content will be delivered to more than just a desktop. Txp will never be a true omnichannel enabler, but it can emphasize a more device-agnostic direction in development. That’s where the web publishing system race is being run at the moment. Stay in the race.

Destry · 2015-05-12 15:57:35

Another good and relevant read:

Headless and decoupled CMS: the essential guide

While this does not describe Textpattern, understanding where and when (context) such setup would be ideal gives the Textpattern lover ammo to write about where Txp does fit into the commercial landscape (increasingly less with time, as it may be).

Always an optimist, I am.

philwareham · 2015-05-13 08:11:30

I’ll step up and do the UI for the new content fields, been awaiting those before I forged much further ahead with the admin layout rebuild. Very exciting.

See Craft CMS for custom fields done right. If we can replicate some of that in Textpattern I’ll be very happy.

jakob · 2015-05-13 08:47:05

See Craft CMS for custom fields done right. If we can replicate some of that in Textpattern I’ll be very happy.

Yes, agreed!

BTW: Phil, IIRC you had a pattern page and css / scss files for styling txp 4.5.7 and 4.6 somewhere. Can you remind me where? I wondered for if there were scss files that one could use to style up an admin theme variant.

Destry · 2015-05-13 09:41:26

jakob wrote #290710:

BTW: Phil, IIRC you had a pattern page and css / scss files for styling txp 4.5.7 and 4.6 somewhere. Can you remind me where? I wondered for if there were scss files that one could use to style up an admin theme variant.

I’d be very interested in anything you advance on in that respect. I’ve been wanting to do some custom admin stuff too for a long time and just waiting on 4.6 to land. Getting an advanced look at that would be inspirational.

In fact, that should be another key area for documentation as a selling point. It goes hand in hand with content modeling. You model your content to need, then modify the editorial area to match. The former addresses customers of clients, the latter addresses employee needs to interact with the system.

Of course, bot_write_panel, or whatever that plugin is called, has been around a while, but there has not really been a pairing with content modeling, nor a focus on that concept as a selling point for business owners from Txp itself (i.e., content written into the Txp website, at the very least).

I dare say, maybe it’s time for a mag issue. (But let’s not get our hopes up.)

philwareham · 2015-05-13 09:53:55

jakob wrote #290710:

BTW: Phil, IIRC you had a pattern page and css / scss files for styling txp 4.5.7 and 4.6 somewhere. Can you remind me where? I wondered for if there were scss files that one could use to style up an admin theme variant.

Yes, the project files are here for Hive admin theme.

Although the work in that project is directly related to the admin-layout-update branch of Textpattern, which is a work-in-progress. The layout grid system is the main change but there are other changes too. You can build the project locally and then view the design patterns guide, or view the pre-built one here.

The project also contains flat files of the admin HTML to help you develop themes locally without having to run Textpattern itself – again that is HTML from the branch though. A pre-built mockup work-in-progress one is here.

jakob · 2015-05-13 11:40:42

Perfect! Thanks Phil.

bici · 2015-05-13 15:22:22

Bloke wrote #290681:

Ace.

It seems to centre around custom fields as content nuggets. I’ve been procrastinating on that for far too long and need motivation. This might be it.

Godspeed. Custom Fields by Section is golden.

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#1 2015-05-12 07:40:12