What is Textpattern?

giz · 2015-07-30 23:08:03

I’m helping-out Phil with the design-side of textpattern.com

While the design and content of the site is still in ferment, its primary role is to explain Textpattern in a nutshell, targeted at people who know nothing about it.

I set myself the task of illustrating “What is Textpattern” in a diagram:
Textpattern Sketch 00.png

Missing is Themes – ‘though this shouldn’t be too difficult to add (I’m waiting until we know just how themes will work).

Comments please. Does my diagram work? Is it rong?

zero · 2015-07-30 23:56:36

I made slight changes which makes it clearer to me.

Last edited by zero (2015-07-30 23:58:51)

giz · 2015-07-31 01:39:28

Thanks Peter.

I feel Plugins is part of the presentation layer i.e. not part of the output. I omitted Styles etc for brevity.

I’m with you on the inclusion of “using some organisation”, but prefer it in the sidebar:

You enter and organise content…

candyman · 2015-07-31 06:26:01

I like the graphic of the diagram by Gary but Peter’s works makes more sense to me (I would leave Styles besides Pages and Forms like in the TXP Presentation page).

I would put in evidence that with Plugins you can add some functionalities.

Last edited by candyman (2015-07-31 06:30:55)

colak · 2015-07-31 06:34:36

Instead of XHTML shouldn’t it be HTML5 or both?

gomedia · 2015-07-31 08:03:30

Images and Files are “Content” too.

And I’m not really sure we can claim “Standards Compliant” because the user has near-total control of what’s generated – but the “Done your way” is spot on.

zero · 2015-07-31 10:24:49

You enter and organise content… sounds good.
You add functionality, bells and whistles with plugins – candyman?
Modern HTML5 – colak, gomedia?

I think the tags could be selected, arranged and presented so newbies can understand and read them more easily. Perhaps:

<txp:author> <txp:article> <txp:title> <txp:images> <txp:excerpt> <txp:body> <txp:comments>

<txp:section> <txp:category> <txp:custom_field>

<txp:link> <txp:search_input> <txp:file_download>

<txp:etc>

Destry · 2015-07-31 17:07:45

giz wrote #293863:

Does my diagram work?

The diagrammed process, conceptually speaking, is backwards to what actually happens. If we’re really talking about producing a website, it would be:

Plan your content (stakeholders)
Build the publishing architecture in relation to content plan (designers/devs)
Add the content and publish over time (authors/editors)

You’re diagram represents steps 2 and 3, but in the reverse order. I don’t think it would be illogical (indeed it would be a service to the customer) to include the idea of step 1 too. It may not involve touching Txp tech at that point, but the tech will be based on what that planning is, thus relevant.

Since you mention “designer”, it would be good to mention key players at each step to show a range of roles and speak directly to other Txp audiences.

Without creating visuals, here are some thoughts on what you might recast in the diagram:

Step	Message	Visual
1	“Stakeholders plan the content model”	some ordered sticky notes and/or a simplified spreadsheet
2	“Designers build the architecture with structural building blocks…”	Section, Pages, Forms
3	“…and establish the dynamic relationships with easy-to-use tags and extensions.”	Tags, Plugins
4	“Authors add content that editors publish.”	a collage of icons representing content types: image, doc, video, sound
5	“Customers and visitors come back for more.”	smiling people (women and people of color), aliens, robots looking at laptop, smartphone, and watch

The messages above are not meant to be used verbatim, but just to give the idea of what to communicate at each step. Main thing is that they speak to a given audience type and say what is being done at that step.

I wouldn’t bother talking about standards, and separating content from presentation, etc. These features are assumed anymore. Every system can boast the same thing. Focus on what’s unique about Txp.

giz · 2015-07-31 21:25:24

Thanks all.

My diagram is not intended for Textpattern users, but people who know nothing about it i.e. it is more marketing message than documentation. I’m deliberately omitting detail and looking for essence so its easy to grok.

Destry
The process you describe is spot-on, but doesn’t it belong to another scenario (publishing strategy)?.

Separating content from presentation / standards compliance. You’re right. I can simplify my text to:

You enter and categorise content…
whilst your designer/coder* defines dynamic relationships using simple tags
Enjoy	Flexible publishing done your way

* possibly the words ‘designer’ and ‘coder’ alternately show and hide themselves

I’ll look into adding more detail in the right hand column.

zero, candyman
Re: Plugins and where it belongs; I thought we use tags to access the functionality of Plugins, and not the other way around? Note <txp:my_plugin /> in my tag pool… How do you see plugins?

zero
The actual tags we use are up for grabs – for my purposes at the moment, the tags are just graphic texture ;-)

colak, gomedia
Agreed – see amended copy above.

Last edited by giz (2015-07-31 21:26:26)

Destry · 2015-07-31 23:05:51

giz wrote #293883:

doesn’t it belong to another scenario (publishing strategy)?

Forgive me in advance for being long-winded, but, yes, it’s about publishing, and that’s exactly what you want to be marketing: how Txp is such a great tool for publishing content.

But one way to do that well, as marketing info, is combine the idea of system mechanics (building blocks, tags, etc) with a scenario for context (in this case, publishing). The scenario is significant, and Textpattern should want to speak to the audience types involved in that workflow, because any one of them might catch wind of this interesting thing called “Textpattern” and tell their manager about it. (The assumption here is that Txp is casting a net for more than just the solo designer looking for a new tool.)

This is my outlook on things, so take it as you will, but the biggest potential market for Textpattern is all the companies and orgs that the content marketing and content strategy fields are helping and educating on the merits of handling their content better — as actual “publishers”. Orgs are being taught how plan for content, produce it, optimize it, refine it, diversify it, schedule it, publish it, and measure its success afterwards — as well how to properly think about choosing tools for the job. A lot of people here may not see that, but it is happening out in the wild.

Those companies will be surveying the field for options beyond WordPress and whatnot. They already are. They’re getting the message that the most popular system is not necessarily the best choice, and Textpattern can capitalize on that. It makes no difference if those companies (or non-profits, gov agencies, academic institutions…) are selling real estate, amnesty, civil services, diplomas, or dirty deeds done dirt cheap, they all have to produce content on a regular basis to communicate with respective audiences. Content marketers and strategists are showing them how.

If you speak to that same “how”, you will get attention, and more so with time. That would be good. You might even get more attention from marketers and strategists too, and then gates could really open.

I have plans for publishing an article about Txp at CSF at some point after 4.6 comes out, and that community is all content marketers, strategists, copywriters, editors, etc.

Maybe the thing to do is consider this as one scenario out of two or three good ones in total and produce a diagram in each case, speaking to the specific audiences concerned. For example: the publishing folks, designers, and the individual bloggers. But, again, if you’re aiming for one scenario, the publishing scenario will provide the biggest ROI and already speaks to all those people anyway.

I won’t say anymore about it, but just wanted to clarify the reasoning for my initial table. Whatever you end up doing will be beneficial, no doubt about that.

Last edited by Destry (2015-07-31 23:13:24)

giz · 2015-07-31 23:59:20

Thanks Destry: your argument is sound; I was also thinking of the need for a variety of diagrams to cover each usage case. Please view my sketch as targeting the broadest demographic possible :p

giz · 2015-08-01 04:19:17

Revisited:

The relationships between the elements can be shown in an overlay… which I’m still thinking about.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2015-07-30 23:08:03