At Connect 2013 I attended Chris Berry’s and Mark Hampton’s session titled Deliver Rich, Multi-Channel Websites in Minutes with IBM Web Content Manager Content Template Catalog (CTC.) The CTC is a large set of predefined templates and content that provides a fully populated content driven site in portal 8 which can be used as is or as a starting point for more customized content driven sites for an organization. Additionally the CTC also implements a responsive UI design which allows delivery to mobile devices without having to create a separate mobile site. I will summarize some of the key highlights in CTC4 in this post.
CTC Overview
- CTC4 requires the portal 8 update released in January, 2013
- Free package available from the portal catalog
- Provides a set of content types, templates, rendering plugins, theme, styles and more
- Contains over 20 common types of content with associated components like lists, slideshows carousals, etc.
- Page templates and pre-configured portlets
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO,) analytics metadata, print media, social media integration, etc
Theme Overhaul
- CTC4 theme had an overhaul – it’s gone
- Contains styling, scripts, layouts and palette modifications packaged as a profile in the base theme
- CTC4 styles and layouts will appear in the base theme
Responsive Styling
- CTC has 2 sample styles which implement responsive design
- Component level styling also inherits the container it’s placed in
Device Detection
- Device detection is built in the theme
- Includes appropriate styles based on the device
- Implemented via a rendering plugin
In-place Editing
- Probably the biggest feature, CTC4 utilizes a new set of features that allow content to be marked up for in place editing
- Presentation templates and components utilize new markup, including patterns for dealing with non-visible data
- Tag library implements these new actions such as auto creation of drafts
Localization Updates
- All design artifacts have been localized for language support
- Design text fragments use a plugin that can retrieve translated text from a resource bundle
- Plugin takes parameters for text replacement to support languages with different syntax
New Components and Templates
- New grid navigation components
- All templates and components are responsive and support smaller screens
- New search templates which can be added to site to allows scoped searches
- Video content type is now available
Upgrading from CTC3
- CTC3 to 4 upgrade is supported
- Themes will need migration but rest of content can be installed on top of existing CTC4
- Customized pieces can then be updated to use new features or left as is
- Definitely do the upgrade in a test environment first
The CTC has significantly improved with each release. If you are a portal customer using WCM, download the CTC and see what it has to offer. If you are not a WebSphere Portal or WCM customer, the CTC may help make the case for ownership.
