Quick Guide to installing Experience Manager (Session Preview)
Experience Manager is a Web-based user interface to the Content Manager that provides in-context editing: end users preview, edit and create Web site content in a 'Staging Web site'. To store user's modifications and display content updated by other users (session data), you need to set up Session Preview. Session Preview ensures that users can view updates to content without having to continually check-in and republish the content. The Quick Guide is intended to instruct you on how to get Session Preview for Experience Manager up and running.
Before you begin
You have a fully-functioning SDL Tridion Content Manager and Content Delivery system depicted in the diagram below as described in the Quick Guide to installing SDL Tridion.
About this task
The following diagram shows what you will do to get Experience Manager (Session Preview) up and running in your existing SDL Tridion installation:
Installing Experience Manager (Session Preview) involves doing the following:
- Create Experience Manager database—to store content within an editing session.
- Add Experience Manager Web site extension to your staging Web site ("Visitors Web Site")—to show the latest content, specific user who is logged in, and as checked in by other users, and storing user's modifications in Content Data Store for Session Preview
- Install Experience Manager Web service—the Web service receives updates from the Content Manager server and uses the Storage Layer to store the user-specific rendered content in a Content Data Store. Only the user who is making updates sees this content while editing; other visitors of the staging Web site see the latest content that is checked in on the Content Manager side.
- Add Enable inline editing for Page to Page Templates and Enable inline editing for content to Component Templates used to Publish content to your Staging Web site.
- Configure the Publication Target that publishes content to your staging Web site (where users edit content using Experience Manager).
Step 1: Creating the Experience Manager database
The Experience Manager database is a separate Content Data Store instance configured for Experience Manager. You create the Experience Manager database by running a PowerShell script.
Procedure
Results
database=localhost
user=sa
password=tridion
Experience Manager Content Data store
-------------------------
Name=Tridion_BrokerEM
Username=TridionBrokerUser
Password=tridion
Step 2. Installing Experience Manager Web Site extension
In the visitors Web site you created in the first getting started guide, you need to add an extension so that the Web site shows the latest content and a user's modifications are available (stored in Content Data Store for Session Preview).
Procedure
Step 3. Installing Experience Manager Web Service
The Experience Manager Web service receives updates from the Content Manager server and uses the Storage Layer to store the user-specific rendered content in a Content Data Store (the Experience Manager database).
Procedure
Step 4. Enabling inline editing (Templates)
You need to add Enable inline editing for Page to the Page Templates used to Publish content to your Staging Web site.
Procedure
- Open Content Manager Explorer.
- Go to your visitorsweb Publication.
- Navigate to the :
- Select the Default Page Template and create a copy called EM Page Template.
- Select the Default Component Template and create a copy called EM Component Template.
- Create some dummy content:
- Create a Schema called SimpleSchema with a single, multi-valued text field.
- Create a Component called EMTest based on the Schema.
- Open the EM Component Template. In the Linked Schemas tab, select SimpleSchema and click Add to move it to the Linked Schemas.
- Start Template Builder.
- Open EM PageTemplate in Template Builder.
- In the Building Blocks view, find the Template Building Block called Enable inline editing for Page and drag it directly under the Dreamweaver Template Building Block of the Template.
- Select Enable inline editing for Page and select SiteEdit Editor URL in the list of properties on the right.
- Set the value of SiteEdit Editor URL to http://localhost/WebUI/Editors/SiteEdit/, where localhost is the host name of the Content Manager Explorer Web site with the Experience Manager installed.
- Save and close the Page Template.
- Open EMComponentTemplate in Template Builder.
- In the Building Blocks view, find the Template Building Block called Enable inline editing for content and drag it directly under the Dreamweaver Template Building Block of the Template.
- Save and close the Component Template.
- In Content Manager Explorer, open the HelloWorld Page you created in the Quick Guide to installing SDL Tridion:
- Set the Page Template to EMPageTemplate.
- In the Component Presentations tab, add the EMTest to the Page.
- Save and close the Page.
Step 5. Configuring a Publication Target
You need to configure the Publication Target that publishes content to a staging Web site where users can edit content in Experience Manager.
Procedure
Step 6. Opening and Testing Experience Manager
Experience Manager is a user interface to the Content Manager that runs in your browser, and that allows end users to preview, edit and create Web site content in the context of a 'Staging Web site'.
Procedure
Results
You have installed and configured the Experience Manager user interface and Session Preview (Content Delivery).