Content entry points

Authors and editors can create and edit content in SDL Tridion Sites in multiple ways.

To create and edit content:
  • Authors can use the traditional, web form-based GUI called Content Manager Explorer, which runs in an internet browser.
  • Authors can use the WYSIWYG interface called Experience Manager, which lets you edit your staging content in-line on the published staging site.
  • Authors can leverage the External Content Library (ECL for short) to pull in content from other repositories.
  • You can use the APIs on the content management side to extend the existing GUIs, build a custom GUI from scratch, or create integrations with back-end systems.
Experience Manager: the in-context editing user interface

Most authors use the integrated inline page editor, Experience Manager, to perform in-context editing directly on a staging website.

WYSIWYG authoring enables editing directly within the context of your website. Experience Manager enables content authors to change text, update images and add widgets on the webpage directly. These activities take place on a staging or preview environment.

Step-by-step wizards make it easier to create new pages and content items. Modifying or rearranging content on a page is simply a matter of dragging and dropping.

Content Manager Explorer: the interface for power users

Technical users access the Content Manager Explorer interface for more advanced web content management tasks, including application management, Publication management, Template management and more. This interface provides a granular view of SDL Tridion Sites functionality.

The slide-out navigation plane in both Experience Manager and Content Manager Explorer lets you switch easily between the two, or even switch to other SDL user interfaces.

You can also extend the user interfaces by adding controls to the existing views, such as tabs, buttons and menu options. JavaScript code specifies when these controls should be enabled, and what functionality is triggered when they are selected. You can modify the behavior of existing functionality by intercepting and changing requests sent to, or response sent from, SDL Tridion Sites.

The SDL Tridion Sites repository can also be accessed through WebDAV by using WebDAV-compliant applications such as Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft Visual Studio, for template creation and management by developers and designers.