INSIDE BUSINESS CATALYST
EFFECTIVE Why does it matter? What Not to do. BC Modules Advanced Applications.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? EFFECTIVE
WHY DOES IT MATTER? Handing over the keys. Will your client be driving a Mercedes? Or a lemon?
WHY DOES IT MATTER? You are measured not only by how the site looks, but also by how easy it is to maintain. The coolest site on the web will mean nothing if the client can t edit the content. How you wire a site is directly related to the perceived value of the site The easier to edit, the more valuable to the customer.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? I broke it, you need to fix it! How you wire a site is directly related to how much support you ll need to provide going forward. All I did...
WHY DOES IT MATTER? So what s the secret? Separate the code from the content.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? Separating the code from the content... Makes the site easier to maintain Reduces the amount of support you need to provide Makes ongoing changes more efficient Efficient means profit Allows non-technical people to gain control of a website Adds Value.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? So...how do you do this in BC? It s all about the modules
WHAT NOT TO DO EFFECTIVE
WHAT NOT TO DO What not to do Putting too many divs inside the content area Manually adding template code to the content area. Create your own menus with selected and hover states.
WHAT NOT TO DO
WHAT NOT TO DO
MAKE THE MOST OF THE MODULES EFFECTIVE
THE EDITOR The Editor What it s good for Basic formatting: H1, P, UL, Bold, OL, etc What it s not good for Copy/Paste Complex code: Divs, Classes, IDs
WHAT NOT TO DO Be very, very careful with these tools.
THE EDITOR In-Context Editing Define editable regions in sites. Easy to find content. Just click to get there. Give the ability to edit content on page templates without accessing the template Footer addresses Side panel content
THE EDITOR
DYNAMIC MENUS Dynamic Menus An absolute must in all site architecture Make it very easy for clients to add items to the navigation. Difficult to break Very flexible if you understand how to use them Rendered as a unordered list Style in any way you want with CSS
DYNAMIC MENUS
HOLDERS Content Holders Effective Uses Holders for changing content on sitewide templates Tracking Code Addresses Footer information What they re not good for. Dynamic content (can t put modules into content holders...yet) Holders for menu code
EFFECTIVE
PAGE TEMPLATES Page Templates Try to reduce the number of templates. Makes future changes much easier. Name them in a way that makes sense to the client.
PAGE TEMPLATES
WEB APPS EFFECTIVE
WEB APPS Web Apps are one of the greatest features inside BC. Web Apps are the best way to separate the content from the code.
WEB APPS Web App Benefits Allow you to create absolute consistency of design while letting your client have complete control of the content. Ability to import data. Flexible designs Scaleable Can re-create many BC modules with additional flexibility. i.e. Calendars, Bookings, Announcements, Photo Galleries.
EFFECTIVE Building a photo rotator for the home page Requires no Flash, no xml, editing is as easy as replacing an image.
EFFECTIVE
EFFECTIVE Creating a Company Directory Define custom fields Auto-size images so they stay consistent Ability to import data Easy to enable or disable entries. Detail pages are generated automatically using any template.
EFFECTIVE
EFFECTIVE Creating a calendar of events. Simple way to manage many events. Ability to import data Complete control over design. Render multiple layout styles from one data source.
EFFECTIVE
ADVANCED APPLICATIONS EFFECTIVE
ADVANCED WEB APPS Centralize content for use across the entire site. Allowing customers or admin users to edit content without logging into the admin. Create a content holder which allows for the addition of modules. Use web-app fields to create CSS classes & IDs. Sites