Redbooks: Building a sample website with IBM Web Content Manager 7.0

Cali Clarke Stuart Crump Dineshbabu Ramakrishnan Raul Munoz Serrano Hebba Soliman Rayomand Sui Narla Vasudevamurthy Wei-Dong (Jackie) Zhu

PrefaceImportant Note about referencing the latest information

This PDF document represents the overall Building a sample website with IBM Web Content Manager 7.0. In addition to the information contained in this document, also refer to the complete Lotus Redbooks Wiki at the following URL:

http://www10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Redbooks%3A%2 0Building%20a%20Sample%20Website%20Using%20IBM%20Web%20Content%20M anager%207.0IBM Lotus and IBM Redbooks have partnered together to show you how the fictitious company River Bend Tea and Company Inc (River Bend) uses IBM Web Content Manager to build their website. See how they developed the architecture, deployed the system, designed the site, and went live with dynamic content. Web Content Manager provides a sophisticated web content management tool and platform that is designed to accelerate the delivery and management of critical business information. It enables a collaborative approach to content creation for individuals and teams. It allows for approval of processes, management, and assets. Web Content Manager is an extremely powerful and sophisticated tool that is remarkably easy to use. This wiki addresses specific technical aspects of Web Content Manager, by discussing its underlying architecture, features, and capability. This wiki focuses specifically on Web Content Manager Version 7, but much of what is discussed here applies to earlier versions of the product as well. The wiki is divided into five parts: Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Architecture and design Part 3 Building a website - River Bend Tea and Coffee Company Part 4 Expanding Web Content Manager environment Part 5 Site administration and operations To support users in the initial stages of learning about the product, this wiki explains how to build a sample site from the initial concepts to asset creation and final delivery. To illustrate the steps in building the site, the wiki builds the sample site for the fictitious company, River Bend Tea and Coffee Company. The wiki then expands upon this experience and explores additional and more sophisticated areas of the product, including where there are opportunities for customization. In addition to discussing specific technical features, the wiki discusses the key concepts and best practices for creating an accurate information architecture and site framework. DISCLAIMER: This wiki outlines an example of building a basic website using a sample site, River Bend. This sample is not intended as a best practice for development, configuration, architecture, or any other aspect, such as scalability or performance. No warranty or support is implied for the example site or sample code used.

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The team who wrote this wikiThis wiki was produced by a team of technical specialists from around the world working together in remote fashion. Cali Clarke is a Senior IT Specialist in the UK working with Lotus Collaborative technology in IBM Software Group. Cali joined Lotus over 20 years ago working mostly with Notes & Domino technologies before her current role in Technical Sales. She has worked with WCM since IBM acquired Aptrix in 2003. In her current role she works with large and small customers to develop and facilitate their use of IBM Exceptional Web Experience technologies. In her spare time she enjoys live music, cooking as well as running her nail polish blog. Stuart Crump is a senior accredited IT specialist working in the Lotus brand of IBM's Software group. Living in West Sussex, he travels around the UK , working primarily with finance organisations helping them adopt and gain business benefit from the entire Lotus brand portfolio. Stuart has worked with Lotus Domino, WebSphere and general web technologies for over 10 years. When not working, Stuart enjoys riding and restoring old British motorbikes and plans to take a trip across France and Spain on his motorbike. Dineshbabu Ramakrishnan is a Staff Software Engineer in IBM Software Group in Research Triangle Park, NC working with the IBM Web Content Manager support team. He has over 11 years of experience in both development and support of IBM WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Portal Server, Web Content Manager, and has been working on WebSphere Portal and Web Content Manager since 2003. He is also an IBM Certified Application Developer and IBM Certified System Administrator for Workplace Web Content Management, WebSphere Portal, and Web Content Manager. Raul Munoz Serrano is a Collaboration Solutions Architect in IBM Software Group. He lives in Madrid, Spain. He has been working with Portal / WCM technologies for ten years since the early Portal 4.0 days. He likes playing with his children and running long distances from time to time.

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Hebba Soliman is a Senior Application Developer in IBM Egypt, Global Delivery Center (EGDC). She has been working as a developer and designer in many IBM Web Content Manager and WebSphere Portal projects in the last couple of years.

Rayomand Sui is a Client Technical Professional (CTP) for the IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS) software brand in Wellington, New Zealand. In his previous role at IBM, he was part of the IBM Software Services for Lotus (ISSL) team delivering successful WebSphere Portal and IBM Web Content Manager solutions. He has worked with IBM Lotus technologies for over thirteen years and has been involved with IBM Web Content Manager implementations since 2003. He has also co-authored the IBM developerworks white paper "IBM Workplace Web Content Management V2.x to V6.x Migration Guide" and the IBM Redbooks wiki "Building a Website Using Lotus Web Content Management 6.1". In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, trying his culinary skills in the kitchen and Ceroc dancing. Narla Vasudevamurthy is a Software Engineer at WebSphere Web Content Management L2 Support, IBM Software Group. He has over 18 years of experience in the IT Industry. He has been working with Websphere Portal software since 2003. He is also a IBM Certified System Administrator - WebSphere Portal and WebSphere Application Server. Wei-Dong (Jackie) Zhu is an Industry Solution Project Leader with International Technical Support Organization. She has more than 10 years of software development experience in accounting, image workflow processing, and digital media distribution using C, C++, Java, and Lotus Notes scripts. Jackie holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of the Southern California. Jackie joined IBM in 1996. She is a Certified Solution Designer for IBM Content Manager and has managed and lead the production of many Enterprise Content Management redbooks and Lotus Domino redbooks wiki projects.

Supporting contributors and reviewersThanks to the following people for their contributions to this project: David De Vos - WCM Field Architecture Mark Hampton - Senior Software Engineer Rob Enright - ICSS Solution Architect

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Thanks to the authors of the previous editions of this wiki. Authors of the second edition, Building a Web Site using IBM Web Content Management, published in 2008, were: John Bergland Joesephine E Justin (Joyce) Hebba Soliman Stuart Crump Raul Munoz Serrano Erasmus Tapera Narla Vasudevamurthy Rayomand Sui

Become a contributorJoin us for a two- to six-week residency program! Share your knowledge with peers in the industry and learn from others. Help create content about specific products or solutions, while getting hands-on experience with leading-edge technologies. You will have the opportunity to team with IBM technical professionals, Business Partners, and Clients. Your efforts will help increase product acceptance and customer satisfaction. As a bonus, you will develop a network of contacts in IBM development labs, and increase your productivity and marketability. Find out more about the residency program, browse the residency index, and apply online at: http://www.ibm.com/redbooks/residencies.html

Comments are welcomeYour comments are important to us! We want the content in this wiki and all our wikis to be as helpful as possible. Provide us your comments in one fo the following ways: Use the commenting feature with in the wiki. Login and add comments, located at the bottom of each page. Provide feedback in the Web form located at: http://www-12.lotus.com/ldd/doc/cct/nextgen.nsf/feedback?OpenForm

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Part 1. IntroductionPart 1 covers the following topics: 1.1 Introduction to this guide This section introduces the Redbooks wiki: Building a website using IBM Web Content Manager. 1.2 Website fundamental This section describes the basic terminology and concepts of a website. It also examines why build a web site, the objectives are, and how to avoid failure. 1.3 People involved in a website This section describes functional groups and user roles which are typically brought together in a collaborative environment when building a website. 1.4 Web content management and IBM Web Content Manager This section explains the concept of web content management and what IBM Web Content Manager offers. 1.5 Key new features in IBM Web Content Manager V7.0 This section describes key new features for IBM Web Content Manager Version 7.0. DISCLAIMER: This guide outlines an example of building a basic website using a sample site, River Bend. This sample is not intended as a best practice for development, configuration, architecture, or any other aspect, such as scalability or performance. No warranty or support is implied for the example site or sample code used.

1.1. Introduction to this guideIn today's global business world, businesses depend upon their visibility in their respective marketplaces. With the pervasiveness of the Internet, the web has become a primary delivery mechanism of this visibility. Worldwide, organizations use the Internet to deliver their presence, from basic organization and company information to e-commerce. The web is a sophisticated and key tool. IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) provides a sophisticated web content management tool and platform that is designed to accelerate the delivery and management of critical business information. It enables a collaborative approach to content creation for individuals and teams. It allows for approval of processes, management, and assets. WCM is an extremely powerful and sophisticated tool that is remarkably easy to use. This guide addresses specific technical aspects of the WCM product, by discussing its underlying architecture, features, and capability. This guide focuses specifically on WCM V7.0, but much of what is discussed here applies to earlier versions of the product as well. To support users in the initial stages of learning about the product, this guide explains how to build a sample site from the initial concepts to asset creation and final delivery. To illustrate the steps in building the site, we build the sample site for the fictitious company, River Bend Coffee and Tea Company (River Bend). The guide then expands upon this experience and explores additional and more sophisticated areas of the product, including where there are opportunities for customization. In addition to discussing

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specific technical features, this guide discusses the key concepts and best practices for creating an accurate information architecture and site framework. DISCLAIMER: This guide outlines an example of building a basic website using a sample site, River Bend. This sample is not intended as a best practice for development, configuration, architecture, or any other aspect, such as scalability or performance. No warranty or support is implied for the example site or sample code used.

1.2. Website fundamentals

1.2.1. Basic concepts within a websiteBasic concepts within a website includes website, web page, home page, links, and content.

WebsiteA website is a collection of all of the text, graphic images, links, sounds, and other content elements that make up a presence on the web. The goal is to present content and information in the most dynamic, up-to-date method possible. Each individual document is called a web page. Web sites have three basic components: A home page - The home page is the top-most page in a web site. Web pages - Local and remotely stored web pages linked to the home page. Content - Content includes text, graphic images, and sounds.

Home pageA web site's home page is the first page that users see when they access a web site. It creates the first impression for users and sets the tone for organization and content in the site. A home page usually contains a header at the top that gives the name of the source for the site. Some headers are very simple and contain only text, while others have designs that incorporate graphic images.

LinksUsers access local and remotely stored web pages linked to the web page by clicking on links. Links can: Take users to other web pages at the same site. Move users to other web pages at different sites. Jump the cursor to another place on the same page. Cause a file to be downloaded or copied from the website to the user's computer. Connect the user to other Internet resources, such as e-mail.

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ContentContent is the substance of a website. It can take many forms, including: Text documents Graphic images Sounds Downloadable movie clips Links to other related sites

1.2.2. Why building a web siteThe goal of a website is to provide up-to-date, accurate information and content for customers, partners and employees of your organization. When managed effectively, a website provides an excellent platform for providing information to a broad audience, with the ability to rapidly update and modify this information as needed. Business moves quickly: Promotions come and go, prices change, product features are added, and new opportunities arise. A successful website can ensure that the best and most relevant information is shared with key stakeholders. A valuable website provides informationnot just data. There is a continued explosion in both content volume (numbers of items) and content types (documents, images, streaming media, instant messages, e-mail and so on). IBM Web Content Manager software helps you structure your ever-growing data.

1.2.3. Setting objectives and measuring themAfter you have defined the goals of a website, it is important to have metrics and mechanisms in place to determine if your site is providing benefit and serving to achieve the goals you have defined. Define your metric of success. Is it simply to achieve certain number of hits to the site? Can customers navigate to the information they need with minimal clicks? Can they place orders in an intuitive way? Your organization needs a method to measure the number of clicks required for basic navigation, the duration for which potential customers stay on the site, and if they find what they need.

1.2.4. Why websites failDelivering a website (Internet or intranet) that makes a mark with its target audience is becoming more challenging than ever before. Why is this? This change can be partially attributed to a growing number of users called "digital natives". They are people who have grown up with technology such as the Internet, digital cameras, and computers. This group expects more from a website than just static information that is poorly laid out and difficult to find. This group speaks digital as though it were a second language. But digital natives are not the only reason for this. There are many others.

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Today, the web is used as a natural medium that allows individuals and business to conduct transactions, especially the buying and selling of goods and services. Businesses use websites and portals to deliver efficiencies, with faster access to information and people and easier consumption of knowledge and education. In essence, there is much more reliance upon the web and websites than there could have ever been realized five to ten years ago. Why do websites fail? They fail because organizations do not acknowledge or understand their target audience, the needs of the consumer, or the need to deliver information at the right time, at the right place, with the right method. They also fail for the following reasons: Not understanding the businesses needs Web sites fail because the organization loses sight of their objectives and the businesses needs. Neglecting to keep objectives in focus can easily lead to a website existing just as a digital business card when really it is meant to deliver additional traffic through their outlets and drive additional sales online. A website must meet the objectives of the business and align with its target audience and what they want. Not having the right balance of the website design and content With a few exceptions, the balance of design versus content must be maintained. Too much in either direction might mean that the website is perceived as looking great but with no substance or value, or as a great source of information but difficult to use. Content and design are key elements for ensuring that the initial experience and perception of the website is good and that repeat consumer visits can be expected. Not having new content to attract repeat visitors Content is king. Whether for textual, applications, video, and audio reasons, consumers of a website revisit because their initial experience was good and their expectations were met. Consumers of the site will only return if the site is updated with new content. A consumer might look elsewhere when the content shows signs of being out of date or no longer relevant. Maintenance of the site especially its content is key to its success and should be planned and budgeted for as part of a website project. Not marketing and linking the website to attract new visitors Failure to market a website in either a traditional or digital marketing sense only leads to a failed website. Consumers visit websites through a number of mechanisms such as word of mouth, agencies, magazines, other Web sites, or search engines. Expect to use one or more of these avenues to publicize the site especially if it is within a competitive market. Not understanding the audience to better serve them Understanding the usage pattens and how many visitors you might expect to see on the site at any peak time can be difficult to estimate, but is important. If the site is designed to accommodate hundreds of users in a peak hour, when the actual number is in the ten thousands, this can lead to the website being slow and unresponsive. If more users stay on the website longer, perhaps reading or watching more or due to the slow response time, then this might result in the total visitor concurrency number to be higher than expected. Therefore, the experience for the visitor might become unpredictable. Understanding who the audience is, what they will be doing on the website, and how they might be using the website are keys to ensuring that a website does not fail.

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While websites fail for other reason also, focusing upon these five areas help to ensure that the website has a healthy start.

1.3. People involved in a websiteThis section describes functional groups and user roles which are typically brought together in a collaborative environment when building a website.

1.3.1. IntroductionBuilding and maintaining a website using a content management system such as IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) is not a task to be undertaken by a single individual. It is not that this is an impossible task, rather this task requires skills, experience, and knowledge that usually come from many individuals working in a collaborative environment. Typically, we bring together individuals from three areas (business, technology, and information) and four distinctive groups (business, technical, content, and design (or layout). Depending on the size of the business and situation, it is possible for the same person to be split across positions in these groups. The functional groups represented include: Business Technology Information The specific user roles include: Business owners Corporate communications and marketing personnel Graphic designers Information architects Infrastructure engineers and operations Content authors, subject matter experts, and approvers Consumers

1.3.2. Functional groupsThe functional groups consist of business, technology, and information groups. Expanding on these functional groups, it shows the areas where skills, experience, and knowledge are needed.

Business functional groupThe members of this group typically see the business vision for a website and chart its progress to meet this vision. They know the line of business requirements, define the success criteria of the project, and can help to define the underlying information architecture. From the business process perspective, they can identify where the current barriers exist that need to overcome with this project.

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Typical members of this group include members of the management board, a project sponsor or sponsors (which is sometimes shared), business owners, and process leaders.

Technology functional groupThe members of this group represent multiple areas that touch all aspects of general IT, from infrastructure and network architecture to specialized Internet Service Providers (ISPs, hosting providers). Members of this group are proficient with the business defined technical architecture and have a solid understanding of the technical requirements of the website. Typical members of this group include members of the IT and architecture board, IT management and experts from third parties (ISPs and CMS technical experts if skills do not already exist), infrastructure engineers, and operations.

Information functional groupWithin the information functional group, it is important to split it into (1) content generation group and (2) content design and layout group. This is an important concept within Web Content Manager.

Content generation groupThe members of this group represent the subject matter experts, authors, content owners, and the target group for whom the information is intended. Members of this group are extremely important because they have a deep knowledge about existing application resources and content that needs to be integrated. Typical members of this group include representatives from the various specialized content areas of the business (products and within, marketing, corporate communications, and so on).

Content design and layout groupThe members of this group represent the delivery, styling, and management of the visual elements within a Web site. They specialize in delivering a complete user experience (UX) that is easily consumed by visitors, while maintaining a consistent corporate style across the website. In this way, visitors can glean the information and knowledge required. Typical members of this group include web layout designers, developers, UX subject matter experts, and associated test groups.

Communication and collaboration among the groupsWith the three main area and their functional groups defined, the communication and collaboration between these groups must stay at a level where there is always a clear understanding of where responsibilities lay. In addition, these groups must clearly understand and work toward the goals of the website. A good practice to keep these groups collaborating effectively is to have frequent interaction among them as illustrated by the following figure.

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Note: These groups are key to building and maintaining the process and groups that persist along with the longevity of the website. While omitted here is the consumer or visitor, this group is vital for obvious reasons and can be logically grouped with the design or layout team because they will be responsible for the experience provided by the website. We talk about the consumer in a another section.

1.3.3. RolesThe user roles consist of business owners, corporate communications and marketing personnel, graphic designers, information architects, infrastructure engineers and operations, content authors, subject matter experts, and approvers, and consumers.

Business ownersAs mentioned previously, the delivery of a content management system-based website is one where we can typically bring together individuals under four distinctive groups that collaborate together on a single goal, for the website. The business group has the vision for the website. They know the line of business requirements and can define the success criteria of the project among other responsibilities. Members of the management board and executive team perform the following tasks: Set and announce the key business objectives. Set the business context. Define the project sponsors (because this can be shared). Authorize the process leaders. Set the project budgets and the time line. The project sponsor or sponsors (part of the organization that is driving the project) perform the following tasks:

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Work with business owners and content owners to define the information architecture. Define key concepts and terminology. Steer the decision process. Manage the project.

Process leaders perform the following tasks: Manage the project. Define the resources that are required. Work with business owners and content owners to define taxonomies that categorize and organize information for both the content creator and the content consumer. These tasks are closely related to the underlying information architecture.

Corporate communications and marketing personnelA superset of the content group is corporate communications and marketing personnel. This group is responsible for ensuring that the messages, products, and general information that are delivered to the consumer are consistent, well defined, easily digestible, and clear overall. Corporate communications and marketing individuals might make up some of the people who are already defined as part of the content group or, in some cases, provide direction from a higher level. The corporate communications and marketing team performs the following tasks: Ensures information consistency. Verifies that the general delivery of the product, service, or corporate information is clear. Approves information style and language, as well as access.

Graphic designersThe design and layout group is responsible for delivering the complete user experience for the website visitor. The responsibilities include layout, styling, corporate branding, and accessibility, for example, in addition to the areas mentioned in the following list. The design, layout, and development team performs the following tasks: Helps to create and stamp the corporate design on the website. Ensures that styling and layout provide a flexible user experience for the visitor. Liaises with subject matter experts where necessary to address accessibility needs. Works with the IT team to technically implement the corporate design. Helps to create the author's template environment.

Information architectsAligned with the group for IT, the information architect (sometimes known as information designers ) team closely works with individuals from the group and are responsible for the delivery of the structure to the content, categorization, placement, and alignment with the visitors' expectations of information placement. Content information architects perform the following tasks: With the design team, ensure the best fit and alignment with the visitors' mental model of information.

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Help define the taxonomy in association with the content authors and subject matter experts. Define the content structure and groupings with the design team.

Information architects can be seen as an extension of the design and user experience group. Because common elements are shared across both areas, it is important to keep communicating and working in a collaborative partnership.

Infrastructure engineers and operationsThe infrastructure engineers and operations team is part of the wider IT group and is responsible for ensuring that the systems are put in place and maintained according to corporate standards. These standard typically fall into two areas: systems (the underlying software stack, for example, the application server) and network (the architectural guidelines of how system communicate or do not communicate with each other). The infrastructure engineers and operations team performs the following tasks: Designs the content management systems to fit with previously defined network and system architectural standards. Establishes processes to monitor and maintain the system. Works with the business to align budget with standards (resilience, scalability, and so on).

Content authors, subject matter experts, and approversContent is gold. Without it, a website ceases to be beneficial to visitors. As such, the content team is responsible for ensuring that content is created, categorized, quality assured, and approved to be visible on the website. Content authors, subject matter experts, and approvers perform the following tasks: Provide content expertise and writing. Help define the taxonomy with the information architects. Help define the content structure with the information architects. Provide first-level template support. Content owners perform the following tasks: Provide content quality assurance (accuracy, relevance, and so on). Provide usability feedback. Approve content.

ConsumersToday, information, products, and services are acquired over the Internet through websites that are built with Web Content Manager. Web sites are a vehicle to unite consumers with products or information, and as such, the consumer plays the lead role. Consumers switch between competitive websites with the click of a mouse button if they do not find what they want within seconds of their visit. This is also the case with procurement of services and products. Sales are quickly lost if a consumer's mental model of how their interaction should take place is not aligned with how the website works. Clearly, consumers are important. For new websites, all consumer feedback is important. Getting the website wrong costs time, money, and consumers' trust. However, there is difficulty with getting it right the first

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time if you do not have user feedback to work with. The question is: how do you get that feedback before your website goes live? There are several answers to this question. One that stands out is to solicit the expertise of user experience, information architects, and user centered practitioners, along with a targeted sample of willing participants from the general community. This is typically a standard practice among the methods used by these professions. For websites that are already in place and perhaps transitioning to a new experience, such as a portal or new design, it is becoming common practice to offer certain groups within the websites' core user base to have access to a live beta version of the site to gain feedback. This approach can be advantageous where there is a need to ensure business as usual. Consumers in a role that assists the organization perform the following tasks: Provide live and relevant website feedback. Can validate use case scenarios, check, and balance. Help eliminate overlap and misinterpretations of new design elements. Provide usability feedback, crucial with accessibility. Approve content. These roles and their functions are typically brought together in a collaborative environment when building a site.

1.4.Web content management and IBM Web Content Manager

1.4.1. Web content management within the context of content managementWhat is content?Content can mean many different things. We start from a common understanding of what the scope of business content is. Content supports the work that the enterprise does and interacts in many ways with business operations. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is the discipline involved with the capture, storage, and management of this kind of content across the enterprise. It makes information easy to find, use, update, and discard when the time comes. Content can be categorized into the following types among others: High-volume production content, such as document imaging and computer output, archiving, and presentation Rich media, such as audio, video, and photos Web content, such as Internet, intranet, and extranet Collaborative content, such as office documents, discussions, and e-mail

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Enterprise content management has the following objectives: Provide an efficient and secure solution for managing content within the enterprise, including enterprise-wide content storage, access, search, distribution, and retention. This is especially true with the current focus on corporate accountability and regulatory compliance. Build knowledge-based environments to leverage corporate know-how and expertise.

Importance of content managementPrior to discussing the specific aspects of the importance of web content management, we begin by discussing the underlying importance of content management. The ability to effectively manage content, and more importantly information and specific knowledge, directly affects your organizations ability to succeed in the marketplace. Business information is, in most cases, the most valuable asset that you offer to your customers, employees, or business partners. Accordingly, that makes information, together with the ability to manage it, integral to the success of every business. Value is the knowledge that you add before you offer something. Business value is based on the information that you share. This concept is true both for the production and for knowledge and service industries. Looking at where this information exists, you find that it is often divided and decentralized throughout organizations. Information is stored frequently as content. For example, critical information can include product descriptions, instructions, policies, key customer issues, competitive strategies, and so forth. The effectiveness of the information you offer, and in many cases the value that you provide, depends directly upon the ability to distribute that information in a timely and efficient manner.

Information within the context of web contentWhen your organization offers information via a web browser, this material is considered web content. Web content consists of two parts: The content The design or presentation of that content Going forward, we explain this concept in greater detail and discuss the advantages of handling the content and the design of the content separately. There are two approaches to creating, managing, and publishing web content: Static web content Dynamic web content Static web content Static web content is embedded directly into the design and placed statically on a web page. This type of content is most likely the result of programming rather than content authoring. Due to its static nature and embedded design, this type of content can be difficult to reuse and change. Static web content solutions often require someone within an IT department, or a person who possesses web design and some web IT skills, to translate content into HTML before it can be posted to a web site or a portal. Accordingly, static web content is more difficult to use within a dynamic web site, which changes frequently and requires up-todate information to deliver maximum value. Additionally, static web content is often impossible to reuse due to its embedded design.

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Dynamic web content Rather than embedding the information directly together with the design, dynamic web content treats the content and the presentation of the content as two distinct entities. By separating the web content from the presentation layer, you can manage and deliver content quickly and efficiently, independent of its presentation. The ability to manage both content and its presentation layer as separate entities is enabled most frequently by using web content management systems. With IBM Web Content Manager, companies or organizations can put the information in the right people easily and efficiently, which is a key component in sustaining a competitive advantage. Authors do not need to handle the technical side of web technologies. Content that is created can be integrated with multiple uses and processes, distributed or shared throughout and beyond an organization. For example, a single product sheet can contain complete pricing information, including internal prices that you only share within your organization. By taking advantage of the multi-publishing feature, you can publish a subset of the same document for your customers, without needing to maintain separate documents.

Content management within the context of applicationsApplications offered through a web browser also use content that is managed by a content management system. For example, a product catalog or online store contains content that is accessed through an application that usually provides a helpful navigation tool. With ever-growing volumes of critical information distributed across Internet portals, e-business applications, intranets and extranets in various formats, deploying and maintaining effective content management can be a significant challenge. Web content management is not just about customers. It is important to employees, business partners, suppliers, and vendors because these groups represent the backbone of an organization. Making sure that they are equipped with the right information and can do business with your organization more easily than they can with your competitor is critical. A positive web experience motivates users to revisit the site like nothing else can. This is a challenge that is generally underestimated by most companies. To compete in today's markets, providing information on demand is crucial. Content management is the key in this requirement. Such a powerful management tool, reaching a wide-spread audience, also exposes the risks that are associated with providing information to a broad audience. Make sure to include workflow, security, and structure to reflect organization policies in a web environment.

Overview of web content managementIn the past, different forms of information, such as web content, e-mail, product information, or customer data, were kept in separate, disconnected content management repositories. Today, this is not a viable solution. To thrive in an on-demand environment, you need flexible, cost-effective content management solutions to manage all types of information, including structured data and unstructured content. You need content management solutions that enable data and content to be integrated with multiple applications and processes, distributed or shared throughout and beyond your organization. Furthermore, you need it structured and organized in a way that is best suited for your business.

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The focus for today's businessesTo manage the exponential growth of business-critical information, respond faster to the market place, and increase employee productivity, a content management system must address three key areas: Responsiveness Streamlining operations and providing an integrated view of all forms of information can improve your customer relationships and enable your employees, partners, and suppliers to work together more efficiently. It can also help you reduce costs and capitalize on new opportunities. Productivity When employees spend more time looking for information they need to perform their jobs, such as documents, e-mail, reports, web content, they spend less time working and generating business. If they are not working with the latest information, they can miss opportunities and make costly mistakes. When customers cannot find what they are looking for on a web site, they leave frustrated and dissatisfied, no matter how good the information or prices might be. That can add up to a lot of wasted hours and missed opportunities. The effort to bring visitors back again is costly. Companies that give their employees a simplified, personalized, and easily accessible user interface to access and share critical information enjoy a competitive advantage. Compliance Effectively manage your content to address the increasing demands of government and industry regulations. Keep focused on your business goals and use compliance as a lever for change to affect process improvement and business transformation.

When looking at existing enterprises, specialized applications and databases are often established when it comes to business-critical information. IBM Web Content Manager becomes increasingly important for companies and organizations to leverage the complete spectrum of data assets within their enterprise and share it electronically among suppliers, customers, partners, and employees. Content that is created and managed from authors for the purpose of web publishing becomes only one component. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) provides a basis for the next generation of data management, enabling customers to collect, manage, and distribute all forms of business information. For example, an employee of a human resources department who updates a phone number in an internal application, has actually executed a step within a greater content management context. The changed number is simultaneously published to the web. It is mandatory to integrate content from a broad range of existing data sources. Open standards for content exchange are the key.

1.4.2. General concepts in web content managementIn this section, we define concepts that are fundamental to understanding web content management and, more importantly, understanding the benefits that can be gained. The concepts include the separation of content and presentation, content creation and authoring, workflow, management, content publication, content aggregation, content integration, and content delivery.

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Separation of content and presentationAs a foundation for understanding the benefits of IBM Web Content Manager, we must first distinguish between content and the presentation of the content. When a clear separation is made between content and how it is presented, you can understand how a single piece of content can potentially be rendered in multiple ways. For example, a single item of content, such as a news article, can be presented in any of the following ways: On a web page in a variety of formats, based on user preferences and personalization In a PDF file Downloaded to a smart phone Streamed as an RSS feed The content is the same, but the presentation can be adapted to best meet users' needs within the context of their specific roles or preferences. This approach also guarantees a consistent view and usage of a web site. If the design changes, the content parts remain unaffected. Additionally, the content creators do not have to worry about the presentation of their content. This is important because content creators usually do not have significant knowledge of HTML. Moving forward with this idea, key concepts and functional areas that apply to IBM Web Content Manager can be grouped in terms of dynamic presentation or content management.

Content creation and authoringContent creation and authoring refer to the creation of content and information that is intended to be delivered on the web site. Content creators are guided through an authoring process, by using familiar applications, without having to learn new technical skills.

WorkflowThe accuracy, relevancy, and recency of content is assured by automating the content life cycle, from creation to review, approval, delivery, and archival.

ManagementContent becomes an asset as control of the web site is placed back in the hands of the users who understand the subject and customers best.

Content publicationAfter content is authored and approved, the content publication stage is where the content is released for delivery to the live site. The delivery can be a simple process, such as making a file available on a file system to a web server and advertising the URL. Or it can be a more complex procedure such as moving content through a complex workflow and into a production environment.

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Content aggregationContent aggregation occurs when content from various sources is brought together. In a simple web site, this occurs manually during the content creation phase. In a more dynamic and data-driven environment, the aggregation occurs at an application server level.

Content integrationAggregation, transactional integration, and performance enhancing caching enrich the user experience.

Content deliveryContent must be delivered to the user in the appropriate (or desired) format. Most frequently, this implies delivery via HTTP by using browsers and similar devices. Alternatively, content delivery can refer to other publish-and-subscribe methods, data feeds, or web service protocols.

1.4.3. The need for a web content management systemIt is a standard practice for most organizations to use a web content management system to assist with the process of delivering content to their intranet or Internet site. Consider, for example, a product page that details the features and advantages of a new coffee maker. The creation of the detail description and images can involve several people, including subject matter experts, image designers, proof readers, legal, and IT. If we achieve this through existing desktop office tools, it can be a quite arduous and time consuming process. If you use a web content management system, the process can be streamlined to allow distributed authoring, workflow, preview, and delivery of the finished article to the web site, and notification of the appropriate people. Without content being current, timely, and appropriately placed, the site can be perceived in a lesser light. From the content delivery process alone, a web content management system is a good choice. With the content creation, approval and delivery process being the top capability that benefits from a web content management system, there are other areas that can lend weight to using a web content management system. Ensuring that the web site has a consistent look and feel (branding) is extremely important, for brand awareness and for ensuring that visitors to the web site are familiar with the layout, presentation, and navigation to content. A web content management system provides a structured approach and framework to allow the separation of content and design while ensuring consistency where required. Componentization is also an area that the web content management framework offers. Componentization allows a higher degree of reuse and helps you to build more with less. This is another clear area where a web content management is a good choice.

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Content and design are just two important aspects of any web site (intranet or Internet) that benefit from a web content management system. The following aspects are important to a web site: Content: The creation, approval, and delivery process streamlined to take advantage of your organization's distribution of knowledge and skills. Design: Separation of design from content to allow for the design process (in-house or agency) to deliver consistent branding of your business, its products, and services. Componentization: Reuse of assets to allow the business to deliver more with less, and save money. Standards: A system to employ best practices where accessibility is required. Integration and delivery: Providing a framework from which a business can integrate with systems, services, and information including growth from Web sites to portals and beyond.

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With these concepts in mind, you can be reassured that you are making the right decision to use a web content management (WCM) system. While there might be many factors to consider, the following decision tree can guide you and provide a starting point to expand upon.

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1.5. Key new features in IBM Web Content Manager V7.0IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) has added many areas of improved functionality in Version 7.0. This section describes some of the key improvements in Version 7.0 of the product.

1.5.1. Improved authoring user interface viewsThe Web Content Manager Version 7.0 authoring portlet has been revamped for a cleaner and more user friendly experience. There have been many improvements. Here are just some of the improvements.

Library Explorer navigationThe Library Explorer navigation allows for quick access to some of the views within the authoring portlet:

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Different view structuresWithin the authoring portlet navigation, you can choose between flat or tree views: Flat view:

Tree view:

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Improved quick navigationAlong the top of the navigation within the authoring portlet, users now have access to a mechanism for more quickly navigating through the items within the libraries. This allows for more user friendly experience.

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Improved filtering capabilitiesWhen navigating through many items in the same view, it is often easier to find what you are looking for by filtering the items within the view. Web Content Manager has added an improved filter selection interface:

FavoritesThe updated authoring portlet allows users to select favorite items and views. This makes it easier to access these items in the future. To mark an item a favorite is very easy. The heart allows you to select and deselect an item as a favorite.

1.5.2. API enhancementsThere have been various enhancements to the Web Content Manager API in version 7.0.Check the Web Content Manager API javadoc

for the full list of operations available in the

Web Content Manager API.

Syndication APIWeb Content Manager now allows some syndication operations to be performed using the Web Content Manager API. Users can retrieve status, view the numbers of items in the last syndication event, push an update or a rebuild event to the syndicator and subscriber objects.

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Query APIWeb Content Manager Version 7.0 has added a great deal of functionality with the new query API. It is now possible to retrieve Web Content Manager objects using the API by creating queries to run against the repository. In the past versions, you could do very simple retrieval such as selecting by exact name or all items of a specific type. Now, there are many more options of how to retrieve items, as well as the availability to sort the results.

Custom plugin APIWeb Content Manager Version 7.0 has added the ability for custom plugins to be used to allow for extended functionality. Plugins can be created to provide custom workflow actions, validation plugins for file attachments, custom localized text during authoring, and plugins that can be used during rendering.

1.5.3. Projects and foldersOne of the great new features that has been added to Web Content Manager is the ability to group items in projects and folders. Folders is a way to group items within the authoring portlet. You can group authoring templates, presentation templates, and library components within folders. This makes managing content easier for authors, as it is possible to group items within the same library under folders.

Projects on the other hand provide more than just the ability to group items in a common location. One of the difficulties that content authors have had is the challenge of publishing a group of items all at the same time. For example, if you have an announcement concerning a new product launch, there may be many Web Content Manager assets that are related to this announcement. It may be difficult to line up all of these items to publish at the same time, because some items may have to go through workflow and some do not, so it is not possible to set future publish date. Also, there is no guarantee that all items related to the announcement would be ready by announcement time. Projects solve this problem by allowing multiple items to be placed within the same project. Then, when the condition to publish the project is complete, all items within the project will be published. The project owner has control over how the project will be

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published, whether manually, automatically (when all items in the project are pending publish), or based on a specific date. See the infocenter for more information on Projects.

1.5.4. File resource based content objectsThere are times that content administrators will want to use menus to return links to both content and files. With Web Content Manager Version 7.0, it is now possible to create an authoring template that will return the link to the file embedded into the content, instead of the link to the content, when the content is returned by a menu, navigator, search result, or link to the content. The end result of this is that links directly to the embedded file resource element can be returned instead of the link to the content itself. This functionality is useful when trying to generate lists of links to files stored within Web Content Manager.

1.5.5. Taxonomy based option selection elementsWhen creating content in Web Content Manager, authors have the ability to profile these items with categories. In the past, there was no way to modify the way that the category selection dialog was built. In order to aid with that, Web Content Manager has added the ability to tie option selection elements within a content object to Web Content Manager categories. This allows for easier selection of categories by the content authors, and also allows customizing the selection element by using a custom JSP within the element.

1.5.6. Workflow enhancementsWorkflow has always been one of the main strengths of the product. With Version 7.0, additional functionality has been added to make using workflows even more powerful.

Multiple draftsIn Version 7.0, Web Content Manager now allows content authors to create more than one draft version of a published object. In the past, only one draft object was allowed at a time. Now, you can have multiple drafts of the same workflow item:

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Reject to prior stageSince its inception, Web Content Manager has allowed workflow items to be rejected. However, that always meant that the item would return to the first stage in the workflow. Now, workflows have been enhanced to allow content to be sent back to the prior stage, instead of only back to the first stage in the workflow. You will be able to sent to the prior stage or still reject or restart the workflow. To use this functionality, the workflow stage must be configured to allow items to return to the previous stage:

See the infocenter

for more information on the previous stage button.

Workflow API methods for non-content itemsIn addition to the workflow enhancements that have been made to Web Content Manager, the API has also been extended to allow workflow operations on non-content items. In the past, any non-content item that went through workflow would not be able to be modified using the Web Content Manager API. In Version 7.0, however, it is possible to perform workflow operations on non-content objects using the Web Content Manager API.Check the Web Content Manager API javadoc

1.5.7. JSR286 portlet featuresThe web content viewer portlet for Web Content Manager Version 7.0 is the JSR286 version of the portlet. This portlet has several enhancements over the standard API version, which has been deprecated in Version 7.0. Some of the enhancements include:

WSRPIn the past, to retrieve content from a remote Web Content Manager server involved the Web Content Manager remote rendering portlet. This involved additional configuration above and beyond a typical portlet configuration. Now, the JSR286 portlet can take advantage of WSRP to retrieve content from a remote server.

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Friendly URLThe JSR286 portlet allows for friendly URLs to Web Content Manager content to be processed and rendered through the portlets. Constructing Web Content Manager friendly URLs is a powerful and complex to explain. Check the infocenter information on this process. for more

Portlet cachingThe JSR286 portlet can store information in the portlet cache. The portlet configuration allows administrators to determine what caching options will be used for a particular portlet, including the cache timeout behavior, and whether the cache should be shared across users, or specific to individual users.

1.5.8. WebDAVWeb Content Manager has added the ability to manipulate some items within Web Content Manager using WebDAV. This allows you to create, delete, and modify Web Content Manager assets using operating system tools, instead of using the Web Content Manager authoring interface.

1.5.9. JMSWeb Content Manager has added the functionality of generating JMS Messages to allow for notification of various events within Web Content Manager. This allows applications to be alerted when specific actions take place within Web Content Manager, mostly items being changed. Check the infocenter Content Manager. for more information on enabling JMS within Web

1.5.10. Configuration changesIn the past, Web Content Manager stored its configuration within configuration files for the various services. In Version 7, this has been moved to be stored within WebSphere Application Server, within resource environment providers. This makes it easier to access and change configuration parameters.

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Part 2. Architecture and designPart 2 covers the following topics: 2.1 Product architecture and key components This section provides an overview of the IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) product architecture and introduces its key components including the WCM Server, content repository, authoring portlet, connect portlet, rendering portlet, and public API. 2.2 Architectural frameworks for content The architectural frameworks for content in WCM consist of portal, traditional, internal facing, and external facing. This section describes the various architectural frameworks for content in WCM. 2.3 Information architecture and site design This section describes defining, planning, designing information architecture and site interface. 2.4 Design and layout This section discusses design and layout of a website. Specifically, it addresses content usability and accessibility as it pertains to a site interface. 2.5 Environment type With WCM, a variety of environment types are supported to facilitate the building, staging, and finally delivering of websites. This section describes the various environment types, their usage, and how to move content between them using workflow and syndication. 2.6 Sample physical architecture of a website This section describes various physical architectures you can use to build a WCM website infrastructure. 2.7 Use case sample site infrastructure: River Bend Tea and Coffee Company This section combines all the concepts that are described in the environment type and sample physical architecture of a website sections and build an example infrastructure for the River Bend Coffee and Tea Company (River Bend). DISCLAIMER: This guide outlines an example of building a basic website using a sample site, River Bend. This sample is not intended as a best practice for development, configuration, architecture, or any other aspect, such as scalability or performance. No warranty or support is implied for the example site or sample code used.

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2.1. Product architecture and key componentsThis section provides an overview of the IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) product architecture and introduces its key components including the WCM Server, content repository, authoring portlet, connect portlet, rendering portlet, and public API.

2.1.1. Product architecture overviewThe IBM Web Content Manager 7.0 application is fully integrated with WebSphere Portal 7.0. As such, all required components of the IBM Web Content Manager application are installed with WebSphere Portal 7.0. The following figure shows the high level overview of where IBM Web Content Manager fits into the WebSphere Portal infrastructure.

The key components in the architecture figure above are explained as follows.

2.1.2. Key components of WCMWCM consists of the following key components: WCM content server WCM content repository WCM authoring portlet WCM connect servlet WCM rendering portlet WCM public API

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WCM Content ServerThe IBM Web Content Manager Server is the core of the IBM Web Content Manager application. All requests for content are ultimately processed by the content server. The WCM Server leverages Virtual Member Manager as its user repository. This repository is used for both authentication as well as determining group membership for authenticated users.

WCM content repositoryWhen you first enable WCM, it uses WebSphere Portals embedded Apache Derby database as its content repository. If necessary, you can switch your WCM content repository to any of the supported databases listed at https://www-304.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27007791 Note: If you choose to store your content in IBM Content Manager you can still reference items stored in IBM Content Manager within WCM using the Federated Components. As the list of supported databases is subject to change, refer to the WebSphere Portal 7.0 product documentation for details on the latest supported versions and platforms, which is available at:https://www-304.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27007791

In addition, refer to each product's documentation for details on the specific hardware and software requirements for these databases.

WCM authoring portletThe user interface for working with WCM is provided via a portlet running within WebSphere Portal. The WCM authoring portlet is the user interface for interacting with WCM. Content creators use the portlet to create (author) content. Content approvers use this same portlet for managing the content. The website developers use this portlet to create technical assets, for example, presentation templates, workflows, and syndication components. The authoring portlet supports granular user interface security controls.

WCM connect servletThe WCM connect servlet is used to deliver web content outside of a WebSphere Portal environment. Use this servlet when you need to deliver a traditional stand-alone website. Site visitors can access content by requesting the HTML directly from the connect servlet. Important: Even if you only use the connect servlet to deliver stand-alone (non-portal) websites, the core WCM application always runs on WebSphere Portal.

WCM rendering portletWCM provides web content viewer portlet (JSR 286) that can display content in WebSphere Portal. This portlet requires no Java coding - only simple configuration by the portal administrator.

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The web content viewer portlet (JSR 286) can be configured to display web content on the same portal server as the instance where WCM is installed or configured to display web content on a different portal server than the instance where WCM is installed. The following link explains how web content viewer (JSR 286) portlet can be configured to render content residing on a remote WCM Server:http://www10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/dx/Rendering_Web_Content_Viewer_portlet_consumed_from_Rem ote_IBM_Web_Content_Manager_V7_using_WSRP.__Setup_and_troubleshooting_guide.

Tip: Be aware of your infrastructure when using the web content viewer portlet (JSR 286) to render content residing on a remote WCM server.

WCM public APIWhile WCM provides a solid set of web content management capabilities out-of-the-box, there are times when the standard capabilities of WCM do not meet your exact needs. For situations such as this, WCM provides a Java API. Note: WCM API does not expose all the capabilities of WCM. Review the JavaDocs for a complete set of the features available using the API. The Javadoc HTML files are located under the was_profile_root\installedApps\nodename\wcm.ear\ilwwcm.war\webinterface\ folder. In this path name, was_profile_root is the profile root for WebSphere Portal Server. For example, these files are found on our server at: C:\IBM\WebSphere\wp_profile\installedApps\wc01\wcm.ear\ilwwcm.war\webinterface\api -javadoc Restriction: WCM API only supports Java code running in the same Java Virtual Machine as WCM itself. If you wish to access the WCM API remotely, you will need to build some type of service layer on the WCM server to broker your requests. The most common solution to this issue is to develop a web service to perform this function.

IBM Web Content ManagerJavaServer Pages TagsIn addition to the Java API, IBM Web Content Manager provides a JavaServer Pages Tag Library that you can use when developing portlets and other J2EE applications. The tags in this library make it very easy to access WCM content from a JSP page. These tags rely on the API for their functionality so they do not provide any capabilities beyond those of the API. Restriction: Because the JSP Tags rely on the WCM API for functionality, they must run in the same Java Virtual Machine as the WCM server. For more details on the API and JSP Tags, see the IBM Web Content Manager Product documentation.

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2.2. Architectural frameworks for contentThe architectural frameworks for content in WCM consist of portal, traditional, internal facing, and external facing. This section describes the various architectural frameworks for content in WCM.

2.2.1. PortalPortal provides the basic framework services for content aggregation, role-based access, personalization, and security. The underlying J2EE platform provides low-level middleware services such as enabling security through a user registry and session management. These underlying services coupled with the basic portal framework services can provide content life cycle management in terms of content authoring and content delivery. Different roles, such as author, reviewer, and approver, can move content from authoring to delivery. The content management and delivery framework embedded in portal can be used in tandem with other features, such as personalization and content aggregation, which provides an effective presentation layer in the architecture. The portal framework allows the delivery of pages and sites that combine content from the CMS and other kinds of portal content from back-end systems.

2.2.2. TraditionalIn the traditional architectural framework, content is prepared in pure HTML format by using different HTML editors, and the content is hosted on a web server for presentation. The URLs are exchanged with the reviewers and approvers for verification and validation over e-mail. The hosting platform does not provide content management. The dynamic applications came into existence with CGI scripts but had many limitations. The evolution of the J2EE platform brought new ways to display content on web sites: Static web content can be coupled with the dynamic content that is generated through servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSPs). However, the traditional framework still lacks in content management functionality.

2.2.3. Internal facingInternal facing sites are sites designed for and used by the employees of an organization. Internal sites typically provide access to content and applications that employee access on a frequent basis. Often, key applications or content are delivered that attract employees to visit the sites. Such entities include news, alerts, and role-specific content. Intranet users can benefit greatly if the sites provide applications that are useful for dayto-day activities, such as sales management, defect tracking, customer relationship management, or technical support. The integration of Web Content Manager and Portal allows content to be interspersed amongst other portal artifacts (pages, portlets, gadgets and widgets).

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2.2.4. External facingExternal facing sites are sites designed for and used for by general public or partners of an organization. On external facing sites, the content should be clear, relevant and up-to-date and be easily and quickly accessed by users. Users' opinion of a website may directly influence the image of the associated organizations in the public eye. The site should be engaging and easy to use. Users want a site where the content they are looking for is easily found through navigation or search. The site should be fast and responsive, making use of caching techniques at various levels to enhance the response times for a variety of scenarios. A user may want to register with the site using a unique ID, content can then be personalized according to the profile of each user. The design of such a framework should consider how the content is managed, searched, cached, and personalized for users, with the goal of attracting and keeping the attention of the users.

2.3. Information architecture and site designThis section describes defining, planning, designing information architecture and site interface. When designing a website, always organize the site in a way that is easily accessible by users. The structure in which information is organized is called the information architecture. In this section, we describe an approach for determining the information architecture for the top levels of your web site. In IBM Web Content Manager (WCM), content is structured and organized within the site framework. The site framework can then provide navigation for the site. We outline the decision making process by defining the information architecture, describing key considerations,decision processes, and information design. Additionally, we describe how to define criteria for site acceptance. It is important to understand the relationship between the information architecture and the site framework. The site framework structures the information about a website and is closely integrated with the website navigation. To begin with, you define an initial site framework with primary and secondary site areas. The site framework is a prerequisite for the design and development of the content management system. In addition, you must develop an initial layout of the home page based on the primary and secondary site areas. Both the framework and the home page layout require review and validation with business stakeholders, from both an authoring and general site use viewpoint.

2.3.1. Defining information architectureThis section describes the concept of information architecture and provides an example of a good information architecture for reference. Easy access to the right content on an intranet can have a direct impact on an organization's overall productivity. If users can find the information they are looking for

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almost before they are even aware that they are searching for the information, then you have accomplished the goal of organizing the information correctly and effectively for users. The primary reason for sharing information on a web site is to make it available for users. However, it is often the central reason why websites fail, which may also include the following reasons: Information is often voluminous and widespread over different divisions within an organization, making it difficult to maintain a consistent oversight of the structure of information and to determine a structure that is easy to understand and to use. There is rarely a single person or department with a consistent oversight of all the information that an organization wants to share. Information is used everyday, and as a result, it is often not obvious which pieces of information are most valuable or how they should be structured. By using a content management system, content providers can share more information and gain more experience, which can result in a strain on the original organization of the content.

The information architecture defines how the information on a web site should be organized and linked so that users can access content. An organization should investigate, analyze, design, and implement the information architecture for a site. Then, it must face the challenge of presenting an image that enhances the way in which the user experiences the information. There may be reasons why a specific path to information supports your business needs. The experience that a user has can be the key to success and often reflects the organizations philosophy. Frequently, an organization builds its success on a unique customer experience that cannot be ignored when architecting a web site. In addition, the audience can vary such that it becomes necessary to separate users into categories to provide a tailored experience for different types of users. For example, consider the following diverse offerings: A food company might offer both traditional, home style food and more contemporary fast food. A vehicle manufacturing company might have diverse offerings that range from passenger cars, to industrial trucks, to motorcycles, such as BMW. A technology company might offer a range of products and services, from technical consulting services to consumer electronics, such as Hewlett-Packard.

Because of this diverse range of products, brands may require their own web sites with a specific information architecture and web address (URL). In this case, a master (parent) web site, which includes links to seperate web sites to represent the specific branding, is the best choice. Defining the information architecture is often the most underestimated part of a content management project. Organizations frequently spend more time finding the right content management system than on developing the right information architecture for that system. When planning the information architecture, an organization must determine the following information: The hierarchical structure of the site The functionality that is required on the site The look of individual pages How to classify the content The flexibility of the architecture to allow the business to evolve

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The information architecture determines the structure of the site, how navigation is derived, and therefore the ease of navigating the site. The following aspects of information architecture are considered when designing the content management system: Site framework Category hierarchy Document type hierarchy

Defining the information architecture lays much of the groundwork for how content is organized on a site. Regardless of where the content resides, you need a good understanding of what content needs to be presented. Tip: A good information architecture team includes representatives of all content areas that are included on the web site. It is also beneficial to have a single person lead the team who is willing to take a leadership role and to make the required decisions.

Basic examples of a good information architectureWhen considering the information to share on a web site, we recommend providing direct access to the top levels of content. The top levels are the logical entrance to information and build the foundation of the information architecture. There are no strict rules governing what these top levels should be. Here, we present an example of a good information architecture and discuss the features that make these examples special. The examples discussed in this section include the sample River Bend Tea and Coffee website. The River Bend Coffee and Tea Company (River Bend) is a virtual company that we use for this wiki to give a simple example of a basic information architecture. This fictitious company sells coffee and tea in different locations around the world. They have a public Internet site to share information with their customers. These customers include both individuals and businesses. River Bend wants to provide each user a personalized experience of content based on their user profile. After each user registers on the site, they will have a profile that includes demographic and personal information that will allow the company to generate and display targeted campaigns specific to them. For example, three levels of customers have been defined: Tea Leaves for tea interested customers Beans for occasional coffee drinkers Big Beans for coffee connoisseurs

By using the profile information provided, along with additional personal information such as region, age, sex, and buying and viewing trends of the site, River Bend hopes to be able to increase revenues by making recommendations and posting custom campaigns on their site. River Bend has identified the following top levels of site areas or containers for content that are directly accessible from the home page:

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Products Company Locations News Contact

From these top levels, a secondary site area allows users to specify the topic that they are looking for within that area. For example, the secondary site area for products includes coffee or tea. This architecture provides an obvious separation that users can comprehend that leads them to the information they want to find. The third level site area offers more content on the chosen topic. For example, under tea, users can find black tea, green tea, and herbal tea. From both levels 2 and 3, the site offers detailed search capabilities for specific items that the user might be looking for and tailored campaign content based on the site area and user profile information.

Hierarchical structure of the River Bend websiteThe following figure illustrates the complete hierarchical structure of the River Bend website.

Page layoutTo determine the structure and layout of the site it is important to create basic diagrams to help users to better understand how content will be structured. Likewise, it is important to agree on a navigational model. One method of building a website is to create basic wireframe diagrams. Wireframes are like blueprints for a website page layout. They show how the framwork of a website look like. You can use drawing, graphics, or presentation tools to draw the wireframe diagrams. Wireframes connect the underlying information architecture.

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In a wireframe, it shows where the content or navigational item lay on a page and the functions that the page provides. For example, in the following figure, it shows where the content item, content menu, and link menu will be placed on a page. It also shows where the navigations and search capability will be provided on the page.

The following figure illustrates a sample home page also known as the landing page. This page is the starting point for site visitors. The page contains the following items: 1. Offers Menu - To tempt visitors into navigating to new product offerings such as a new coffee blend. 2. Four link images - To help users to quickly access to the important information (Content item A, B, C, and D). This can be for example, Coffee, Tea, News, and Company information. 3. Footer with short links - To provide contact, policy and site map information.

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4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10.

The following figure shows the main or general page which provides access to all parts of the site: Navigational elements expanded - To show sub areas of the site - one parent and one child node deep. Offers Menu re-used - Perhaps slightly re-arranged (by date). Main part of the page - Used as the primary content delivery area, with inline editing tools when available. A Rate button is shown which uses an API function. Search bar - To allow users to perform search in the website. Campaign area - To deliver targeted information depending upon season or date (for example, eggnog or cinnamon coffee at Christmas, iced teas and coffee in the summer). Links Menu - To show links to other content with a suggest button. Foot - Re-used footer to display contact, policy, and site map information.

Note: The wireframe diagrams listed above are for illustrative purposes only. They do not represent the actual wireframes for the River Bend site.

Results of an inadequate information architectureWe have discussed some examples of good information architecture, in this section we discuss the consequences of an inadequate information architecture. Any web content management project should highlight the consequences of poor information architecture. For example, an inadequate information architecture may show up as inconsistent website structures and a poor user experience. Websites that spread information over several areas do not follow a consequent architecture. In these cases, users lose themselves in the site, be unable to navigate back to the home page and be unable to easily find the information they seek.. An inadequate information architecture may mean the website does not consider the needs of first-time and occasional users as well as regular, experienced users. Another easily overlooked aspect is that of the overall experience of the user, considering

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not just the content and page layout but also the potential screen resolution, browser type, mobile access from smart phones, tablets and other devices as well as language and any accessibility and disability considerations. You should ensure that all of the relevant aspects are reflected in the user scenarios you develop. We'll talk more about this later in this chapter. Whilst we have stressed the importance of considering and developing the information architecture for your site as early as possible you may find that changes need to be made later in the process. This can be due to changes in the project scope or feedback from usability testing. Ensure that due consideration is given to the existing IA, any decisions based from this and the impact of the proposed changes by someone familiar with the architecture before any fundamental changes are made. Consideration should also be given to whether the site will be delivered through a portal or traditional website as these will likely drive differences in the information architecture as a portal site will need to consider what other tools, applications and capabilities are to be delivered alongside the web content. Sometimes an organization will implement an information architecture that may appear not to meet some users requirements. For example, a car manufacturer's web site will likely use an information architecture that provides good, easily found information for users looking for information about the latest models and launches. However, if users want information about specific supplies such as winter type, the information may be less easily found. The car manufacturer has fundamental business motive behind this strategy if for example the car manufacturer wants users to contact a local dealer instead of using the web to gain this type of information. In this example, the information architecture forces users to follow the preferred distribution channel and, in turn, helps the car manufacturers business. In this case an alternative would be to make the type information easily found but for the content to refer the car owner to the dealer and provide tools to easily find and contact their nearest dealership.

2.3.2. Key considerations and decision processesMatching consumer needs to your website. This section describes key considerations and decision process when planning information architecture.

IntroductionHow easily content can be found on an intranet can directly impact an organization's overall productivity. Organizations recognize the importance of information architecture as both the primary prerequisite for designing and developing a new content management system and as the means to organize information in a way that is readily accessible to customers or employees. One example is a call center that responds to customers by using an intranet portal to maintain contracts and to give information. For this call center, the range of time that is required for an agent to find the corresponding information and to fulfill the required steps ranges from under two minutes to four and a half minutes. Thus, if 80 attempts per day are made to find information and each requires two minutes more than necessary, this call center loses 160 minutes or 2.5 hours in productivity. Even without considering the costs that result from lost productivity, the customer satisfaction will decrease. When users cannot obtain the information that they need the organization has a dissatisfied customer or, worse, a lost customer. The effort to win back these customers is significant.

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In addition to content accessibility, design flexibility becomes a key success factor for the information architecture of a website. One task is to conduct workshops with business stakeholders, including corporate communications and process area representatives. Given that the website will evolve as more business users provide input and, more importantly, contribute content, the site architecture can be expected to evolve as well. It is critical that the site framework be developed with flexibility for modification as a key goal. When planning the information architecture, key considerations include: Understanding the goals of the site Understanding your audience Considering objectives and key success factors Finding a highly effective application Defining use case scenarios Planning the site framework and site areas Defining category taxonomy Defining content type hierarchy Defining metadata, keywords, and categories Determining the components of the website Using workflow and syndication

These considerations translate to tasks that you perform and they guide you in the website design and decision process.

Understanding the goalsWhen designing an information architecture, you first need to understand the business and user goals as well as the audience to whom the information is directed. Before you can look at structures, individual applications, or design aspects, you must define the business goals and the user goals. Web content management projects should be driven by defined business objectives and the primary project goal needs to accomplish those requirements. When the project starts, the business objective is often exposed to discussion as more users provide input, because content providers have a better understanding of the information that the website provides. However, this understanding can mislead content providers into believing that they also have a better understanding of the business needs. You need clear communication from the business constituency to monitor the motivation of the core team and the joint content provider. Unfortunately, web content management projects often are delayed because of misconceptions between the core team, the content providers, and the users. Before starting a website project, everyone involved should understand the defined business goals and the user goals of the project. The challenge is to involve content owners in the definition and to remain focused on the essentials. The user goals should be related to the users of your site (internal or external) and the experience that you want them to achieve when visiting the site. These two sets of objectives, that is the business goals and user goals, must be weighed against what is achievable in terms of budget, scope, and other limitations. When the organization understands both goals, there is a much higher chance that the content management project will be successful.

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In our example of the River Bend Coffee and Tea Company (River Bend), the business goals and users goals are clearly defined after two studies were conducted and the core team completed a conceptual review. The sample findings of these tasks are outlined in the following sections.

Understanding your audienceFirst, you need to understand the demographics of the audience and why they visit the site. What are the business goals of the site and does this match the audience view of the business? Users do not have the same tolerance with web information that they have for pr