Evolving Content Management // Ideas and Prototype
Neil McQuillan - CEO Citrus-Lime
We've been playing around thinking about how to add a drag and drop content management system for ALPS pages, collections and homepages.
Here is a Loom video which shows our current thoughts.
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Chris
Aaaaah Wonderful. This is great to see. Hopefully we'll get to use this on ALPs and static pages in time too.
In time we could have a vast library of collections, I'm guessing there's a plan as to how we can navigate them. The Tags could get out of hand. Will you be introducing a filtering option or secondary menu, to help those browsing for content rather than searching for something specific.
Will we also be able to pin or feature collections at the top?
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Dominic Hill
Game changer!
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Sam Shepherd
This looks really great!!!
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Queenie Waterman
This sounds great and would be really useful!
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Will Wilding
Great piece of kit here team!
We'd definitely be interested in this as it ticks a lot of boxes for things we've discussed previously. Especially excited with the potential customisation options available.
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Steven Sproat
That looks really cool. The thing I find with the new collections is that...conceptually, it seems a bit backwards. Surely you create pages and add products/collections to here, not that collections are pages which you then add content to (and then that lives on through the URL of being /collections/xyz)
James Steel
Steven Sproat - Thank you for your positive feedback on this content creation experiment.
With respect to your feedback on the workflow of Cloud POS Collections, I would be interested to hear more from you on this.
In my experience, Suggestion Boards (like Canny) tend not to lend themselves well to more nuanced feedback. I'm not entirely clear on the challenges you perceive with the current Collections workflow, but I'm confident that a 1:1 conversation would help us to gain a better understanding. Would you like for that to be arranged?
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Steven Sproat
James Steel Hi James, sorry - may have just been my explanation, not sure if it warrants a chat really - it's more of an "is a" type of a thing. So it looks like to create generic pages, you are using the "collections" - e.g. pages are a type of collection. as opposed to collections being a type of page.
Like in the content editor for this canny - you first create a collection and then add content to that, like the headers, hero image etc (which then makes a page) - but it's labelled as a collection which conceptually is backwards to me.
I'd see it as creating a page, and you'd add content to it, and collections would be a type of content added, rather than the overarching page being a collection itself.
Think of object composition, you'd have a Page with a (programing concept of) collection of Content (subtypes like all the HTML items, and Collections themselves) rather than a Collection being the top-level class.
So as a result of that, if we just wanted to create a generic content page to show whatever, that page now has to live under a "/collections" URL - and if we weren't showing products then it's not a collection?
Happy to chat though if you'd like :)
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Sophie
This would be extremely helpful, and would allow us to create unique pages to highlight key collections, products or/and articles. It would allow us to independently create pages which fit brand and work within content. This is much needed within the platform. I would be interested to see how this work when designing for mobile and desktop and if options would be available for screen size.
James Steel
Sophie - Hello! Within the feature, you will be able to toggle between Desktop and Mobile previews which will enable you to see how the content you create for your Collections will present on typical device types.
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Laura.B
This feature looks great, and there are many areas across our site that we feel it would be extremely useful for.
James Steel
Laura.B - Thank you for your positive feedback - it's encouraging!
We share the vision you have hinted at in your post.
The initial phase of this experiment is to create a tool that is focused towards helping Ecommerce Marketing & Merchandising teams quickly and confidently build compelling, conversion-boosting stories for the visitors to their sites - quickly and efficiently.
We believe that "Collections" are the ideal place to start, as this is where storytelling and merchandising intersect most clearly and frequently.
With many new products arriving throughout the year, the active listings increase rapidly and we understand how it can be challenging to guide visitors towards the products that deliver the best returns.
However, we also recognise that there are more subtle areas where this tool would deliver a positive impact on the efficiency of (what are typically) small Ecommerce Marketing & Merchandising teams.
To that end, we would be keen (should enthusiasm for this feature continue to grow) to engage in 1:1 and Group "feedback loops" that help set the route for further development.
Let's get to Base Camp and then take a moment to consolidate before gearing up for the next phase of the expedition!
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Paul Barr
This is incredible. Brilliant update
James Steel
Paul Barr - Thank you for your positive feedback, Paul! It is greatly appreciated.