Blog posts by Patrick Lam

Blog posts by Patrick Lam2026-03-06T02:48:58.0000000Zhttps://world.optimizely.com/blogs/patrick-lam/ Optimizely World From Vision to Velocity: Introducing the Optimizely MVP Technical RoundtableDigital transformation is a two-sided coin. On one side, you have the high-level strategy, the business cases, the customer journeys, and the operational shifts. On the other, you have the technical architecture, the code, the integrations, and the infrastructure that bring those ideas to life. Last month, we explored the strategic side with our Strategy OMVPs (<a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/catalog/list?category_ids=43056-optimizely-unfiltered">catch up on those episodes here</a>). But today, we’re opening the hood. We are thrilled to release our latest Technical OMVP Roundtable. This two-part deep dive features the architects and engineers who are on the front lines of the Optimizely ecosystem, solving the most complex implementation challenges in the industry. <h3>Why This Matters (The Strategy-Tech Handover)</h3> If the Strategy Roundtable was about what we should build, the Technical Roundtable is about how we build it to last. Optimizely Most Valuable Professionals (OMVPs) are divided into these two categories to ensure that every angle of a project is covered: <ul> <li> Strategy OMVPs: Focus on the GTM landscape, change management, business outcomes, and more. </li> <li> Technical OMVPs: Focus on technical migrations, SaaS CMS architecture, API-first integrations, developer experience, and more </li> </ul> <h3>Technical Roundtable: What’s Under the Hood?</h3> In this new two-part series, our technical experts pull no punches. They discuss the "messy" reality of enterprise builds and share the shortcuts they’ve discovered. Part 1: <a href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/3227165-optimizely-technical-roundtable-ep-1-part-1-post-implementation-technical-challenges?sid=56654085-071a-49fb-bb31-550fd0879f8e&sid_i=5">The Modern Stack & Migrations</a> <ul> <li> CMS 12 & .NET Core: Real-world advice on moving from older versions to the modern, high-performance stack. </li> <li> The "Breaking Change" Survival Guide: How to handle upgrades without disrupting the business. </li> </ul> Part 2: <a href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/3227202-optimizely-technical-roundtable-ep-1-part-2-post-implementation-technical-challenges?sid=56654085-071a-49fb-bb31-550fd0879f8e&sid_i=6">Scalability, Experimentation & The Future</a> <ul> <li> SaaS CMS & Visual Builder: The group’s take on Optimizely’s shift toward SaaS and what it means for back-end developers. </li> <li> The Power of Graph: Leveraging Optimizely Graph and ODP (Optimizely Data Platform) for sub-second personalization. </li> </ul> Or you can listen to the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3a3MGwdtS6emPBWZN327kE?si=-x3j4JSGTN2s5Ah6qN65aQ&nd=1&dlsi=691a4ffd75424c7f">full episode as a podcast.</a> <h3>Meet the Architects</h3> These OMVPs aren't just experts, they are mentors. They are the ones writing the documentation, contributing to open-source plugins, and answering the toughest questions in the community forums. When you watch these episodes, you aren’t just getting "best practices", you’re getting a peek into the playbooks of the world’s top Optimizely partners.2026-03-06T02:48:58.0000000Z

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Climbing the Relevancy Ladder: Unlocking Vertex AI Search Tiers in Commerce Search v3Author: Naveen Samala, Staff Software Engineering at Optimizely <h2 class="MsoNormal">What If Your Search Could Predict What Each Customer Will Buy?</h2> Imagine a search experience that doesn’t just match keywords—it learns from every click, every purchase, and every browse to predict which products your customers are most likely to buy. That’s not science fiction; it’s the power of Optimizely Configured Commerce’s Commerce Search v3, built with Google’s Vertex AI Search for commerce. But here’s what many B2B merchants don’t realize: this AI has multiple “gears”—performance tiers that unlock progressively smarter search capabilities. Each tier delivers measurably better product discovery, higher conversion rates, and increased revenue. The key? Better data = smarter search = higher revenue.   <h2 class="MsoNormal">Understanding the Relevancy Ladder</h2> When you implement Commerce Search v3 in Optimizely Configured Commerce, you’re leveraging Vertex AI Search’s tiered ranking system. Think of it as a ladder with four rungs, where each step up delivers increasingly intelligent search results. There are actually two parallel ladders: one for Text Search (when shoppers type queries like “stainless steel ball valve”) and one for Browse Search (when they navigate category pages like “Valves > Ball Valves”). Both ladders have four tiers, and you can be at different levels on each. Here’s the crucial insight: You can’t skip rungs. Each tier builds on the previous one’s data requirements. A new implementation might stay at Tier 1 for several months while building event history—that’s completely normal and expected. The goal is understanding what unlocks each tier so you can strategically climb to the top.   <figure class="image align-center" style="display: block; width: 500px; max-width: 100%;"><img style="display: block; max-width: 100%;" src="/link/c9f93cbf396a4c6abbd59a99c2b99dff.aspx?1767720330536" alt="A diagram of a companyAI-generated content may be incorrect." width="489" /> <figcaption>Figure 1: The Vertex AI Search Relevancy Ladder in Commerce Search v3. Both text and browse search have four performance tiers, each unlocking progressively smarter ranking capabilities. All tiers share a foundation of strong catalog data quality.tion</figcaption> </figure>   <h2 class="MsoNormal">The Foundation: Catalog Data Quality</h2> Before you can climb any ladder, you need a solid foundation. In Commerce Search v3, that foundation is catalog data quality. Poor catalog data will keep you stuck at Tier 1, no matter how many user events you collect. What does “quality” mean? Vertex AI Search has specific standards: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">95%+ of products must have valid, accessible URIs - The AI crawls these URIs to gather web signals that improve search quality</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">90%+ need comprehensive descriptions - Rich product information helps the AI understand context and relevance</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">80%+ of titles must contain at least 2 words - Single word titles lack the context needed for semantic matching</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">Less than 50% duplicate titles - Products need unique, distinguishable titles</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">At least 5 searchable attributes per product - Attributes like manufacturer part number, model number, material type etc.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list .5in;">Avoid multi-value words in exact searchable attributes - This can block tier advancement. For example, including multiple parts within a model number may cause issues.</li> </ul> One often overlooked detail: Products should have searchable attributes that make sense for B2B queries. Think about how your customers actually search—do they use Product Numbers? Manufacturer part numbers? Material Type? Make those searchable.   <h2 class="MsoNormal">Tier 1 to Tier 2: Lighting Up User Events</h2> <h3 class="MsoNormal">Tier 1: Relevance</h3> When you first launch Commerce Search v3, you start at Tier 1. Results are ranked purely by semantic relevance to the query. If a customer searches for “black dress,” the AI understands the concept of “blackness” and returns dresses ranked by how well they match that query. What you need: Just your catalog and queries. What you get: Results ranked by relevance, but with no understanding of what actually sells or what’s popular.   <h3 class="MsoNormal">Tier 2: Relevance + Popularity</h3> This is where search gets interesting. Tier 2 adds popularity signals to relevance. Among equally relevant products, the ones that actually get clicked and purchased rise to the top. What unlocks Tier 2: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: list .5in;">100,000+ text search or browse events in the last 90 days</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: list .5in;">95%+ of events must join with products - Events need to reference valid product IDs from your catalog</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: list .5in;">95%+ of search events need attribution tokens - More on this critical requirement below</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: list .5in;">70%+ of search requests should have associated events</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: list .5in;">Real visitor IDs, not hardcoded synthetic data - If you’re using the same visitor ID across all events, the AI can’t distinguish real user behavior</li> </ul> Best practice: Implement attribution tokens from day one. Attribution tokens are unique identifiers that Vertex AI Search returns with each search result, allowing you to track which products were actually shown to users. When you send user events (detail-page-view, add-to-cart, purchase-complete), include these tokens. Without them, you’ll never unlock higher tiers. Why Tier 2 matters: Imagine two ball valves that both match “stainless steel 2-inch ball valve” equally well. At Tier 1, they appear in arbitrary order. At Tier 2, the one that 50 other engineers viewed and purchased this month appears first. That’s the power of popularity signals.   <h3 class="MsoNormal">Tier 2 to Tier 3: Revenue Optimization at Scale</h3> Tier 3: Revenue-Optimized Ranking Tier 3 is where AI truly shines. Instead of just ranking by popularity, results are ranked by purchase likelihood based on site-wide user behavior. The AI learns patterns like “users who view product A often purchase product B” and surfaces products with higher conversion probability. What unlocks Tier 3: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">250,000+ detail-page-view events following search events in the last 90 days</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">200,000+ search events in the last 90 days</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">250,000+ search events with at least one user interaction (detail-page-view, add-to-cart, or purchase from the same visitor)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">Key conversion ratios:</li> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;">Add-to-cart / detail-page-view ≥ 0.02 (at least 2% of product views lead to cart adds)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;">Purchase / add-to-cart ≥ 0.025 (at least 2.5% of cart adds lead to purchases)</li> </ul> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">95%+ of products must have prices - Revenue optimization requires pricing data</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">100+ products must have at least one detail-page-view in the last 90 days</li> </ul> Best practice: Upload all user events, not just those attributable to searches. The AI learns from the complete customer journey, including direct navigation, SEO traffic, and category browsing. The SEO/AEO Connection: It’s worth noting that the Vertex AI model doesn’t just learn from your events and catalog data. It also trains on web signals crawled via your product URIs—including SEO metadata, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) structured data, and rich product schemas. This additional context plays an important role in improving search relevancy and driving optimization efficiency. Strong SEO practices don’t just help Google find your products; they help Vertex AI understand them better. Why Tier 3 matters: You move from “popular products” to “products likely to convert.” If your data shows that engineers who search for “pressure regulator” often end up purchasing specific valve models, those models get boosted even if they’re not the most-viewed products.   <h3 class="MsoNormal">Tier 3 to Tier 4: The Personalization Peak</h3> Tier 4: Personalized Revenue-Optimized Ranking Tier 4 is the summit: personalized search that ranks results based on the individual user’s preferences and behavior patterns. Two different engineers searching for “ball valve” see different results based on their unique browsing history, past purchases, and interaction patterns. What unlocks Tier 4: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in;">100,000+ search events with attribution tokens served by Vertex AI Search in the last 90 days</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in;">10%+ visitor ID matching between search requests and user events - Consistent formatting and spacing of visitor IDs</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in;">1%+ of events must have user IDs set for signed-in users (calculated over the last 7 days)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in;">10%+ of search requests should have user IDs that match corresponding event user IDs</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in;">Less than 1% cached search results - This is critical: caching search results kills personalization</li> </ul> Best practice for Tier 4: For signed-in users, provide both user IDs and visitor IDs. User IDs allow Vertex AI Search to personalize across devices—if an engineer searches on mobile during the day and desktop at night, the AI recognizes it’s the same person and personalizes accordingly. The caching pitfall: If you cache search results and serve identical results to multiple users, Vertex AI Search automatically turns off personalization. Each user must receive fresh, personalized results. Caching might seem like a performance optimization, but it sinks your most powerful search feature. Why Tier 4 matters: This is where Commerce Search v3 becomes genuinely intelligent. An engineer who frequently purchases Swagelok products sees Swagelok valves ranked higher. A procurement manager who typically filters by “lowest price” sees budget-friendly options first. It’s search tailored to each individual shopper.   <h3 class="MsoNormal">Browse Search: A Parallel Journey</h3> While we’ve focused on text search, browse search follows its own ladder with the same four tiers: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tier 1: Random Results - Products in arbitrary order when users land on category pages</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tier 2: Popularity - Products ranked by category-specific popularity (requires 100,000+ browse events in 90 days)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tier 3: Revenue-Optimized Ranking - Products ranked by purchase likelihood within that category (requires 250,000+ browse detail-page-views in 90 days)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tier 4: Personalized Revenue-Optimized Ranking - Personalized category browsing based on individual user behavior</li> </ul> Key difference for browse: Browse requires that 95%+ of browse requests and events have exactly matching category and filter values. Important: You can be at different tiers for text search vs. browse. You might reach Text Search Tier 3 but still be at Browse Tier 1 if you haven’t collected enough browse-specific events. Monitor both separately.   <h2 class="MsoNormal">Getting Help: The Optimizely Partnership</h2> Not sure which tier you’re at or what’s blocking advancement? Climbing the relevancy ladder requires coordinated effort across catalog management, event instrumentation, and attribution setup. Many merchants struggle to identify which specific requirement is blocking their tier upgrade. Optimizely Search SMEs can help audit your: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Catalog data quality - Identifying missing descriptions, duplicate titles, and searchable attribute gaps</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Event pipeline and attribution setup - Verifying attribution tokens, visitor ID consistency, and event-to-product joins</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tier-specific blockers and gap analysis - Pinpointing exactly which compliance requirements you’re missing</li> </ul> By analyzing your past 30-90 days of search events, user behavior analytics, and product catalog data, an Optimizely expert can map out your specific path to higher tiers—and higher revenue. Contact your Optimizely account team to request a Commerce Search v3 tier optimization audit.   <h2 class="MsoNormal">Key Takeaways</h2> <ul style="list-style-type: none;"> <li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ü  Each tier builds on the previous - You can’t skip steps. Start with catalog quality, then events, then personalization.</li> <li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ü  Start with catalog quality - 95%+ valid URIs, 90%+ descriptions, unique titles, and multiple searchable attributes are the foundation.</li> <li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ü  Implement attribution tokens from day one - Without them, you’ll never unlock Tier 2+.</li> <li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ü  Plan for months of event accumulation - You need 100K-250K+ events over 90 days. Newer implementations should expect to spend time at lower tiers.</li> <li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ü  Better data = smarter search = higher revenue - Every improvement in data quality and event tracking directly translates to better product discovery and conversion.</li> </ul>   <h2 class="MsoNormal">Resources</h2> Explore these resources to dive deeper into Commerce Search v3 and Vertex AI Search: <ul style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: list .5in;"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/37468724546061-Commerce-Search-v3-overview">Commerce Search v3 Overview</a> - Introduction to Commerce Search v3 in Optimizely Configured Commerce</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: list .5in;"><a href="https://docs.cloud.google.com/retail/docs/data-quality">Vertex AI Search Performance Tiers </a>- Detailed tier requirements and data quality metrics</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo8; tab-stops: list .5in;"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/37470043892109-Integrate-Optimizely-Data-Platform">User Events Implementation Guide </a>- How to instrument and send user events</li> </ul>2026-01-06T17:35:46.0000000Z

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Is your customer support truly scalable in today’s fast-paced digital world?At Optimizely, we believe that exceptional experiences start with exceptional support. That’s why we’ve reimagined our Technical Support Services (TSS) with a new tiered structure, built for speed, scalability, and higher-quality assistance. 🔎 The Challenge Support had grown in product-specific silos. Effective once, but not designed for today’s scale. 💡 The Solution: A Tiered, AI-Powered Model ✨ Tier 0: Self-service docs + AI ticket interception = instant answers ✨ Tier 1: 24/7 first-response team → quick triage & escalation ✨ Tier 2: Multi-skilled product experts solving complex issues + feeding insights back 🌟 Premium Support: 24/7/365 priority care with senior engineers, enhanced SLAs, and 15-min response times 🤖 AI at the Core: From smart ticket deflection to AI-assisted case creation, and soon, in-app support powered by Opal. 🎯 The Impact ✅ Faster resolutions ✅ Smarter scalability ✅ More predictable + personalized support This is more than just a new structure, it’s our commitment to delivering the next generation of customer support. 👉 Curious how this works in practice? <a href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/2822194-elevating-support-introducing-optimizely-s-new-tiered-structure">Check out the full article here</a>!2025-08-21T13:50:41.0000000Z

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Help Us Shape the Future of Our Developer CommunityWe want to empower developers to build, learn, and succeed with our products. A big part of this objective is our developer community, the place where ideas are shared, problems are solved, and innovations take shape. Now, we want to hear from you. We’ve launched a short Developer Community & DevRel Maturity Survey to better understand your experience with: <ul> <li> The quality and clarity of our documentation </li> <li> How easy it is to get started and onboard </li> <li> The value of our events, programs, and activities </li> <li> How supported and connected you feel within the community </li> </ul> Your feedback will directly influence the way we improve resources, events, and programs in the coming months. By participating, you’re helping shape a community that better serves your needs and supports your growth as a developer. 👉 <a href="https://forms.office.com/e/tvvmjA77Ei">[Take the survey here — it only takes 5 minutes]</a> We’ll also share the results openly with the community and highlight the actions we’re taking based on your feedback. Thanks for being part of this journey, we can’t wait to build what’s next, together.2025-08-15T21:28:16.0000000Z

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Revolutionize Your Experimentation: Introducing the Optimizely Experimentation MCP Server!Tired of juggling between your code and your experimentation dashboard? Imagine a world where managing feature flags, debugging experiments, and even automating your flag lifecycle happens directly within your Integrated Development Environment (IDE), using natural language. That world is here. We're thrilled to unveil the Optimizely Experimentation MCP Server, a groundbreaking innovation set to transform how developers approach experimentation. What makes it a game-changer? This isn't just another tool; it's a fundamental shift. Powered by the Model Context Protocol (MCP), our new server allows AI products to natively access Optimizely's experimentation platform. This means your AI coding assistant can now become a true experimentation collaborator, helping you: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1">Manage experiments effortlessly: Create and configure feature flags and experiments with simple commands.</li> <li class="_1l4j4na1">Debug in real-time: Get instant insights into flag evaluation and configuration issues without leaving your code.</li> <li class="_1l4j4na1">Automate flag cleanup: Simplify the lifecycle of your feature flags with intelligent recommendations.</li> <li class="_1l4j4na1">Generate SDK integration code: Instantly get production-ready code for seamless integration.</li> </ul> The Optimizely Experimentation MCP Server runs locally for instant performance, offers comprehensive tool coverage, intelligently abstracts complex operations, and is built with security at its core. It's designed to make your experimentation workflow more seamless, intuitive, and deeply integrated than ever before. Ready to experience this revolution firsthand? The Optimizely Experimentation MCP Server is currently in closed beta, and we're inviting visionary developers like you to join us. Gain early access, receive direct support from our product team, and help shape the future of AI-driven experimentation. Don't miss out on this opportunity to redefine your development process. <h3><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/blog/experimentation-mcp-server/">Read the full announcement and sign up for the closed beta here!</a></h3>2025-08-06T20:00:02.0000000Z

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World on Opti IDWe're excited to announce that world.optimizely.com is now integrated with Opti ID! What does this mean for you? <ul style="list-style-type: initial;"> <li>New Users: You can now log in with your existing Opti ID and start creating content right away.</li> <li>Existing Users: If the email address you use for your current World login matches your Opti ID, you can now use your Opti ID to log in.</li> </ul> <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/link/e3cfe952070f4fa3ac5adb89cb073d03.aspx" alt="" /> Having trouble? <ul style="list-style-type: initial;"> <li>If your existing World login uses a different email than your Opti ID, we can help you merge the accounts. Please contact <a href="mailto:epw@optimizely.com">epw@optimizely.com</a> with details for assistance.</li> </ul> What is Opti ID? Opti ID is your single sign-on for all Optimizely products and services. It's a unified identity system that provides a secure and convenient way to access everything you need from Optimizely, including CMP, CMS, and experimentation tools. Opti ID simplifies your workflow and helps you stay productive. Benefits of using Opti ID: <ul style="list-style-type: initial;"> <li>Improved Security: Opti ID uses industry-leading security measures to protect your account and data.</li> <li>Convenience: With Opti ID, you only need to remember one username and password to access all Optimizely products and services.</li> <li>Seamless Access: Opti ID provides a seamless experience across all Optimizely products and services.</li> </ul> Learn more about Opti ID in our <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/categories/25425385971469">user guide</a>.2025-06-22T13:33:53.0000000Z

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The Future of Digital Experience Platforms: How AI Will Transform the Way We Interact With Technology<img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz02NzJiY2Y3NjNhNTUxMWYwYTYyZGE2YzE4YjVmMzU3Yw==" width="100%" /> The digital experience landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the epicenter. DXPs are no longer just content repositories; they're becoming intelligent engines that anticipate customer needs and deliver hyper-personalized experiences. Are you ready to harness the AI revolution? <h2>The Evolution of Digital Experience Platforms</h2> To understand the AI revolution in DXPs, it's helpful to look back at how digital experiences were managed in the past. The journey to the modern Digital Experience Platform (DXP) has been a progressive one, marked by distinct phases driven by evolving customer expectations and technological advancements. Here's a look at the key stages: <h3>Content Management Systems (CMS): (Late 1990s - Early 2000s)</h3> In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the digital landscape was dominated by Content Management Systems (CMS). As CMSWire notes, early websites were static and managed by these simple systems . These systems focused on organizing content but offered limited user experience and required manual processes for updates . CMS solutions evolved to offer dynamic content, but they were often siloed and difficult to integrate with other business systems, primarily focusing on managing web content and lacking the capabilities for personalization or multi-channel delivery. <h3>Web Experience Management (WEM): (Mid-2000s - Early 2010s)</h3> The mid-2000s to early 2010s saw the rise of Web Experience Management (WEM) solutions. Bloomreach highlights the need to manage customer experiences and deliver personalized engagement as key drivers for this evolution . WEM solutions aimed to address the need for personalized engagement, but these systems were still often siloed and difficult to integrate with other business systems . They introduced features for personalization, analytics, and multi-channel delivery, marking a shift as websites evolved from digital brochures to integral parts of the customer journey. <h3>Digital Experience Platforms (DXP): (Mid-2010s - Present)</h3> Finally, from the mid-2010s to the present, Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) emerged. CMSWire points to the proliferation of technology solutions and the need for deeper integrations as catalysts for this rise . DXPs aim to provide fully integrated customer experiences across all channels and devices. They leverage flexible architectures to enable integrations with other systems and empower marketers to become more customer-centric . This evolution reflects a continuous effort to create more personalized, integrated, and efficient digital experiences for customers. <h2> </h2> <h2>The AI Revolution in DXPs: What's Changing?</h2> These limitations of earlier systems paved the way for the integration of artificial intelligence, which has fundamentally reshaped how we interact with technology. AI in DXPs can be thought of as sophisticated pattern-recognition systems. They analyze vast amounts of data to identify trends and predict outcomes. For example, machine learning algorithms can analyze customer behavior to predict which content is most likely to resonate with them. Similarly, natural language processing (NLP) allows DXPs to understand and respond to customer inquiries in a human-like manner. These integrations into Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) is bringing about several key changes: <h3>Personalization at Scale</h3> AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to understand individual preferences and behaviors, enabling marketers to deliver personalized experiences to millions of users. From the technical perspective, this means that what used to require significant amount of manual effort, can now be automatically for segmenting audiences and tailoring content. For the business side, the AI-driven personalization can help lead to a significant increase in engagement and conversion rates. <h3>Predictive Analytics</h3> AI can predict future trends and customer behaviors, allowing marketers to proactively optimize their strategies and campaigns. Technically, AI uses machine learning to identify patterns and predict outcomes, providing marketers with data-driven insights to make informed decisions. From a business standpoint, by anticipating customer needs, marketers can optimize campaigns and improve customer lifetime value. <h3>Automation of Repetitive Tasks</h3> AI can automate routine tasks such as content creation, social media posting, and email marketing, freeing up marketers to focus on more strategic initiatives. AI-powered tools can generate content, schedule posts, and send emails automatically, reducing the time and resources required for these tasks. This automation frees up marketers' time, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities and strategic initiatives. <h3>Improved Customer Support</h3> AI-powered chatbots can provide instant support to customers, resolving common issues and improving customer satisfaction. Natural Language Processing (NLP) allows chatbots to understand and respond to customer inquiries in a human-like manner, providing a seamless support experience. The AI-powered support improves customer satisfaction and reduces the workload on human support agents.   <h2>Approaches to Integrating AI into Your DXP</h2> <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz03ZmIzZmExODNhNTYxMWYwYjA5MDVlMTQ5ZGY4MGM3OQ==" width="800" /> There are several approaches to integrating AI into a DXP, each with its own advantages and disadvantages: <h3>Native AI</h3> Some DXPs offer built-in AI capabilities. This approach offers seamless integration and ease of use, as the AI is already part of the platform. However, it may be limited in terms of customization and the specific AI capabilities offered. Native AI is a good option for organizations that want a simple, out-of-the-box solution and don't require advanced AI features. <h3>Third-Party AI</h3> DXPs can be integrated with third-party AI platforms. This approach offers greater flexibility and access to specialized AI capabilities. Organizations can choose the AI platform that best meets their specific needs and integrate it with their DXP. However, this approach can be more complex and require more technical expertise. Third-party AI is a good option for organizations that need advanced AI features or want to use a specific AI platform. <h3>Hybrid Approach</h3> A combination of native and third-party AI capabilities can provide the best of both worlds. Organizations can use the native AI capabilities for basic tasks and integrate with third-party AI platforms for more advanced features. This approach offers flexibility and customization while still being relatively easy to use. A hybrid approach is a good option for organizations that want a balance of ease of use and advanced AI features. To illustrate these concepts in action, we'll next explore Optimizely's AI approach, known as Opal, which offers a powerful suite of AI-driven tools designed to automate content optimization and personalize customer journeys, making it a valuable asset for modern DXPs Curious About the Future of AI-Powered DXPs? <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai">Explore Optimizely's AI Platform</a>.   <h2>Optimizely's AI Approach: Opal - Giving AI Superpowers to Everyone</h2> Optimizely is leading the AI revolution in digital marketing with Opal, an AI platform designed to empower marketers and digital practitioners. Opal aims to move beyond prototypes and POCs to deliver production-ready use cases with measurable ROI. Optimizely believes that AI should augment human capabilities, giving "AI superpowers" to users rather than eliminating jobs. <h3>Key Capabilities and Features</h3> To understand how Opal empowers marketers, it's essential to explore the core capabilities and features that set it apart. Opal isn't just another AI tool; it's a comprehensive platform designed to seamlessly integrate into your existing workflows and augment your team's abilities. <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Unified AI Platform: A standalone platform accessible across the Optimizely product porfolio.</li> <li>Chat: Persistent chat interface with memory and history, allowing interaction with multiple agents and use cases without switching applications.</li> <li>Infinite Workforce: Opal provides an "infinite workforce" through specialized AI agents that handle heavy lifting, freeing up marketers to focus on creativity and strategic initiatives.</li> <li>Brand Awareness: Opal's AI agents are brand-aware, understanding brand guidelines, editorial guidelines, and custom data to ensure tailored and customized outputs.</li> <li>Embedded AI: Opal is embedded within existing workflows across the Optimizely product suite, eliminating the need for copy-pasting and switching between different applications.</li> <li>Agentic AI: Opal goes beyond generative AI with autonomous agents that take action and get work done, creating campaign briefs, tasks, and experiment test plans.</li> <li>Marketing-Specific Tools: Opal is powered by hundreds of marketing-specific tools, including web search, screenshot capture, file inspection, and SEO/keyword research, with integrations to platforms like SEMrush.</li> <li>Easy to Use: Opal is designed to be marketer-friendly, with instructions that can be set up in plain English without requiring coding skills.</li> <li>Pre-built Agents: Pre-built agents are available out-of-the-box. Examples include SEO specialist, industry marketer, video editing, transcription, experiment set up, and market research.</li> <li>Tool SDK: Customers and partners will soon be able to build tools themselves because there is a tool SDK.</li> <li>Integration with Gemini: Uses the best LLM in the world, Gemini, and their most advanced models. There is also the ability to switch models as needed.</li> </ul> <h3>How Opal Differs from Generic AI</h3> While generic AI tools offer broad capabilities, they often lack the specific context and expertise needed to truly transform marketing efforts. Opal addresses this challenge by providing a purpose-built AI solution with a deep understanding of marketing principles and Optimizely's rich history.  <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Richer Context Windows: Opal has access to a wealth of context, including brand information, content archives, guidelines, product details, competitor data, and more.</li> <li>In-Workflow Integration: Opal is directly embedded across Optimizely, eliminating the need for copy-pasting and app switching.</li> <li>Agentic: It's not just a chat interface, there are autonomous scheduled agents who do work behind the scenes. There is actual work being done, it's not just generative AI question answer response tools.</li> <li>Marketing-Specific Tools: Opal has access to a rich library of marketing-specific tools, enabling it to perform complex actions like keyword research and SEO optimization.</li> <li>Domain Expertise: Opal is built with decades of experimentation expertise, incorporating frameworks and best practices to generate high-impact test ideas and evaluate test plans.</li> </ul> Read more about how <a href="/link/df6a7b96a3e042fd91f33583345bc5ba.aspx">Opal vs Regular GenAI</a>. <h3>ROI and Benefits</h3> The ultimate measure of any technology is its ability to deliver tangible results. Opal is engineered to provide significant ROI across various key metrics, empowering marketing teams to achieve more with less.  <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Time Savings: Automate tasks like research, ideation, brief creation, content creation, and keyword research.</li> <li>Cost Savings: The Campaign Marketer agent can potentially save $40,000 to $50,000 in campaign planning costs.</li> <li>Increased Productivity: Experimentation teams can generate almost five times more experiments using Opal.</li> <li>Faster Time to Market: Opal helps teams move faster and deliver better quality content that is on-brand and compliant.</li> </ul> <h3>Beta Features</h3> Looking ahead, Optimizely is committed to continuously expanding Opal's capabilities and pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI in marketing. Our exciting beta features offer a glimpse into the future of AI-powered content orchestration.  <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Marketplace of Pre-Built Agents: A marketplace of pre-built agents that users can activate and adapt for their specific needs.</li> <li>Advanced, Specialized Agents: The ability to create more advanced and specialized agents with customized models, inference levels, creativity settings, and example files.</li> <li>Agent Workflows: The ability to combine multiple agents and chain them together in complex or simple workflows, creating an "infinite team" delivering outcomes.</li> </ul>   Stay Ahead of the Curve with AI-Powered Digital Experiences. <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai">Discover Optimizely's AI</a>.   <h2>Optimizely's Opal: AI-Powered Content Orchestration for the Modern DXP</h2> <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1hNTMwMzU5MjQwODUxMWYwOWEwOTdlZmM1ZjhlZDg4OA==" width="605.4862745098038" height="322" /> The features are great, the benefits are clear, but how does it all tie in together in a marketing lifecycle? Optimizely offer marketers a comprehensive platform for content orchestration. Opal seamlessly integrates AI into every stage of the marketing lifecycle, from initial ideation and content creation to optimization, analysis, and delivery. This holistic integration empowers marketers to streamline workflows, improve resource utilization, and achieve demonstrably better results. Here’s how it works: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Ideation: AI agents analyze market trends and customer data to suggest content ideas and campaign themes.</li> <li>Creation: AI assists in drafting content, optimizing it for various channels, and ensuring brand consistency.</li> <li>Optimization: Experiment and test content, suggesting improvements to increase engagement and conversion rates.</li> <li>Analysis: AI provides detailed insights into content effectiveness and experimentation results, helping marketers understand what works and what doesn’t.</li> </ul> With Opal, marketers can streamline their workflows, improve resource utilization, and drive better results. <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/nia0i4w">See Opal in Action within CMP</a> Take a tour and discover how it streamlines your content workflows. <h3>Use Cases</h3> To illustrate Opal's capabilities in action, let's explore some practical use cases where its AI-powered content orchestration transforms marketing workflows. <ul> <li>Blog Post Creation: Opal can help you research, write, and optimize blog posts, saving you time and ensuring that your content is high-quality and engaging. For instance, Opal can suggest relevant topics based on keyword research and analyze content to identify areas for differentiation.</li> <li>Social Media Content: Opal can help you create social media posts that are tailored to your target audience and optimized for engagement. It can suggest relevant hashtags, analyze audience sentiment, and visual suggestions.</li> <li>Video Content Analysis: Opal can analyze the transcript of a video, extract key takeaways, ask questions about the content, and create content in different formats such as a video summary, social share content, and feedback report.</li> <li>Marketing Campaign Management: Opal facilitates the planning, execution, and analysis of marketing campaigns. It enables marketers to create content calendars, assign tasks, track progress, and optimize campaigns for maximum impact. For example, Opal can help you manage a product launch campaign by coordinating content creation across multiple channels, tracking campaign performance, and providing insights for optimization.</li> <li>Experiment Design Optimization: Opal helps marketing teams avoid common A/B testing pitfalls (only 25% achieve statistical significance within 90 days) by analyzing test plans and suggesting improvements to primary metrics and sample size calculations, ensuring efficient and successful experimentation.</li> </ul> <h2> </h2> <h2>Conclusion</h2>  AI is not just the future of digital experiences; it's the present. By embracing AI, marketers can deliver more personalized, engaging, and efficient experiences to their customers. Optimizely's Opal is leading the way in this AI-powered revolution, providing marketers with the tools they need to thrive. Ready to Transform Your Content Marketing? <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai">Learn More</a> About Opal Today.   Sources: <ol style="list-style-type: decimal;"> <li> <div><a href="https://www.cmswire.com/digital-experience/from-web-cms-to-dx-platforms-the-evolution-of-content-management/">From Web CMS to DX Platforms: The Evolution of Content Management</a></div> </li> <li> <div><a href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en/learning/digital-experience-platform">What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)? - Bloomreach</a></div> </li> </ol>2025-06-04T16:30:15.0000000Z

Blog post

Opal vs Regular GenAI: A Deep Dive<h1><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1kNGYyZWQzMDNhNmIxMWYwOGZiMmM2MTQxYWY3MjQ0Zg==" alt="Optimizely Opal vs Gen AI" width="100%" /></h1> <h2>Introduction</h2> For marketing teams grappling with inefficient content workflows and fragmented customer experiences, Generative AI (GenAI) offers a promise of streamlined creation and enhanced quality. However, realizing this promise requires a platform purpose-built for the complexities of modern marketing and their ability to understand and adapt to specific marketing contexts. This article provides an in-depth comparison between Optimizely's Opal and general-purpose GenAI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. We'll explore how Opal is uniquely designed to enrich content creation processes and save time for marketing teams, offering a more tailored and efficient solution. <h2>What is Opal?</h2> Opal is Optimizely's AI platform designed to solve the unique challenges of marketing organizations. It centralizes content planning, creation, optimization, and delivery, enabling cohesive, data-driven digital experiences. It is specifically engineered to address the challenges faced by marketing teams in managing the entire content lifecycle. Unlike generic GenAI tools, Opal integrates seamlessly with other Optimizely products, creating a unified digital experience platform. This integration allows for a more cohesive and data-driven approach to content marketing. <img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0yMjQ2MjdiODNhNmQxMWYwYWNjZjU2NzZkZjg5YmM2NA==" alt="Opal Chat" width="32%" /><img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0yMjQ2MzM4ZTNhNmQxMWYwYmVlZTdlZTQwMDZlYzNiMg==" alt="Opal Instruction Agents" width="32%" /><img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0yMjQ2OTViODNhNmQxMWYwYjM3MDFlNWVhNjNlMjQwOA==" alt="Opal Connections" width="32%" /> <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/f6a0otl">Take a Tour of Opal</a> See how Opal's AI-powered content marketing platform can transform your team's workflow. <h2>Key Differences</h2> Understanding the distinctions between Opal and other GenAI tools is crucial for selecting the right solution for your marketing needs: <ul> <li>Purpose-Built for Marketing: Opal is not a general-purpose AI tool; it is specifically designed to meet the unique demands of marketing teams. It offers features tailored to marketing workflows, such as campaign planning, task management, content calendaring, and content performance analytics.</li> <li>Integration with Optimizely Ecosystem: Opal's seamless integration with other Optimizely products, such as CMP and Experimentation, provides a holistic view of the customer journey. This integration enables marketers to create more targeted and effective content strategies.</li> <li>Content Enrichment: Opal aggregates context from numerous sources for enrichment for the generative AI - therefore leveraging context details, history, knowledge base, analytics, customer data, and Optimizely data. This means that marketers are not just entering simple prompts, it is improved to generate responses with greater quality and context.</li> <li>Time Savings: Imagine reclaiming weeks of your team's time currently lost to tedious tasks. Opal doesn't just automate topic research and keyword analysis; it liberates your marketers to focus on what they do best: crafting compelling stories and building meaningful customer connections. In a recent case study, a marketing team using Opal reduced content creation time by 30% and increased content output by 40%. This automation frees up marketers to focus on higher-level strategic initiatives.</li> </ul> <h2>How Opal Enriches Content Creation</h2> Opal enhances content creation by drawing on a wealth of information from various sources, ensuring that the content is not only relevant but also deeply informed and highly effective. These sources include: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Context Details: Opal considers any additional information provided with the user's message to understand the context of their request. This includes the user's current location within the Optimizely platform, their organization ID, and any previously stored data relevant to the conversation, enabling more personalized and relevant responses.</li> <li>History: Opal keeps track of past interactions within the current conversation, maintaining context and avoiding redundant information. This allows for more tailored assistance based on previous requests and responses.</li> <li>Knowledge Base: Opal accesses and retrieves information from Optimizely's extensive knowledge base, which contains documentation, tutorials, best practices, and other resources related to Optimizely's products and services. This ensures that users receive accurate and up-to-date information.</li> <li>Additional Data Sources: Opal leverages enriched contextual understanding by utilizing company context and instructions agents, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and content from the Optimizely ecosystem such as CMP, CMS and Experimentation. While direct integrations with all analytics sources, customer data platforms, and Optimizely data sources may not always be available, Opal intelligently uses these enriched contextual understanding to provide data-driven insights, personalize content, and ensure alignment with Optimizely platform configurations.</li> </ul> <img style="width: 600px; max-width: 80%; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jZDA4ZTg2MjM1OWUxMWYwOWM1NDE2MDYyNTg4MmFhYw==" alt="How Opal Works" /> <h2>Functionality Deep Dive</h2> Let's take a closer look at some of the key functionalities that Opal offers: <ul> <li>Content Planning: Opal provides a centralized platform across the Optimizely ecosystem for planning and managing campaigns. It allows marketers to create content, assign tasks, experimentation hypothesis, run experiments, and analysis reports.</li> <li>Content Creation: Opal offers a range of AI-powered tools to assist with content creation, including keyword research, marketing researcher, and tone of voice.</li> <li>Content Optimization: Opal automatically optimizes content for search engines and other channels, ensuring maximum visibility and impact.</li> </ul> <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/nia0i4w">See Opal in Action within CMP</a> Take a tour and discover how it streamlines your content workflows. <h2>Feature Comparison: Opal vs. General GenAI Tools</h2> Here's a comparison table highlighting the key features and capabilities of Opal and other general GenAI Tools: <table class="table" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2; border-radius: 2px; width: 100%; height: 288px;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">Feature/Capability</th> <th style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">Opal (Optimizely)</th> <th style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">General GenAI Tools</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">Purpose</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">Content Marketing Lifecycle</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">General-Purpose AI Assistant</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">Content Planning</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">Yes</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">No</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 48px;">Content Creation</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 48px;">Yes, with AI-powered tools</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 48px;">Yes, with natural language generation</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 48px;">Content Optimization</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 48px;">Yes, SEO and channel optimization</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 48px;">Limited</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 48px;">Experimentation</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 48px;">Yes, analyzer, test plans, results summarizer, and more</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 48px;">Limited</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">AI-Driven Insights</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">Yes, real-time performance analytics</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">No</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">Integration</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">Optimizely One</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">Limited</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 21.666%; height: 24px;">Marketing Focus</td> <td style="width: 43.2672%; height: 24px;">High</td> <td style="width: 30.0149%; height: 24px;">Low</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>Use Cases</h2> Here are a few practical examples of how Opal can be used to enhance content creation: <ul> <li>Blog Post Creation: Opal can help you research, write, and optimize blog posts, saving you time and ensuring that your content is high-quality and engaging. For instance, Opal can suggest relevant topics based on keyword research and analyze content to identify areas for differentiation.</li> <li>Social Media Content: Opal can help you create social media posts that are tailored to your target audience and optimized for engagement. It can suggest relevant hashtags, analyze audience sentiment, and visual suggestions.</li> <li>Marketing Campaign Management: Opal facilitates the planning, execution, and analysis of marketing campaigns. It enables marketers to create content calendars, assign tasks, track progress, and optimize campaigns for maximum impact. For example, Opal can help you manage a product launch campaign by coordinating content creation across multiple channels, tracking campaign performance, and providing insights for optimization.</li> <li>Experiment Design Optimization: Opal helps marketing teams avoid common A/B testing pitfalls (only 25% achieve statistical significance within 90 days) by analyzing test plans and suggesting improvements to primary metrics and sample size calculations, ensuring efficient and successful experimentation.</li> </ul> <h2>Potential Drawbacks</h2> While Opal offers numerous benefits, it's important to acknowledge its limitations. Opal's effectiveness is highly dependent on the quality and completeness of the data within the Optimizely ecosystem. Even though Opal offers significant advantages, it's important to consider potential drawbacks: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Data Dependency: Opal's effectiveness relies heavily on the quality and completeness of data within the Optimizely ecosystem. Limited or inaccurate data can lead to suboptimal recommendations.</li> <li>Ecosystem Lock-in: Opal is tightly integrated with Optimizely's products. Organizations heavily invested in other marketing platforms might find the transition challenging.</li> <li>Over-reliance on Automation: While automation streamlines workflows, it's crucial to maintain human oversight to ensure content quality and brand consistency.</li> </ul> <h2>The Future of Content Marketing with Opal</h2> At Optimizely, we envision a future where content marketing is not just efficient, but predictive and personalized at scale. Opal is evolving to become the AI-powered brain of your entire content operation, anticipating customer needs and dynamically tailoring experiences across every touchpoint. In the coming years, expect Opal to offer: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Predictive and Personalized Content at Scale: Opal will leverage data and analysis from across Optimizely One to deliver personalized content experiences to every customer, anticipating their needs and preferences.</li> <li>Engagement-Driven Content Optimization: Opal will use real-time engagement data to continuously optimize content delivery, ensuring that the right content reaches the right audience at the right time, maximizing engagement and conversions.</li> <li>Enhanced AI Ecosystem Integration: Opal will provide deeper integration capabilities with your in-house AI setups, enabling secure and scalable cross-network communication and data sharing between different Optimizely products through AI Agents.</li> </ul> Opal isn't just another GenAI, it's your strategic partner in building the future of customer engagement. <h2>Conclusion</h2> In conclusion, while general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini offer broad capabilities, Optimizely's Opal is purpose-built for marketing teams operating within the Optimizely ecosystem. Think of it this way: using a general AI for your content marketing is like buying clothes off the rack – it might fit okay, but it's not tailored to your specific needs. Opal, on the other hand, is like having a personal tailor who knows your exact measurements, understands your unique style, and crafts a perfect fit for your brand and marketing goals. By providing context details, history, knowledge base, analytics, customer data, and Optimizely data, Opal enriches content creation and saves time, aiming to improve marketing efficiency and effectiveness through AI-driven automation and insights. Its integration with the Optimizely ecosystem and focus on marketing workflows make it a superior choice for organizations looking to elevate their content marketing efforts. Ready to Transform Your Content Marketing? <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai">Learn More</a> About Opal Today.2025-05-30T15:51:56.0000000Z

Blog post

Understanding the Infrastructure Powering AI Agents for MarketingThe marketing world is increasingly captivated by the potential of AI agents. However, it's crucial to recognize that these agents are not simply user interfaces; they are complex systems built upon a significant infrastructure. Lets take a look into the infrastructure that powers the AI agent process, from the initial user prompt to the final response. <h2>AI Agent Architecture: An Overview</h2> At a high level, an AI agent architecture includes these main components working together:  <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Front-End: The interface that allows users to input prompts and receive corresponding responses. </li> <li>NLU (Natural Language Understanding)  Engine: The component responsible for understanding the user's intent.</li> <li>Processing & Decision-Making: The logic that determines the best course of action based on the understood intent.</li> <li>Knowledge Base: The knowledge base that fuels the AI agent's responses and actions. </li> <li>Response Generator: The component responsible for generating a response in natural language. </li> <li>Supporting Infrastructure: Includes memory, authentication, observability tools, and the underlying compute environment.</li> </ul> <h2>The AI Agent Process: A Deep Dive into Infrastructure Interaction</h2> <h3>Step 1: User Prompt / Input & Front-End Interaction</h3> The process begins with the user entering a prompt through the front-end, just like how you currently do it through <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36343492268813-Optimizely-Opal-Chat">Opal Chat</a>. The front-end's role is to capture this input, format it appropriately, and transmit it to the NLU engine. <h3>Step 2: Natural Language Understanding (NLU) & Infrastructure Dependency</h3> The NLU engine processes the user's input to understand its intent. This understanding relies on several critical infrastructure components: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Foundational Models (LLMs - Large Language Models): Pre-trained language models provide the NLU engine with its understanding capabilities.</li> <li>CPU / GPU Providers: The hardware that powers the LLMs, enabling them to process complex language data.</li> </ul> <h3>Step 3: Processing and Decision Making & Orchestration Layer</h3> Once the intent is understood, the AI agent processes it and decides on the best course of action.  This involves: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Agent Orchestration: A layer that coordinates the various components of the AI agent, ensuring they work together seamlessly.</li> <li>Model Routing: Directing queries to the appropriate AI models for processing, optimizing performance and accuracy.</li> </ul> <h3>Step 4: Knowledge Retrieval / Action Execution & Data Layer</h3> The AI agent then retrieves relevant information from its knowledge base or executes a task. This relies on: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Database (Vector stores and structured storage):The AI agent's knowledge base, including both structured data and vector embeddings for semantic search.</li> <li>ETL (Extract, Transform, Load): Data pipelines that populate and maintain the knowledge base, ensuring it remains up-to-date and accurate.</li> <li>Tools: External plugins, search capabilities, and integrations that the AI agent can access to gather information or perform actions.</li> </ul> <h3>Step 5: Response Generation & Output Layer</h3> Finally, the AI agent crafts a natural language response. This includes:  <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Foundational Models (LLMs): Used to create understandable and applicable responses, drawing from the information gathered and what the user is trying to achieve. </li> <li>Front-End: Presents the response to the user in a user-friendly format.</li> </ul> <h2>Supporting Infrastructure</h2> Beyond the core components, several supporting infrastructure elements are crucial: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Memory: Managing short-term and long-term context to maintain the flow of conversation and personalize interactions.</li> <li>Authentication: Identity verification, security, and access control to protect sensitive data.</li> <li>Agentic Observability: Monitoring, logging, and performance tracking to ensure the AI agent is functioning optimally.</li> <li>Infrastructure / Base: Compute environments and cloud execution platforms that provide the necessary resources for the AI agent to operate.</li> </ul> <h2>Mapping it to Opal</h2> Step 1 - User Prompt / Input & Front-End Interaction Opal Chat is the main interface for users to enter their prompt. You can also upload files as part of the input. Step 2 - NLU & Infrastructure Dependency Opal analyzes the user's prompt, identifying key concepts and components to determine the user's goal (e.g., finding information, creating content, executing a task). Opal also enriches the prompt by adding context using platform data, content, and the user's workspace. Step 3 - Processing and Decision Making & Orchestration Layer After processing the intent of the prompt, Opal will start selecting the right agent to perform the tasks. Step 4 - Knowledge Retrieval / Action Execution & Data Layer At the same time, Opal will also select the supporting tools to help complete the task. During this step, the AI agents will communicate with an LLM to help generate a response. Opal uses Google Gemini through a business account, so the data is never used to train the model or shared across customers. Step 5 - Response Generation & Output Layer At the end, what you get is a tailored response in the chat, or if needed, Opal can also perform actions inside Optimizely using built-in tools, such as creating tasks or campaign in the CMP tool or analyze an experiment data and summarize the result.   *Read more about <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36354416686477-Optimizely-Opal-overview">How Opal works</a>.   <h2>Technical Deep Dive</h2> Now let's take a more in-depth look at some of the key technical aspects of AI agent infrastructure. NLU Engine Algorithms: NLU engines rely on a variety of algorithms to understand user intent. Some of the most common include: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Intent Classification: Algorithms like Support Vector Machines (SVM), Naive Bayes, and deep learning models (e.g., recurrent neural networks or transformers) are used to classify the user's intent based on their input. These algorithms are trained on large datasets of labeled examples, where each example consists of a user input and its corresponding intent.</li> <li>Named Entity Recognition (NER): NER algorithms identify and classify named entities in the user's input, such as people, organizations, locations, and dates. Common NER algorithms include conditional random fields (CRF) and deep learning models like BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers).</li> <li>Sentiment Analysis: Sentiment analysis algorithms determine the emotional tone of the user's input, whether it's positive, negative, or neutral. These algorithms often use techniques from natural language processing and machine learning.</li> </ul> Semantic Search Algorithms: Semantic search algorithms enable AI agents to retrieve relevant information from their knowledge base based on the meaning of the user's query, rather than just matching keywords. Vector stores play a crucial role in semantic search by storing data as vector embeddings, which capture the semantic relationships between different pieces of information. Common semantic search algorithms include: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Cosine Similarity: Measures the similarity between two vector embeddings based on the cosine of the angle between them.</li> <li>Euclidean Distance: Measures the distance between two vector embeddings in Euclidean space.</li> <li>Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) Search: Efficiently finds the nearest neighbors to a given vector embedding in a large vector store.</li> </ul> <h2>Benefits of Understanding AI Agent Infrastructure for Marketing</h2> Understanding the infrastructure behind AI agents offers several key benefits for marketers: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Better evaluation of AI agent solutions: A deeper understanding of the underlying technology allows for more informed decisions when selecting AI agent platforms.</li> <li>Improved integration with existing marketing technology: Understanding the infrastructure enables smooth integration with current marketing tools and systems. </li> <li>More effective use of AI agents to achieve marketing goals: By understanding the capabilities and limitations of the infrastructure, marketers can leverage AI agents more effectively to achieve their objectives.</li> </ul> <h2>Conclusion</h2> AI agents are powerful tools that can transform marketing, but their effectiveness depends on a robust and well-understood infrastructure. By understanding the key components and their interactions, marketers can leverage AI agents to their full potential, driving better results and achieving their strategic goals. I hope this article has been useful and insightful to you, and I'd love to hear from you: <ul> <li>What are your thoughts on the role of AI agents in marketing?</li> <li>What challenges have you faced when implementing AI agent solutions?</li> <li>What are your predictions for the future of AI agents in marketing?</li> </ul> Share your insights and questions in the comments below! Let's start a discussion and learn from each other.2025-05-15T15:49:09.0000000Z

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Get Up to Speed with Optimizely Opal: Quick Start Resources<h2>Exciting New Feature Updates to Optimizely Opal: Elevating Your Product Experience</h2> We're thrilled to announce the launch of massive feature updates to Optimizely Opal, designed to revolutionize how you interact with our platform and elevate your overall product experience. As an AI-centric Digital Experience Platform leader, Optimizely is committed to providing cutting-edge solutions that empower our customers. These updates are a significant step forward, offering enhanced capabilities and streamlined workflows. <h2>What's New?</h2> These updates bring a host of improvements and new functionalities to Opal, making it easier than ever to leverage the power of AI in your content marketing efforts. From enhanced instruction agents to more intuitive tools, we've focused on creating a seamless and efficient user experience. <h2>Explore the New Features</h2> Want to see the updates in action? Check out these demos: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/f6a0otl">Opal Platform Demo</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/nia0i4w">Opal in CMP Demo</a></li> </ul> <h2>Dive Deeper with Our "Hype to Hero" Series</h2> Our "Hype to Hero" series offers valuable insights into how AI can transform your marketing strategies. Explore these resources to learn more: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/hype-to-hero-ai-experiment-summaries/">AI Experiment Summaries</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/hype-to-hero-industry-marketer-agent/">Industry Marketer Agent</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/hype-to-hero-ai-campaign-kits-video">AI Campaign Kits Video</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/hype-to-hero-ai-content-optimization-video/">AI Content Optimization Video</a></li> </ul> <h2>Comprehensive Documentation</h2> To help you get the most out of these new features, we've updated our documentation with detailed guides and tutorials: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36354416686477-Optimizely-Opal-overview">Optimizely Opal Overview</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36359944449805-Get-started-with-Optimizely-Opal-for-Admins">Get Started for Admins</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/sections/36381461176589-Instruction-agents-and-tools">Instruction Agents and Tools</a> <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36384499618701-Tone-of-Voice-Sample-instruction-agent">Tone of Voice Sample</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36386287028365-Keyword-Research-instruction-agent">Keyword Research</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36389090209165-Industry-Marketer-instruction-agent">Industry Marketer</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36376449982221-Tools-for-instruction-agents">Tools for Instruction Agents</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/36304551863181-Optimizely-Opal-credits">Optimizely Opal Credits</a></li> </ul> <h2>Additional Insights</h2> Expand your understanding of AI's role in marketing with these insightful articles: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/blog/ai-assistants-vs-ai-agents/">AI Assistants vs AI Agents</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/blog/ai-agents/">What are AI Agents?</a></li> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/trust-center/ai-ethics-policy/">AI Ethics Policy</a></li> </ul> <h2>Explore Optimizely AI</h2> Discover how Optimizely AI can transform your digital experience: <ul class="_1l4j4na5"> <li class="_1l4j4na1"><a href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai">Product Landing Page</a></li> </ul> We're excited for you to experience these new features and see how they can enhance your content marketing efforts. Dive in and explore the future of digital experience with Optimizely Opal!2025-05-09T16:20:01.0000000Z

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Improving Query Performance in Optimizely GraphAs part of your onboarding with Optimizely Graph, we recommend adopting the following best practices to help improve performance and reduce query latency. Implementing these strategies can significantly enhance the efficiency of your Optimizely Graph implementation, leading to a better user experience and more reliable data retrieval. <h2>Use Cached Templates</h2> Cached templates allow you to store and reuse translated queries with variable placeholders. This minimizes processing overhead and helps deliver faster response times. Instead of translating the same query every time it's executed, the translated query is cached and reused. This is one of the key improvements you can make to your Graph implementation. <h3>Example:</h3> To enable cached templates, simply add the following to your request URL and request header. <ol> <li>Query string parameter - Add stored=true to your request URL. https://cg.optimizely.com/content/v2?auth=123456789&stored=true</li> <li>Request header - Include the following header: <ul> <li>Key - cg-stored-query</li> <li>Value - template</li> </ul> </li> </ol> Code example showing a request using cached Templates: <pre><code> -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "cg-stored-query: template" \ -d '{ "query": "query GetItem($id: ID!) { item(id: $id) { name, description } }", "variables": { "id": "12345" } }'</code></pre> <h3>Benefits:</h3> <ul> <li>Reduced Latency: By reusing translated queries, you avoid the overhead of repeated translation.</li> <li>Improved Throughput: Caching allows your application to handle more requests with the same resources.</li> <li>Lower CPU Usage: Reduced processing leads to lower CPU utilization on your servers.</li> </ul> <h2>Use Item Queries for Single Entities</h2> When retrieving a single item, use the item query instead of items. This improves cache efficiency and reduces unnecessary cache invalidation. When you use the items query, Optimizely Graph may invalidate the entire cache for that content type, even if you're only retrieving one item. Using the item query ensures that only the cache for that specific item is invalidated when it's updated. This will lead to noticeable performance gains. <h3>Example:</h3> Code example showing an item query that retrieves a single item based on its RelativePath: <pre><code> query GetItem($relativePath: String) { Content(where: { RelativePath: { eq: $relativePath } }) { item { Name RelativePath } } } </code></pre> <h3>Benefits:</h3> <ul> <li>Better Cache Efficiency: Only the cache for the specific item is invalidated, preserving other cached data.</li> <li>Reduced Cache Invalidation: Minimizes unnecessary cache invalidation, leading to more stable cache performance.</li> <li>Faster Data Retrieval: More efficient cache usage results in faster data retrieval times.</li> </ul> <h2>Conclusion</h2> Following these practices will help ensure a smoother experience and more consistent performance. These improvements are essential for maintaining a high-performing Optimizely Graph implementation. If you have questions or would like support reviewing your implementation, our team is happy to assist. <h2>Further Reading</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/platform-optimizely/docs/cached-templates">Cached Templates in Optimizely Graph</a></li> <li><a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/platform-optimizely/docs/item-queries">Using Item Queries to Fetch Single Entities Efficiently</a></li> </ul>2025-05-05T02:59:04.0000000Z

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Welcome 2024 Summer OMVPs<img src="/link/d49aa441be32468ebc892683791701b5.aspx" width="auto" alt="" height="150" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 15px;" /> Hello, Optimizely community! We are thrilled to announce and welcome the newest members to the Optimizely Most Valuable Professionals (OMVP) program! Each of these individuals brings a wealth of experience, expertise, and passion for Optimizely's suite of products, and we're excited to have them join our community of top-notch professionals.  The OMVP initiative has always been about bringing together exceptional individuals in the industry who leads and mentors the community. They are not only skilled but also share our commitment and enthusiasm towards creating the best personalized experiences. This year, our selection committee has meticulously chosen professionals whose profiles stood out amongst many excellent applicants from across the globe. And what perfect timing to celebrate our company's 30th year anniversary with hitting the 100+ members milestone for the program!  Let's take a moment to get to know them: <h2> The New Optimizely MVPs </h2> <img src="/link/1f0a2d45da404710bc165806e5401dd9.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Deane Barker from Valtech Deane Barker is a seasoned content management strategist and thought leader with over two decades of experience in the digital and web content management industry. Known for his deep expertise in content management systems (CMS) and digital strategy, Deane has played a pivotal role in helping organizations across various sectors optimize their content strategies and digital experiences. He is also a published author, speaker, and educator, contributing significantly to the broader discourse on content management and digital transformation. Deane’s insights and practical approach have made him a trusted advisor to both technical and business leaders seeking to leverage content as a strategic asset.   <img src="/link/020f62ffd8e345eca1dbdf756f9ebd05.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Ibrar Hussain from 26 DX "With nearly two decades of experience in digital development, I bring a wealth of expertise as Technical Director at 26 DX, an Optimizely Platinum Partner. I combine technical acumen with strategic vision to deliver exceptional digital solutions that drive business outcomes. As a passionate innovator and thought leader, I'm dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible with Optimizely. I lead the technical and delivery teams at 26 DX, overseeing large-scale digital enterprise applications and driving the company's technical vision. My holistic approach uncovers unique opportunities to enhance user experiences and maximize the impact of digital experience technology.    My commitment to excellence extends beyond 26 DX, I'm actively involved in blogging, co-host Optimizely meet ups and contribute to the growth of the broader Optimizely community. I'm honoured to be recognized as an Optimizely MVP and look forward to continued innovation and collaboration within the Optimizely ecosystem."   <img src="/link/92ff77a12e8d4152877f196d1116c2b6.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Holly Quilter from Valtech Holly Quilter is a leader in digital experimentation and conversion rate optimization (CRO). Holding a degree in Mathematics, she firmly believes that data is fundamental to the evaluation, decision-making and performance of digital strategy. As a Lead CRO Analyst at Valtech, Holly drives innovative strategies that deliver measurable results across various industries and is dedicated to identifying opportunities for growth, promoting a culture of experimentation, and building strong client relationships. As Optimizely MVP, she is committed to advancing the field through thought leadership and strategic collaboration, continually pushing the boundaries of digital optimization and delivering measurable value for the teams she works with.   <img src="/link/f5fd71c9e8834de2955c6d819e5f6a1f.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> John Prior from 26 DX "I’m John Prior, the Solutions Director at 26 DX, and I’m a general purpose digital strategist with an Optimizely state of mind. At 26 DX, I apply multi-disciplinary techniques to uncover and design technology processes and capabilities to improve user experiences and business outcomes, working out opportunities to use digital experience technology with greater impact. And after more than 25 years in digital and 15 years working with Optimizely, that’s now even more rewarding that it’s ever been."   <img src="/link/d4bf343c728f4146a3c2f467c5fd49bf.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Graham Carr from 26 DX "Hi there, I am Graham, an experienced Lead .Net Developer with over 28 years’ experience in a wide range of products and technologies, over that time I have helped many companies deliver their digital vision from concept all the way through to delivery. I have a particular passion for DXPs (Digital Experience Platforms) and am a certified Optimizely Content Cloud Developer and an Optimizely Experimentation Web Platform expert. One little known fact about me is that I used to be a scuba diving instructor and lived in Egypt for a number of months where I lived my passion of diving the depths of the Red Sea on a daily basis."   <img src="/link/cce1bda96fea4a12b0b3c8fd711871f9.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Puneet Garg from Valtech "I’m dedicated to harnessing the power of digital tools to drive growth and innovation. Passionate about continuous learning and sharing knowledge, I’m committed to helping others succeed in their digital transformation journeys and looking forward to contributing to this vibrant community!"   <img src="/link/7e43739c18434e28b74b07af9d14fa9d.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Matt Pallatt from UNRVLD "I've been designing and building websites for over 25 years - front end, back end, and databases - and have been working with Optimizely (EPiServer) since 2006, across multiple products and platforms. Stopped being a developer a while ago. "   <img src="/link/9b61c60580b24d6c8c733cac68ba89fa.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Andy Blyth from 26 DX Andy Blyth is a Technical Architect at 26DX Agency, with over 20 years of experience in digital development and a passion for innovation. Known for his deep expertise in Optimizely, Andy blends technical acumen with a strategic mindset to deliver exceptional digital solutions. A dedicated mentor and thought leader, he actively shares insights through blogging and internal training, helping teams and clients alike leverage the full potential of Optimizely. When he’s not deep in code, Andy enjoys practicing Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and capturing the world through his camera.   <img src="/link/6324aae8fe354ee7bbb36cc3098d322d.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Daniel Copping from Orchard Marketing "I'm a Lead Integration Developer with Orchard Marketing, Sydney and currently situated in Hobart, Tasmania. Over the last decade, my career has had a strong focus on developing and delivering enterprise solutions using Optimizely CMS. I've recently expanded my focus to include a broader range of Optimizely products, such as ODP, Content Recommendations, and Web/Feature Experimentation. I’m passionate about collaborating with teams and clients to unlock the full potential of the Optimizely platform and driving innovative and impactful results."   <img src="/link/5034eb4161ea48088f252b7a2b18bc4e.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Milo&scaron; Ranković from First Line Software "I am a senior software developer with 20+ years of experience, out of which, at least 15 years of experience in implementing Optimizely CMS and other Optimizely products. My journey with Optimizely (then Episerver) started with version 4.40 and lasts to this very day. It is great to be part of community and be able to help other developers."   <img src="/link/017c0cd6bac2473a8cc3d12643d77186.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Binh Nguyen from First Line Software "I am a passionate programmer with 16 years of experience in the .NET framework and 13 years specializing in Optimizely. As a Senior Optimizely Developer, .NET Developer, and Fullstack Developer, I thrive on tackling challenges and continually expanding my expertise. I enjoy sharing knowledge through writing blogs and have a deep love for reading."   <img src="/link/a96b870b260b45bfb5eeab4510919535.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Lance Farquhar from First Line Software "I am grateful to be honored as a recipient for my contribution to Optimizely and its community. Over the years, I have met many of you, whether you are an Optimizely customer or an Optimizely solution partner. For me, this reflects our efforts as a community, and I believe I would not have received this honor without your dedication to delivering business value using Optimizely products. Coming from an engineering background, I have a special place in my heart for technology and the development and QA teams that build the products and deliver the services. Early in my career, I would not have imagined that some of my closest friends would be CEOs, sales executives, and marketers. So, I want to thank all of you who supported me in this achievement. I can’t wait to see what we do next. "   <img src="/link/23eed6c6c73b48508cda48c4d72925f7.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Paul McGann from Netcel Paul is an experienced solution architect at Netcel, specialising in Optimizely (formerly Episerver) and is responsible for designing, implementing and manging digital experiences using the optimizely product range. Paul is an active member on the forums and can be found answering questions and helping others regularly, and developing and improving optimizely addons. In his spare time he likes to take to the great outdoors and enjoys walking, hiking and camping around Ireland.   This is only a small representation of all the expertise in the community from across the different continents who bring a wealth of knowledge from various disciplines. We are excited to learn from them and look forward to their contributions in making Optimizely even better. Remember, as an OMVP, you're not just a part of Optimizely, but also influencers in your own right within the broader industry. Let's continue this journey together with enthusiasm - here's to novelty, innovation and success! To see the rest of our incredible OMVPs please visit our <a href="/link/15869fb47755485ca1cf4e798ad7b887.aspx">OMVP page.</a> If you know someone who you think should be an OMVP, <a href="/link/f9d3b8a331384c6da2f4f86861113acc.aspx">nominate them or send them the link to apply</a>.2024-08-29T02:58:37.0000000Z

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SaaS CMS Tips & Tricks #001 - BlueprintsDo you have a lot of content for your website? Wish you're able to magically copy and paste the structure of a page or component easily? Are you guilty of reusing the same layout over and over again? Here's a hot tip for you, use the blueprints feature in Visual Builder! <h2>What are blueprints?</h2> Blueprints are reusable templates that you can create directly from Visual Builder. You can save existing experiences and sections as blueprints and use them to easily create similar content whenever you want. Things like a campaign landing page, a contest entry form, a masthead/hero image, column/grid content, any <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts#01J0X7EX7CKG28PPY7A7ZCZ0G7">experiences </a>and <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts#h_01J0X680KW0J73QJXMEW18NYXS">sections </a>that is in the CMS, you can create a blueprint and create content based off of those them. <h2>How to use blueprints?</h2> From creating blueprints to using them to managing them, let's go through each feature one by one. You can follow along in this <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/cms-blueprints">interactive demo</a>. <h3>Creating a blueprint</h3> You can create a blueprint from any <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts#01J0X7EX7CKG28PPY7A7ZCZ0G7">experience</a> and <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts#h_01J0X680KW0J73QJXMEW18NYXS">section</a> with Visual Builder. Creating or saving a blueprint is the same for experience and section, and can be done easily in 4 steps. <ol> <li>Open the More (...) menu and select "Save as Blueprint..."</li> <li>Enter a name for the blueprint</li> <li>Select a thumbnail image for the blueprint <ul> <li>Default one is generated based on the existing content of the experience/section you are using for your blueprint</li> <li>You can upload your own image</li> <li>Reset will change the thumbnail back to the default one</li> </ul> </li> <li>Save</li> </ol> <h3>Using blueprints</h3> After creating blueprints, you'll be able to start using them immediately. When you are creating a new experience or adding a new section, you'll be able to see all the blueprints that have been created in the CMS. All you have to do is instead of choosing a "Blank Experience" or "Blank Section", choose the blueprint that you want to use and click "Create Experience" or "Add Section". <h3>Managing blueprints</h3> Within the Settings of the CMS, you'll find a Blueprints section that will allow you to manage all the blueprints. In this section, you'll be able to search by the name of the blueprint, and filter by the type (experience, section, or all). Currently, you can only either rename or delete them, but on the CMS roadmap, we'll soon be improving the UI of this section, as well as adding the functionality of copy and pasting blueprints, and editing blueprints.   <h2>Resources</h2> <h3>Developer Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Visual Builder: Blueprints- <a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/visual-builder#blueprints">https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/visual-builder#blueprints</a></li> </ul> <h3>User Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Blueprints - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/28354742563725">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/28354742563725</a></li> <li>Save as blueprint - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875431780877-Save-as-blueprint">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875431780877-Save-as-blueprint</a></li> </ul>2024-08-19T18:55:00.0000000Z

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Optimizely SaaS CMS Content ModelingContent modeling for websites can be considered as much an art as a science. While we may look at content modeling as a process of defining and elaborating on the types of content or modules we need to build a website, it is also an artistic challenge that pushes our creativity in terms of how we can shape an experience.   <h2>Importance of content modeling</h2> Why is content modeling important? Why should we care? Content models both influence and are influenced by different roles, which help us understand why we need them and how they are used. Thorough content modeling also helps clarify requirements and encourages collaboration among designers, developers, and end users. For information architects and designers, content modeling might refer to all the bits of text, media, and meta data needed for a page. Things like captions for an image and dates for sorting events, are all things that need to be considered and accommodated in page design. For developers, content modeling helps identify data exchanged in and outside a website, and all the different configurations that should be applied within a CMS. It also provides an idea of the website complexity and approach needed when designing and structuring the system. For content authors, content modeling sets a guideline on what content to write or create and how to enter it into the CMS. An intuitive, standardized, and efficient design is important for ease of authoring, instead of a confusing experience that promotes inconsistency. <h2>Content modeling approach</h2> Ok, so now you might be thinking, "How do I start? What do I do next? What do I need to think about or consider?" Let's talk about the different approaches you can take when it comes to content modeling. <h3>Top-Down Approach</h3> For a top-down approach, you start from a broad/high level overview and identify all the main types of content first. Things like blogs, product pages, forms, search, galleries, etc. so not necessarily all the different pages you'll have on a site, but the different types of pages. Then you work your way down to the details, one level of at a time. <h3>Bottom-Up Approach</h3> Going the opposite direction, bottom-up starts at the most granular level of detail. You start with the finer details, and then slowly group these individual elements together to form a larger content item. For example, you might be thinking about the text in a CTA, then the CTA object itself, and the title text and body text after that. All three elements can then be grouped as a promo box or a card. <h3>Hybrid Approach</h3> Is there an in-between? Yes, the hybrid approach is probably the most practical and most used approach. This allows a fine balance between high-level thinking and granular detail design, providing flexibility to ensure everything is covered.   No matter the approach, the most important thing to consider when designing your content model is the level of control you want to give the user, the freedom to adjust the layout and structure of the content, and the reusability of the content.   <h2>Closet Analogy</h2> <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz05MmFlMWRlMDRkZWIxMWVmOWI3YjIyMTJiZGNlOGYxOQ==" width="600" alt="closet.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" /> To better understand how we can break down the content of our design, let's use a relatable analogy - a closet system. Picture yourself designing a custom-made closet system where each shelf space, drawer, or rack is a piece content. Although each section will be used for storing different clothing, or used for different purposes, each of them will have something in common. A handle, hanging bar, dividing board, and cupboard door are some of the common parts you'll need for all sections. You can think of these parts as common or modular components to your website design, such as text links, buttons, titles, form elements, and images.  Notice how we have stopped at the level where a component is the smallest unit possible that makes sense. For a door handle, we stopped there and did not go any smaller like parts of the handle, such as the screws that attach it. For a glass door, we didn't go smaller into the level of the piece of glass or door frame. All the small parts/components that we have identified are reusable items, and you can use them in different combinations to create uniquely different experiences, meeting different needs.    <h2>Website Content Modeling Walkthrough</h2> <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1lOGM4NGFjYzRlODQxMWVmODQ1NGFlODRkY2NlYTFkNg==" width="600" alt="Masthead.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" /> Now, let's look at the different ways we can design content models for a website. Looking at our Moseybank example, consider designing a our masthead banner component. From the design, you can break down the different content of the masthead. There are 5 pieces of content: two images, a title, a main content section, and a CTA (Call To Action) button. But to increase our reusability, we can group them together by content types: image, text, button. Depending on the level of control, freedom, and reusability, we can design our content model in a few different ways. Here are a few examples: <ol> <li>All content within a single item. We can create a single component with all five content types listed out separately, with no flexibility in terms of what a user can control, where everything is expected to look and work exactly the way it was designed.</li> <li>A content holder for different content types. To increase the reusability of our contents, we can create a content holder by masthead type, and then create content types for images, text, and buttons. We have improved our reusability of content types, but we are still not giving much control or freedom to the design.</li> <li>Create content types, with styling options. Here we can create layout and structure content types, as well as content types for images, text, and buttons - also adding options for changing their styles. This provides a lot of flexibility to the design within the CMS, and we can reuse these content types in different combinations to meet many different needs.</li> </ol> As you can see from the examples above, there are different ways of implementing content modeling. From our first example of almost no freedom and control, to our last example of maximum flexibility, reusability, freedom, and control. As an example, Optimizely SaaS CMS and Visual Builder does exactly what is needed to provide marketers the control and freedom they need to quickly create content, without the need of developers creating custom components for every design. You can create a section, which will allow you to add rows and columns, and then within the columns, you can add things like images, text, and buttons. On top of that, you'll be able to change the styles of each of those elements.  Let's take a look at an <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/cms-content-modeling">interactive demo</a> on how content modeling can be approached in Optimizely SaaS CMS and Visual Builder. Right now, we are just talking about the masthead banner, but what if we start looking at the design of the entire site? We'll then start noticing there are similar content in multiple places, things that follow the same pattern as title, text, and button. What we can do is set that as a content type and make that reusable, instead of having to recreate that combination every time. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz00ZmM1MjVkNDRlYTcxMWVmODdjYzE2ZTNlOGFmMGM2Ng==" width="600" alt="CommonContent.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" />   <h2>Conclusion</h2> In Summary, there is no single approach of "right way" for content modeling. You should align with the requirements, processes, workflows, and governance of your team and take different approaches to your content model design depending on your needs.2024-08-01T14:14:34.0000000Z

Blog post

Optimizely SaaS CMS Content TypesIn Optimizely CMS, there are many base content types you can define through code, such as component, image, video, folder, and sections. But today, we will be focusing on the content types you'll see in the CMS UI: Page, Block, Media, Experience, and Element. For those who are already using our Optimizely PaaS CMS, you are probably familiar with the base content types: Page, Block, and Media. With the introduction of Optimizely SaaS CMS and Visual Builder, we've added two new types: Experience and Element. <h2><img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0yOWMxMjUzYTRhOWQxMWVmYWQxMGMyMGIzMTVhZGVjOA==" width="283" height="358" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></h2> Let's go over the details of these content types and what you can do with them. You can also follow along with this <a href="https://optimizely.navattic.com/cms-content-types">interactive demo</a>!   <h2>Page Type</h2> Definition: Content that can be displayed with a template and unique URL. A Page Type is what you would use to represent a webpage on your website. You can have multiple web pages using the same Page Type, but each webpage must be a Page Type. A typical use of a Page Type can be one of three things: <ul> <li>A set template for a page, where the layout is predefined and you are only filling out some content. For example, a search result page or a product listing page.</li> <li>A container page, where there is no set layout, and you are free to modify the layout and content as you wish. For example, a special campaign page or terms and conditions page.</li> <li>A mix of both, where there is some set layout predefined, but still have some freedom for certain layouts/structures. For example, a homepage with predefined areas for content, but you can change between 2, 3, or 4 columns in certain areas.</li> </ul>   <h2>Block Type</h2> Definition: Re-usable content that can be displayed with a template. But it has no URL. A Block Type is a component or module that makes up a portion of a web page. It can consist of other Block Type, Content, and Media Type, and the usage of it can vary as wide as your creativity goes. For example, we can create Block Types for doing the following: <ul> <li>A Carousel container, used for holding multiple slides</li> <li>A slide used in a carousel</li> <li>A button</li> <li>A navigation menu</li> <li>SEO settings for a page</li> <li>Label dictionary for the website</li> <li>An interactive map</li> </ul> As you can see, a Block Type is very versatile and can be used in many different situations and serves many different purposes.   <h2>Media Type</h2> Definition: Assets such as image, video or document. A Media Type is basically any file you want to upload into the CMS. We have broken this down into three major types: Image, Video, and Other. <ul> <li>Image are for files such as jpg, png, webp, svg, gif, tiff, etc.</li> <li>Video are for files such as mp4, avi, mov, wmv, webm, mkv, ogg, etc.</li> <li>Other media is for everything else such as pdf, docx, mp3, zip, iso, ttf, js, css, etc.</li> </ul> You will need to define these if you want to use them in your blocks, pages, or anywhere else as part of the properties or content.   <h2>Experience Type</h2> Definition: Base content type used in Visual Builder. An Experience Type is very similar to Page Type, as it is an extension of it. However, the biggest difference is that this enables the use of Visual Builder. And with Visual Builder, we don't have to worry about creating an Experience Type with certain predefined layouts or not, because that's what the Visual Builder was designed to solve. Allowing us to create and edit pages easily, including control over layout and styling.   <h2>Element Type</h2> Definition: Content which can be used to build an Experience in Visual Builder. An Element Type is very similar to Block Type, as it is an extension of it. Just like the Experience Type, Element Type is used in the Visual Builder, but as building blocks to create and complete a full experience.   <h2>Section Type</h2> As a bonus, a Section Type. This is not available as an option in the drop down when you're creating Content Types, however, it comes as default with your SaaS CMS and it is mainly used to help organize your content within an Experience Type in the Visual Builder. Recalling from the "<a href="/link/50dcfead132d4703ba92660f99563f0b.aspx">Optimizely SaaS CMS Concepts and Terminologies</a>", a "Section is a visually distinct segment of your webpage", it allows us to structure and organize our content within an Experience Type while using the Visual Builder.   <h2>Content Type Edit Options</h2> Now that we have gone over the different types of content you can create in the CMS UI, let's take a quick look at the different of options available for you to configure.  <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1iNTk5ZTVjYTRiNzMxMWVmYWU2MTIyMTJiZGNlOGYxOQ==" width="183" height="247" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <h3>Properties</h3> This is where you setup majority of the configuration for your content type. Here you will be adding different properties to build out the content and other info you'll need. The types of properties are categorized as follows, and most of them have multiple variations to chose from: Text, Block, Content, Date/Time, Link, Number, Choice, Guid. <img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0yOTM5YTcxYzRiZDkxMWVmOWMzNTFhZWQzMWExMTNmMA==" width="202" height="252" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <ul> <li>Text: Long string, String, XHTML string</li> <li>Block: The Block Type you have defined</li> <li>Content: Content Area, Content Area Item, Content Reference</li> <li>Date/Time: Date range selection</li> <li>Link: Link collection, LinkItem, URL to document, URL to image, URL to page/external address</li> <li>Number: Floating point number, integer</li> <li>Choice: Drop-down list, Select list (multiple selection), Selected/not selected</li> <li>Guid</li> </ul>   <h3>Details</h3> This is purely informational, providing specific details on the content type. <ul> <li>GUID: Globally Unique Identifier</li> <li>Base: Which base type in code is this content type based off of</li> <li>From code: Whether this content type was created from code or UI</li> <li>Created: Date and time this content type was created</li> <li>Modified: Date and time this content type was modified and by who</li> </ul>   <h3>Default Values</h3> This is only available for Page Type only and it allows you to automatically change the sorting order of any new page created using this Page Type.   <h3>Child Content Types</h3> For all content types, you might be using other content types as its content. This setting allows you to control which type of content is or is not allowed to be used as content.   <h3>Permissions</h3> This provided control on which user or group is allowed to create a new instance of this content type.   <h3>Settings</h3> This has the Name, Display name, and Description of the content type you've entered when you first created it. It also includes the Sort index, and the toggle for whether this content type is Available in edit view. In Media Types, it will have the additional info for Supported media extensions which you've also entered during creation of the content type. And lastly, it has the option for you to delete this content type.   <h2>Start Building!</h2> Hopefully this has been helpful! Stay tuned for more blogs, next on the list, content modeling!   <h2>Resources</h2> <h3>Developer Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Content Types - <a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/content-types">https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/content-types</a></li> </ul> <h3>User Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Content Types - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27678280748685-Content-types">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27678280748685-Content-types</a></li> </ul> <h3>Blogs</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/link/50dcfead132d4703ba92660f99563f0b.aspx">Optimizely SaaS CMS Concepts and Terminologies</a></li> </ul>  2024-07-29T13:59:28.0000000Z

Blog post

Optimizely SaaS CMS Concepts and TerminologiesWhether you're a new user of Optimizely CMS or a veteran who have been through the evolution of it, the SaaS CMS is bringing some new concepts and terminologies to you. The introduction of our latest feature, the Visual Builder via the SaaS CMS, a fresh editor interface, has ushered in several unique concepts and terminologies into our CMS offering. Let's go on a journey of creating a website using the SaaS CMS and explore some of these new concepts.   <h2>Applications</h2> First, we have Applications. Applications is a replacement of what we used to call "Websites" in the settings. The idea here is still the same, you're able to create multiple websites and manage all the content in the same CMS. The biggest difference here is that we want to make it clear that our CMS is flexible, not just websites, but multi-channel. You'll be able to configure "applications" so you can chose which URLs to use, which languages to use, which content is shared, and many more. So, as a first step of our website creation journey, we have set a URL for the new site we'll be creating. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0wNzA0NDYwNjQwNWUxMWVmYTk5OThhOGJhNzRmODE3ZQ==" alt="Applications.gif" width="500" alt="Applications.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />   <h2>Experience</h2> Now, let's start building content for our website. One of the first things you'll probably do is to create a page. However, you'll quickly notice that there is now a new option for "Create Experience". So what is Experience? Experience is basically the same as a Page, and to be more technical, it's an extension of a Page. From the end user's perspective, what's different about Experience and a Page is that, Experience gives you access to the Visual Builder, where you'll have access to Outline and other features that comes with Visual Builder. From a developer's perspective, Experience gives you access to the Layout System and UnstructuredData. Let's create our first blank experience by selecting the triple ellipsis/dots that shows up when you hover over "Root", and click on "+ Create Experience". From here, you can either chose "Blank Experience", or any blueprints you may have created before (we'll explain what blueprints are later). <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0zMTcwNGE2YzQyNjUxMWVmOGRlYzllNGEyMWI5YTMwYg==" width="500" alt="CreateExperience.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <h2> </h2> <h2>Outline</h2> We mentioned Outline in the Experience section earlier. So what is it? Outline provides end users with a list view of all the sections on the page. This is where you'll be able to add/manage content of a page. You can drag and drop the different content to reorder them, click on each content to edit them, control the style of the content, or saving the content as blueprints. You can start by adding a new Section to the outline for your first piece of content. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1mZGE2OTk4YzQyNjYxMWVmODk5OTQ2NGYzMDFjNWIxYQ==" width="500" alt="Outline.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <h2> </h2> <h2>Section</h2> Now that we're starting to add a new Section to our Outline, we need to understand what it is and what it does. Section is a visually distinct segment of your webpage, or think of it as a "chunk" or a "group" of content on a page. You can also think of them as "blocks" in the PaaS CMS, since it is an extension of a Block, but also having access to the Layout System and UnstructuredData. Section use rows and columns in a grid layout to structure content, this gives us a lot of control and flexibility in how we want to organize and arrange our content. Try adding some sections, rows, and columns to get a sense of how the structure works. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0zZDc3M2UyODQyNmIxMWVmYTFjMDllNGEyMWI5YTMwYg==" width="500" alt="Section.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <h2> </h2> <h2>Element</h2> When you get to the Column level, you'll be able to add Elements. Elements are the smallest building blocks you have within the Visual Builder for creating content. You can define them in "Settings" > "Content Types", where you'll be able to create an "Element Type". Element can be things like Heading, Call To Action, Image, Quotes, Testimonials, anything. You can create them as simple as you want it to be like a Heading with only requires a single text input field, or something more complex like a Testimonial with customer names, locations, pictures, and text. Although Element does not have layout controls because they are the smallest building blocks, you are still able to style them. If you don't have any elements yet, try creating a new one first, and then add it to your column. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1hYWM4MDU5MDQyNmUxMWVmODc3OTIyODQ5MTVkNDA3Ng==" width="500" alt="Element.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> <h2> </h2> <h2>Blueprint</h2> Blueprint has been mentioned multiple times before, what is it? Blueprints are reusable templates that you can create directly from the Visual Builder. You can save existing experiences and sections as blueprints and reuse them whenever you want. <h2><img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz04OTIxYjY1ZTQyNzExMWVmODBmMTc2YmMzMmEyZDBhMQ==" width="500" alt="Blueprint.gif" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></h2> <h2> </h2> <h2>Style</h2> And finally, Style. Since we have only focused on content so far, you must be thinking, "How do I control the way my content looks?" That's where Style comes in. The spacing, alignment, color, width, anything to do with the appearance, the visual aspect of your content, as long as the developer has define the styling options for your content, you'll be able to control all of it through the Visual Builder. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jMzAzYzJiYzQyNzIxMWVmYjY1Y2U2NDk0Y2JkYmUyYg==" width="500" alt="Style.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />   <h2>You're ready to go!</h2> Hope this has helped you understand the new key concepts and terminologies we have introduced through the Visual Builder in the SaaS CMS. You've got this! Break a leg!   <h2>Resources</h2> <h3>Developer Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Visual Builder - <a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/visual-builder">https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/visual-builder</a></li> </ul> <h3>User Doc</h3> <ul> <li>Visual Builder concepts - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875480610445-Visual-Builder-concepts</a></li> <li>Elements in Visual Builder - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875804069773-Elements-in-Visual-Builder">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875804069773-Elements-in-Visual-Builder</a></li> <li>Create an experience from scratch - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875424766349-Create-an-experience-from-scratch">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875424766349-Create-an-experience-from-scratch</a></li> <li>Select styles - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875497007117-Select-styles">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875497007117-Select-styles</a></li> <li>Save as blueprint - <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875431780877-Save-as-blueprint">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/27875431780877-Save-as-blueprint</a></li> </ul>2024-07-15T06:24:48.0000000Z

Blog post

Create your first demo site with Optimizely SaaS/Visual BuilderHello everyone, We are very excited about the launch of our SaaS CMS and the new Visual Builder that comes with it. Since it is the first time you'll be seeing it, or got a chance to try it (for those that are beta users), here's a walkthrough on how to get started and have your first demo site up and running. What we'll be going through in this blog: <ul> <li>Getting started with your SaaS instance / CMS Overview</li> <li>Optimizely Starter Kit: sample front-end site and site content</li> <li>Configuration of the git repository (where your front-end code goes)</li> <li>SaaS CMS Pre-setup</li> <li>Configuration of the head hosting platform (<a href="https://vercel.com/">Vercel </a>and <a href="https://www.netlify.com/">Netlify</a>)</li> <li>Configuration of the SaaS CMS to connect to a front-end (head) hosting platform</li> </ul> Before we get into the details, I want to caveat that all information in this blog is up-to-date as of the time this blog is written. *Updated on July 12 to reflect the latest release on the change of "Manage Websites" to "Applications", within the "Settings" <h2> </h2> <h2>Getting started with your SaaS CMS instance</h2> After you get your SaaS CMS instance, you will receive a welcome email with some basic information such as where to login, where to find documentation, where to get community resources and help, and how to contact support. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz01NDJjZDI1MDNlMjgxMWVmYTJhNTZlMjRjODllNjA2Mg==" width="462" alt="WelcomeEmail.jpg" height="540" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Ever since we have implemented Optimizely ID (Opti ID), we have made it much easier and simpler for our users to get to and switch between all their Optimizely products in a single location. As the instruction in the email mentioned, you can go to <a href="https://login.optimizely.com">https://login.optimizely.com</a>, or <a href="https://home.optimizely.com">https://home.optimizely.com</a>, both will bring you to the dashboard where it's the starting point for all your Optimizely products.  <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jYjA0NGFkYTNlMmMxMWVmYjdjYjE2NjA1M2Y5YzI1Mg==" width="480" alt="OptimizelyDashboard.jpg" height="201" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> You will be given 3 instances (environment), so if you have not done anything to any of the instances yet, select one of them and you will be brought to an empty website within the CMS. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0wODg3NTFmZTNlMmQxMWVmODczZWZhMzM3ZGFjMzkzNw==" width="600" alt="BlankSite.jpg" height="100" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Before we continue on, let's take a quick tour to understand our CMS interface for those that are new. First, at the top in the dark blue navigation, you'll see multiple dropdowns to help you switch between organization, products, and CMS/Graph (if you are in a CMS instance). And then on the right, you'll see four different icons: Search, Notification, Help, and User. <img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1kMjg5NmQyODNlMmYxMWVmYmFkNzhlMWU4ZTY3YjhiYw==" width="600" alt="HeaderNav.gif" height="103" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Next, in the side navigation on the left, you will see four options (when you're in the CMS instance). Dashboard, Edit, Reports, and Settings. <img src="https://images1.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz00OGU5M2JkNjNlMmQxMWVmOGU3ODgyMjRkYTU0NWM0MA==" width="137" alt="SideNav.jpg" height="135" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> In the CMS Dashboard, you'll be able to get a quick view of links for content management, API keys, workflow status, and broken links report. This is the page that we'll need to refer to when we start setting up our connection to the front-end (head) hosting platform. <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jZjA2ZWMxNDNlMzExMWVmYmQxOWJlNTU2ZWM3ODk2ZA==" width="532" alt="CMSDashboard.jpg" height="319" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Next is the CMS Edit view, here you'll be able to manage the pages and content of your website. For now, because we have not created any content, nor have we connected to a front-end, you will see a very empty edit view. To learn more about the user interface and other details about the CMS, please take a look at our <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/19965302094989-User-interface">user guide</a>. <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1hZTgyMTg0YzNlMzYxMWVmYTk4NzJlYmQ1ZTNhZDJjZA==" width="472" alt="CMSEdit.jpg" height="238" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> I will be skipping over the Reports tab for now, as we will be focusing on the items that will help us configure our CMS and manage our website content. Lastly, it's the Settings view. In here, we are able to control a lot of settings for our website, such as content structures, API connections, permission settings, languages, and logs. But what's important for us right now, is the Scheduled Jobs, Applications (previously known as Manage Websites), and Import Data, which are part of the steps we'll go through when setting up our demo website. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0wYTFmNWJmYTQwNTkxMWVmYjkyYmJhOGJmMmU0MzM3Mg==" alt="CMSSettings2.gif" width="400" alt="CMSSettings.gif" height="239" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Now that we have familiarize ourselves with the CMS, let's take a look at the other pieces that we'll need to get your first Optimizely SaaS CMS demo website up and running. <h2> </h2> <h2>Optimizely Starter Kit</h2> Optimizely has created two starter kit for you to start your exploration of the SaaS CMS. <h3>Hello World</h3> The first one being the classic "Hello World" example, is a blank website with minimal styling. It will walk you through how to add your first content and load the website locally. For those that would like to start from scratch, and see something being built from nothing, this is where you should start with. <a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-hello-world">https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-hello-world</a> <h3>SaaS Beta - Vercel Sample</h3> Those who have participated in the beta program will already be familiar with this. Optimizely has created a sample website, using Next.js, and connected the head to Vercel. It includes all the styling and configuration you'll need to get a demo site up and running. Another important piece that was provided for beta users (which I've also shared here), but not included in the GitHub repository, is the sample content to go along with the sample website.  Before we get into the details of setting up your first sample website on the SaaS CMS with this starter kit, there is one last thing you'll need to do, which is create an account on <a href="https://vercel.com/">Vercel </a>and a git repository of your choice (<a href="https://github.com/">GitHub</a>, <a href="https://about.gitlab.com/">GitLab</a>, or <a href="https://bitbucket.org/product/">Bitbucket</a>), which are all free for anyone to signup. For our example later, we'll be using GitHub, so if it's your first time and you want to follow along, you can create a GitHub account, otherwise, you're free to use others. <a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta">https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta</a> <a href="/link/c2582d7aeb3f4b2282d827108eb2c462.aspx">Started CMS Content File (episerverdata file)</a> <h2> </h2> <h2>Git Repository Setup</h2> For the remainder of the walkthrough, we'll be using the "SaaS Beta - Vercel Sample" repo as our base. The following instructions will be cater for those that are not familiar with git repo, or have no technical experience whatsoever. If you are familiar with cloning git repo, please skip this section. Let's start with downloading the sample code from the git repository (<a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta">https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta</a>). You can go to the link, click on the "Code" button/dropdown, and click on "Download ZIP". <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1lZDIyZGE0MDNlYzMxMWVmYTQwMjVhNjljMWJkZjdmNw==" width="502" alt="DownloadRepo.gif" height="237" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Next, you will log into your GitHub account, and create a new repository (you can use this link directly - <a href="https://github.com/new">https://github.com/new</a>). Give your new repository a name, "optimizely-saas-cms" for example, chose either Public or Private (either will work), and make sure the "Add a README file" option is selected. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz05NzdlNDhiMjNlYzQxMWVmYWFjNGFlYjQ3OTQ0ZmY4Yg==" width="410" alt="NewRepo.jpg" height="571" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> After clicking on "Create repository", you will be brought to the landing page of your newly created repo, which looks something like this. <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1kYzIxYjU5ZTNlYzQxMWVmYjJjNWVlYzhmNTljZWMxMQ==" width="500" alt="RepoLanding.jpg" height="238" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Now, with the code/zip file we've downloaded before, let's unzip it and make a small change to one of the files. Look for a file called ".gitignore" and open it with any text editor (notepad, textedit, etc). Near the bottom of the file, you'll see the word "dist", let's remove it by either deleting it completely, or comment it out by putting a "#" in front of it.  We are now ready to upload our files into GitHub. Here's a little trick, instead of using the existing interface, you can make a small change in the URL and load a very different interface that will allow us for an easier bulk upload (including folders and their subfolders/files). With the URL of our repo, for example, mine is <a href="https://github.com/USER/optimizely-saas-cms">https://github.com/USER/optimizely-saas-cms</a>, we'll be changing the ".com" to ".dev", so it is now <a href="https://github.dev/USER/optimizely-saas-cms">https://github.dev/USER/optimizely-saas-cms</a>. You want to make sure you are looking at the "Explorer" view (first icon on the left, under the 3 horizontal bars). There, you'll see the blank "README" file that was created when we made this repo. Next, you can drag and drop all your files, except for the ".git" folder, in here (in the area where you see "README.md"), and select "Replace" for overwriting the blank "README" file to continue. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1kMjBiMzU5NjNlYzcxMWVmOGY0YzhhZjI4NjE0ZWI0Nw==" width="600" alt="RepoUpload.gif" height="394" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> The last thing we'll need to do to complete our git repo setup, is to commit the files we've just uploaded. For those that does not understand the concept of "commit" in the world of version control, it just means "save" (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commit_(version_control)">Wikipedia </a>for more details). Go to "Source Control" (third icon on the left under the 3 horizontal bars), enter a message in the text box (you can type "Initial upload"), and then click on "Commit & Push".  <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz01ZGI1MmRiZTNlZTUxMWVmOTI2ZWM2NjM0MTFmODBkZg==" width="509" alt="RepoCommit.jpg" height="317" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />   <h2>SaaS CMS Pre-Setup</h2> Before we get to setting up our head (front-end code), let's load some content into our SaaS CMS. With the data package I've provided above (episerverdata file), let's go to the Settings view of the SaaS CMS. In there, find the tab that says "Import Data" under the "Tools" section. In here, you'll select the episerverdata file to be uploaded, making sure that "Root" is selected under "Select content destination", and then click on "Begin import". Once it's done, you should see an "Import successful" message. Next, go to "Scheduled Jobs", and start the "Optimizely Graph Full Synchronization". This will prepare all the content we have just imported, and make it available through the Optimizely Graph, which is how our head hosting platforms will communicate with our SaaS CMS. <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz03MDJiMGQyYzNlZWMxMWVmOTk5YmIyZjZhYTYwOTYyYQ==" width="442" alt="CMSPreSetup.gif" height="290" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />   <h2>Setup Head Hosting Platform</h2> <h3>Vercel</h3> After you have created your Vercel account, we need to create a new project that will load the code we have uploaded to our git repo, as well and make a connection to our SaaS CMS. Start by creating a new project in Vercel, and import the git repo we've uploaded to GitHub. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz00NTU3ZGZiMjNlZTcxMWVmODA1NzhhZjI4NjE0ZWI0Nw==" width="600" alt="VercelNewProject.jpg" height="176" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> You might need to connect your GitHub account to Vercel, but once you do, you'll be able to see the git repo we have created earlier, and you can now import it. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz04OGY0MzIxNjNlZTcxMWVmYjdlN2M2NjM0MTFmODBkZg==" width="405" alt="VercelImport.jpg" height="254" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Next, is the important part of connecting Vercel to your Optimizely SaaS CMS. We'll need a few pieces of information from the SaaS CMS Dashboard, and enter them here in the Vercel's project configuration page. We'll need to enter the following environment variables as key/value pair. Please refer to screenshot to see where to find the values for your SaaS CMS instance. When you've entered all the values, you can click on "Deploy" to start running the code on Vercel. If everything is good, it should take roughly 2 minutes to finish. <table> <tbody> <tr> <td>Key</td> <td>Value</td> </tr> <tr> <td>OPTIMIZELY_CMS_URL</td> <td>1. URL - [<a href="https://app-INSTANCE-ID.cms.optimizely.com/">https://app-INSTANCE-ID.cms.optimizely.com/</a>]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_GATEWAY</td> <td>2. Address - <a href="https://cg.optimizely.com/">https://cg.optimizely.com/</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_APP_KEY</td> <td>3. App key</td> </tr> <tr> <td>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_SECRET</td> <td>4. Secret</td> </tr> <tr> <td>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_SINGLE_KEY</td> <td>5. Single key</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2><img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz04ODEwNjY3NDNlZTkxMWVmYTcwMTc2Y2QwMzE3NzZmNg==" width="536" alt="KeyValue.jpg" height="296" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></h2> <h2><img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0zOTVjMzVjMDNlZWExMWVmODVlM2M2NjM0MTFmODBkZg==" width="428" alt="VercelProjectConfig.jpg" height="442" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></h2> <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz01MGVmZDJlODNlZWQxMWVmOTZjNDhhZjI4NjE0ZWI0Nw==" width="418" alt="VercelDeployComplete.jpg" height="228" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> We are almost done! Just one last change in our SaaS CMS and everything will be hooked up and ready to use! <h3>Netlify</h3> Netlify needs to have all the configurations completed first, before it will work. Please skip to the next section and complete the SaaS CMS setup before coming back to this section for Netlify. Before you start creating a "Site" on Netlify, you'll need to make a few small updates in the code you've downloaded. Luckily, we can do all of the code changes within the GitHub interface, so let's go back to your repo on Github (for example, <a href="https://github.dev/MyAccount/optimizely-saas-cms">https://github.dev/MyAccount/optimizely-saas-cms</a>), within the "Explorer" view, find the ".yarnrc.yml" file add the line "nodeLinker: node-modules". Next, we'll need to add the environment variables that we mentioned in the Vercel step into the ".env" file, as well as update the "SITE_DOMAIN" value to be what we're expecting the custom URL to be. <ul> <li>.yarnrc.yml <ul> <li> <div> <div>nodeLinker: node-modules</div> </div> <div class="ice-del flite-container-only"> <div class="ice-del flite-container-only"> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </li> <li>.env <ul> <li> <div> <div>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_GATEWAY=<a href="https://cg.optimizely.com/">https://cg.optimizely.com/</a></div> <div>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_APP_KEY=YOUR_APP_KEY_FROM_CMS_DASHBOARD</div> <div>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_SECRET= YOUR_SECRET_FROM_CMS_DASHBOARD </div> <div>OPTIMIZELY_GRAPH_SINGLE_KEY= YOUR_SINGLE_KEY_FROM_CMS_DASHBOARD </div> <div>OPTIMIZELY_CMS_URL=<a href="https://app-INSTANCE-ID.cms.optimizely.com/">https://app-INSTANCE-ID.cms.optimizely.com/</a></div> <div># Make sure that the site domain is always set</div> <div>SITE_DOMAIN=optimizely-saas-cms.netlify.app</div> </div> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1kN2E0MTQyYzNlZmExMWVmYTFiYmJhOGJmMmU0MzM3Mg==" width="502" alt="NetlifyCodeChanges.gif" height="237" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> After you have made the code changes, don't forget to commit them. Go to "Source Control", enter a "Message", and click on "Commit & Push". In Netlify, create a new site by importing from the git repo we just made changes to. Select "Import from Git", and then "GitHub" (sign in to your account if needed), enter a name for your site (this will be your custom URL), enter the environment variables, and then click on "Deploy [custom URL]". The deployment should take about 2 minutes as well. Once it's completed, you'll be able to see your site in the SaaS CMS editor and on the custom URL (given you've completed the SaaS CMS Final Configuration step). <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz03Y2U0ZWFmNDNlZmQxMWVmOWY3ZWM2NjM0MTFmODBkZg==" width="518" alt="NetlifySetup.gif" height="359" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />     <h2>SaaS CMS Final Configuration</h2> The final stretch of getting a fully working demo site is just a few more small changes. In the SaaS CMS, go to "Settings", and click on "Applications". In here, we want to create a new site, so click on "Create Website Application". <ol> <li>Fill out the name for the site (Application Name), "moseybank" for example</li> <li>Choose a "Start Page", "From Existing" > "Mosey Bank", and click "Create Website"</li> <li>Once created, click on the name of the new application you just created, "Mosey Bank" for example</li> <li>Select "Hostnames", click on "Add Hostname..."</li> <li>Copy and paste the URL that is provided for the project we have created on the head hosting platform in the URL field (removing the https:// and ending slashes), for example: <ul> <li>Vercel: <a href="/link/5e37b120db614d1b8287a3b664f1a9ac.aspx?epsremainingpath=EditBlog/optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app">optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app</a></li> <li>Netlify: <a href="/link/5e37b120db614d1b8287a3b664f1a9ac.aspx?epsremainingpath=EditBlog/optimizely-saas-cms.netlify.app">optimizely-saas-cms.netlify.app</a></li> </ul> </li> </ol> <img src="https://images3.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz0wNzA0NDYwNjQwNWUxMWVmYTk5OThhOGJhNzRmODE3ZQ==" alt="Applications.gif" width="600" alt="Applications.gif" height="456" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> And the very last step is to go to "Scheduled Jobs" and run the "Optimizely Graph Full Synchronization" again. Once that is completed, you should be able to see your site within the SaaS CMS editor, and on the custom URL you've created on the head hosting platform such as <a href="https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/">https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/</a>. If you are having issues seeing your site with the custom URL, you can try adding in the language culture at the end. For example, instead of  <a href="https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/">https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/</a>, you can put the "en" at the end so it looks like <a href="https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/en">https://optimizely-saas-cms.vercel.app/en</a>. <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jN2RmMDU1YTNlZjYxMWVmOGRjYWRlNGJhNzViMDU4ZA==" width="720" alt="Finished.jpg" height="229.79999999999998" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />   <h2>Congratulations!</h2> You have now successfully setup your first demo site using Optimizely SaaS CMS! I hope this guide has been helpful and looking forward to see what you'll do next it! Stay tuned for more content. Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to browse through our additional resources related to our SaaS CMS.   <h2>Resources</h2> <h3>SaaS CMS</h3> <ul> <li>Next Generation Optimizely CMS webinar (Jul 25) - <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/saas-cms-launch-webinar/">https://www.optimizely.com/insights/saas-cms-launch-webinar/</a> <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/integrated-marketing-guide/"></a></li> <li>How to Build a Bada$$ website: <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/how-to-build-a-website/">https://www.optimizely.com/how-to-build-a-website/</a></li> <li>Marketing landing page: <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/content-management/">https://www.optimizely.com/products/content-management/</a></li> <li>Technical landing page: <a href="/link/6d3bb925352f40a183d98c7fe6aae451.aspx">https://world.optimizely.com/products/cms/saas/</a></li> <li>Developer Doc:<a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/overview-of-cms-saas">https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/v1.0.0-CMS-SaaS/docs/overview-of-cms-saas</a></li> <li>User Doc: <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/categories/27676671778061-Content-Management-System-SaaS">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/categories/27676671778061-Content-Management-System-SaaS</a> <ul> <li>User interface: <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/19965302094989-User-interface">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/19965302094989-User-interface</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Github: <ul> <li>Mosey Bank for SaaS CMS and Visual Builder (beta): <a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta/">https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-vercel-beta/</a></li> <li>Hello World for SaaS CMS and Visual Builder: <a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-hello-world">https://github.com/episerver/cms-visual-builder-hello-world</a></li> <li>Netlify and Visual Builder: <a href="https://github.com/episerver/cms-saas-netlify-demo">https://github.com/episerver/cms-saas-netlify-demo</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li>Masterclass:  <ul> <li>SaaS CMS (recording): <a href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/2073798-masterclass-saas-cms?sid=3666e04e-beb8-4856-b2e0-ae50550d735d&sid_i=1">https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/2073798-masterclass-saas-cms?sid=3666e04e-beb8-4856-b2e0-ae50550d735d&sid_i=1</a></li> <li>Next.js and Vercel (Jul 11): <a href="https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/2057932-masterclass-next-js-with-optimizely-saas-cms?sid=3666e04e-beb8-4856-b2e0-ae50550d735d&sid_i=0">https://academy.optimizely.com/student/activity/2057932-masterclass-next-js-with-optimizely-saas-cms?sid=3666e04e-beb8-4856-b2e0-ae50550d735d&sid_i=0</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Happy hour: <a href="/link/6246aaa0798a4d719dd57925e02ffdf0.aspx">https://world.optimizely.com/happy-hour</a></li> <li>Community blogs: <a href="/link/cbaa80f6c2d6481c89c48fbbbfdfc280.aspx?searchQuery=saas&currentPage=1&sortByDate=True&sectionFilter=Blogs&authorFilter=&forumFilter=">https://world.optimizely.com/Search/?searchQuery=saas&currentPage=1&sortByDate=True&sectionFilter=Blogs&authorFilter=&forumFilter=</a></li> </ul> <h3>Opti ID</h3> <ul> <li>Developer Doc: <a href="https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/platform-optimizely/v1.2.0-opti-id/reference/authentication">https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/platform-optimizely/v1.2.0-opti-id/reference/authentication</a></li> <li>User Doc: <a href="https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/categories/25425385971469">https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/categories/25425385971469</a></li> </ul>  2024-07-11T00:35:06.0000000Z

Blog post

Welcome 2024 Winter OMVPs <img src="/link/98b09a61abb644b38a8468ce47b48959.aspx" width="150" alt="" height="151" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px;" /> Hello, Optimizely community! We are thrilled to announce and welcome the newest members to the Optimizely Most Valuable Professionals (OMVP) program! Each of these individuals brings a wealth of experience, expertise, and passion for Optimizely's suite of products, and we're excited to have them join our community of top-notch professionals.  The OMVP initiative has always been about bringing together exceptional individuals in the industry who leads and mentors the community. They are not only skilled but also share our commitment and enthusiasm towards creating the best personalized experiences. This year, our selection committee has meticulously chosen professionals whose profiles stood out amongst many excellent applicants from across the globe. Let's take a moment to get to know them: <h2> The New Optimizely MVPs</h2> <img src="/link/f96137af965541e48f3ab7b104318fe7.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Anil Patel from Knight Frank "I am currently working as a Senior Software Developer for a world-leading independent real estate consultancy. I have 9 years of experience as a software engineer since starting out in 2015, with the majority of this time spent working within Optimizely."   <img src="/link/2c10cd94c5fb459db6db8a47ddc6c6c6.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Eric Deschambault from Thinkmax Eric brings a blend of expertise in computer engineering and management, currently leading the eCommerce business analyst and digital strategist team at Thinkmax. He’s been working in software development and eCommerce for the past 15 years, combining technical expertise with strategic vision. He’s passionate about people, technology, eCommerce, digital strategies as well as guiding individuals and teams toward realizing their full potential. In his free time, you might spot him on a ski slope, sweating at a CrossFit box or running a marathon.   <img src="/link/8ef8844e7c074bb4bfef1b03cf5f8531.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Frank Hohmeyer from Kuehlhaus Frank Hohmeyer, a digital pioneer, boasts over 30 years of experience as a founder, entrepreneur, lecturer, speaker, coach, and expert in the digital business. His expertise primarily lies in developing success-based B2B solutions for all enterprises. Frank is an advocate of “Deep Partnering”, where he strategically creates synergies and brings together what belongs together.   <img src="/link/6ca39df0d7554fac861a9e094553d5ac.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Gavin Masters from Columbus Global "I have been working in the Optimizely DXP and Commerce space for over 10 years, and with Experimentation since it joined the portfolio in 2020. I worked on one of the first Commerce implementations in the UK with Hallmark Cards and now I specialise in solutions for complex businesses such as M&D, B2B and “non-standard” retail."   <img src="/link/5878c663a31c4408abc5925efc98ac6e.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Jeremy Brown from UNRVLD "I’m a passionate Technical Team Lead based in Belfast. Working with Episerver/Optimizely over the last 6 years has been an exciting journey. Today, I feel extremely privileged to be part of the OMVP program. I look forward to developing my experience and growing as an Optimizely specialist."   <img src="/link/cf4333b084b04569b462ad1251a2ead9.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Joe Watson from DEPT® Joe is Principal Digital Consultant at DEPT®. He helps brands shape and deliver their digital roadmaps, and is a passionate advocate for technology that helps brands find or maintain their competitive edge. Joe works with clients like Nikon across all parts of Optimizely One pioneering their digital future.   <img src="/link/d79f1290b3224739a9c2a95cad0b9bd4.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Lindsey Rogers from Valtech Lindsey Rogers is a Senior Marketing Analyst on the Data & Analytics North America team at Valtech, a global digital agency recently named the 2023 Optimizely Experimentation Partner of the Year. Lindsey's specialization in digital marketing, data analytics, marketing technology, and CRO is complemented by her proficiency in several Optimizely products, including Optimizely Data Platform (ODP), Optimizely Web Experimentation, Optimizely Content Cloud, and Content Recommendations.   <img src="/link/1eb8c30baa944365b8b6d9633791876c.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Mark Hall from Perficient "Professionally for the last 20 years I have been developing applications for the web with last 17 being either Optimizely commerce or CMS projects. I enjoy creating digital experiences for clients and seeing how those experiences can affect their bottom line. Personally, I am a husband and father of two amazing kids and wife, where we reside in sunny southern California and enjoy being outside and making good use of the weather."   <img src="/link/593578e8d2c042a684c5618d63b4f22f.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Matthew Dunn from Ultimedia Matthew Dunn is one of the UK's most experienced Optimizely Developers with almost 15 years experience working with the platform. He is a Certified Optimizely CMS Developer, Optimizely Experimentation Strategist, and Microsoft Azure Administrator and Solutions Architect Expert. As CTO of Ultimedia, since 2009 he has been creating and managing Optimizely CMS, Web Experimentation and Customised Commerce solutions. He has delivered over 100 builds for large enterprises and multinational companies, spanning a range of sectors from Finance and Professional Services to Charities and the Public Sector.   <img src="/link/08d3b2e4cc20412da90afdec1e12243c.aspx" width="192" alt="" height="192" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; max-height: 100%; height: auto;" /> Szymon Uryga from Hatimeria "A passionate programmer, dedicated to continuously enhancing my skills and keeping pace with industry trends. Specializing in website performance and optimization, I excel in improving performance on Lighthouse and elevating user experience. With experience in Optimizely-based projects since 2021, I'm evolving as a Full Stack developer, particularly adept at integrating Optimizely with diverse frontend technologies. Presently, I'm energized about Headless and Next.js, striving to deliver top-notch solutions that not only meet clients' needs but also surpass their expectations."   This is only a small representation of all the expertise in the community from across the different continents who bring a wealth of knowledge from various disciplines. We are excited to learn from them and look forward to their contributions in making Optimizely even better. Remember, as an OMVP, you're not just a part of Optimizely, but also influencers in your own right within the broader industry. Let's continue this journey together with enthusiasm - here's to novelty, innovation and success! To see the rest of our incredible OMVPs please visit our <a href="/link/15869fb47755485ca1cf4e798ad7b887.aspx">OMVP page.</a> If you know someone who you think should be an OMVP, <a href="/link/f9d3b8a331384c6da2f4f86861113acc.aspx">nominate them or send them the link to apply</a>.2024-02-26T14:59:22.0000000Z

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A quick guide to OMVP statusHey there, Optimizely enthusiasts! As someone passionate about everything Optimizely, you're likely familiar with the title of OMVP (Optimizely Most Valuable Professionals). This prestigious accolade is awarded to those who demonstrate exceptional expertise, commitment, and contribution. Today, let me share some inside tips on how you could join this elite group. Essentially, an OMVP is a superstar in the Optimizely community. They are individuals who go out of their way to contribute meaningfully to this community beyond their regular job roles. Sounds like you? Well, then keep reading! What makes an OMVP stand out? The crucial factor here is that contributions are external/public facing, or it is something that impacts the product directly which benefits the community. This means sharing your knowledge, expertise, and insights widely - not just within your organization or circle but on a broader scale. You can blog about all things related to Optimizely (tech, features, releases, bugs, events, analysts report, and more), post helpful videos, speak or help create content for events or webinars, or actively provide support on various forums (bug reports, beta tester, CAB - Customer Advisory Board, plan/host events, etc). Here’s a little cheat code for ya: quality over quantity! While fielding questions on forums or publishing content regularly sounds impressive, what truly counts is the value your contributions add to the community. Are your blogs resolving common issues faced by users? Is your content helping others understand and use Optimizely's platform better? Don’t forget to display your innovative side too! Implementing creative solutions (plug-ins/addons) using Optimizely tools and sharing these real-world applications can also make you stand out. Get social! Speak/present to other enthusiasts in events or meetups (virtual ones count too!). Expanding your network will not only boost your learning but also give you that much-needed visibility within the community. When applying for the OMVP status, consider submitting your application near the deadline (January 31st and July 31st). This approach will allow you more time to wrap up your contributions and ensure they are included in your application. Finally, remember it's not a race but a journey towards becoming an OMVP. It requires consistent effort over time - so don’t be disheartened if it takes longer than anticipated. Keep contributing, keep learning and keep growing! Becoming an OMVP is not just about mastering the technology; it's about sharing your passion and knowledge with others. So go ahead, start today and make your mark in the Optimizely community! And who knows, you might soon be wearing the crown of an OMVP! Looking forward to seeing more of you in the community! Resources <ul> <li>Become a member: <a href="/web/20240304071225/https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/become-a-member/">https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/become-a-member/</a></li> <li>Application and Nomination: <a href="/web/20240304071225/https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/application-and-nomination/">https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/application-and-nomination/</a></li> <li>Current members: <a href="/web/20240304071225/https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/members/">https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/members/</a></li> <li>Local Meetups: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240304071225/https://www.optimizely.com/local-dev-meetups/">https://www.optimizely.com/local-dev-meetups/</a></li> <li>Virtual Happy Hour: <a href="/web/20240304071225/https://world.optimizely.com/community/optimizely-dev-happy-hours/happy-hour-us/">https://world.optimizely.com/community/optimizely-dev-happy-hours/happy-hour-us/</a></li> <li>Beta programs: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240304071225/https://www.optimizely.com/beta/">https://www.optimizely.com/beta/</a></li> <li>Nuget Feed: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240304071225/https://api.nuget.optimizely.com/">https://api.nuget.optimizely.com/</a></li> <li>App Directory: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240304071225/https://www.optimizely.com/apps/">https://www.optimizely.com/apps/</a></li> <li>Slack community: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240304071225/https://join.slack.com/t/optimizely-community/shared_invite/zt-u3381bmd-XBhmbJPFoydyp7iF7raOkg">https://join.slack.com/t/optimizely-community/shared_invite/zt-u3381bmd-XBhmbJPFoydyp7iF7raOkg</a></li> <li>Video Portal: <a href="/web/20240304071225/https://world.optimizely.com/resources/videos/">https://world.optimizely.com/resources/videos/</a></li> </ul>2024-01-19T14:59:00.0000000Z

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Reflecting on 2023Hey there, Optimizely Community! As we bid goodbye to this year and stand on the brink of new beginnings, it's time to extend a hearty Season's Greetings to our vibrant community. We've grown together, learned together, and made significant strides in our shared journey which deserves nothing less than a grand celebration. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1mNDE4N2JjNmEwMWIxMWVlODQ0NTVhYzhlNDJiMTQ2Nw==" width="440" alt="Holiday Cards 2023-03.png" height="314" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Throughout the year, the unity and collective wisdom of our community has been unmistakably apparent as we have supported one another and flourished as a whole. Specifically, we have been blessed with the phenomenal contributions of our Optimizely Most Valuable Professionals (OMVPs), whose relentless efforts have added so much value to the Optimizely community. Each one of them has been an integral cog in our well-oiled machine, displaying exceptional passion for their craft and commitment to this community. <img src="https://images4.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jZjZmMmVhYWEwMWIxMWVlYjM4MjQ2NGM4MDcxZDgxMw==" width="268" alt="OMVP_Logo.png" height="268" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Our group consists of <a href="https://world.optimizely.com/community/omvp/members/">87 distinguished OMVPs</a>, who collectively have generated a wealth of knowledge and updates through their work. In 2023, they've produced more than 240 well-thought-out blog posts filled with insightful lessons and up-to-date information. Additionally, they have generated an impressive total of more than 460 posts exclusively about Optimizely on the professional networking site - LinkedIn. Their insightful blog posts, informative webinars, and productive forum discussions have all served as stepping stones towards creating a more inclusive and insightful Optimizely environment. So here’s a big shout out to all OMVPs; your work is not just appreciated but celebrated! One major highlight that drew us closer as a community were the <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/local-dev-meetups/">Developer Meetups</a>. With at least 12 from around the world that we're aware of, they have significantly contributed by planning and delivering presentations to our local communities. Nothing compares to the energy at these gatherings where we brainstorm ideas, share knowledge and experiences while also forming lasting bonds with like-minded folks from around the globe. Looking back at the year gone by fills us with immense gratitude for each one of you who has contributed in their own special way to make Optimizely community stronger and brighter. As we usher in another exciting year of opportunities and growth, let's carry forward this spirit of collaboration into 2024 and beyond! Here’s wishing everyone Season’s Greetings filled with joy, warmth and unlimited possibilities! Stay Optimized! <img src="https://images2.cmp.optimizely.com/Zz1jMTU1OWFhY2EwMWIxMWVlYmViNmY2MWViYThiMzkzOQ==" width="478" alt="Holiday Cards 2023-07.png" height="341" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /> Until next time, Optimizely Team2023-12-21T16:25:49.0000000Z

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