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DocumentationCampaignCampaign Classic v7 Documentation

[Also applies to v8]{class="badge positive" title="Also applies to Campaign v8"}

Use case: create content management use-case-creating-content-management

Last update: Tue Sep 10 2024 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

To create content management in ۶Ƶ Campaign, the following steps are necessary:

Step 1 - Analyze the content to be produced step-1---analyzing-the-content-to-be-produced

Before you start, you need to carry out a precise analysis of the content to be produced: identify the elements to display, study the constraints linked to them, define a type for each element, etc. You also need to differentiate static elements and variable ones.

For instance, to create a newsletter in HTML with the following type of content:

This newsletter contains three types of elements:

  1. Variable elements, whose content is entered or selected by the user via an input form during delivery creation.

  2. Personalization fields which are entered dynamically based on the information saved in the database (the recipient’s first and last name in this case).

  3. Static elements, which are the same for all newsletters.

The various elements of this newsletter are put together based on the rules defined in a JavaScript template which references all the elements to be inserted and conceptualizes their layout.

These elements are created via a dedicated schema which specifies the following elements for each content: name, label, type, size, as well as any other information relevant to its processing in ۶Ƶ Campaign.

Step 2 - Create the data schema step-2---creating-the-data-schema

A data schema is an XML document associated with content. It describes the XML structure of the data in this content.

NOTE
For more on creating and configuring data schemas in ۶Ƶ Campaign, please refer to this section.
Configuration elements specific to content management are detailed in Data schemas.

To create a data schema, apply the following steps:

  1. Open the ۶Ƶ Campaign Explorer and select the Administration > Configuration > Data schemas node.

    Click the New icon located above the list of data schemas.

  2. Select the Create a schema option for content management, then click Next.

  3. Enter the name and label of the schema in the appropriate fields. You can add a description and link a specific image if necessary.

    Click Next to validate.

  4. Enter the content of the schema in the Edit schema window.

    Use the Insert button to create the schema content.

    For more on this, refer to Editing schemas.

    For each element referenced in the content, you need to select a matching type.

    In this example the identified contents, their format and their type are:

Content
Format
Type
Label
Title
Attribute
String
Title
Sub-title
Attribute
String
Name
Event date
Attribute
Date
Date
Introduction paragraph
Element
HTML
Overview
Photo of the author
Attribute
String
URL
Author
Element
Memo
Author
Header logo (stored in ۶Ƶ Campaign public resources)
Attribute
Link
Image

The schema will contain the following information:

<element label="Invitation" name="invitation" template="ncm:content" xmlChildren="true">
    <compute-string expr="@name"/>
    <attribute label="Title" length="40" name="title" type="string"/>
    <element label="Presentation" name="presentation" type="html"/>
    <attribute label="Date" name="date" type="date"/>
    <attribute label="Name" length="10" name="name" type="string"/>
    <attribute label="URL" name="url" type="string"/>
    <element label="Author" name="author" type="memo"/>
    <element label="Image" name="image" target="xtk:fileRes" type="link"/>
  </element>
  1. Click Save to create the data schema.

Step 3 - Create the input form step-3---creating-the-input-form

The input form lets you edit a content instance via an input interface from the ۶Ƶ Campaign client console.

The description of a form is a structured XML document that observes the grammar of the “xtk:form” form schema.

NOTE
For more on creating and configuring forms in ۶Ƶ Campaign, refer to this section.
Configuration elements specific to content management are detailed in Input forms.

To create an input form for content management, apply the following steps:

  1. Open the ۶Ƶ Campaign Explorer and select the Administration > Configuration > Input forms node.

    Click the New icon above the list of forms.

  2. Enter the name of the form and the label linked to the form, then select the Content management type.

    note note
    NOTE
    To enable both elements to match up automatically, we recommend using the same name as for the linked data schema. Use the Insert button above the input zone to add fields from the schema linked to the form.

  3. In the middle section of the editor, specify the fields you want to display in the input form.

    In this example, we will have the following type of information:

    code language-none 
     <input xpath="@title"/>
  <input xpath="@date"/>
  <input xpath="presentation"/>
  <input xpath="@name"/>
  <input xpath="@url"/>
  <input xpath="author"/>
  <input img="nl:sryimage.png" newEntityFormChoice="true" xpath="image">
    <sysFilter>
      <condition expr="@isImage = true"/>
    </sysFilter>
  </input>

    The Preview tab lets you check the rendering of the form while you are editing it:

  4. Click Save to create the input form.

Step 4 - Create the construction template step-4---creating-the-construction-template

The XSLT language lets you transform an XML document into another output document. This transformation is described in XML in a document called a stylesheet.

In this example, we want to use a JavaScript template to define the data construction and layout mode in the generated document.

NOTE
Constraints linked to document building (JavaScript or XSL template) are detailed in Formatting.

To use a JavaScript template in ۶Ƶ Campaign, apply the following steps:

  1. Open the ۶Ƶ Campaign Explorer and select the Administration > Configuration > JavaScript Templates node.

    Click the New icon above the list of templates.

  2. Enter a template name and select the schema which you have created for content management.

  3. Import the set content which you want to display in the message.

    Add the variable elements while respecting the syntax detailed in JavaScript templates.

    To display the content shown in our example, the JavaScript template must contain the following elements:

    code language-none 
    <html>
<% eval(xtk.javascript.load("xac:perso").data); %>
<head>
  <title>Invitation to an exceptional dedication session</title>
</head>
<body link="#0E59AE" vlink="#0E59AE" alink="#0E59AE" style="background-color:white;">
    <table width="546" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-left: solid 1px gray;border-top: solid 1px gray;border-right: solid 1px gray;">
      <tr>
        <td colspan="3">
          <%= generateImgTag(content.@["image-id"]) %>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
    <table width="546" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-left: solid 1px gray;border-right: solid 1px gray;">
      <tr>
        <td>
          <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
            <tr>
              <td width="10"> </td>
              <td style="padding-top:2em; padding-bottom:2em;" width="730" align="middle">
                <b>
                  <font style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:14px; color:#800080;">
                    <span style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps"><%= content.@title %> - <%= content.@name %></span>
                  </font>
                </b>
              </td>
              <td width="10"> </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
              <td width="10"> </td>
              <td style="padding-top:1em; padding-bottom:1em;" width="730">
                <font style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#666666;">
                  Hello <%= perso('recipient.firstName') %> <%= perso('recipient.lastName') %>,
                  <p>
                    <%= content.presentation %>
                  </p>
                  <center>
                    <b><%= formatDate(content.@date, "%2D %Bl %4Y") %></b> come to our Book Fair and meet our favorite authors and illustrators.<br>
                    <br>
                    <a href="https://www.site.web.com/registration" target="_blank"><b>REGISTER</b></a>
                  </center>
                </font>
              </td>
              <td width="10"> </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
              <td width="10"> </td>
              <td style="padding-top:1em; padding-bottom:1em;" width="730">
                <font style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#666666;">
                 <img style="float:left;margin-right:10px" border="0" src="<%= content.@url %>" width="70" height="70">
                  <b><%= content.author %></b>, will be signing their book between 2
and 5:30PM.
                </font>
              </td>
              <td width="10"> </td>
            </tr>
                <tr>
              <td width="10"> </td>
              <td width="730">
                <font style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#666666;">
              </td>
              <td width="10"> </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
              <td width="10"> </td>
              <td>
                <font style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#666666;">
                  <center>
                    <p>
                      <a href="https://www.site.web.com/program" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps"><b>Program</b></span></a>
                       |
                      <a href="https://www.site.web.com/information" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps"><b>Useful information</b></span></a>
                       |
                    <a href="https://www.site.web.com/registration" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps"><b>Register</b></span></a></p>
                    </center>
                  </font>
                </td>
                <td width="10"> </td>
              </tr>
            </table>
            <br>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
</body>
</html>

    Calling up a function at the start of a template lets you set up a call to personalization data taken from the ۶Ƶ Campaign database (in this case: recipient.firstName and recipient.lastName), so that it can be interpreted when used in a delivery. For more on this, refer to Include a JavaScript template.

    In this example, the function will contain the following code:

    code language-none 
    function perso(strPerso)
{
  var strStart = '<' + '%' + '=';
  var strEnd = '%' + '>';
  return strStart + strPerso + strEnd;
}
  function bloc(strPerso)
{
  var strStart = '<' + '%' + '@ include view="';
  var strEnd = '" %' + '>';
  return strStart + strPerso + strEnd;
}

    In order for the JavaScript template to be valid, this function must be created beforehand from the JavaScript codes node in the tree structure, as below:

Step 5 - Create the publication template step-5---creating-the-publication-template

The next step involves creating a content publication template to link up the schema, the form, and the content construction template. This publication template can have several output formats.

NOTE
For more on content publication templates, refer to Publication templates.

In this example, the steps are as follows:

  1. Create a new publication template via the Administration > Configuration > Publication templates node.

  2. Enter a name and a label, and select the schema and form to be used.

  3. Then enter the name of the template and choose the rendering mode you want to apply. Here, we have a JavaScript type rendering based on the template created above.

    note note
    NOTE
    The DOM interface option is checked by default and this means that this document will not be accessible if you use the E4X syntax. The DOM interface must be used when this option is checked and is the recommended syntax.
    You can still use the E4X syntax. If so, make sure to uncheck this option.

    Use the Add button to create other transformation templates.

  4. Click Save to create the publication template.

Step 6 - Create contents step-6---creating-contents

You may now create content based on this publication template.

NOTE
For more on creating contents, refer to Use a content template.

Create content in the delivery assistant creating-content-in-the-delivery-assistant

To create content directly in the deliveries, apply the following steps:

  1. Start by referencing the publication template via the Advanced tab of the delivery properties.

    An additional tab is added to the delivery assistant in order to define the content via the content management form.

  2. Enter the variable information of your newsletter.

  3. Click the HTML preview tab to view the rendering. You need to select a recipient to test personalization.

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