State of the inline debate A.K.A: “WYSIWTFFTWOMGROFL”

Rasmus Skjoldan @ Jboye CMS Experts Europe, Oracle – october 2013

I’m a UX’er.

Not technical and very bad at numbers

(80% out of 5500 and you’ve lost me – and who is this JSON guy really?)

How on earth did we start debating inline?

Mobile changed desktop web from 1 – to many

The WYSIWYG editing dream turned into a nightmare when embracing COPE

COPE this dude!

WYSIWYG inline editing makes users forget metadata (oh no!)

“The era where we privilege the desktop web interface above all others is over”

WYSIWTF

http://alistapart.com/column/wysiwtf

Jeff Eaton

http://www.lullabot.com/blog/article/inline-editing-and-cost-leaky-abstractions

So I asked @eaton on his take on the State of the inline debate and gave him write-access to these slides. Here’s what he wrote:

“Visual layout tools will always be with us, but the explosion of channels and devices means that many organizations will have to find a different way.

Short-lived marketing content and page-focused tools are an easy fit. But for businesses that treat their content as a long-term asset, tools that prioritize the underlying meaning are critical.”

Jeff Eaton

Ugly arrow points to important part

http://buytaert.net/wysiwyg-and-in-place-editing-for-structured-content

Leisa Reichelt told me:

“Commit to multi-channel”

PS: “You will fail. Miserably.”

Where to draw the lines?

Long-lived content /

Known channels /

Purified content /

Content stays /

Short-lived content

Unknown channels

Social updates

Templates die

WYSIFTW

rasmusskjoldan.com/post/58364140673/wysiftw

Karen says hi...

Mark Boulton said:

www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/wysiwtfftwomg

Is preview even possible?

How do you preview content in an unknown or future channel?

“Creators need an immediate connection to what they create”

http://vimeo.com/36579366

My own principle building TYPO3 Neos:

Creators need to experiment with content in different contexts

* Breaking * Breaking * Breaking *

Preview is not just about devices

Previewing is many different things...● Content in one particular context

● Same content via different templates

● Same content on different websites

● Same content on entirely different channels

● Search appearances

● Social media appearances

● Personalized, differentiated versions

● A/B testing variants

● Different workflow previews

● Languages

● …and yes, devices & responsive widths

Editing and previewing are intimately connected

Previewing is no fun when it’s an after-thought

From edit to preview and back“oh no, I have to go back and fix that typo”

The first Neos workflow from editing to previewing:

The state of the inline debate is…*Drumroll*

It’s not about inline editing!

It’s about tailoring the authoring experience on a whole new level

Examples...

Let user experiment with editing and previewing in different ways

Experiment, fail, fail, fail, succeed...

Here you have inline editing but in an abstract view. No in-page editing but inline in a backend mode.

How will this look on Little Printer?

Integrator decides on editing and previewing together with client:

Variations are endless

Customized backend template for simple content variant:

User can customize preview presets:

To Inline or not to Inline is not the question/ In many cases you’ll have to include possibilities of both WYSIWYG inline and more abstract interfaces

/ Tailor the authoring experience on project-basis

/ Sometimes you need inline, in-page editing – sometimes you don’t

rasmusskjoldan.com