RE: Questions about templates and content elements

Hi Bob-

These are great questions, and should spur some good debate.

> 
> First the terminology. The reusable content blocks seem to 
> have lots of 
> names - portlets, slots, boxes, microcontent, etc. 

A short list of terms I've seen used in combat would also include:
Elements (my favorite)
Snippets
Objects
Placeholders
Pagelets
Styles
Chunks
Bricks
Parts / Fragments
Nodes / Fields
Components

<aside>
There are a variety of terms for content "type" as well:
Types
Classes
Objects
Documents
Pages
Templates
Chunks
Archetypes
Models

A structural content type is different from a display template, although
they are very often conflated and indeed in some lower-end systems they
essentially become same thing.
</aside>

> 
> Where are templates usually stored?  

This varies substantially from system to system and it can be hard to
generalize because many CMS packages give you choices about this.  In
purely "decoupled" systems (where a separate application from the CMS
handles content delivery), delivery templates usually reside outside the
CMS.  In fact, they may be part and parcel of a separate portal or web
application.  In "coupled" management and delivery systems, you tend to
find templates stored and managed within the CMS, although not
necessarily within a database.  

The key thing is to understand very clearly what your options are when
buying a system, and think through very carefully how those options will
impact, among other things:

 1) Your application and design development cycles -- how are logic and
layouts created, modified, versioned, QA'd, promoted, etc., etc..  (Some
designers and developers hate it when templates are tightly bound within
the CMS because they want to use their own IDEs, repositories, SCM
tools, etc.  Others consider it crazy to keep templates separate because
it presents synchronization, QA, and varied other challenges for them.) 

...and...

 2) Your editorial cycle -- how, when, and where can content
contributors see a fully virtualized preview using the latest approved
layouts and logic.

Cheers,

--------------------------------------------
Tony Byrne
Founder, CMS Watch   
Silver Spring, MD  USA
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