Designer-Friendly EE
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The document outlines a presentation by Emily Lewis on creating designer-friendly environments using ExpressionEngine. It discusses her expertise, project management tools, best practices for installation and security, and various add-ons to enhance user experience. The presentation emphasizes the importance of planning, documentation, and knowing the project requirements to achieve effective design outcomes.
Designer-Friendly EE
- 1. Designer-Friendly Engine Summit May 29, 2012 Environments for Humans Some rights reserved
- 2. Web Designer Writer Instructor emilylewisdesign.com Co-host, EE Podcast ee-podcast.com Author, Microformats Made Simple microformatsmadesimple.com Contributing author, HTML5 Cookbook oreilly.com/catalog/0636920016038 Email: emily@emilylewisdesign.com Blog: ablognotlimited.com Twitter: @emilylewis Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 2
- 3. ☺ Designer Friendly ☺ ☺ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 3
- 4. What I’m Good At • User-friendly interfaces • Standards-based front-end • Organization and planning Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 4
- 5. What I’m Good At What I’m Not • User-friendly interfaces • Programming • Standards-based front-end • Databases • Organization and planning • Servers and hosting Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 5
- 6. What I’m Good At What I’m Not • User-friendly interfaces ✓ • Programming n/a • Standards-based front-end ✓ • Databases n/a • Organization and planning ✓ • Servers and hosting n/a Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 6
- 7. ☺ Designer + EE = ☺ Advantages (?) Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 7
- 8. • ExpressionEngine • Add-Ons • User Experience Designer-Friendly EE Summit 8 Enginehttp://flic.kr/p/4iFgSi
- 9. ☺ Projects ☺ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 9
- 10. Plan of Attack ☺ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 10
- 11. Documentation • Process - installation, configuration, go-live • EE dev - channels, custom fields, categories ... everything • Server environment, version control My Tools of Choice • Basecamp - basecamp.com • Dev Docs - devot-ee.com/add-ons/dev-docs Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 11
- 12. Project Management Basecamp To-do List Templates & Projects • Installation • Configuration • Go live • Everything in between Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 12
- 13. Project-specific Development Dev Docs eeinsider.com/articles/the-dreaded-documentation/ • Naming conventions • Snippets • Server environment • Global Variables • Channels • Add-ons • Custom fields • File manager upload preferences • Categories • Control panel customizations • Templates Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 13
- 14. Project-specific Development Dev Docs Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 14
- 15. Project-specific Development Dev Docs Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 15
- 16. ☺ Projects ☺ ExpressionEngine Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 16 http://flic.kr/p/88pYrq
- 17. Installing/Upgrading • Remove files you don’t need ee-podcast.com/episodes/time-saving-tips-techniques • Upload compressed file ee-spotlight.com/tutorials/a-better-way-to-ftp-your- expressionengine-site-use-zip-files • Expansion script ngenworks.com/blog/ee-upgrade-script/ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 17
- 18. Post-Installation Best Practices Security expressionengine.com/user_guide/installation/best_practices.html • Rename system directory • Move system directory above the web root • Rename admin.php Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 18
- 19. Recommended Settings Security mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 19
- 20. Recommended Settings Security mijingo.com/products/ebooklets/securing-expressionengine-2/ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 20
- 21. Templates & Groups • Chunking train-ee.com/.../02-chunking-up-the- main-template-into-a-collection-of- embedded-templates • Limit embeds, try out Snippets and Global Variables* loweblog.com/downloads/ee-parse- order.pdf Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 21
- 22. Templates & Groups • Smart conditionals devot-ee.com/add-ons/ifelse derekallard.com/blog/post/simple-vs-complex-conditionals-in- expressionengine-templates • Organization and naming conventions Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 22
- 23. Add-Ons Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 23 http://flic.kr/p/chdd4
- 24. Text Editors • v2.5 Rich Text Editor* vimeo.com/37280018 • Wygwam devot-ee.com/add-ons/wygwam Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 24
- 25. Matrix devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 25
- 26. Matrix devot-ee.com/add-ons/matrix Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 26
- 27. Playa devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 27
- 28. Playa devot-ee.com/add-ons/playa Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 28
- 29. Matrix & Playa & Wygwam Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 29
- 30. Low Variables devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 30
- 31. Low Variables devot-ee.com/add-ons/low-variables Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 31
- 32. Low Variables Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 32
- 33. Single Entry devot-ee.com/add-ons/single-entry Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 33
- 34. Navigation • NavEE devot-ee.com/add-ons/navee • Structure buildwithstructure.com Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 34
- 35. Devot:ee Monitor devot-ee.com/add-ons/devotee-monitor Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 35
- 36. User Experience Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit36 http://flic.kr/p/4NWv4G
- 37. Better Publish Forms Custom Fields Good Field Labels & Instructions • HTML allowed • Instructions on steriods ee-garage.com/nsm-publish-hints Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 37
- 38. Better Publish Forms Custom Fields The Right Fieldtype for Your Client • VZ Address devot-ee.com/add-ons/vz-address Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 38
- 39. Better Publish Forms Publish Layouts eeinsider.com/blog/help-troubleshoot-publish-layouts/ Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 39
- 40. Better Publish Forms Title & Title URL Labels devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 40
- 41. Better Publish Forms Title & Title URL Labels devot-ee.com/add-ons/mx-title-control Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 41
- 42. Better Control Panel Main Menu Buttons Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 42
- 43. Better Control Panel Access Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 43
- 44. What I Will Always Do What I Might Do • Modified install/upgrade • Low Variables • Security changes • Playa • Good templating practices • Single Entry • Add-ons • NavEE/Structure • Dev Docs • Matrix • MX Title Control* • VZ Address • Wygwam* • Devot:ee Monitor* Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 44
- 45. ? How Far Do You Go Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 45
- 46. Know Your Project! • Budget • Timeline • Functionality requirements • Content authors - number, skill • Publishing workflows • Your own skill level Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 46
- 47. • Document, document, document • Plan, plan, plan • Get out of your comfort zone • Try add-ons • Focus on user experience Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 47 http://flic.kr/p/5WrMdi
- 48. More Info ☺ • NSM config bootstrap ee-garage.com/nsm-config-bootstrap • ExpressionEngine Site Strategy with Dev Docs expressionengine.com/blog/entry/ expressionengine_site_strategy_with_dev_docs • EE, Faster speakerdeck.com/u/jacobrussell/p/ee-faster • Parse Order and Low Variables gotolow.com/blog/parse-order-and-low-variables Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 48
- 49. More Info ☺ • Relationships with Playa mijingo.com/products/screencasts/playa-relationships-expressionengine/ • Switchee devot-ee.com/add-ons/switchee • NSM override.css ee-garage.com/override-css • Nerdery Theme github.com/litzinger/Nerdery-Theme Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 49
- 50. Questions? emily@emilylewisdesign.com @emilylewis Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 50
- 51. ☺ thanks Designer-Friendly EE Engine Summit 51