Category: SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

SDL Web 8.5 in Docker – “Server” Service Error

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

This is a very quick post, but hopefully it will save someone else the many wasted hours I’ve spent on this. My aim was to try and dockerize an entire  SDL Web environment, therefore being able to have a quick POC/Dev/StackExchange question environment that I could spin up and dispose when I wanted. So I started with the hardest part, the Content Manager. I’d planned to install the Content Manager portion of SDL Web with an unattended install.However, after many hours of false dawns I’ve found what seems to be a roadblock, unless anyone else has a work-around? While trying […]

SDL Web MVP Retreat 2017: Day 2

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in MVP Retreat, SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

Day 2 started with a presentation from Niclas called “What we do in the shadows – SDL Tridion Connectors and Strategy”. Niclas is part of the connectors team at SDL, who drive the development of connection layers between all of SDL’s core products. SDL also continues to work with a best of breed mentality, connecting with other tools that can handle subsets of the job better than SDL itself vs. trying to do everything on the platform. One particularly interesting topic was a streamlined way to create one-off campaigns. Niclas is also working on a connection framework, to create a […]

SDL Web MVP Retreat 2017: Day 1

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in MVP Retreat, SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

For the fourth time, I’m honored to be selected as an SDL MVP and have the pleasure of traveling to Portugal. Every year it is a surprise where exactly we’ll end up, with Carla keeping it top secret. All we know is a time and a place to meet at Lisbon airport… Then we board vehicles and drive out of Lisbon, to a mystery location. Carla never disappoints on location, and this year is no exception as you can see below. Driving up to Ourém, Portugal we were very impressed and excited (and slightly scared by the steep roads) for the 4 […]

Installing SDL Web 8.5 (formerly SDL Tridion) with Azure Blob Storage for Binaries

Posted on Chris Morgan2 CommentsPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

Before I can start looking into the new features of SDL Web 8.5 I need to install it. So I thought I’d share the experience as part of this post. For those not so familiar with installing SDL Web or SDL Tridion it is a very simple process. I’ll be using the “Single-machine example installation guide for SDL Web” guide available in the online documentation.   Server Specifications For my test, I’ll be using a DS11_V2 Standard configuration (2 Cores, 14GB RAM) in Microsoft Azure Cloud, running Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 SP1 Standard Edition. This setup could easily be reproduced in […]

What’s new in SDL Web 8.5 (formerly SDL Tridion)

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

SDL Web 8.5 (formerly SDL Tridion) has been released, and here are a few of the headline features you can expect. For full details, consult the documentation portal here. Content Manager Data Storage & Migration – Multimedia assets can now be stored outside of the Content Manager database, on the file-system or cloud blob storage such as Amazon S3 and Azure Blob. This is a big improvement, as with the ever growing popularity of multimedia rich websites that database could become a little unruly. This will drastically reduce the database size in many implementations, and help with performance and general maintenance. […]

Stop Publishing Un-translated Content Accidentally

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion), Translation

In a large SDL Web (SDL Tridion) implementation, with multiple languages and countries, it is inevitable that change control will be a problem that needs to be managed. Scenario You don’t localize pages, to keep global control over them You have a central editorial team, creating content for all markets Your central team creates new content, and adds it to pages Your local markets publish the page before translation has been initiated or completed Result English (or master language) content on a local market website. This is not good! Solutions There are several solutions, and each have different amounts of up-front development, […]

SDL Web 8.1.1 – Optimizations

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

The SDL Web 8.1.1 (or Cumulative Update 1 for SDL Web 8) release had some nifty features, which had escaped my radar. Here’s a quick summary of the ones I’ve found most useful, and a link to the full release notes: Micro-service Quick installers Installing 3, 4, 5 or more micro-services can be a real pain. It is repetitive and prone to mistakes. SDL Web 8.1.1 comes with some helpful scripts to automate that installation. Look inside the \INSTALL MEDIA\Content Delivery\resources\quickinstall folder for a Powershell and Bash version of the quick install scripts Powershell Example: Execute the following for a guide to […]

How Will the DD4T and SDL DXA Merger Affect You?

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

For several years DD4T and SDL DXA have been seen as “competing” approaches when implementing an SDL Web solution, but the truth is they are not! Ron Grisnich shared a great picture which sums up how the two are related. DD4T is the engine, and SDL DXA is the car around that engine. Why do we need to merge them? DD4T and SDL DXA have been (up to now) developed on different release cycles, and by different teams. This means that although DD4T is the engine in the SDL DXA car, it has be tuned (or modified). The aim of the […]

SDL Web MVP Retreat 2016: What’s Next for DD4T & SDL DXA?

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

Last week I had the honor of attending the 2016 SDL Web MVP retreat in Portugal (more specifically Hotel Convento De Sao Paulo, which I highly recommend!,) which was a lot of fun! At the retreat the primary topic was the upcoming merger of DD4T and SDL DXA, with a focus on the key objectives and goals of project. Things like the new framework must be Easy, Open, Modular, Supportable, Robust, Performant, Scalable, Demoable, Documented and Tested. To do this we divided into working groups, each with a focus topic, and then presented back to the larger group our thoughts for conversation. We grouped around […]

What is the best Approach to Enterprise Business Application Architecture?

Posted on Chris MorganLeave a commentPosted in Architecture, SDL Web (SDL Tridion)

I spend a lot of time consulting with some of the largest, and most complex, companies in the world. Interestingly they all seem to approach things in the same way. They work in siloed teams, create tight coupling between applications and divergent experiences for their end users. The result of this is: Interdependent release schedules reducing overall agility Increased QA overhead, validating changes across multiple applications Core back office system updates or changes become almost impossible, due to the knock on effects (e.g. change PIM from supplier A to supplier B has knock effects in both the website and partner portal) […]