DEV Community

Dinesh T
Dinesh T

Posted on

Mastering Optimizely CMS 12: A Developer's Guide to Building Scalable Websites

Introduction
Optimizely CMS 12 (formerly Episerver) is a powerful content management system designed for building dynamic and scalable websites. As a developer, it offers a range of features that allow for flexibility, easy integrations, and robust content management. In this guide, we will dive deep into the core components of Optimizely CMS 12, providing insights into how developers can leverage the platform to build high-performance websites with ease.

What is Optimizely CMS 12?
Optimizely CMS 12 is a cloud-based content management system that helps businesses deliver personalized, digital experiences. It’s known for its robust architecture, flexible integration capabilities, and strong emphasis on content management, making it an ideal choice for both developers and marketers.

Optimizely CMS is built on the Microsoft .NET framework, offering developers an easy-to-use interface with rich features like content versioning, publishing workflows, and flexible APIs for content delivery.

Key Features of Optimizely CMS 12
Here’s a breakdown of some of the most significant features that make Optimizely CMS 12 an excellent choice for modern website development:

1. Content Management and Personalization
Optimizely CMS 12 provides an intuitive interface for content creators and marketers. The content management process is streamlined, and it integrates well with other tools for personalization. You can deliver personalized content based on user behavior, geolocation, and more.

2. Contentful Integration
While Optimizely CMS is powerful on its own, integrating it with Contentful provides a flexible content API to handle and manage content across different platforms. This integration allows for seamless content delivery and multi-platform management, enabling content creators to manage their content in a centralized location while using Optimizely CMS as the primary publishing tool.

3. Headless CMS Architecture
Optimizely CMS 12 supports headless CMS architecture, meaning that content is decoupled from the presentation layer. This allows for faster content delivery, as the content can be consumed by different front-end technologies (like React, Angular, etc.) via APIs. This architecture is great for building omnichannel experiences and progressive web apps (PWAs).

4. Customizable and Extensible
Optimizely CMS 12 allows developers to build custom content types, blocks, and pages. You can also extend the functionality by using APIs or developing custom plugins. This extensibility is crucial for creating scalable websites that require complex features.

How to Get Started with Optimizely CMS 12
Step 1: Setting Up the Development Environment
Before you can start developing on Optimizely CMS 12, you need to set up your development environment. Follow these steps:

Install Visual Studio Optimizely CMS 12 is built on the .NET framework, so having Visual Studio installed is essential. Download and install the latest version of Visual Studio if you haven’t already.

Download Optimizely CMS 12 Package Optimizely CMS 12 provides NuGet packages to install the CMS core libraries. You can set up your project by downloading the CMS package from the Optimizely NuGet repository.

Create a New Project In Visual Studio, create a new ASP.NET MVC project. Optimizely CMS 12 works seamlessly with the MVC architecture, making it easy for developers familiar with ASP.NET to get started.

Step 2: Setting Up a Content Type
Optimizely CMS 12 allows you to create custom content types (such as pages, blocks, and news articles). Here’s how you can create a custom content type for a Blog Post:
Step 2: Setting Up a Content Type
Optimizely CMS 12 allows you to create custom content types (such as pages, blocks, and news articles). Here’s how you can create a custom content type for a Blog Post:


[ContentType(DisplayName = "Blog Post", GUID = "abcdef12-34ab-56cd-78ef-90abcdef1234")]
public class BlogPost : PageData
{
    [Display(
        Name = "Title",
        Description = "Enter the title of the blog post",
        GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
        Order = 1)]
    public virtual string Title { get; set; }

    [Display(
        Name = "Content",
        Description = "Enter the content of the blog post",
        GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
        Order = 2)]
    [UIHint(UIHint.Textarea)]
    public virtual string Content { get; set; }
}`
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This simple BlogPost content type contains two properties: Title and Content. Optimizely CMS uses data annotations for customizing how the content type appears in the content editor.
Step 3: Rendering Content on the Front End
Once you have set up the content type, you can render the content on the front end by creating a view.


@model YourProject.Models.BlogPost
@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}`

<h1>@Model.Title</h1>
<div>@Model.Content</div>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In this example, we're rendering the Title and Content properties from our BlogPost content type. This is done using Razor views in ASP.NET MVC.

Step 4: Handling Content Delivery
Optimizely CMS provides an API to handle content delivery. Here’s an example of how to fetch content programmatically:

var contentRepository = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<IContentRepository>();
var blogPost = contentRepository.Get<BlogPost>(new ContentReference(1234)); // Assuming 1234 is the content reference ID

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This code snippet fetches the Blog Post from the CMS repository using the ContentReference.
**
Best Practices for Optimizely CMS 12 Development**

  1. Leverage Contentful API for Multi-Channel Delivery
    Integrating Contentful with Optimizely CMS 12 enables you to manage content across platforms and deliver content via APIs to different channels like mobile apps, websites, and third-party systems.

  2. Use Version Control and Branching for Collaboration
    For larger teams, it’s essential to use version control (e.g., Git). Always create feature branches for new content types, templates, or features to keep things organized.

  3. Optimize Performance
    Optimizely CMS 12 is scalable, but for large websites, it's essential to use caching effectively. Use the OutputCache and DistributedCache to improve page load times.

Conclusion
Optimizely CMS 12 is a robust and flexible platform for building scalable and personalized websites. By following this guide, you should now have a good understanding of how to get started with Optimizely CMS 12, including how to set up your development environment, create custom content types, and render content efficiently. Whether you're building a simple blog or a complex e-commerce site, Optimizely CMS 12 provides the tools you need to succeed in modern web development.

Top comments (0)