Best Approach for Managing CSS and JS

What is the best approach while implementing the content structure?

Should CSS and JS be removed from a project and kept separate from content?

Have developers and designers ever fought over how the files should be accessed?

Should files be stored and managed by IIS or CMS? Have you ever wondered how to make everyone happy?

Thanks to Graeme Heath, the Web Designer/Info Architect with 5+ years experience working with the content structure in CMS, here is the summary of our “best practice approach” in delivering site structure which we think is the best for now.

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Over the last 2 years a lot of talk has focused on getting CSS and JS files out of a Management Server project and putting them into a separate publication target or website. The two main approaches were either linking the CSS and JS resources into to hard linked locations created by clever project variants/publication packages. The other method was to keep all the CSS/JS files in an external site and just link to them. (The first method was demonstrated in the Best Practice project that came with MS v10).

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Installing Web Compliance Manager with Management Server (RedDot)

Web Compliance Manager is a separate module can be purchased to ensure that your web site meets corporate compliance without spelling errors. More marketing information can be found here .

This is a really simple install, and I am sure there are many people out there have implemented this without issues. I am documenting this more for my own benefits, so I don’t have to scratch my head again when doing the installs.

This time I will be installing a Pre Version, as you are probably aware, there are two versions “PRE” and “POST” for WCM. The “PRE” version checks the pages before they are published, while the “POST” version checks against the already published pages/sites. In this example, I will be using the PRE version, and will be installing on the Management (RedDot CMS) Server 10.1 using the Tomcat Server as the server engine.

Firstly, you need to get a license; (as always…) and secondly, you need to download the required software from the Knowledge Center.

Step 3

Decide the server engine you are going to use, and get the prerequisites installed. For example, here I need Java and Tomcat. The Installation files are structured very neatly which also comes with software required for prerequisites.

Step 4

Deploy the wcm.war file.

OpenText Social Communities Installation + Integration with MS SSO

I have to say, I struggled with this for a good few weeks. Since the Delivery Server 10.1 is out with the Social Communities included, we have been asked many times to demonstrate it to our clients. Potentially, huge money there. However, the support to get this up and working is very limited.

I will try and make this really short, so that I don’t bore you to death.

Step 1

As always, make sure you have the required licenses, assuming you already have a working instance of Delivery Server 10.1. There are three modules that you will need, which are

• HTRE – HTTP REST Connector
• PCON – Portlet Connector
• PRDW – Interface to JSR 168 and IBM WebSphere portlets

The OpenText licensing department seems pretty efficient in issuing/renewing licenses these days, which is good to see.

If you can’t get those required licenses, you will not be able to continue.

Step 2

You will need to install Common Search which now comes free with the Delivery Server.  (Make sure you have the license key too) You will need to do this before installing the Collaboration Server.

Step 3

We now need a Collaboration Server. Collaboration Server can be downloaded from the OpenText Knowledge Center along with the installation manual. You will need to follow the instructions carefully, as well as setting up the correct permissions for the indexing folder/s.

A successful install should get you the screens like below.

Collaboration Login Screen

Collaboration Interface Screen

Step 4

Who said RedDot CMS is going away? OpenText MS 10.1 will convince you!

A lot of people are scared that RedDot OpenText Management Server might be going away since being acquired by OpenText a few years ago; it doesn’t  seem to be the case by looking at the number of versions released after that! I recently installed the most recent version of RedDot OpenText Management Server 10.1 and it definitely has impressed me in many ways.

Best Practice

First of all, the new Best Practice sample project is heaps better than the up-and-away project. It does take a while to set it up but once it is set up everything you need is all documented there!

For those people who are experiencing difficulties getting it up and running

eDocs/HummingBird and CMS Integration

Many people asked me about the integration between OpenText eDocs (former Hummingbird) and OpenText MS (former RedDot). This is going to be an ongoing post, since the area is too large to include every detail in a post. I will just try my best here, but please bear in mind that every environment is different and do not expect the integration to work the first time after your install!

First of all, you have to ensure that you obtain the correct version of the integration piece for your environment. Here is the compatibility matrix, the version I have been working with is eDocs v6 and CMS 7.5, CMS 9, CMS 10.1.

Got the right version? Now we can start.