Technical Content I’ve created a lot of content, mainly around content management and content strategy. During 2020, I endeavored to find and catalog all of it. Some of it is on this site, and some is linked to in its published location. Quite a bit of this is content that was published somewhere else for a period of time. I have recovered it, either from personal storage or other archival locations, and it’s published here for safekeeping. If you’re looking for a blog that used to be called “Gadgetopia,” I’ve moved all of that content to the technical blog on this website. I have another page specifically for my code. (Note that a ➚ symbol after a hyperlink denotes a link away from this site.) Books Books by Deane Barker I’ve written (or am writing) four books about CMS. The link above describes them all, but here are Amazon links for the three that have published: Web Content Management: Systems, Features, and Best Practices (2016) Real World Content Modeling: A Field Guide to CMS Features and Architecture (2019). You can read this entire book on this website (at the link). Things You Should Know: 25 Lessons I’ve Learned About Selecting Content Technology and Services (2020) The Web Project Guide: From Spark to Launch and Beyond I’m listing this separately because a co-authored it, and it’s freely available on a website, in addition to being available in print. A Non-Developer’s Guide to Relational Databases I started writing this and never finished it. It’s about 13,000 words, and I have no idea what to do with it. I made a half-hearted attempt to convert it to Markdown, but the formatting might be poor. I might keep fiddling with it. Book Contributions I have contributed parts to three books. Content Operations from Start to Scale Date2024 I wrote the foreword for a multi-author book on content operations. Content Everywhere Date2012 I wrote a sidebar for Sara’s book. The Language of Content Strategy Date2013 I wrote the (short) chapter on content migrations for this book. The book was anthology-style – dozens of people each contributed a chapter to it. Courses I teach two courses for FH Joanneum in Graz, Austria (usually remote, though I visit and teach on-site every once in a while). The links below go to the complete syllabus for each course, with reading lists and assignments. Introduction to Content Management Systems Advanced Topics in Content Management This is isn’t a “course” so much, but was a workshop I used to give at conference in 2014-2015. CMS Implementations Workshop Papers This is longer-form stuff that was distributed as a document. Many of these were done as marketing pieces for Blend Interactive, and many of them were done with Corey Vilhauer. Blend holds the copyright to most of these. Website Implementation Projects: A Start to Finish Guide (PDF) Date2018 Length12 pages CoauthorCorey Vilhauer This started as a simple list of all the phases of a website implementation project that we would do at Blend. I started the list for no particular reason, and eventually expanded it into a process-ish document. Corey Vilhauer then worked it over into the form here, as a marketing piece for Blend. It eventually became the basis for the Web Project Guide. The Web Migration Handbook (PDF) Date2018 Length13 pages I was paid to write this as a marketing piece for DNN Software (makers of DotNetNuke and Evoq). However, I retained the copyright to it, and we re-formatted it as a Blend marketing piece, which is the version here. There’s a DNN-branded version floating around too. The Web Operations Management Checklist (PDF) Date2018 (in this format) Length9 pages CoauthorCorey Vilhauer Like many others in this list, this started out as something I wrote down to informally send to prospects. Corey expanded it, and we re-formatted it as a formal marketing piece. It covers all the stuff you need to think about before launching your website. A lot of this stuff made it into the Web Project Guide. Overcoming Challenges in Higher Ed CMS Projects (PDF) Date2017 Length32 pages CoauthorCorey Vilhauer This is the second version of a paper I did with Corey about our experience implementing CMS for higher ed. I did the first version of this with Lynsey Struthers. Blend has historically done a lot of higher ed work, and the paper covers a lot of the problems we saw working in that space. We did a co-marketing campaign with Episerver using this paper that didn’t really go anywhere. Responsive Content and the Bottomless Website (PDF) DateMarch 17, 2014 Length13 pages This discussed what we now know as simple rules-based personalization, which was new and interesting at the time. I can’t remember why I wrote this. The title page says “for Episerver,” but I don’t think I actually wrote it for Episerver. I think I did this independently as a marketing exercise for Blend. Managing Content in the Transactional Application (PDF) DateFebruary 19, 2014 Length11 pages I was paid to write this for the now-defunct (in the US) CMS company Movable Type, during their attempt to rebuild their brand. (There’s a conference presentation below from that same campaign.) The paper demonstrates how to use a decoupled CMS like Movable Type to manage content in a “transactional” application, like an online banking system. Blogs These are tech blogs that I created and managed. (Not to be confused with my personal blog which is about everything other than tech.) The Blog Formerly Known as Gadgetopia Date2003 - 2019 I blogged about content management and other tech stuff for almost 20 years at Gadgetopia. I recently archived 7,000 or so low quality posts, leaving about 400 relevant posts. (If you’re interested, I wrote a long blog post about the methodology behind this archival process.) In December 2020, I closed down the Gadgetopia domain name and moved all the posts to this site. LinkedIn Posts DateLast 2023 onwards In late 2023, I started “blogging” on LinkedIn a bit. I archive all the interesting posts here. The CMS UI Database Date2020 Me and some friends tried to create a blog about CMS user interfaces. It didn’t go so well, but I’ve archived what we did. Gadgetopia Archives Date2003 - 2019 Here are the 7,000 posts archived from Gadgetopia. If you try to access these on the main site, you’re re-directed here. This site is cloaked from search. (Note: there is purposefully nothing to browse here.) The Robots Are Coming Date2014-2016 For about 18 months, I collected links and wrote some posts about automation and its effect on life and work. Intranet Wire DateLate 2007 I created a blog about intranets for a few months in 2007. I’ve republished about 50 posts on this site. Articles These are mostly articles I wrote on websites belonging to other people. Optimizely Articles I’ve written quite a bit in my role at Optimziely. First, Find Someone to Run the Business DateNovember 13, 2014 I wrote this about the early days of Blend, and how we needed to find someone to actually manage things. GatherContent interview: Deane Barker DateJune 22, 2020 I did a short interview with GatherContent about content and books. The Future Might be Distributed DateFebruary 25, 2019 This was a companion to my distributed CMS talk I was doing in 2019. The State of Headless Web Content & Experience Management (WCM) in 2018 Date2018 I wrote this is as a subscriber brief for an analyst, but it never got published for some reason. With Content Delivery, What Goes Around Comes Around DateMay 24, 2017 I wrote this as a retrospective of content publishing models for the 20th anniversary of…something. I don’t quite remember, but it was some article series CMS Wire was pushing at the time. The Layout and Navigation Challenges of Partial Localization DateMarch 17, 2017 An examination of the problems that result when you only translate part of a website, which happens often. I wrote this for the Lionbridge blog as a favor for my friend Seth who worked there at the time. (The date is a guess – that was the last modified date on the file I sent him.) DNN Interview with Deane Barker Date2016 I was interviewed about CMS by DNN Software. I’m not sure where this ended up, but here’s the archived interview as I sent it to them. Rationality in CMS Implementation Planning DateJanuary 6, 2016 I wrote this for O’Reilly to promote my first book. Don’t Forget the Bytes DateMay 28, 2012 I wrote an article on content migration to help promote the Content Strategy Workshops. Videos Most of these are videos of conference presentations. The dates on many of these are approximate – I took them from the date the video was posted, which likely doesn’t correspond to the actual event. Optimizely Webinars I’ve done a quite a few videos for Optimizely. DXD with Deane Barker DateApril 24, 2020 Length4:52 A brief conversation about content that I had with the CEO of Episerver overlooking Sydney Harbor. It’s foggy, but you can see the Harbor Bridge in the background, and the Opera House is just barely visible on the extreme left of the screen. Content is the Currency of Human Connection DateOctober 26, 2019 Length30:58 This was the keynote at Episerver’s conference in Miami in 2019. One of my better talks. When I gave this, I had been working at Episerver for about two months, so I was jumping right into the deep end. The Promise and Peril of Editorial Scripting DateJune 15, 2019 Length46:45 A talk about a scripting language called Denina at CodeGarden in Odense, Denmark. The Future Might be Distributed DateJune 14, 2019 Length50:08 Probably the best version of this talk I ever gave, at CodeGarden in 2019. 7 Things We Know About Headless, and 3 Things We Don’t DateJune 5, 2018 Length59:15 From CodeGarden 2018 in Odense, Denmark. Why Content Projects Fail DateJune 15, 2017 Length54:13 One of my favorite talks, from CodeGarden 2017 in Odense, Denmark. Why Content Projects Fail DateJune 8, 2017 Length51:55 This was, I believe, the first of six times I delivered this talk in 2017. This is from Blend’s own conference in Sioux Falls. Interview: Deane Barker on Headless CMS and the Future of Content Management DateMay 11, 2017 Length10:45 A short video interview I did for Kentico at their partner event in Chicago. How to Prepare Your Site For Content Migration DateMarch 26, 2016 Length47:39 A discussion about content migrations that I did for a migration services vendor (who I don’t think it still around). Content at the Edges DateDecember 1, 2015 Length47:35 This was a talk at the eZ Conference in 2015 in Brooklyn. It’s about multi-channel content distribution. Introducing the Blend Web Operations Framework DateMay 14, 2015 Length18:40 This was the conference into and a discussion of something called the “Blend Web Operations Management Framework” that actually was never formalized and released. COPEing Mechanisms: The Promise and Peril of ‘Create Once Publish Everywhere DateSeptember 8, 2014 Length41:51 A talk about multi-channel publishing from Blend’s own conference in Sioux Falls. Deane Barker shout-out for TYPO3 Neos DateNovember 1, 2013 Length1:31 An odd little video I made for the Typo3 community at the request of my friend Rasmus. It was just a minute-and-a-half about my impressions of the NEOS project (which was quite good). I understand this was shown at one of their conferences somewhere. Charting a New Course - Why the CEO Matters More Than the Developer DateNovember 7, 2013 Length42:02 A talk I did for now-defunct-ish Movable Type in NYC in a virtually empty room. It was weird. This was a repeat-ish of my DrupalCon talk. Charting a New Direction: Why the CEO Matters More Than the Developer DateMay 23, 2013 Length53:25 This is the first time I gave this talk. I summarized it in a blog post. Note: The real tragedy is the talk that’s missing from this list. I gave the developer keynote at Sitecore Symposium in 2018 to room of 3,000 people. It was the best conference presentation I’ve ever given. To my horror, they informed me six weeks later that the talk was not recorded. It was filmed for the screens in the back of the massive room, but it was not actually recorded and retained. I was heartbroken. Annotated Slide Decks I’ve annotated one slide deck and turned into its own miniature website. I’d like to do more of these in the future. CMS Implementations Length202 slides; 6,000+ words of notes This is a document I used for a few conference workshops. It covers the entire scope of a CMS implementation, from planning through development, planning, support, and human factors. Posted Slide Decks Some slide decks that were likely from conference presentations, but have been archived by themselves. Most of these decks were posted to SlideShare, and are offered with no notes or other annotations. The Natural Irrationality of Implementing CMS DateSeptember 16, 2016 I gave this at a breathtakingly small conference in Minneapolis for eZ Systems. It eventually became the basis for the “Why Content Projects Fail” talk. Issues with Content Migration DateOctober 15, 2012 This was for a session at Content Strategy Workshops in Portland. Backbone (PDF) DateSometime in 2015? This is a PDF of a deck I put together about an idea I called “Backbone” at the time, which was really a combination of a headless CMS and a DAM, I think. The Future is in Delivery DateMay 28, 2012 One of two times I’ve been at J. Boye Philly. In retrospect, I was talking about a really obvious point, but it felt unique at the time. Jeff Cram did a write-up of this talk on the CMS Myth. The Emperor Has No News DateMay 31, 2013 In retrospect, this was an odd presentation for what I believe was the very first Now What Conference. It was more content strategy than content management, and I think I was out of my depth on this one. The Truth About Content Migrations DateJanuary 4, 2012 For Gilbane 2011. Rahel Bailie saw me present this, and asked me to do it again in Portland later that year. Overcoming the Fear: What C-Level Execs are Afraid of When it Comes to Social Intranets DateSeptember 30, 2011 I gave this at a conference in Vancouver for ThoughtFarmer. I then added to it a bit and got invited to Sydney for Intranets 2012. Web Content Delivery Systems (PDF) DateAugust 16, 2011 This might be an early spark of my distributed CMS talk. I based it on a blog post I came up with earlier that year. Why Conversational Marketing Matters: Engagement in the Age of Stratification DateAugust 16, 2011 I discussion about the then-new idea of “conversational marketing.” This was more content strategy/marketing, but that’s what they asked me for. It was easy for them to get technical talks; harder for them to get business talks. This was on my first ever trip to Europe, at the Episerver Global Partner Summit in Malmo, Sweden. I was there to collect the North American Partner of the Year award. The Mysterious Art of the Content Inventory DateAugust 16, 2011 A discussion about how to do content inventories. The only time I ever did Gilbane San Francisco. That was the last year before they ended that conference, I believe. Intranets: Goals, Scope, and Features (PDF) Date2010 This was for an all-day client workshop while planning an intranet. I cover a lot of ground in here about what an intranet does – the role it plays, the scope of features it offers, with some thoughts on challenges and adoption. Podcast Episodes I have my own podcast here: The Content Management Bible Podcast I’ve also done episodes on people’s podcasts. One on One: Deane Barker on Why Content is Foundational DateOctober 29, 2019 Length14:20 I talked with Kim Davis in Miami during the Episerver Ascend conference. Headless Content Management with Deane Barker, Blend Interactive DateFebruary 26, 2019 Length20:15 A discussion about headless CMS for Ingeniux, a CMS vendor. Coffee Break 008: Deane Barker DateJanuary 27, 2016 Length57:17 A lovely conversation with my friend Sarah Werner about the writing of my first book. (The page didn’t work the last time I was there, but you can get the audio player directly here. Also, the raw MP3 can be streamed from this site here.) Deane Barker and the Art of Content Management DateMay 29, 2015 Length39:09 My second time on with Jeff. Deane Barker on CMS Trends and Content Geography DateDecember 7, 2012 Length51:33 A talk with my friend Jeff Eaton. Content Management Professionals I was a board member of Content Management Professionals for a while. Ceasing Operations Notice Date2014 My board shut the program down. Here’s the ceasing operations notice, preserved for posterity. This was on the cmprofessionals.org domain for a period of time. (That domain has since expired and been acquired by someone else.) CM Pros: A Way Forward (PDF) Date2014 Before we made the decision to shut the organization down, I wrote this document for the Board proposing how we might move CM Pros forward. We did not execute on anything in this document. (I mention a glossary in here. I have another document about problems I need to solve for that project, and I did end up writing a glossary on my own a few years later.) Other I have a lot of miscellaneous content lying around. Some of this I just preserved here to keep track of it. Every once in a while, I want to reference something, so there’s a lot of random stuff below. The CMS UI Database (defunct) Date2020 An idea I did with some friends that didn’t quite work out. But the content we did post was good, so I wanted to archive it. The Denina Wiki Date2017 and forward This is technically code, but the documentation wiki for Denina is about 12,000 words and it has a lot of information about the theory of editorial scripting languages. In particular, look through the pages in the “About” subheading: Why Do This, Alternatives, and Use Cases. The Now What Conferences Date2015-2018 I was involved in producing and managing a conference series while I was at Blend Interactive. This is a short personal history of that experience. The Web Content Management Glossary DateOriginally written in 2016 I wrote this as a web-only supplement to my first book. It defines 200+ terms around content management. (It’s also archived here since the book site no longer belongs to me.) Squirrel Notes DateEvery 2-3 weeks since January 2018 This is an email newsletter about CMS that I send every 2-3 weeks. CMS RFI Questions DateOriginally composed in 2018 A list of feature and capability questions developed for a CMS Request for Information (RFI) document. Personalization: A Proposed Process Model Date2015 A document describing a proposed process to implement personalization in a WCM platform. Spartacus: A Content Orchestration System Date2018 This was a vague idea I had for a distributed CMS I called “Spartacus.” I had no intention to build it, but I was using it to explore ideas about distribution and orchestration. My Thoughts on Content Management in 2001 Date2001 In 2001, I attended a conference as a precocious 20-something and wrote a breathless email back to my colleagues about the future of CMS. I’ve preserved and annotated that email here. Entity Relationship Notes Date2011 Some raw notes on the relationships between content entities, and how they are affected by naming and tense over time. Potential Problems in Developing a Content Management Glossary Date2013 A list of issues I was trying to resolve when forming a team to write a content management glossary. QA Process Notes Date2019 Some ideas I had around QA issue classification and process execution.