Content Modelling
Posted on May 18, 2009
Filed Under content modelling | 1 Comment
- Content Modelling
- Content Modelling – First Steps
For any content managed web site, content types are its first class citizens. Content types describe the chunks of information that companies depend upon to conduct their business. Things like events, news, products, journals, flights, holidays, adverts, campaigns and call to actions. All possible content types. Yet, when talk to business folks about content types, 9 times out of 10, you may as well be speaking klingon. And right there is the communication gap. So is it any wonder, when you entrust third parties such as design agencies, solution providers, and vendors with the task of dissecting your business into manageable information chunks, that things don’t go according to plan.
What’s the problem?
Project sponsors, potential authors, design folks, marketers, seo people, solution providers must work together to determine what information should be used across the site. This is the content model.
The content model is all about the “what” of information.
Now do not confuse this with the “how” of information that is typically thrown over the wall to the geeks sitting in a darkened room to sort out. Databases, XML, the content management system, whatever. This is data modelling (the how) and something altogether different, yet related, to content modelling (the what). Now, its not uncommon for projects to go arse about face and put the “how” before the “what” – the content management system cart before web site horse. It’s like being told to prepare to store X in the larder, only to be told later that X is a bag of frozen peas. Useless.
Now this all sounds like common sense and real no brainers, but there are a number of reasons why content modelling does not happen, so I’ll cut to the chase here:
- Everyone wants to talk to ‘the business’ and it simply overwhelms them.
- The very words content model causes eyes to immediately glaze over.
- Content types are perceived as difficult, divine, dark magical technology secrets.
- There are no standards, very few guidelines, even less shared knowledge on the subject.
- Only now are we beginning to focus more and more on strategy, analysis, design of content.
What’s the answer
I’m plain out of silver bullets. But I did read up on Bob Boiko’s book, the Content Management Bible. The bible, and its that big weighing in at over 1200 pages and 1.5kg, goes into a quite a lot of detail around content types. Unfortunately, I think Bob has got one foot rooted a little to deeply in the tech, that pollutes the content model with XML and database speak. I would like to re-visit content modelling over the coming weeks and draw out the interesting parts from Bob’s book and mind meld them with what others working upstream of the build phase are thinking. For example, Stephen Gracey’s approaches content modelling from the strategists perspective. Again, an interesting outlook, but the need for greater detail compels me dig deeper.
What’s next?
If you know what to look for, content types simply jump off the page and hit you smack bam between the eyes. A bit of refinement, a few questions here and there and a content model starts to emerge. I’ll get into all this in the next few posts. But here’s the caveat, content modelling is not easy. Its not a science. Its an art. And as we’ll see, the art has three big areas, each with their inherent challenges and trade-offs:
- Finding content types.
- Assigning fields to content types.
- Understanding the relationships between content types.
See you soon…
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One Response to “Content Modelling”
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Well said, and thanks for the pingback! The most important thing about modelling is that you don’t have to go all the way to the center of the Earth to get any value. Just doing a little is a big help! Keep goin’!
Stephen