Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) has become increasingly popular for content editing and versioning in the past few years. As part of its suite of advanced publishing tools, AEM introduced two relatively new techniques designed to enhance the user experience: Content Fragments vs Experience Fragments. Despite having similar sounding names, the purpose and application of these features differ greatly.
Content Fragments are best used when creating structured or semi-structured content, such as blog posts, products descriptions or any other form of content that must be tracked and managed over time. By breaking a piece of content down into multiple modular parts such as title, body text, image etc., users can easily create, manage and re-use these fragments throughout multiple websites or even third party applications. On the other hand, Experience Fragments provide authors with an easy way to build visually consistent pages quickly by combining components they already have in their AEM instance while still remaining flexible enough for creative development purposes. The primary use case is for authors seeking to quickly build pages from scratch that have a uniform visual appearance while utilizing existing styled components within AEM. Together, Content Fragment and Experience Fragment provide enhanced authoring capabilities which allow users far more control over their sites’
The rise of new content format per channel
In the past, creating content for the web was fairly straightforward. A single page in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) was edited and managed to correspond with an individual page on a website. While this method of content management remains unchanged, it does not take into account the rise of new channels that require specialized content tailored to their needs.
This includes formats such as mobile apps, social media, email newsletters and more. To effectively utilize these channels, content creation must account for these different formats and be adapted accordingly – for example, a multi-page article would not be suitable to tweet. Therefore it is necessary to adjust the approach when it comes to producing relevant content that speaks to the target audience across all mediums and ensures greater engagement in return.
Experience Fragments are just a few components that belong together
Experience Fragments are small sets of website building blocks that can be used across multiple channels and contexts to display the content in an appropriate form. An example of such a set is a teaser, which usually consists of a title, an image, a short text and a link to an article page. This information can be stored as an Experience Fragment, allowing for quick implementation and reuse. The look and feel of the teaser may vary depending on where it is placed – on the front page, in a sidebar or embedded in an email newsletter for instance – but all the elements stay the same.
The flexibility offered by Experience Fragments is highly useful when there are multiple channels that require certain contents and various layouts need to be applied. Every single channel can make use of the same fragment while still appearing differently; thus creating less effort overall for content creators who no longer have to aspire all necessary resources every time they want to use certain pieces of content somewhere else. As such, this type of solution helps businesses save time and money while providing users with more interesting ways to experience their products or services.
Content Fragments are structured data
Content Fragments are an effective way to manage structured content within Adobe Experience Manager. They are distinct from webpages due to the fact that they don’t have a layout or visual representation – they are simply fragments of underlying content data which can be reused across multiple locations. Content Fragments are based on a content model, meaning that an information architect in AEM creates a set of rules about what types of content should be included in the fragment.
This could include anything from first names and last names for author bios, to headshots and text summaries. As all the content is contained within this one fragment, it is much more efficient for authors who do not need to apply a particular style to each component, or reconfigure them when moving them between pages. Content Fragments allow for easy reuse along with greater consistency across sites, making them an incredibly useful asset to any digital advertiser’s toolkit.
Do you want to get the most out of AEM?
If you’re looking to maximize your use of AEM, it’s important to take advantage of the full suite of features available in the platform. By leveraging advanced capabilities including content management, asset management, search, personalization, and analytics. Our experienced consultants can help you develop a tailored solution to ensure your business is getting the most out of this powerful platform.
At its core, AEM is designed for customer experience optimization across all digital channels. This means that you can deliver unique experiences to different types of users at the right time and place – whether they’re webpages, mobile apps or virtual reality. AEM’s ability to track user behaviour allows companies to tailor the consumer journey according to individual preferences and ensure that customers get the most satisfactory outcome possible from their interactions with your business. Our team will work closely with you to help make sure you take full advantage of these powerful tools so that you reap maximum benefits from AEM for your organization.
Content Fragments and Experience Fragments compared
Content Fragments are chunks of data created using a content data model that allows organizations to standardize the structure and store their content in a manageable way. Content Fragments are best used for storing items such as an author’s bio, office addresses, glossary items, or anything else meant to be re-used throughout a website. Since Content Fragments are just stored data, they can be accessed on any channel fed by AEM, or through the Content Services API when using headless approaches.
Experience Fragments, on the other hand, are designed to provide complete experiences rather than just raw content. They can be composed of any components or groupings of components with no structures set in stone. This makes them perfect for reusing elements which have been crafted specifically for layout and presentation reasons – like background images or particular style information. Experience Fragments can be used multiple times on different pages for faster implementation speeds without having to recreate similar components again and again.
When to use a Content Fragment vs an Experience Fragment
Content Fragments and Experience Fragments are both great tools for managing content in modern marketing-driven worlds. Depending on the use case, one or the other might be more suitable, so it’s important to consider all your options before making a decision.
Experience Fragments can work well in ad hoc situations where there isn’t much planning involved because of their flexible nature. On the other hand, Content Fragments require careful thought and planning; they are best suited for situations where you need to make sure all your content is consistent and organized in a particular way. Both are highly efficient solutions that reduce the risk of copy/paste errors as well as ensuring data accuracy.
If you’re unsure when or how to use Content or Experience Fragments or have any questions regarding information architecture, feel free to reach out and contact us at any time for advice from professionals who understand the needs of marketers and web developers alike.