In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, content creation and distribution have become paramount for businesses across all sectors. With the increasing need for personalized, on-brand content, technologies like Chili Publish have emerged as game-changers. In conjunction, platforms like Sitecore Content Hub offer a centralized space to manage content lifecycle seamlessly. This blog dives into what Chili Publish is and explores its integration and functionality within Sitecore Content Hub.
Understanding Chili Publish
Chili Publish is a powerful software solution designed to automate and streamline the creation of graphic designs and digital documents. At its core, Chili Publish utilizes a Smart Template technology, which allows users to generate personalized marketing materials, packaging designs, and various other digital assets without the need for extensive graphic design skills.
Key Features of Chili Publish:
- Smart Templates: Enables designers to create templates that users can adapt within predefined rules, ensuring brand consistency.
- Automation: Streamlines repetitive tasks, significantly reducing the time and cost associated with content creation.
- Scalability: Efficiently manages an increase in design workload without compromising on quality or performance.
- Integration: Chili Publish's API allows for seamless integration with various digital asset management (DAM) systems, including Sitecore Content Hub.
How Chili Publish Integrates with Sitecore Content Hub
The integration of Chili Publish into Sitecore Content Hub enhances the platform's capabilities, making it an even more powerful tool for marketers and content creators.
Streamlining Content Creation
With Chili Publish, users of Sitecore Content Hub can create complex, customizable digital assets directly within the platform. This integration bridges the gap between professional design and content management, enabling non-designers to produce high-quality, branded content quickly and efficiently.
Enhancing Personalization
Chili Publish's Smart Template technology allows for high levels of personalization. Users can adjust elements like text, colors, and images within the templates based on their specific needs, all while adhering to brand guidelines. This capability is crucial for businesses looking to deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.
Automating Workflow
The combination of Chili Publish with Sitecore Content Hub automates the content creation workflow, reducing manual tasks and allowing teams to focus on strategy and creativity. This automation extends to the production of personalized marketing materials, enabling faster response times to market demands.
Use Cases
- Marketing Campaigns: Quickly produce customized marketing materials for different regions, languages, and customer segments.
- Packaging Design: Streamline the creation of packaging variations for products in multiple markets.
- Brand Management: Ensure brand consistency across all digital assets created and distributed through the Content Hub.
How to Use Sitecore Content Publisher
- Log in to Sitecore Content Hub, and then click on "Publishers" in the menu bar, where you will see two options: "Publishers" and "Templates" pages. We will choose the "Templates" page, which allows users with limited design knowledge to create or edit documents for their graphics.
- To create a template in Content Publisher, you establish an entity into which you can upload default content. I named it "Test Chili Publisher" with the description "This is a Test Chili Publisher," and then saved it to create the template.
- After creating a template, the detail page also offers an "Upload CHILI package" option. You can upload the template .zip file by either dragging and dropping it or browsing for the file. During upload, the template is validated to ensure all fonts and assets are compatible with your Content Hub configuration. The document's status—PROCESSING, VALID, or INVALID—is displayed next to the template name. If the template doesn't pass validation, the status will indicate "TEMPLATE INVALID."
- To modify your template, open the editor to design your document. For example, I will add two sample images by creating two frames. I'll click on "create frame," select "image" for each, and then assign the images and other properties according to my design.
- After successfully saving the changes, you'll see my template is validated and deemed valid, with a document asset created. Like here, we will also see the template details page providing a comprehensive overview and configuration options for the template. It features a preview on the left and configuration tabs (Details, Variables, Dynamic Frames, and Triggers) on the right. The Details tab shows template system details, which can be edited via an "Edit" option. The Variables tab enables user input configuration, including setting rules for variables created in the Chili editor. Dynamic Frames allow linking template image frames to Sitecore Digital Asset Management (DAM) assets. The Triggers tab facilitates linking variables and frames to Sitecore DAM entities and metadata, such as Products or Brands.
- To create and manage Publications, which allow for easy modification and publication of existing smart templates, follow these steps. This feature provides a workspace for creating, editing, and downloading publications through forms and inline text editing. It integrates with Sitecore Digital Asset Management (DAM) for adding images, linking to documents for preflight and proofing, and enables uploading images from your desktop.
To Create a Publication:
To start creating a new publication, first click on "Publications" on the menu bar, then navigate to Publisher > Publications. On the Publications page, you'll find a plus sign (+) to initiate the creation of a new publication. A "Choose template" dialog will appear, where you can either manually enter the name of the template you wish to use or search for it.
- Similarly, you can edit the publication using the Content Publisher editor, accessible by clicking the "Edit" icon either on the Publications page or in the inline preview of the publication. The editor page features three tabs: Design, Frames, and Details.
- Additionally, publications can be downloaded in various formats directly from the publication editor page.
Conclusion
The Sitecore Content Publisher, by leveraging the CHILI publish engine and integrating deeply with Sitecore Content Hub, provides a comprehensive and sophisticated environment for producing a wide array of digital and print materials. It combines the ease of template-based design with the power of automation and brand control, facilitating a workflow that can significantly enhance productivity and ensure brand consistency across all marketing outputs. Whether you're modifying an existing template or creating new publications, the Sitecore Content Publisher is engineered to scale up your content creation process while adhering to stringent brand standards.