The Content Management System that Thinks for Itself

To create a web CMS, is it enough to simply recreate all the features of a professional CMS for technical authoring in exactly the same way for the web? Not for us it isn’t. As we move onto the web, we are taking the opportunity not only to recreate ST4, but also to move it forward. Our flagship content management system on the web will enable you to achieve better results with unfamiliar clarity and considerable flexibility.

The Vision – Where We Want to Be

Yes, we have a commitment for the web implementation of ST4. Take a look at our new ST4 Web Author and you will see that already it is being refined iteratively to create a complete web implementation of ST4. And if you have anything to do with professional CMS systems for technical writing, then you will certainly be aware of the advantages of web-based versions. Greater flexibility, for example, because you are not dependent on a specific device, operating system, or browser in order to use the content management system. Of course a web-compliant UI and UX are needed to allow the content management system to be used to the full. We will provide all of that with ST4 on the web, but we intend to take it even further, so we have devoted lots of time and energy to revising the UX, working closely with our customers.

Our aim is to develop a user experience that is completely seamless and easy to grasp, will not limit experienced ST4 users, and yet is inviting, consistent, and fresh.

That's why ST4 Web Author is equipped, for example, with an integrated editor that allows you to edit in Quick View without having to switch to another software program or window. It is a structured editor which is both XML-focused and as easy to use as Microsoft Word. This has the advantage that you will no longer need to convert from Microsoft Word to XML. In ST4 Web Author, the XML is always well formed, all prefixes are declared, and all entities are defined. 

The Innovation – A New Status Quo

But how will our journey onto the web continue? Or rather, what does a contemporary component content management system look like? Of course! It needs to think for itself! Smart Focus Tracks are the new, revolutionary features that we are explicitly developing for the future ST4 on the web, and which are already available in ST4 Web Author. With Smart Focus Tracks, you concentrate specifically on the task in hand, and hide everything else. But not just that. It is not for nothing that we call Smart Focus Tracks smart; they provide a set of unique functions that are only available in Smart Focus Tracks. These offer you targeted support in all the steps towards your goal and – quite incidentally – ensure that you fully utilize all the features of the content management system. Even if you are unaware that it is happening!

In the Add Product Variant Smart Focus Track, you select the reference variant on which you want to base the new variant. You will then see the content that is normally modified when creating a variant, and will be able to select, module by module, the content that your new variant is to contain. This creates a list of tasks that you simply work through in ST4, and then your variant is complete. That’s what the track can do already. But this isn’t the end for us. In a future update it will be able to take your set of modules and automatically assign metadata so that variant filters automatically work correctly at the publishing stage.

It Will Be Magic

We have great ambitions for our ST4 on the web, and we won’t stop at just Smart Focus Tracks. We want to create a component content management system that thinks for itself and so brings lots of revolutionary new features along with it. For example, in the future, forms in ST4 Web Author will contain useful suggestions that ST4 has learned from the way you have used it. As a result, you will be able work your way faster through all the wizards for document nodes or TMS exports, and work more consistently overall. Perhaps we can even take it a step further. What if you no longer need these processes at some point and instead ST4 automatically suggests to you which exports and publications are needed for a variant?

And if we think about this really ambitiously: imagine you're writing a text, and ST4 fills in fragments, variables, etc., entirely on its own! Even the difference between content reuses and reuses could be automated away by a content management system that thinks for itself.

All of this is massive potential that we believe will derive from a thinking component content management system, and we are working flat out to transform these seemingly magical features into everyday reality for technical writers. So, watch this space to discover what ST4 Web Author still has to offer.