Certification Prep: CMS Author
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”Foundation certification required. You must hold the Optimizely Foundation certification before attempting this Core exam. If you have not completed it yet, start with the Foundation Learning Path.
Exam format
Section titled “Exam format”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Certification tier | Core |
| Track | CMS Practitioner (SaaS + PaaS) |
| Role mapping | Practitioner |
| Number of questions | 50 multiple-choice |
| Time limit | 75 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% |
| Delivery | Online, proctored |
| Validity | 2 years |
Who this path is for
Section titled “Who this path is for”You are a content author, editor, or marketer who works in Optimizely CMS daily. You want to validate your skills through the official CMS Author certification. This path maps to the Practitioner role in the Optimizely certification framework, covering editorial workflows rather than development tasks.
How to use this path
Section titled “How to use this path”Work through each exam domain in sequence. For each topic, read the linked pages, then check your understanding with the self-check questions. Return to the material for any question you cannot answer with confidence.
Estimated total time: 3-4 hours (split across sessions as needed).
Exam domain 1: Content editing fundamentals (30%)
Section titled “Exam domain 1: Content editing fundamentals (30%)”The largest exam domain tests your ability to create, edit, and organize content effectively.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”Read — What is Optimizely CMS?
- How CMS organizes content in a tree structure
- The difference between pages, blocks, and media
- Editing modes: on-page editing, forms editing, and all-properties view
Read — Content Modeling in Optimizely
- Why content types exist and how they shape the editing experience
- Content areas: how blocks compose pages
- Properties and what each field type means for editors
Key skills
Section titled “Key skills”- Creating new pages under the correct parent in the content tree
- Adding and arranging blocks within content areas
- Uploading and managing media assets
- Using the rich text editor effectively (links, formatting, tables)
- Drag-and-drop content organization
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- What is the difference between a page and a block?
- How do you move a page to a different location in the content tree?
- What happens when you edit a block that is used on multiple pages?
Exam domain 2: Publishing workflow (25%)
Section titled “Exam domain 2: Publishing workflow (25%)”Content governance is critical in enterprise environments. The exam tests your understanding of how content moves from draft to published.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”- Content versioning — How CMS tracks every saved version
- Publishing states — Draft, published, previously published, scheduled
- Approval workflows — Sequential and parallel approval sequences
- Scheduled publishing — Setting future publish dates
- Access rights — How permissions control who can edit and publish
Key skills
Section titled “Key skills”- Saving drafts without publishing
- Comparing versions side by side
- Rolling back to a previous version
- Setting up scheduled publish and expire dates
- Understanding your role in the approval workflow
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- How do you publish a page at a specific future date and time?
- What is the difference between “Save” and “Publish”?
- Can you restore a page to a previously published version? How?
- What happens to a page when its expiration date passes?
Exam domain 3: Personalization (15%)
Section titled “Exam domain 3: Personalization (15%)”Editors can target content to specific audiences using visitor groups. The exam covers the editorial (not developer) perspective.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”Read — Visitor Groups and Personalization
- What visitor groups are and how they segment visitors
- Built-in criteria: geographic, behavioral, referral, time-based
- Personalization containers in content areas
- How to preview personalized content for different visitor groups
Key skills
Section titled “Key skills”- Creating visitor groups from built-in criteria
- Adding personalized content blocks to a content area
- Previewing the page as different visitor groups
- Understanding fallback content for visitors who match no group
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- How do you show different content to returning visitors versus new visitors?
- What content appears when a visitor does not match any visitor group?
- How do you preview what a visitor from a specific country would see?
Exam domain 4: SEO and metadata (15%)
Section titled “Exam domain 4: SEO and metadata (15%)”The exam tests your ability to manage content for search engine visibility.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”- Page metadata — Title tags, meta descriptions, and social sharing metadata
- URL management — How CMS generates URLs from the content tree and how to customize them
- Redirects — Managing URL redirects when content moves
- Image alt text — Accessibility and search impact
- Canonical URLs — Preventing duplicate content issues
Key skills
Section titled “Key skills”- Setting effective page titles and meta descriptions
- Creating custom URL segments
- Adding alt text to all images
- Understanding when to set up a redirect
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- Where do you edit the meta description for a page?
- What happens to the URL when you rename or move a page?
- Why does alt text matter for both accessibility and SEO?
Exam domain 5: Media management (10%)
Section titled “Exam domain 5: Media management (10%)”The exam includes questions about managing images, documents, and other digital assets.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”- Media library — Uploading, organizing, and finding media assets
- Folder structure — Best practices for organizing media
- Image editing — Built-in cropping and focal point tools
- File types — Supported formats and size limits
- Reuse tracking — Finding where a media asset is used across the site
Key skills
Section titled “Key skills”- Uploading media and organizing it into folders
- Setting focal points on images for responsive cropping
- Searching for assets by name, type, or metadata
- Checking where an asset is referenced before deleting it
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- How do you set a focal point on an image?
- How do you find all pages that use a specific image?
- What is the recommended approach for organizing media folders?
Exam domain 6: Reports and analytics (5%)
Section titled “Exam domain 6: Reports and analytics (5%)”A small portion of the exam covers CMS reporting features.
Topics to study
Section titled “Topics to study”- Content reports — Pages changed recently, pages expiring soon, unpublished drafts
- Activity log — Who edited what and when
- Link validation — Finding broken internal and external links
Self-check
Section titled “Self-check”- How do you find all pages that were edited in the last week?
- How do you identify broken links across the site?
Final preparation
Section titled “Final preparation”- Practice in a test environment — Hands-on practice is the best preparation. Create content, use personalization, run through the publishing workflow.
- Review weak areas — Return to any self-check questions you could not answer confidently.
- Take practice tests — Visit Optimizely Academy for official practice exams.
- Schedule the exam — Book your certification through Optimizely Academy.
What to do next
Section titled “What to do next”After passing the CMS Author certification:
- Go deeper with personalization — Explore visitor group strategies in the Configure Visitor Groups guide
- Learn the platform — Take the Platform Certification Prep path to understand how CMS fits in the broader ecosystem
- Explore experimentation — Learn how to A/B test content with the Experimentation Certification Prep path