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Learning Path: Content Author Essentials

⏱ 2–3 hours beginner
📜Foundationcms

Who this path is for

Section titled “Who this path is for”

You are a content author, editor, or marketing professional who will be creating and publishing content in Optimizely CMS. No technical background is required. By the end of this path, you will be confident navigating the CMS, creating pages, working with blocks, and publishing content.

How to use this path

Section titled “How to use this path”

Work through the steps in order. Start with the concept pages to build your mental model, then move to the hands-on tutorial. The guides give you specific skills you can practice immediately.

Estimated total time: 2–3 hours

Step 1: Understand what CMS is

Section titled “Step 1: Understand what CMS is”

📖 Read — What is Optimizely CMS?

You will learn:

  • What CMS does and why your organization uses it
  • How CMS connects to other Optimizely products
  • The difference between SaaS and PaaS (and which one you are using)

Focus on: The “Core capabilities” section — especially content editing, workflows, and digital asset management. You can skim the SaaS vs PaaS technical details.

Time: 10 minutes

Step 2: Understand content modeling (author perspective)

Section titled “Step 2: Understand content modeling (author perspective)”

📖 Read — Content Modeling in Optimizely

You will learn:

  • What content types, properties, and blocks are
  • Why pages are built from composable blocks
  • How the content tree organizes your site

Focus on: The “Blocks: composable content” and “Content tree: hierarchy and navigation” sections. The code examples are for developers — understanding the concepts is what matters for you.

Time: 10 minutes

Step 3: Create and publish your first content

Section titled “Step 3: Create and publish your first content”

🛠️ Do — Your First Day as a Content Author

You will do:

  • Log in and explore the CMS editor
  • Create your first page
  • Use the rich text editor
  • Add blocks to compose a page layout
  • Upload and manage images
  • Preview your changes
  • Submit for approval or publish directly

Time: 45 minutes

Step 4: Learn about personalization

Section titled “Step 4: Learn about personalization”

📖 Read — Visitor Groups and Personalization

You will learn:

  • How to show different content to different visitor groups
  • The built-in criteria available (geography, behavior, time of day)
  • How to test personalized content using the simulation tool

Focus on: The “Visitor groups (CMS)” section and “Use visitor groups for content personalization”. The ODP and Experimentation sections are useful context but you do not need to act on them immediately.

Time: 15 minutes

Step 5: Understand the platform you are part of

Section titled “Step 5: Understand the platform you are part of”

📖 Read — Opti ID and the Optimizely One Ecosystem

You will learn:

  • How your login connects to all Optimizely products
  • What Opal AI can do for you in the editor
  • How your organization manages access

Focus on: The “What Opti ID does” section — especially SSO and how it connects to Opal.

Time: 10 minutes

What to do next

Section titled “What to do next”

After completing this path, you can:

  • Practice daily — Create pages, experiment with blocks, build confidence in the editor
  • Learn personalization — Ask your admin to set up visitor groups so you can try personalized content
  • Explore Opal — Use AI to help generate and optimize your content (if available in your organization)
  • Prepare for certification — Visit Optimizely Academy for content author certification