Introduction
Adobe Experience Manager is one of the leading content management tools. Let’s learn why.
Customers play a prime role in the success of Enterprises. In the current Digital Era, customers are becoming wise and make informed decisions. To satisfy them and hold them to the business, enterprises need to produce good content from public associations.
Content Management Solution which models the website is the best way to cater to these needs with ease. It’s easier if they get services like mobile applications or paperless forms. More like a packaged deal kind.
Here we have all these provisions in Adobe Experience Manager ( AEM ) as a complete package. This makes the content and asset tracing easier. It also ensures the promised delivery to people with accurate timing.
This article would be the roadmap to understand the platform more clearly and in-depth. We will look at each of them below in detail.
- Adobe Experience Manager – What is it?
- Architecture of AEM
- Developer Tools of AEM
- Why use AEM?
- Elements of AEM
- Functions of AEM Developer
Adobe Experience Manager – What is it?
Adobe Experience Manager aids the experts to trace their content. It serves as a complete package – for an enterprise to build good components.
It’s simple and friendly in usage. AEM is well-known for both its product and for the enterprise.
Apart from creating web applications quickly, It is also possible to build mobile applications at ease. With the aid of AEM, enterprises are able to create mobile applications, web applications, double window websites, and much more. Additional functionalities like Integrating Contents taken from Digital Asset Manager (DAM) with the custom-built components is possible.
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) – designed from the ideas of Apache Sling. Apache Sling is a Java application that works under the basis of OSGi.
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Adobe Experience Manager Architecture
Let’s understand each component of AEM in detail:
Servlet Engine
All the AEM instances run as a web application inside the Servlet engine server. A Servlet Engine that is compatible with Servlet API 2.4 or higher is suitable here. Servlet Engine is a requirement though CQ WCM (Web Content Management) operates in the absence of an additional Application Server.
To cater to this need, CQ WCM is dispatched with Day’s CQSE (CQ Servlet Engine) for free of cost and with full support.
Java Content Repository (JCR)
The Content Repository that follows the JSR-170 API, autonomous of original execution, is the Java Content Repository. A blend of a Web application ( gives JSR-170 supported API and temporary data storage) and a Persistence Manager (contains persistent data storage like the file system or a database) forms the efficient repository.
CQ 5
- The core framework of the CQ5 ( Former name of AEM ) provides internal operability and continuous incorporation. This is present for all essential applications of the CQ5. It includes customized applications built for the platform.
- Web Content Management and Workflow Engine are some applications that draw the powers of CQ5. DAM and Social Collaboration come with other products. AEM – used with Technologies like Apache Sling and OSGi (Apache Felix)
- A Web Application structure known for content applications is the Apache Sling. It makes use of Java Content Repositories such as Apache Jackrabbit or CRX to save and recover content.
Some significant features of Sling are as below:
- Sling follows the REST principles. You have assured of an easy development lifecycle of content-based applications.
- You get an embedded Adobe Experience Manager and adapts to process the HTTP requests for providing and storing data
- Sling connects Content objects to its elements that provide and operates the incoming data
- Both server-side and AJAX-based scripting is available. JSP and Ruby are the scripting languages supported.
OSGI
- AEM (former name is CQ5) is an in-built framework that abides by OSGi technology. Definitely a powerful module system.
- Normally categorized under Universal Middleware technologies
- Tech OSGI renders standard frameworks. The created applications use small, reusable components.
- The OSGI bundles have a compilation of Java code, scripts, and repository content, basic configuration files, and log files.
- Apache Felix is an open-source implementation including the OSGi framework and services.
Back to CQ
- Web Content Management (CQ WCM) takes care of the page creation and publishing to the website.
- CQ Workflow Engine is a user-friendly and robust engine running on a CQ5 platform. Java API and RESTful HTTP interface support outside applications. Within this structure, all requisitions for creating or publishing content, approvals, and sign-offs are inclusive.
- The needed logic for the actual content is provided by the CQ Components. It contains templates and components like pictures, text, column control, and others. Components are the collection of widgets.
- CQ Widgets are the structural components that help to perform particular user functions, usually with content editing, and also contain dialogs, buttons, radio-boxes, etc.
Adobe Experience Manager Developer Tools for Eclipse
AEM Developer Tools for the Eclipse IDE provides complete access to AEM projects and instances. These tools are an Eclipse plugin based on the plugin for Apache Sling under Apache License 2 license. This plugin renders many features to make AEM development easy.
AEM instances through the Eclipse Server Connector helps to render continuous incorporation with the AEM instances.
- For both content and the OSGI bundles synchronization is feasible.
- It offers de-bugging support with code hot-swapping provision.
- Project Creation Wizard creates the bootstrap of AEM projects.
- JCR properties are easy to edit.
Along with Eclipse IDE, AEM Developer tools are available when installed for Java EE developers. It supports Eclipse Kepler or newer along with others. With the AEM Developer tools,
- AEM version 5.6.1 or newer is compatible
- eclipse.ini configuration file editing can be done to get at least 1GB of heap memory.
Use of Adobe Experience Manager
Project dashboard
AEM Project dashboard provides project management via a central environment. Each project – denoted by a tile. The project is a logical grouping of correlated resources.
Users add pieces of information to projects. Websites and assets – mostly used cases but editors also link external links, team information, project information, and tasks in the projects.
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
AEM DAM (Digital Asset Management) is a tool that helps in the management of the lifecycle of assets throughout their websites. Assets like images, videos, and documents can be stored under a clear folder structure. Drag and Drop over assets are the added advantage. Editors can also operate on other data per asset in addition to the copyright data and metadata. Data edition and publishing are done with ease using DAM.
Editing content
The drag and drop feature enables the addition of extra content on the page. Content editors always work on particular parts of the page( group of components or building blocks) and it is the popular WYSIWYG (“What you see is what you get”) editors. With DAM integration into AEM, Asset search and drag and drop features are enabled.AEM helps create, manage web pages with the preview function in ease.
Adobe Marketing Cloud Integration
Appropriate tools must be chosen to meet the marketing requirements. This helps to take the customer experience to a different level.
AEM is a part of Adobe Marketing Cloud. Hence, the marketing efforts and the AEM efforts are taken up simultaneously. Ultimately, no added efforts are in need. It is a cake-walk to fuse AEM Adobe Analytics, Adobe Campaign, Adobe Target, or other third-party applications.
Components provided OOTB (Out of the box)
The building blocks of Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) are out of the box. The development of a project uses these extraordinary features. This in turn reduces the development cost to a minimum amount. Adobe supports these components when moved to newer versions of AEM. Code minimization can be achieved.
Personalization
One size does not fit all. Each customer is different from another. So the content must be tailored based on the customer profile.
AEM stores information such as the visitor’s location, interest, search history, usage. In short, discounts are provided on the basis of the purchase history of the customer.
Features of Adobe Experience Manager
Let’s discuss the features of AEM.
Search anything swiftly
The Omni-search feature can be used to search the repository to access all kinds of data. It includes assets, components, templates, and pages in AEM for productivity.
Custom Templates
Adobe Experience Manager renders form-based templates, HTML5 based templates, and drag-drop features. Using content, layout, and structure, business users can build custom templates. This user-friendly editor makes the developer’s work easier.
Social Power
One of the successful content marketing requirements is efficiency. Efficiency and content marketing strategies can be improved using social power.
Personalization
Personalization is achieved with the integration of Adobe Target with AEM. It ensures delivery of the content to the respective audience
Global Expansion
Using a multi-site manager, international brands can extend their sites to reach different localities and regions.
Localization
AEM embeds content localization with the help of machine translation. It studies the places where the translation is needed to improve digital efficiency.
Role of Adobe Experience Manager Developer
Knowledge of all levels of the Web development stack is required for the AEM developer. Many technologies outside of the Enterprise Content Management should be known. We can see the importance of Adobe Experience Manager developer in few areas of a development project
UX Design (User Experience)
Wire-framing is the first step to begin the AEM development. In the planning stages, AEM developers with architects will give an efficient start in the development. The AEM developers know user interactions, user experience, and architecture by now.
Front-end Development
The front-end code knowledge is essential for the AEM developer. The languages like Gulp/Grunt, NPM, and Node.js must be known. Front-end development languages like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, jQuery are expected.
Adobe Experience Manager Component Development
The AEM component development uses HTML Templating language (earlier known as Sightly) and is not using JSPs. Dialogue building ( in XML), and client library development (specific to AEM development) are involved in this stage. This will allow adding content to the elements as given by the dialog box. HTML Templating language is used for performing most of the functions and Java code is used to do complex problems.
Adobe Experience Manager OSGi and Servlets Development
An AEM developer requires knowledge of annotations, the OSGi framework, and the basic life-cycle of the OSGi component. You can use OSGi Service, instead of referring to an OSGi component. General Java development and request/response lifecycle knowledge are essential to understand most of this.
Final Words
We have seen Adobe Experience Manager in detail. It is the best Content Management solution to enhance the efficiency of strategy implementation in no time.
We have also understood that AEM architecture is robust and its compatibility with Eclipse IDE.
Apart from AEM, there is a huge list of the best website content management tools.
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Thus AEM ensures scalability and content velocity with its new features.