Blogs

A New And Improved dotCMS: Fall 2020 State of Affairs

Will Ezell

The year 2020 has shown that digital transformation has become a must for companies and brands of every size. According to McKinsey, the adoption of digital channels among US consumers has been growing, and 73% of consumers have changed the way they shop and purchase products.

Also, other trends like more people working from home --and staying at home-- as well as the significant need for collaboration has increased the speed of adoption of new technologies that enable technical and business users to build digital experiences.

In this article, we want to share with you some of the most exciting developments we’ve made and the vision we have for 2021 and beyond.

dotCMS’ 2020 Focus Areas

During 2020, we’ve been focusing on three main areas: NoCode development, interoperability, and product experience. Let’s see these focus areas a bit closer.

NoCode

No-code and Low-code development have been part of our cornerstones this year because we want to empower non-technical users, so that they become as independent as possible in their day-to-day operations. At the same time, we believe that by empowering non-technical users, developers can focus on innovating and architecting, which is what really moves the needle and reduces costs in the end.

Read More: What Is A Low-Code Digital Experience Platform?

Interoperability

When people build platforms and digital experiences, the CMS is only a part of the equation. A fundamental part, yes, but a part nonetheless. This year, we’ve aimed at making interoperability and integrability two of our main tenets so that companies can integrate their tech stack into dotCMS following the best of breed approach.

Read More: Best of Breed CMS - The Hub for the Your DXP

Product Experience

Another interesting thing about 2020 is that the changing expectations of the users have changed the role omnichannel digital experiences play in the consumer journey. Now, more than ever, the ability to collaborate seamlessly with other team members who are not in the same office and still deliver valuable content to visitors is fundamental to stay afloat. That’s why we’ve aimed at putting dotCMS’ product experience at the forefront.

Read More: Omnichannel Doesn't Mean You Have To Be On Every Channel

dotCMS 2020 Accomplishments

Several interesting things have happened this year, and we’re excited to see the direction dotCMS is taking thanks to these new advancements.

  • dotCMS Apps: Apps allow for easy integrations with the internet app ecosystem. Initially, we ship with integrations for SAML/Single Sign On, Google Translate, Edit Mode Anywhere and Amazon Rekognition. We expect this list to grow as more Apps and App plugins are developed and incorporated into dotCMS.
  • Externalized ElasticSearch: All content in dotCMS is indexed by Elasticsearch. Also, with the dotCMS Enterprise Edition, users get an exposed Elasticsearch endpoint that can be used to query the content store with native Elasticsearch queries using the ElasticSearch JSON format.
  • JAMstack Support: In 2020 we worked hard to make it possible for users to build and deploy JAMstack sites using NextJS and GraphQL and make everything editable in real-time using Edit Mode Anywhere.
  • dotAssets: dotAssets are a type of file within dotCMS that is managed in a repository fashion, based on the type of file, instead of being tied to a specific URL based on the Site Browser tree.
  • Granular Push Publishing: Our push publishing feature now gives users fine grain control when pushing content from one environment to another. Users can select to push only content that meets a criteria or to filter a push publish to never include objects of a specific type. 

2020 and Beyond: What’s Next for dotCMS

These are some of the things that are happening in 2020 and that will carry on to 2021.

  • Tackling technical debt: This includes updating our content model and simplifying Legacy DB models.
  • SPA/GraphQL tooling: This includes implementing navigation and page APIs in GraphQL.
  • NoCode Route/Page Builder: This allows the creation of layouts, pages, and endpoints without building templates and containers.
  • Updating to Angular 10: This entails a 40% reduction in file sizes and will push our UI forward.
  • ARM Support: ARM enables multiarch Docker images, and it’s also an ascendant technology.
  • Improved calendar versioning: This will provide an instant answer to the question: ‘Is dotCMS out of date?’
  • Revamping the editor experience: We’ve added a new, block-styled WYSIWYG editor and improved our collaborative editing capabilities.
  • Deeper Redis Integration: Redis has become part of our stack and we’re using it to wire our clusters to allow real-time collaboration.
  • Moving to Java 11: This upgrade brings benefits to object allocation and lower latency.

What Does The Future Hold for dotCMS?

Now that we’ve shown you what’s in the pipeline for the rest of 2020, we want to share with you what’s in the future. Take a look.

  • Moving our configuration to GIT,
  • Easier and improved content management in the cloud,
  • ‘Tagagories,’ a new, friendly taxonomy that merges tags and categories,
  • Interaction between the command-line client with the dotCMS installation.


This article is a written version of our most recent webinar. If you want to watch the video alongside the article, take a look at it here:

dotCMS is a hybrid headless CMS that offers users the freedom of a headless CMS with the full functionality of a traditional CMS. If you want to learn more about dotCMS and the hybrid architecture, read our guide on the subject: The Ultimate Headless CMS Checklist.

Will Ezell
Chief Technology Officer
October 25, 2020

Filed Under:

roadmap

Recommended Reading

Headless CMS vs Hybrid CMS: How dotCMS Goes Beyond Headless

What’s the difference between a headless CMS and a hybrid CMS, and which one is best suited for an enterprise?

Why Global Brands Need a Multi-tenant CMS

Maintaining or achieving a global presence requires effective use of resources, time and money. Single-tenant CMS solutions were once the go-to choices for enterprises to reach out to different market...

14 Benefits of Cloud Computing and Terminology Glossary to Get You Started

What is cloud computing, and what benefits does the cloud bring to brands who are entering into the IoT era?