XperienCentral R50

A New Era for Content Editing: XC Introduces a Completely Redesigned Rich Text Editor!

The wait is over: XC proudly presents an all-new rich text editor, developed with a focus on ease of use, speed, and functionality. This editor is not just an update - it’s a complete redesign that fundamentally transforms the way you edit and manage content.

With the new editor, you gain access to innovative features, such as inline tables and the convenient Outline View, as well as significant improvements in areas that impact your daily workflow. Think of a smoother drag-and-drop experience and an intelligent copy-and-paste function, making it effortless to transfer content from external sources like Word documents.

More Intuitive and Efficient Than Ever

The biggest leap forward lies in the overall functionality of the editor. Whether you’re navigating through text, editing lists, moving elements, adjusting tables, configuring layouts, or adding personalized blocks - everything now feels more natural and faster. Moving components with drag-and-drop, copying and pasting content, and adding or removing elements have all been optimized for seamless workflow. You’ll notice immediately that every action requires fewer clicks and less effort, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: creating engaging content.

Faster Load Times, Reduced Network Load

Beyond the improved user experience, performance has also been a key focus. Loading larger content items is now more efficient than ever. This means not only faster response times but also a reduction in the number of requests needed to load a content item in XC. The results speak for themselves: load times have been reduced by approximately 10% to 20%, and network traffic has decreased by around 15%. This ensures a smoother and more enjoyable editing experience, even with complex or extensive content.

The New Editor

Below, we highlight a selection of the new features in the editor. While this is not an exhaustive list, it provides a good first impression of the possibilities offered by the renewed editor.

Component Toolbars

When you hover over a selectable component - such as an element, layout, table, or personalized block - a toolbar appears. This toolbar indicates the type of component at that position;

Once you select the component, the toolbar expands to show additional options. Some options are available for all components. The selection toolbar looks like this;

By default, the toolbar for a component allows you to:

• Add a new line before or after the component.
• Delete the component.
• Drag the component to a new position using the "drag" button (top left).

Layouts 

When you select a layout, additional options specific to layouts appear, such as changing the layout or its variant;

Individual fields within a layout are also selectable. The toolbar then displays the field name, including any subfields, making it clear to the editor what content can be inserted into the layout field;

Navigating Between Components 

The toolbar sometimes displays a button with an up-arrow icon. This button allows you to select the parent component:

• For text within a layout field (as shown in the screenshot below), the parent component is the layout field itself.
• For a layout field, the parent component is the layout. Since layouts and tables can be nested infinitely deep, this button helps you navigate to the desired level.

Drag & Drop

Selectable components can be freely moved across the content item by:

• Clicking and holding the mouse button on the element itself, or
• Using the drag icon in the top-left corner of the selection bar.

Placement Assistance 

In areas where an element can be placed, an additional bar with the text "Drop..." sometimes appears. These bars are only shown in places where positioning the element might otherwise be difficult. They help you place the element exactly where you want it.

Personalizations

You can personalize content using the "Add Personalization" option in the rich text toolbar. The process of managing personalization variants has been simplified compared to the previous editor. Where the old interface was complex and sometimes unclear, the new process is more intuitive and user-friendly.

New Inline Table

In R50, an inline version of the table is now available. This table can be edited directly from the canvas. Using the rich text toolbar, you can easily add a new table with the desired dimensions;

The table supports the most common options, such as adding and removing rows and columns, splitting and merging cell and aligning content horizontally and vertically;

Additionally, you can insert complex components like elements, layouts, and personalizations into these tables. The ability to nest layouts within tables (and vice versa), even many layers deep, is a unique feature that most standard rich text editors do not offer.

Outline View

The new editor now includes the Outline View, a handy feature that makes the structure of your content more transparent. In this view, all top-level components are marked, and all components within the selected components are displayed.

In the example below, the "content" field within an Accordion layout is selected. The Outline View then shows all components that are part of this layout.

An important feature of the Outline View is its custom selection logic. For example, if you click on the image in the screemnshot above, the first click selects the layout, the second click selects the layout field, and only the third click selects the image element itself. This allows you to navigate through the page structure layer by layer. With the Outline View disabled, the image element would be selected directly with a single click.

Quick Image Insertion

Another new feature is the ability to quickly insert an image without first having to create a separate image element. The rich text toolbar now includes an "Insert Image" option, allowing you to upload an image directly from your local computer or select one from the Content Repository, where it is automatically converted into an image element.

Enabling/Disabling Options

All rich text options can be enabled or disabled for all users via Channel Configuration. For example, if you don’t want to use the new inline table or headers H4 to H6, you can disable them in the channel settings;