The document discusses how content strategy is affected by the Gutenberg block editor in WordPress. It describes how the block editor has impacted editorial workflows, author experience, and the ability to scale and distribute content. Specifically, it notes that the block editor allows more flexible content creation but also resets layouts and interfaces. This can introduce challenges for accessibility, intuitive use, and managing overrides. The document provides recommendations for templates, shared blocks, advanced plugins, and content modeling to help organizations adapt their strategies for the new editor environment.

1. Content Strategy in
a Gutenberg World
Lightning Talk, WCPHX 2019
@jamieschmid
g

2. I’m Jamie Schmid
WordPress Strategy & Development
Proud cat mom in Portland, OR
@jamieschmid
Hello!
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3. What is
Content Strategy?
3

4. What is Content Strategy?
Content Strategy guides the
rules, processes, people
involved in the way we plan,
create, govern, maintain and
deliver content. ”
Given the wide breadth of the field, Content Strategists often act as liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work more efficiently, effectively or productively.
More info on the practice of Content Strategy: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/content-strategy.html 4
“

5. What is Content Strategy?
Content Strategy guides the
rules, processes, people
involved in the way we plan,
create, govern, maintain and
deliver content. ”
Given the wide breadth of the field, Content Strategists often act as liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work more efficiently, effectively or productively.
More info on the practice of Content Strategy: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/content-strategy.html 5
“
ARCHITECTURE
ANALYSIS
TAGS
EDITORIAL CALENDAR

6. What is Content Strategy?
Content Strategy guides the
rules, processes, people
involved in the way we plan,
create, govern, maintain and
deliver content. ”
Given the wide breadth of the field, Content Strategists often act as liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work more efficiently, effectively or productively.
More info on the practice of Content Strategy: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/content-strategy.html 6
“
INFOGRAPHICS
PLANNING
ARCHITECTURE
ANALYSIS
PRESENTATION
AUDIENCE
TAGS
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
METADATA
CONTENT ENTRY

7. What is Content Strategy?
Content Strategy guides the
rules, processes, people
involved in the way we plan,
create, govern, maintain and
deliver content. ”
Given the wide breadth of the field, Content Strategists often act as liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work more efficiently, effectively or productively.
More info on the practice of Content Strategy: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/content-strategy.html 7
1
“
INFOGRAPHICS
PLANNING
BUSINESS GOALS
ARCHITECTURE
ANALYSIS
PRESENTATION
IMAGES
AUDIENCE
TAGS
VIDEO
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
USER EXPERIENCE
METADATA
MEASUREMENT
CONTENT ENTRY
COMMUNICATION
INFORMATION LIFECYCLE

8. What is Content Strategy?
Content Strategy guides the
rules, processes, people
involved in the way we plan,
create, govern, maintain and
deliver content. ”
Given the wide breadth of the field, Content Strategists often act as liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work more efficiently, effectively or productively.
More info on the practice of Content Strategy: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/content-strategy.html 8
1
“
INFOGRAPHICS
PLANNING
BUSINESS GOALS
ARCHITECTURE
ANALYSIS
PRESENTATION
IMAGES
AUDIENCE
TAGS
VIDEO
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
USER EXPERIENCE
METADATA
MEASUREMENT
GRAPHICS
CONTENT ENTRY
COMMUNICATION
INFORMATION LIFECYCLE
DEVELOPMENT
LINKS
GOVERNANCE
DISTRIBUTION
IMPACT
DAT
A
INTERACTION
MEDIA
CREATION
MANAGEMENT
DELIVERY
SEMANTICS

9. 9
But...

10. ?
Given the wide berth of the field,
Content Strategists often act as
liaisons between different
departments, helping everyone work
more efficiently, effectively or
productively.
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(Often all three!)

11. ?
Whatever your role, whatever you do
in the world that has brought you to
this WordCamp, learning about
Content Strategy will help you do some
aspect of your job better.
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12. But why Content Strategy
in a Gutenberg world?
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13. In what areas has the block editor affected
the way we plan, govern, create, maintain or
deliver content?
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14. In what areas has the block editor affected
the way we plan, govern, create, maintain or
deliver content?
Roles &
Editorial
Workflow
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15. In what areas has the block editor affected
the way we plan, govern, create, maintain or
deliver content?
Author
Experience
Roles &
Editorial
Workflow
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16. In what areas has the block editor affected
the way we plan, govern, create, maintain or
deliver content?
Author
Experience
Roles &
Editorial
Workflow
16
Scaling &
Distribution

17. Editorial Workflow
The established rules, processes,
and roles involved in taking a piece
of content from concept to
published.
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18. 18
Author Experience (AX)
How a system manages its user’s
ability to create the type of content
they want. WYSIWYG, navigation,
preview, access and control in the
Admin.

19. Scaling & Distribution
Ability to publish content within a
system, and to third parties outside
the system. The ability to increase in
size as demand warrants.
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Shared Paid
Owned
website
social
app
mentions
mobile
social
ppc
promotion
retargeting
email
blog
search
reviews
affiliate

20. Does it affect me?
User Roles and Editorial Workflow
Who is in charge
of decisions and
execution of visual
design?
The block editor can
now do much more
than enter content.
Does it take longer to
do basic content
entry than before?
Working with design
decisions, buggy
controls, and an editor
that is not ADA
accessible adds
significant cognitive
load to an author.
What layouts and
content types does
your site design
accommodate?
The block editor
introduces new layouts
and content types into
your site.
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21. Does it affect me?
Author Experience
Are things where you
expect them to be?
The block editor has
changed significantly,
with many controls
and options in menus
both visible and
hidden on screen.
Is the page structured
in a way that is
efficient to input
content correctly?
Many sites are built to
accommodate the
organization’s unique
content needs. The
block editor resets
admin editor layouts.
Are the tools intuitive
and easy to use?
The block editor still
has some bugs in the
interface, and has major
accessibility issues.
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22. Does it affect me?
Scalability & Distribution
Page level design and
layouts overrides
global settings.
These individual
design overrides are a
nightmare to manage
and update.
In what content types
does your content
reside?
Widgets, custom post
types, custom fields,
Customizer, themes,
plugins - add to this a
new, complex, default
content type just got
added.
How is your content
shared and published
to third parties?
The API has changed,
CPT’s don’t natively
support Gutenberg,
shared blocks are
required for global
content. And how will it
scale?
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23. How can we work in
this new space?
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24. 24
What can we do?
Block Editor Templates
A future feature, the editor is
expected to have default
template layouts that can be
locked for editing on individual
pages.
Shared Blocks
Blocks can be saved as shared
blocks to create content that is
available across the whole site in
any page.
Advanced Gutenberg, Advanced
Gutenberg Blocks Plugin
Adds role based access,
disabling blocks, setting color
palettes, disabling editor
features, default block
configuration..
Disabling Default Blocks
Available via code in your
functions.php file or plugin,
possibly a future core feature.
Content Modeling
The process of modeling and
planning your content types
against WordPress’ content
types for an organized structure
and workflow.
Avoid Page level Style Overrides
Set global styles on text, colors,
margins and images, avoiding
unmanageable page level
overrides that will be difficult to
change across the site.

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Just knowing these things is the first place to
start. So you’ve already started! Nice work!
Be aware of the challenges.
Get organized. Understand your
content needs. Have a plan. Know
what is important to your
organization, and make informed,
strategic decisions from there.

26. Let’s talk !
@jamieschmid
hello@jamieschmid.com
Thank You!
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