What Significant Capability Advancements Were Introduced in Sitefinity Product Lines 14 and 15?

New Enhanced Content Editor Experience

The new Enhanced Content Editor Experience in Sitefinity is designed to streamline the workflow for content editors and non-technical users. This feature addresses the challenges of onboarding and the non-intuitive, time-consuming editor workflows, offering a more productive and flexible environment. Let's delve into the specific benefits:

Who is this for?

• Content editors
• Non-technical, less-specialized users

What pain points does it solve?

• Difficulty in onboarding non-technical users
• Non-intuitive time-consuming editor workflows

Benefits

• Ease of use and zero-day onboarding for editors and business users
• Enhanced out-of-the box productivity features improving editor experience
• Reuse of content blocks across pages eliminating duplication and redundancy

Total Value Realized

• А 50% increase in efficiency for content editors enabling them to complete 25% more work in the same time frame
• Reduced duplication of effort, resulting doubling the time for creative and strategic tasks

The new editor UI is part of ASP.NET Core, was introduced with version Sitefinity 14.0. Progress recommends using Sitefinity 14.4 LTS for enhanced content editing and support.

New Headless ASP.NET Core and Next.js Renderers

The Sitefinity renderers for ASP.NET Core and Next.js are custom layers built on top of Next.js enhances the website’s presentation and layout, providing users with a finely tuned visual experience. Leveraging server-side rendering (SSR) capabilities, this layer allows for greater customization, faster rendering and optimized user interactions. By supporting ASP.NET Core and Next.js natively, the renderers offer both flexibility and control, so that content is displayed efficiently and attractively. This innovative feature perfectly aligns with the needs of front-end developers, offering them the tools to create high-performing, SEO-friendly websites.

Who is this for?

• Front-end Developers
• Content Architects

What pain points does it solve?

• Lengthy website presentation layer development cycles
• Time-consuming custom coding and widget development
• Limited flexibility for developers when working within pre-built templates and non-flexible outdated technologies

Benefits

• Flexibility for developers to use their front-end technology of choice
• Platform-independent front-end development with ASP.NET Core/Next.js
• Large library of ready-to-use, customizable widgets

Total Value Realized

• 30% reduction in time for widget development and custom coding
• Faster time to launch of new websites and applications
• Less technical depth simplifying upgrades

Sitefinity Next.js capabilities are available from version 15.2. It is advisable to always adopt the latest available version to fully leverage Sitefinity features for both marketers and developers.

Integration Hub

Sitefinity Integration Hub offers a low-code yet comprehensive solution for marketing operations and IT management enabling resource- and cost-efficient integration with multiple systems and business logic automation. It addresses the complexity of manual tasks and IT bottlenecks, facilitating faster adoption of new applications and increasing overall efficiency. Let’s delve into the specific benefits:

Who is this for?

• Marketing Ops
• IT/Infrastructure Management

What pain points does it solve?

• Complexity of integrating multiple systems
• Time-consuming manual and repetitive tasks
• IT dependence and integration bottlenecks
• Slow adoption of new and critical business applications

Benefits

• Low code integration and business logic automation
• Low-integration barrier for 1000+ systems of record and martech tools
• Simplified prebuilt event-driven process integration workflows
• Reduced integration time and complexities
• Faster adoption of new applications, accelerating data and intelligence and cutting time to market

Total Value Realized

• Reduction in repetitive tasks
• Increased efficiency and productivity with up to 90% faster implementation of new integrations (time can be reduced from 1-2 months to 2-3 days for each system integration between Sitefinity and third-party systems)
• Significantly lower IT workload, freeing developers for strategic projects

Sitefinity Integration Hub is available as of Sitefinity 15.0 for users who have adopted Sitefinity Cloud or Sitefinity Insight. Progress recommends upgrading to the latest available version, 15.2, to take full advantage of additional Integration Hub functionality enhancements.

Gen AI Tools for Content Editors

Sitefinity offers out-of-the-box Gen AI capabilities through Azure OpenAI integration, allowing organizations to fine-tune usage policies. Content editors and marketers can generate high-quality, SEO-friendly content securely within the content editor, overcoming creativity blocks, streamlining production and boosting productivity.

Who is this for?

• Content editors
• Content creators
• Marketers, SEO Specialists

What pain points does it solve?

• Using unapproved third-party tools for Gen AI content
• Data protection and security risks
• SEO-proofed content for campaigns and buyer journeys

Benefits

Secure Gen AI tools natively integrated into the editor UI

• Ability to create text from scratch, summarize and improve language and tone
• AI-enhanced content classification
• Option to add or customize actions based on business needs
• Accelerating content ideation and enhancing creative productivity
• Increased efficiency for content editors
• Context-aware content generation to meet SEO, campaign marketing and thought leadership needs
• Option to integrate custom Gen AI-powered functions into the content editor UI via low-code workflows with Sitefinity Integration Hub.

Total Value Realized

• 100% increase in content editor efficiency
• Time savings and improved productivity
• Better quality content

Sitefinity Gen AI features are available as of Sitefinity 15.0. Progress recommends adopting the latest version, 15.2, to take full advantage of additional feature enhancements related to Gen AI capabilities, such as AI-assisted content classification.

Other Notable Features and Enhancements

Since version 14.0, a multitude of features, fixes and enhancements have been released, solidifying Sitefinity as the preferred choice for developers and marketers alike. Make sure to review the Sitefinity Release Timeline for full details.

These advancements have significantly boosted productivity and efficiency, offering unparalleled ease of use and zero onboarding effort with new features. The platform's straightforward content management capabilities so that users can quickly adapt and leverage the power of Sitefinity, making it an invaluable tool for delivering exceptional digital experiences.

Some of the most notable features include

• Enhanced Sitefinity templates and sections control, maintaining consistency in the presentation of pages and layouts
• Sitefinity integrates with Cloudinary for optimized media management and delivery and Frontify for centralized brand asset management, enabling content creators, developers and marketing teams to streamline content workflows, maintain brand consistency and enhance digital experiences directly within the Sitefinity CMS.
• New search facets powered by Azure Cognitive Search and Elasticsearch provide a configurable search experience with advanced filtering and customizable behavior in Sitefinity, delivering faster, more relevant results to boost content discoverability and user engagement.
• Content personalization by device type providing users greater flexibility when designing personalization workflows across channels
• Customizable Sitefinity backend dashboard allowing users to have quick access to the most widely used pages, monitor for issues, track project and more
• Front-end development with the industry’s most popular React-based framework – Next.js, enhancing development speed, website performance, SEO and more.
• Backend extensibility through Angular-based microapps enabling users to customize the platform's content editing experience to meet specific needs
• Improved SiteSync functionality resolving content dependencies and providing users with greater control in parent-child page scenarios