Content modeling for projects that have to ship

Content modeling is a critical part of modern digital projects; because so many parts of a project depend on it, creating and "locking it in" is a top priority. Unfortunately, getting it right requires deep knowledge of how diverse teams create and use your organization's content — and *that* takes time few projects can afford.

Whether you're building a site from scratch or using a turn-key Drupal distribution, content modeling is a critical part of any CMS project. Drupal provides incredibly powerful content modeling tools that are accessible even to non-programmers, but figuring out what content to build with them is still a sticking point for many teams. What seems like simple configuration becomes a roadblock for design, development, and editorial teams and holds great projects back.

In this workshop, Drupal veterans Jeff Eaton and Greg Dunlap will lead attendees through the core principles of content modeling and bulletproof techniques that combine deep review of a projecty's existing content resources with high-level ideation. Attendees will tackle hands-on exercises covering entity definition, content inventory and auditing, building a data dictionary, and using wireframes to validate the assumptions in a data-centric model. By the end of this day, attendees will have concrete tools to improve their current projects and a solid foundation for their future ones.