Knowledge resources for Episerver

If you're evaluating Episerver CMS/Commerce

• What's a CMS?

  If you've never used a CMS before, it might all seem a bit overwhelming. You'll soon encounter terms like customer jouneys, personalisation and email automation. Nice buzzwords and all, but a bit vague for the uninitiated. All of these are advanced concepts that you certainly can achieve using Episerver as a platform, but for many clients, this is realistically implemented further down the road. The great thing about Episerver is that you can start out using it strictly as a publishing platform, and scale up in line with your organisation's needs. 

• Technical evaluation

  On the surface, the hard facts and overviews about Episerver's features and possibilites are somewhat overshadowed by glossy marketing and high-level prose. . It's all there, but it requires a bit of digging. The Technical Evaluator's Guide provides a detailed overview of architecture, performance, deployment and integrations. The Resources section on episerver.com features both video tutorials, ebooks and webinars demonstrating the platform's capabilities. Episerver's YouTube channel features a number of videos on both features and content editing. And of course, the Episerver World has technical documentation of the platform and related services.

• Independent analyst reports

  US based analysts Gartner conduct an annual evaluation and ranking of the various CMS/WCM vendors on the market. Episerver have long been climbing in these rankings, and have for the past two consecutive years been ranked in the "Leaders" section. This type of analyst report may have a larger impact in markets like the US, where Episerver is still just one of many big fishes is the pond (we don't see the same number of "heavy hitters" in the mid/enterprise market in Scandinavia). Still, the report gives an enlightening summary of Episerver's strengths and improvement potential compared to other vendors. Download the report "Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management", compliments of Episerver. 

• System requirements

  The IT department still plays a big part in the CMS evaluation and purchasing prosess. They need to know the system/environment requirements of Episerver, how to secure the platform, and how to lay the frameworks for integrations between systems. All this and more is available at Episerver World, along with system requirements for traditional on-premise server environments as well as cloud-based hosting (Digital Experience Cloud). 

If you're an Episerver editor

• Instructional videos
  

  Episerver offers several instructional videos in the use of the editing interface and advanced marketing features. 

• Interactive user manual
  

  The Episerver user manual is available online, sporting examples usage of all the features, menus and configuration options, for both built-in and add-on functionality. 

• Official training courses
  

  There are several introduction courses to the Episerver editing experience, being held all around the world. If you're new to Episerver, you'll find this is a great place to start. Episerver's course instructors will be able to explain to you both how and why features work the way they do - in plain, not-too-technical language. 

• Demo sites
  

  Documentation and videos are fine, but playing with the actual product is much more impactful. Episerver have setup several demo sites that allow you to login to edit mode and try out how stuff works. The demo sites focus on demonstrating realistic site environments where content (CMS), search (Episerver Find) and retail (Commerce) can be combined to create rich user experiences - and great creative freedom for editors. 
  
  Note the login details on the demo site description page.
  
  CMS + Find: "QJet Airlines"  (edit: demo site now deprecated)
  Commerce + Find: "Quanta"  (edit: demo site now deprecated)
  Cloud-based Episerver: Microsoft Azure Marketplace

• Custom editor training

  Most Episerver partners (like Epinova) will offer custom-tailored editor training using the actual site they have built for you. Compared to a generic demo site, getting hands-on experience with your own page templates, block types and settings will leave you with a deeper understanding and lasting impression. 

• User groups

  There are several user groups (both open and closed) on Facebook and Linkedin. Not all of them are still active (or have that much traction), but you may find one in your country that is. Or, you can do what we did at Epinova in Norway - started our own! (Norwegian-speaking only, apologies for the shameless plug).

If you're an Episerver developer

• Episerver World 

  This is the go-to place for all technical documentation surrounding Episerver's various platforms and products. Here you'll find forums for CMS, Commerce and Add-ons, API documentation, blogs by Episerver developers around the world, EMVPs and Epi employees, bug lists and how to contact tech support. 

• Release notes
  

  Since Episerver is continually releasing new versions every week, you might want to stay up to date on what's included in each release. 

• Stack Overflow
  

  Even though Episerver World has the most activity (and is being monitored most closely) when it comes to Episerver related Q&A, many also post in the Episerver forum over on StackOverflow.

• Meetups
  

  In many countries, there are dedicated local meetup groups for Episerver developers, who gather several times a year at various locations to discuss tech trends, showcase innovations, and socialize. These meetups are usually entirely developer centric, and marketing fluff free. Organization is a voluntary effort, and various Episerver partners generously offer to host the meetups in their premises.
  
  Currently, there are meetup groups in Serbia (Belgrade), USA (Chicago, New York), UK (London, Manchester), Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), Norway (Oslo), Finland (Helsinki) and the Netherlands (Haarlem) - with more probably to come!

• Episerver Ascend
  

  The new Episerver Ascend conference concept has become the go-to place for information about upcoming product releases, top practices, and new technology in the Episerver ecosystem. With annual events in Stockholm, London and Las Vegas, there are many chances to attend and experience the inspirational atmosphere. 

• Developer courses
  

  During a 3-day course, you'll learn all you need to know to get up to speed with developing Episerver sites on the CMS or Commerce platforms. Courses are being held all over the world, so check out one near you. 

• Developer certification (ECD)
  

  After a couple of successful project implementations, you should consider attempting the Episerver Certified Developer (ECD) exam to prove your skills. Contact your local Episerver office for available certification dates - online (remote) certification is also available in certain regions. Certifications are valid for 2 years. 

• Twitter
  

  Lots of the top people from within Episerver and the community are on Twitter, sharing tips, blogs, insights and discussions. A filtered Twitter search is a useful way to discover users worth following.