Familiarizing yourself with the new user interface

Terminology changes

We have done extensive renaming of products, applications, and feature functions to more clearly reflect their purpose. Some capabilities have been refactored or consolidated to address feedback and reduce complexity.

Removed interface elements

The following interfaces were removed as Jahia 8 introduces improved functionality resulting from user experience research coupled with user feedback. The following elements have been removed in Jahia 8:

• Contribute mode
  Jahia 8 introduces Page Composer which improves and replaces functionality in both Edit mode and Contribute mode with a more user-friendly experience.
• The left panels in Edit mode
  The Create, Content, Files, Search, and Categories panels in the left navigation were also removed with Edit mode as users can now more easily use jContent to perform tasks such as searching, copying, and categorizing content.
• Trash
  Customer feedback indicated that the Trash feature was overly complex and didn’t provide the necessary functionality. Instead, you can use the Content Reports module to generate a report of content that is marked for deletion.
• Document Manager, Content Manager and Site Manager
  Functionality offered here became obsolete when Content and Media Manager was released with Jahia 7.3.1.0. They have been removed from Jahia 8.

Major UI changes

The Jahia blue navigation menu has been replaced by a vertical navigation bar on the left of the page. You can use it to navigate everywhere on the Jahia platform, including to:

• your dashboard to find useful resources and links on your new home page.
• the Workflow dashboard to validate publication requests. No need to go to Edit mode to find the Workflow dashboard. It's already here in the main navigation!
• Page Composer to contribute content in pages.
• jContent to manage your files, search your content, and access advanced features in the new Additional section.
• jExperience to use visitor date to improve their digital experiences. Access is direct now, no need to navigate to the Site Settings in Edit mode to find it!
• the Category Manager to create and organize the categories that you apply to content.
• Sites administration to manage settings specific to a site, for example, users, groups, and languages.
• Server administration to manage individual sites and the platform.

You will also notice that our interfaces are getting more and more consistent. The entire navigation experience in the Jahia platform is now much easier, you will quickly find your way!

Content Editing UI

In the editing UI in 7.3, you needed to use several tabs to edit the properties of a piece of content: Content, Metadata, Layout, Options, Categories and List Ordering. In Content Editor, all these tabs are now editable from one page and the properties can be accessed by scrolling down. Each tab has been converted to a section and the properties are grouped in the same way.

Content Editor introduces several key changes:

• Save button
  You can now save your changes without closing the window. This makes it easier to regularly save your work.
• Content Preview
  Content Editor integrates a preview of your content. So you can preview your changes without leaving the Content Editing interface.
• Rich text/CKEditor
  The CKEditor version has been upgraded to 4.13
• Copy to all languages
  The Copy to all languages feature has been removed. A new Copy from option has been introduced. This feature allows an editor to use another language to prefill the current language values. 
• System name
  The system name of content can now be edited in the Options section in Content Editor. Note that the synchronization with title is not yet available.

Reorganization of Site Settings interface

Jahia 7.3 included a wide variety of content under the Site Settings menu, including modules, user roles, tag management, and more. In Jahia 8, the new user interface separates the Site Settings entries into two sections that you access from the navigation menu.

• jContent>Additional
  In jContent, a new accordion style menu includes Pages, Content Folders, Media and Additional. Content management features such as Page Models, Link Checker, Tag manager, and Vanity URLs previously found in Site Settings are here. Custom features can also be added to this menu. 
• Administration>Sites
  An accordion style menu built for administrative users with an entry each for server and site administration. Administration functions previously located under Site Settings that were specific to site administration can be found here. These items include, for instance site users, site groups, and site roles. This menu can also be extended to add custom administration settings.

jExperience

jExperience can now be accessed from the main navigation by clicking on the jExperience icon . jExperience features are now split into two main areas: Projects and Global. 
Under Projects, you’ll find:

• AB Tests and personalizations
• Metrics including dashboard/goals, site searches, referrers, most visited pages, and campaign tracking
• Profiling tools including segments, scoring plans, and lists
• Form mappings 
• Consent manager

Under Global, you’ll find: 

• Audience including profiles and preview personas
• Settings including Profile properties manager and connections to Unomi
• Integrations including rules, profiles export and import, and StackConnect