The Sitefinity Module Builder is a powerful tool that plays a huge role in website content management within the Sitefinity CMS ecosystem. It allows users to create modules and serves as the foundation for efficient and customized website management, empowering users to easily create and tailor content. As a Sitefinity development agency, Americaneagle.com has worked with multiple clients in many industries maximizing the full capabilities of this dynamic technology.
What is the Sitefinity Module Builder?
The Sitefinity Module Builder simplifies content management tasks and significantly enhances the user experience by allowing for the quick creation and deployment of custom modules tailored to specific website needs. This tool allows website administrators to create modules beyond the built-in ones. The Sitefinity Module Builder streamlines the process of organizing and presenting diverse content on a website as users can easily design custom data types, fields, and relationships without having extensive coding knowledge. This capability not only improves the efficiency of content management but also provides a high level of control and flexibility, allowing for the seamless integration of custom widgets and themes.
The Sitefinity Module Builder plays a crucial role in enhancing the overall user experience by offering a robust framework for rapidly creating and deploying custom modules tailored to specific website needs, ensuring that content management tasks are simplified and website visitors enjoy a more engaging and personalized experience.
Benefits of Sitefinity Module Builder
The Sitefinity Module Builder offers several advantages for website management, including the following:
- Improved content management efficiency
- Enhanced user engagement
- More opportunities for website customization
This not only simplifies the organization and presentation of diverse content but also enables administrators to maintain and update content more efficiently.
Additionally, the Sitefinity Module Builder enhances user engagement by providing the flexibility to create custom data types, fields, and relationships without extensive coding knowledge. This capability allows for the seamless integration of custom widgets and themes, thereby enriching the user experience with dynamic and personalized content.
It also facilitates website customization by empowering website administrators to create additional modules beyond the built-in ones, including dynamic modules with hierarchical structures. This level of customization ensures that websites can adapt to evolving business requirements and industry trends, ultimately creating a more tailored and unique web presence.
An example of this can be found on the website of Cintas.com, a work wear, apparel, facilities, first aid and safety, and fire protection company. Cintas wanted to be able to quickly update and display the location information for their many facilities to their users. Their location finder module allows website administrators to quickly add, edit, or delete Cintas locations as needed as well as maintain the services offered at each location. On the frontend, users can search by city, zip code, or state to find the nearest Cintas location to them while also being able to filter down by services offered.
Dynamic Content Creation with Sitefinity Module Builder
Creating dynamic content using the Sitefinity Module Builder provides a high level of flexibility for content organization and presentation on a website. By leveraging dynamic modules, website administrators can create content types that are tailored to their website requirements, allowing for the seamless integration of custom widgets and themes while also providing a more efficient manner for content upkeep. Dynamic modules also support hierarchical structures, which means that complex relationships between different content types can be established, giving administrators the freedom to design and implement intricate content models.
Understanding Sitefinity Modules: Built-in Modules vs. Custom Module Builder
Sitefinity has many built-in modules for common use cases. Built-in modules offer standard functionalities and cater to common needs while custom modules provide tailored solutions. Examples of some of these types of modules include news, blogs, and events. The benefits to Sitefinity’s out-of-the-box toolset is that admin users can leverage conventional content types while benefitting from a robust set of built-in functionality features within these tools. The admin user does not necessarily need custom development work to achieve their content needs in these cases.
However, thanks to the flexibility of Sitefinity’s module builder, the option to build a completely custom content type with its own unique set of rules and features is fully available to the user as well. Typically, the Americaneagle.com Sitefinity team will recommend leveraging a mixture of both built-in and custom modules on a website to accommodate the vast needs of the site.
Examples of Custom Modules You Can Create with the Sitefinity Module Builder
Skagit Regional Health provides high quality, comprehensive healthcare to many communities throughout the state of Washington. They wanted to be able to connect patients with a list of physicians that best met their health needs. A custom “provider directory” module was built utilizing the Sitefinity module builder that allows the patient to search Skagit physicians by criteria such as provider name, specialties provided, and city, along with advanced filters like the facility the provider works at, in order to find the right doctor for their specific medical need.
Another great example of a Sitefinity custom module can be found on the Dow Credit Union website. The financial services provider aims to improve the lives of members, employees, and neighbors to build stronger, more vibrant communities. The credit union needed to be able to manage the constantly changing interest rates for their certificates of deposit in real time for their customers and potential customers. A “rates” custom module was built to allow website administrators the ability to quickly and easily modify each rate’s term length, interest rate, and APY for their Standard, Simple, Bump Rate, Youth, and HSA CD’s. Now Dow can keep this data current and service their end users in near real-time.
If you want your site to be more scalable and versatile, you will need to go beyond the built-in modules. Here are some examples of custom modules you can build using the Sitefinity Module Builder:
HR Module
This is a module for managing employee information, including personal details, professional experience, and education. An HR module is a custom dynamic content module created using the Module Builder. It enables the creation of hierarchical data structures for managing HR-related content such as job applications, applicants, and companies, providing a tailored solution for HR management on the website.
Location Modules
A Location Module allows website administrators to manage and display location-based content such as stores, branches, or event venues. Leveraging this module, users can easily create and organize location data, including addresses, coordinates, and additional information. It also enables administrators to provide interactive maps, locational search capabilities, and detailed location profiles.
Callout Modules
A Callout Module is a powerful feature that allows content creators and developers to create visually appealing callout boxes for highlighting important information on websites. Website administrators can easily customize the design, layout, and content of these callouts, effectively drawing attention to key messages, promotions, or announcements.
Explore Website Capabilities with an Expert Sitefinity Agency
The Sitefinity Module Builder plays a pivotal role in streamlining website management and optimizing overall website performance by empowering developers and administrators to create custom modules tailored to their specific business needs. This level of customization not only enhances the functionality and efficiency of the website but also allows for seamless integration of unique features, ultimately delivering a positive user experience.
For organizations seeking expert development services to leverage the full potential of a Sitefinity partner, Americaneagle.com is an industry leader with 25 years of experience in launching award-winning websites. We would be happy to discuss how your company can benefit from this powerful tool. Schedule a time to speak with one of our representatives or email at [email protected] to get started.
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