Experience Editor is a page layout tool used by content authors to place the content components, created in Content Editor, onto a webpage. Experience Editor is a What You See Is What You Get, or WYSIWYG, tool, meaning it displays the page roughly as it would appear in a browser. It is the simplest editing tool in Sitecore XP, with limited functionality.
Most content can be edited in Content Editor. Some content elements must be edited in Experience Editor, such as grid components.
To access Experience Editor:
- From Content Editor: On the Publish section of the Navigation Ribbon, click Experience Editor.
- From Media Library: Click Experience Editor at the bottom of the asset tree on the left column of the page.
- From Launchpad (Sitecore administrators only): Click the Launchpad icon (nine-square grid icon at the upper left corner of the page) and select Experience Editor on the menu.
Experience Editor’s appearance and functionality will vary, depending on:
- Roles assigned to the user
- Local security settings
- Customizations that have been added to the website
Experience Editor Features
Navigation Ribbon
The Navigation Ribbon is a a horizontal bar at the top of the page. Groups of functions appear in different tabs on this ribbon. The ribbon provides the following tools:
- Save (diskette icon)
- Search (magnifying glass icon)
- Add New Component (tree diagram icon)
- Presentation tab
- Experience tab
- Versions tab
- Optimization tab
- View tab
Breadcrumb Links
Below the ribbon are breadcrumb links for navigating to other pages while in Experience Editor.
Workflow
Pages are constructed by placing content components in various positions on the page. Each content component has a built-in format and style. When placed on the page, each content component is assigned a data source. This data source is the actual content displayed on the page, using content created in Content Editor placed in the layout assigned in Experience Editor.
Users can assign an existing data source or a new data source. When the new data source option is selected, an empty component is created. Content will need to be added to this component using Content Editor.
Previewing Content
Experience Editor shows a rough approximation of what a page will look like, but it is not a perfect browser-like rendering. Publishing the page is the only way to see what the page will truly look like in a browser.
Documentation updated: June 17, 2024