August 2024: Visually plan, preview and prepare for future content changes with Timeline

Have you ever wondered how a product page will appear to different audiences based on their behavior data, or how a localized campaign will look once translated and rolled out across different regions? Or perhaps you've tried to plan out your content calendar and found it challenging to figure out when and how various pieces of content might overlap or interfere with each other. The complexities of managing the current and future state of content in a CMS can easily feel overwhelming, especially when dealing with multiple teams, personalized content or competing initiatives.

We initially developed the Release Preview app to address these challenges, which provided basic details about upcoming content releases. This app helped teams see what content was scheduled to go live and understand the impact of those changes. Releasing it through our Marketplace allowed us to quickly build, experiment and iterate based on user feedback.

Now, we’re bringing this functionality directly into the platform with Timeline, an integrated, interactive timeline that lets you see and manage the future state of your content. Consequently, the Release Preview app will no longer receive updates or support.

With Timeline, you get a better way to visually preview, compare and review updates — keeping your content strategy on track and in sync.

Preview

With Timeline, we're revisiting how you preview content altogether. Whether you're looking to see how future updates will appear, interact with a personalized version of your entire website, or quickly check how a specific entry looks before it goes live, Timeline makes visualizing changes straightforward and easy.

The visual timeline at the top of the screen displays all your scheduled updates, while the interactive content below allows you to navigate your site as if it's that future date. You can add new previews, adjust existing ones, and interact with your content in a simulated environment that makes it easy to see and understand how your content will appear under any given circumstances or at any point in time, providing you with a complete view of your content strategy.

This leads to one of the key enhancements we included in the Timeline experience: the ability to compare different versions of your content side by side.

Compare

This is especially useful for large migrations or updates where reviewing and Q&A are critical. Instead of sharing expiring links or juggling multiple environments, you can simply navigate the timeline, select different versions, and see any changes clearly highlighted. This streamlines the review process and makes it easier for team members to provide feedback and collaborate on updates.

Personalize

Personalization has long been a challenge due to its complexity and the scale required for successful implementation. At Contentstack, we’re addressing this with our new Personalize product, along with our other platform enhancements in AI and automation, making personalization more achievable at scale. With Timeline, you’ll be able to preview content based on audience data, enabling you to see how different segments of your audience will experience your content over time.

Interested in learning more about Personalize or joining the Early Access program? Sign up here.

Improve your content planning with Timeline

Whether you're previewing future states, comparing versions, or planning personalized content, Timeline helps you keep everything in sync and ensures your updates are delivered as intended.

Learn more

To learn more about the new experience, check out the recording of our recent small group demo on Timeline to see it all in action. To stay informed on all our product updates, visit the Contentstack Pulse page.