CmsUpdates: Explore CMS 13’s new Audiences for editor‑friendly personalization, the integrated Journey Builder for real‑time user journeys, the Epicweb AI‑Assistant chat that streamlines SEO and content management, and the pre‑release Visual Builder that lets you create rich drag‑and‑drop sections with ExperienceData and SectionData.
CMS 13 continues to support built‑in personalisation without extra products, now using **Audiences** (formerly Visitor Groups) that can be defined and managed directly in the CMS UI. Audiences let editors toggle content components (e.g., hero, jumbotron) per visitor segment and preview those variations before publishing. This rules‑based approach delivers immediate, editor‑friendly targeting while leaving a clear path to more advanced personalization later.
Optimizely CMS now includes a built‑in Journey Builder that lets developers create, edit, and trigger personalized user journeys directly within the content editor, eliminating the need for separate Experience Cloud tools. The new Journey API exposes endpoints for defining segments, events, and path logic, enabling real‑time personalization via standard CMS APIs. Developers can hook into these APIs to deliver dynamic content and track engagement, streamlining the integration of marketing automation with content management.
Optimizely CMS 12/13 now ship the Epicweb AI‑Assistant chat, letting editors analyze, manage, translate, and optimize content for SEO and AEO—all within the CMS interface. This hands‑on AI integration reduces context switching and speeds up content workflows for developers and editors alike.
Optimizely CMS 13 pre‑release now brings a Visual Builder that lets you define **ExperienceData** and **SectionData** types to build rich, drag‑and‑drop sections. The post shows a proof‑of‑concept on an upgraded Alloy MVC site, demonstrating how to model these types and set up editor‑friendly style options for Visual Builder elements. Check the sample repo (github.com/evest/cms13-test1) for ready‑to‑use code and configuration tips.
This issue announces two key AI‑Assistant upgrades: the new Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant.Tools v3.0.0 bundles integrated AI and MCP ServerTool capabilities into a single package, streamlining server‑side AI workflows in Optimizely, while Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant.LanguageManager v2.1.0 automatically translates pages and blocks via EPiServer.Labs.LanguageManager when paired with the AI‑Assistant, simplifying multilingual content creation.
Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant.Tools 3.0.0 introduces integrated AI and MCP ServerTool capabilities that seamlessly work with the Epicweb AI‑Assistant for Optimizely. The update bundles these tools into a single package, simplifying setup and improving performance for AI‑driven workflows. Developers can now leverage enhanced server‑side AI features directly within the Optimizely environment.
Epicweb has released **v2.1.0** of its AI‑Assistant Language Manager. It now automatically translates pages and blocks using the EPiServer.Labs.LanguageManager package, but only when paired with the Epicweb AI‑Assistant for Optimizely. This update streamlines multilingual content creation for Optimizely developers.
In this CommunityContent roundup we spotlight Epicweb’s AI‑Assistant Chat now embedded in Optimizely CMS, empowering editors to analyze, manage, translate and optimize SEO/AEO content directly in the editor, and we share key takeaways from Episode 2 of the OMVP Strategy Roundtable, where experts argue that successful AI adoption hinges on people, ownership and evolving operating models, offering practical lessons on scaling experiments and turning pilots into sustainable impact.
Epicweb’s AI‑Assistant Chat is now built into Optimizely CMS 12 and 13, letting editors analyze, manage, translate and optimize SEO/AEO content directly inside the CMS. This integration streamlines content workflows and boosts editorial efficiency. Developers can embed AI‑powered features straight into the CMS experience for faster, smarter content management.
Episode 2 of Optimizely’s OMVP Strategy Roundtable tackles real‑world AI adoption, arguing that success hinges on people, ownership and evolving operating models—not just new tech. Panelists share practical lessons on scaling experiments, setting clear metrics and overcoming resistance, with the conversation split into two parts on Optimizely Academy (full episode on Spotify). Developers involved in AI strategy or experimentation will find actionable insights on turning pilots into sustainable impact.
Explore three new tutorials and guides: a .NET 8.0 demo for trimming MAU inflation via the Optimizely REST API, a step‑by‑step Visual Builder walkthrough for a 66 %/33 % two‑column layout, and a performance warning on storing complex types in PropertyList properties.
Optimizely Web Experimentation’s MAU metric is inflated by any page that loads the snippet, even when no experiment runs. A new .NET 8.0 POC project shows how to use the REST API to fetch active experiments, filter them by URL, cache results for 15 minutes, and expose a minimal API that clears the cache on webhook events. By conditionally disabling or opting‑out of the snippet based on these checks, developers can stop unnecessary MAU counting and reduce costs for multi‑site setups.
TLDR: Optimizely 13 now includes a step‑by‑step guide for creating a “66 % / 33 %” two‑column layout in Visual Builder. The tutorial shows how to use the new composition tag helpers—`<epi-grid>`, `<epi-row>`, `<epi-column>`, and `<epi-component>`—to build a Bootstrap container with a single row and two columns. This makes it easier for developers to quickly craft wide‑left sections directly in the CMS editor.
Optimizely developers should be cautious about storing complex types in PropertyList properties, as this can negatively impact performance. Check the latest Optimizely blog post for a detailed performance tip and best‑practice guidance.
Check out our latest NuGet release, Geta.Optimizely.ContentTypeIcons v3.0.0, which automatically generates icons for Episerver content types using FontAwesome 4/5 or custom fonts, simplifying UI customization and eliminating manual icon management. This new tool ensures consistent, up‑to‑date icons whenever you create new content, streamlining your front‑end workflow.
Geta.Optimizely.ContentTypeIcons v3.0.0 is a new NuGet release that automatically generates image icons for Episerver content types. It supports FontAwesome 4 and 5 as well as custom icon fonts, allowing developers to have consistent, up‑to‑date icons when creating new content. This streamlines UI customization and removes the need to manually create and manage icon assets.