Top Umbraco features
For several years, the Umbraco CMS has been at the cutting edge of content management and web development. However, Umbraco has sought to improve its functionality and future-proof its technical features even further with the release of Umbraco 8 this year.
It’s the first major update to the Umbraco CMS since 2013. So in many ways, it's a welcome improvement that takes into account the increased consumer demands for slick, personalised user experiences. At Intuitiv, our Umbraco web developers are already getting stuck into the Umbraco 8 features.
Umbraco features
Before we get into some new specific Umbraco 8 features, here are a few existing general Umbraco features you'll continue to love:
- Elegantly crafted user interface.
- Handy preview feature allows you to preview content on desktop, tablet and phone devices, landscape and portrait too.
- Schedule content like blog and news posts, or time-limited offers.
- Easy version control - rollback with a mouse click.
- Media library for all your photos, videos, images and documents. Create folders to keep it organised too.
- Built-in image cropper and focal point manager.
- Built-in form builder.
- Easy SEO.
- Manage admin users level of control.
As Microsoft’s number-one open-source CMS installation, Umbraco has always been a fantastic piece of software and version 8 only improves upon the success of version 7.
Here’s why…
Understanding Umbraco 8
First and foremost, the most noticeable improvement to the Umbraco 8 platform is the CMS interface. It’s now more intuitive and cleaner than ever before, making it more accessible for even the most entry-level user.
There are three key updates to the Umbraco 8 CMS that, according to Umbraco, “strive to make things simpler”:
- Infinite Editing
Umbraco has introduced a feature called Infinite Editing into the Umbraco 8 CMS. This enables you to edit a page on your website, click on an image and make changes to this in the same window and return seamlessly to editing the page of copy. The changes made to both the copy and the image are then effective across your entire website. What this means is a lot less time switching between menus and tabs and more time spent creating engaging content that’s designed to convert. - Language Variants
This Umbraco 8 feature is particularly welcome for those with multilingual websites. The Language Variants functionality allows brands that operate across multiple territories to edit and manage multilingual content. You can switch between languages in preview mode, edit two pages side-by-side and even set mandatory languages that must be incorporated on-page before you can hit the magic ‘Publish’ button. - Content Apps
Last but by no means least, Umbraco 8 has a new Content Apps extension that can act as a companion whilst you create, edit, publish and update your content. Content App works in the background, providing feedback and suggestions on user engagement and the impactfulness of the content produced. It’s these unique insights that can make a huge difference to your bottom line at the end of the day.
Umbraco 7 Vs Umbraco 8
While it’s not true that the Umbraco 7 CMS is being phased out or even discontinued, businesses need to keep their CMS platforms up-to-date with the latest security and marketing tools.
At Intuitiv, our Umbraco web developers are well-versed in Umbraco migrations from Version 7 to Version 8. The Umbraco 8 CMS will be the primary version for any new feature functionality in the months and years ahead, so your online business mustn’t get left behind.
The techy bits and bobs…
Although you don’t need to know the techy Umbraco 8 updates, you’ll be pleased to know Intuitiv’s Umbraco web developers are well on top of it.
One of the biggest technical updates between Umbraco 7 Vs Umbraco 8 is the extensive clean-up of the codebase for Umbraco 8.
A lot of legacy V4 code has been tidied up, paving the way for a .NET Core version in the coming years.
What does this mean for our Umbraco web development?
- It’s quicker and easier for us to build and install packages
- It’s simpler for us to maintain best practices
- We’re able to recommend and incorporate up-to-date technologies for our clients
- The Umbraco 8 CMS offers a more stable, powerful performance
- Put simply, your new Umbraco 8 websites will be faster and easier to use
Why choose Intuitiv?
At Intuitiv, we love Umbraco. That’s why we're an Umbraco Certified Partner.
And that's why we're the Umbraco agency for you.
In our opinion, an already great open-source CMS has just got even better with the Umbraco 8 features - it's been worth the wait!
If you like the sound of a super-powerful, mega-flexible CMS that’s focussed on beautiful simplicity for the user, give us a call on 01844 888 777.
Or get in touch via the form below and we'll get straight back to you.