Optimizely CMS 13 Upgrade: Key Features and Benefits

Optimizely CMS 13 is here, and now is the right time to start planning your upgrade. If your organization relies on Optimizely for its digital experience platform, upgrading to the latest version offers several meaningful benefits and improvements.

Key benefits of upgrading to CMS 13:

• Visual Builder for drag-and-drop page editing
• Content Manager
• Smooth Rebuild for safer updates without downtime
• Headless-first / composable architecture
• Optimizely Graph with GraphQL APIs
• AI-powered content creation and optimization
• Advanced personalization capabilities

In this blog post, we will cover a couple of features that can significantly enhance the editing and content creation experience for marketers and content authors. These features reduce dependency on developers by allowing content authors to design and publish pages without requiring developer assistance.

Visual Builder: Empowering Content Authors

Visual Builder is the editing interface in the Optimizely Content Management System that makes content creation and layout building more intuitive and accessible for non-technical users.

In day-to-day use, it is a game changer for anyone who creates content. This feature is thoughtfully designed so that non-technical users can easily create and manage content without relying on technical resources.

The key aspects of Visual Builder are:

• Experience
• Outline
• Section
• Element
• Blueprint
• Style

Deep Dive into Visual Builder

Experience: An experience is similar to a page, but it offers much more flexibility. Content authors can design page layouts and content on the fly while seeing how their changes will appear to end users through live preview. This allows them to adjust the look and feel as needed.

Outline - The outline is a list of your sections where you add and manage the content in your experience.

Section - A section is a visually distinct segment of your webpage. Sections group related content together and use rows and columns in a grid layout to organize and arrange content. You can save sections as a reusable.

Element - Elements are the building blocks for creating content. As a content manager, you cannot divide elements or modify their structure because they are the smallest building blocks. You should define only unchanging structures as elements.

An element can be as simple as a Heading with a single text input field or it can be more complex, like the Testimonial element, with various optional and required fields like customer names, locations, pictures, and text.

Elements do not control layout, but they can be styled within approved design rules. They are created by developers and made available for content authors to use.

Blueprint - Blueprints are reusable layout templates that content managers can create directly in the user interface. You can save sections and experiences as blueprints.

Style - Style settings control the appearance of the content based on pre-approved guidelines. Styles can be applied at multiple levels of Visual Builder content, including elements, rows and columns, sections, and full experiences experiences.

Another major benefit of Visual Builder is responsive preview. Content authors can preview content in multiple viewpoints so they can see how the content will appear across different devices such as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Some examples of the Visual Builder UI:

Content Manager: A Modern Way to Manage Content

Content Manager is a modern interface in Optimizely CMS 13 that transforms how editors and marketers interact with content. Unlike the traditional page tree structure, Content Manager introduces a search-first, flat-view experience that makes managing large volumes of content faster, simpler, and more intuitive.

In day-to-day content operations, this feature significantly improves efficiency. Whether you are managing hundreds or thousands of content items, Content Manager helps you quickly locate, organize, and update content without navigating complex hierarchies.

Key Aspects of Content Manager

Content Manager is designed with usability and scalability in mind. Its core aspects include:

• Search-First Experience
• List-Based (Table) View
• Grid View
• Advanced Filtering
• Multi-Source Content Management

Deep Dive into Content Manager

Search-First Experience - Content Manager is built around powerful search capabilities, making it easy to locate any content item within seconds. Instead of browsing through folders, users can simply search using keywords or metadata.

This approach is especially useful in large-scale environments where content structures can become complex. It eliminates the need to remember where content is stored, saving time and effort.

List-Based (Table) View - Content is displayed in a structured table format, similar to a spreadsheet, allowing users to work efficiently with large datasets.

Editors can:

• Sort content by columns (name, type, modified date, etc.)
• Apply filters to narrow down results
• Customize visible columns based on their needs

This view is ideal for bulk content management and quick edits.

Grid View for Visual Content - For media-heavy workflows, Content Manager offers a grid (card-based) view that displays content visually. This is particularly helpful when working with:

• Images
• Media assets
• Visual content libraries

The thumbnail-based layout improves recognition and makes browsing more intuitive.

Advanced Filtering - Content Manager provides powerful filtering options that help users to refine their search results based on multiple criteria. Teams can filter content by:

• Content type (pages, blocks, media)
• Source (CMS, DAM, external systems)
• Metadata and custom attributes

This ensures that users can quickly narrow down exactly what they are looking for.

Multi-Source Content Management - One of the standout capabilities of Content Manager is its ability to work across multiple content sources. It supports:

• CMS-managed content
• Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems
• External content sources through integrations

Bringing these sources together in one interface reduces fragmentation and gives teams a more unified way to manage digital content.