Setup Universal Editor

Universal Editor is supported on Author Bus via Adobe's Early Access Technology program. You can store your content in Author Bus (the repository that powers da.live) while editing the content using Universal Editor.

Requirements

  1. You have a "DX Handle" - ie. @nameofmycompany (found in the URL on experience.adobe.com)

  2. Your IMS Org / DX Handle has Universal Editor enabled (this currently requieres AEM Sites credits)

  3. You have a site on da.live.

  4. You have AB-compatible UE instrumentation

    1. component-models.json
    2. component-definitions.json
    3. component-filters.json
    4. Any code necessary to make an intuitive authoring experience (see developer documentation)

  5. Currently we support Chrome and Safari browsers only.

To use your own project with Universal Editor, the instrumentation described in section 4 is required. The Universal Editor is controlled and customised for your project using the extra JSON files. More details can be found in the developer documentation.

Setup

Add the editor path to your DA org data config https://da.live/config#/{{name-of-org}}/ (available in the breadcrumb on the org):

key value 
editor.path

/org/site/path/to/content=https://experience.adobe.com/#/@adobecomdx/aem/editor/canvas/main--da-block-collection--aemsites.ue.da.live

Three callouts:

  1. If the browsing path is a descendant of config path, users will automatically be taken to Universal Editor. If the user is in the org, they will be presented with an option to open in Universal Editor from a document.
  2. Note the @adobecomdx handle. You will need to supply your own.
  3. Note the final hostname after /canvas/. You will need to update this to match your project's subdomain + ue.da.live.

Custom page template for new pages (optional)

Page templates are used when creating new pages. By default, an empty page with only one section is always created. This is an optional configuration if you want to use custom page templates.

If you want to create pages with initial content or layout, you can create 1 or more page templates. These are simply HTML files in the project Git repository. See https://github.com/mhaack/special-project/blob/main/scripts/ue-template.html. The templates are registered in DA site or org properties on a specific path. A project can use multiple page templates e.g. per language or region or sub site area. See screenshot:

FAQ

Can I edit the same document in both editors?

Yes.

If I decide DA today, but want UE tomorrow, am I stuck?

No. If you go with one path today, you can change change at any point down the road.

Are plugins, extensions, etc. compatible between the two editors?

As of today, these are different implementations. Please reach out if you have an existing plugin / extension you would like in a different editing context.

Do I need to create UE instrumentation for sections, default content or images.

No. This is already done for you in the da-block-collection and can be copied more or less one to one. For more instructions on how to do this for you own project see the developer documentation.

Can I edit content fragments with UE on AB.

At the time of this writing, no.

Does this mean my investments in XWalk are obsolete?

No. XWalk is still the official, non-early access, expression of Universal Editor.

If I want to move from XWalk to UE on AB, can I do this?

It's early days, but in theory: yes. The UE instrumentation of your blocks can be mostly reused with some minor adjustments. Please reach out to the team for additional assistance.

I am a partner, how should I help my customer decide a direction?

First, there is never a right or wrong direction, but a mismatch of needs vs feature set. Adobe's stance is to pick the content repository and editing interface that actual authors want to use. As a partner, you should provide the benefits of each authoring modality (WYSIWYG, Forms, Document), let actual authors try each for themselves, and guide them based off their needs and feedback from their experiences.