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Dev Guide

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Work with Digital Asset Management (DAM) assets with CMS 13.

Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) offers three ways to work with Digital Asset Management (DAM) assets. Each suits different workflows and levels of DAM integration.

  • Embedded DAM (through an Optimizely Graph sync)

    The Embedded Optimizely DAM brings the full DAM experience directly into the CMS interface. When a developer enables the Graph sync integration (see Enable Optimizely Graph service to sync DAM and CMS), a DAM option appears in the CMS side panel so you can directly access the DAM without the need to switch tabs or open multiple windows. The Embedded DAM offers the full Optimizely DAM experience, letting you browse, filter, and manage assets using the complete DAM library, including folders, tags, and renditions, without leaving CMS. Embedded DAM is great for teams that want a seamless, fully integrated DAM experience within CMS. See also Manage assets with DAM.

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    Note

    Embedded DAM is restricted to DXP and non-HIPAA customers. It cannot be used for on-premises CMS 13 and is not available for HIPAA.

  • Content Manager

    The Content Manager is a source-agnostic interface that lets you select assets from multiple systems (such as Optimizely CMS, Optimizely DAM, external DAMs like Aprimo, Bynder, and so on), external Commerce platforms (such as Commercetools, Shopify, and so on), and other third-party sources (see the Optimizely Connect Platform documentation).

    However, Content Manager does not yet fully surface DAM-specific metadata such as folder hierarchy, tags, and filters. For example, if your DAM contains two folders:

    • Summer > Banner
    • Winter > Banner

    The Content Manager displays both simply as Banner; folder context is not provided.

    The Content Manager is great for teams working across multiple content sources. Because folder context will be introduced in a future release, when you need deep Optimizely DAM filtering, Optimizely recommends combining Content Manager with the DAM Asset Picker until then.

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    Important

    A developer must install and integrate the DAM Asset Picker with the Content Management System (CMS) before you can use it. Before you decide to implement the DAM Asset Picker, Optimizely recommends you first use Content Manager to locate and insert assets to see if it meets your asset management needs. Content Manager supports both embedded DAM assets and any externally synced content. While the DAM Asset Picker provides a more robust DAM asset picking experience, depending on the number of assets you manage and the depth of your asset organization, the additional features may not be necessary.

  • DAM asset picker (through a DAM integration package)

    The DAM asset picker lets you select assets from the DAM library with a dedicated picker window. However, the DAM itself opens in a separate tab or pop-up. You have access to DAM-specific features such as folders, tags, and filters that the Content Manager does not yet fully support. The DAM asset picker is great for teams that need access to DAM folders, tags, and filters but are not yet using the full embedded experience. See also Add images with the CMP DAM asset picker.

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    Note

    A developer must install and integrate the asset picker with CMS 13 and create a button to access the DAM. See Onboard DAM to CMS 13 and Configure the DAM Asset Picker for CMS 13.

Content ManagerEmbedded DAMDAM asset picker
Stays within CMSYesYesOpens separately
Requires Opti IDNoYesNo
Full DAM folder/tag/filter supportLimitedYesYes
Multi-source supportYesDAM onlyDAM only
Future directionStrategic directionMaintainedBeing retired
Developer setup requiredYesYesYes